After the Jets traded Bridgewater and a 5th to the Saints today for a 3rd round pick. I’m hoping they work some magic to get Mack. Mack is a monster piece to this young and hungry defense.

Saints moving for Bridgewater might be them just doing their due diligence to have a decent backup if Brees gets injured while they're in a championship window - but I also wouldn't be surprised if Drew told them this was going to be his last year.

Fucking hell I should have learned how to throw a football good.

Aug 30, 2018 1:30:10 GMT RT said:

Fucking hell I should have learned how to throw a football good.

Me and you both man

If the Saints win the Super Bowl, I wouldn’t be surprised if he walks away Champion.

He's signed through 2019 though isn't he?

Aug 30, 2018 3:46:28 GMT RT said:

He's signed through 2019 though isn't he?

Pretty sure Peyton Manning signed a two year contract before what turned out to be his final season.

Aug 30, 2018 0:37:00 GMT @admin said:

Quarterbacks are still underpaid considering their importance to the team. We've seen Rodgers is literally the difference between the Packers being legitimate championship contenders and not making the playoffs. He's carried a poor defence and ordinary coaching staff for years now, and by 2020 33 per will look positively cheap. 

1 year and 16 million more for an MVP candidate than the Vikings are paying a middle-tier Kirk Cousins? That's hardly getting "bent over".

Here's the thing though.   When was the last time one of these high priced QB's have won a Super Bowl?    Yeah I can't remember either.   Only 2 QB's in the past 15 years have won Super Bowls without taking a pay cut...Eli Manning and Big Ben.    The rest either all took less money or were on their rookie contracts.  In fact I would say the biggest single reason Tom Brady has been so successful is because he has been so willing to take less money.

Sad to say but having an underpaid QB that is quality is key to winning Super Bowls in today's era.   You simply cannot pay a top franchise QB market value and have enough left over in the salary cap to build  a championship caliber team around them.

You're both right. A quarterback on an insane salary will drag a team to the play-offs if he's of Rodgers' caliber for example, but a team carrying the weight of that money will be under-strength elsewhere.

I find it interesting in the NFL that a lot of the time highly skilled players will forgo the chance to win or least compete for trophies, especially when you consider someone like Brady who will now go down as an all-time great because he adopted a success-first approach. His approach doesn't seem to have inspired many players to do the same.

I have to say as well, I get it completely. If I'm going to throw my head into situations that could cause me brain damage, I'd want to get paid as much money as possible for it. It's not having a go at the players, it's just interesting in how the dynamic compares to other sports.

Aug 30, 2018 13:49:11 GMT thereallt said:

Aug 30, 2018 0:37:00 GMT @admin said:

Quarterbacks are still underpaid considering their importance to the team. We've seen Rodgers is literally the difference between the Packers being legitimate championship contenders and not making the playoffs. He's carried a poor defence and ordinary coaching staff for years now, and by 2020 33 per will look positively cheap. 

1 year and 16 million more for an MVP candidate than the Vikings are paying a middle-tier Kirk Cousins? That's hardly getting "bent over".

Here's the thing though.   When was the last time one of these high priced QB's have won a Super Bowl?    Yeah I can't remember either.   Only 2 QB's in the past 15 years have won Super Bowls without taking a pay cut...Eli Manning and Big Ben.    The rest either all took less money or were on their rookie contracts.  In fact I would say the biggest single reason Tom Brady has been so successful is because he has been so willing to take less money.

Sad to say but having an underpaid QB that is quality is key to winning Super Bowls in today's era.   You simply cannot pay a top franchise QB market value and have enough left over in the salary cap to build  a championship caliber team around them.

Rodgers wasn't on a rookie deal either when he won. And you have to pay the ELITE quarterbacks , there are only maybe four or five in the NFL and all of them are capable of taking any team to the playoffs any season. I'm not saying paying the midlevel guys like Carr , Flacco or Cousins top end money because they haven't proven they can carry any roster to the playoffs but someone like Rodgers can and no while we may have not won a Super Bowl since his 3rd contract we are in line to when he's healthy and always have a shot. How many teams can actually say that going into every year they have a chance to win the Super Bowl? We were a collapse and onside kick recovery on season. 

Secondly Rodgers is STILL a bargain , I made this argument a ton yesterday with a bunch of idiot Vikings fans but how much do you think Rodgers would sign for if he ever hit the open market? You don't think a team like the Browns or Bills or any other team in desperate need of a franchise quarterback for decades wouldn't pay him 200 million? 180 million? I guarantee that number would be astronomical compared to what the Packers actually ended up paying. 

Lastly you can still structure the deal so it's not as big of a cap anchor as others. I believe according to reports that they did that and gave the Packers a chance to compete for the rest of the tenure. Rodgers wanted to get paid but he isn't an idiot - he don't want to spend the remainder of his career in Green Bay without a team around him. 

Aug 30, 2018 13:58:35 GMT Todd said:

You're both right. A quarterback on an insane salary will drag a team to the play-offs if he's of Rodgers' caliber for example, but a team carrying the weight of that money will be under-strength elsewhere.

I find it interesting in the NFL that a lot of the time highly skilled players will forgo the chance to win or least compete for trophies, especially when you consider someone like Brady who will now go down as an all-time great because he adopted a success-first approach. His approach doesn't seem to have inspired many players to do the same.

I have to say as well, I get it completely. If I'm going to throw my head into situations that could cause me brain damage, I'd want to get paid as much money as possible for it. It's not having a go at the players, it's just interesting in how the dynamic compares to other sports.

I don't know how many of the other sports really do that , basketball to some degree but they aren't leaving A TON of money on the table and the structure of the contracts is much different since they are all guaranteed. You can sign with Golden State for 6 million a year for three years , take a bit of a pay cut because you know that no matter what you are getting that 6 million every year - that takes the pressure off. 

In the NFL you sign a 3 year 18 million dollar deal to try and win a championship and fall off a bit and get cut or get hurt and you might only see 33% of that contract. If the NFL ever started guaranteeing contracts I think you'd see more guys , especially in their last contracts, take pay cuts. 

Not to mention Tom Brady's wife is insanely rich. I don't think he misses the extra money that much.

Vikinga fans shouldn't be saying shit though.  Kirk Cousins contract is the single most ridiculous one I've seen yet.   ARod is at the very least a top 3 QB every year.   Cousins might not even be top 15.

Another piece that proves that the details of Rodgers' contract are really not at all outrageous:

I missed the early parts of this Cowboys vs Texans games, only 2nd quarter and already a bunch of guys I've never heard of on the field. What did I miss?

Aug 31, 2018 1:34:48 GMT shinobimusashi said:

I missed the early parts of this Cowboys vs Texans games, only 2nd quarter and already a bunch of guys I've never heard of on the field. What did I miss?

It's the fourth preseason game so nothing.

Joe Webb probably did enough to take the QB2 job from Weeden although he did make a few boneheaded decisions. Still, I don't think Weeden has made one good play this pre-season, he's fucking awful.

Dee Virgin had a big night with a big hit and capped it off with a pick off a hail mary, might make the cut as a result. Dylan Cole continued to play well, easily been the star of the pre-season for us. ILB depth looks more solid now with him behind Cunningham and McKinney. D looked good as they have throughout pre-season, depth looks solid.

Kendall Lamm gave away about 10 penalties and should now be cut, he's a fucking joke. Chad Slade should get in as swing tackle and maybe Quessenberry, of Hard Knocks fame years ago, could finally make a cut.

The Rams have extended Aaron Donald and made him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history.

www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/rams-aaron-donald-becomes-highest-paid-defensive-player-in-nfl-history-with-six-year-dollar135-million-contract/ar-BBMI6Ln?OCID=ansmsnnews11

6 years, 135 million, 87 million guaranteed and a 40 million signing bonus.

It's less than the 25m a year Donald was after, so I suppose the Rams have done decent business. Still, it's an absurd amount of money.

There is no way the Raiders pay Mack more than that. Mack will get traded and it needs to happen quickly, could he go to the Browns? Imagine Hard Knocks 😂

I guess it's time for my obligatory annual off season post about how TJ Yates is better than our current backups, Weeden and Webb. Never understood why that guy doesn't have a permanent spot as our backup QB, I bet he would be pretty good if they actually gave him a full training camp to prepare with the team/system, instead they hire him off the couch in October every year.

How worried should we be about this Khalil Mack deal, UT? The Bears may have thrown a cat amongst the pidgeons.

The Bears are back. I would not be surprised if they win that division now.

Sept 1, 2018 13:32:42 GMT Big Pete said:

How worried should we be about this Khalil Mack deal, UT? The Bears may have thrown a cat amongst the pidgeons.

Meh it’s still the Bears and still depends on Mitch’s progression. It’s not like the Raiders were a juggernaut with him.

I like Mitchell T. and a Vic Fangio defense with Khalil Mack I think is going to be pretty tough.

So now that Mack is a Bear and paid , a few more thoughts. Obviously it's never a great thing when a division rival adds an All Pro caliber player - but I don't necessarily think it's the move that will propel their team to the top of the division either. Their defense was already good and we'll see what Mack can do to raise that - as I said it's not as if the Raiders were ever elevated as a whole because of Macks presence. Secondly I said I didn't like the price for the Packers to pay and I don't like it for the Bears either - that's too much to invest into a non quarterback - what if Trubisky flops? They don't have a first round pick until 2021 to try and fix that and probably are up against the cap now to try and sign even a mid level guy.


As it pertains to the Packers and Vikings Big Pete - I'm not even trying to be a homer when I say this but I think it's a little more worrisome for the Vikings considering their offensive line troubles. The Packers at least have *arguably* the best left tackle in football in Bahktiari and a pro bowl caliber guy on the right in Bulaga. I think the Packers could at least slow him down for some plays.

The Vikings are going into the season with some serious offensive line questions so Mack could feasibly take over a game against them if they don't get them fixed.

At the end of the day though as I said , it really all depends on Trubisky on how far the Bears go. I think they could definitely go 8-8 now even if he is still below average. If he takes a jump under Nagy and becomes solid they could be a contender for the title. For now.

I'm not so sure, the Vikings don't play the Bears until Week 11 and 18 respectively, the Packers have to face them in a matter of days coming off this high. By the time the Vikings play them, who knows what shape either team will be in. Either way, the Bears have certainly become a more fearsome opposition and I think we'll know early on whether they'll be a thorn in our sides for years to come, or a bigger laughing stock than the later Jay Cutler days.

The Bears still finish behind both Green Bay and the Vikings. For all of his talent Khalil Mack has yet to make a single defense he's played on better. The Raiders defense was the drizzling shits the year he won DPOY and pretty much every year he was a Raider.

I wouldn't have given up 2 #1's for Mack and I SURE AS HELL would not have paid him more than Aaron Donald.

Sept 2, 2018 14:28:03 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm not so sure, the Vikings don't play the Bears until Week 11 and 18 respectively, the Packers have to face them in a matter of days coming off this high. By the time the Vikings play them, who knows what shape either team will be in. Either way, the Bears have certainly become a more fearsome opposition and I think we'll know early on whether they'll be a thorn in our sides for years to come, or a bigger laughing stock than the later Jay Cutler days.

Yeah I'd much go against the Bears in Week 1 , the fact of the matter is that Mack missed ALL of training camp and ALL of the preseason and now has a little over a week to go into a new team , learn an entirely new scheme and new defense and do so with little to no preparation. At a time when the rest of the team is going to be going over gameplans for Green Bay , Mack is going to be doing what he missed in training camp and learning the system. 

He'll obviously play , but I wouldn't be surprised is it was only on obvious passing downs and limited to like 30 snaps or so. Possibly less. 

Sept 2, 2018 15:31:49 GMT thereallt said:

The Bears still finish behind both Green Bay and the Vikings. For all of his talent Khalil Mack has yet to make a single defense he's played on better. The Raiders defense was the drizzling shits the year he won DPOY and pretty much every year he was a Raider.

I wouldn't have given up 2 #1's for Mack and I SURE AS HELL would not have paid him more than Aaron Donald.

The money is semantics , every last superstar paid is going to be the highest at their position. The trade bounty , including a 3rd rounder as well was a little insane for a non quarterback. It's why I was against the Packers doing it and at least we have a proven quarterback - the Bears still don't know what their roster looks like going forward or if they can truly count on Trubisky. 

Weird cut for the Texans. Braxton Miller finally got cut, we thought because the Texans were sticking with 5 receivers, but Vyncent Smith kept his place. No idea who he is.

Kendall Lamm also kept his job which is just mind-blowing. Shane Lechler got cut after being outplayed by rookie Trevor Daniel, experienced full-back Jay Prosch is also gone, evidence of the change in Texans offensive philosophy.

Weeden got picked over Webb. I get it, they probably think the D is good enough to win a couple games if Watson goes down and Weeden is less risky. Still, Webb is Webb and he played his game well, if you don't like that why bother bringing him in at all?

Waiver activity was limited to a running back and a couple defensive backs. So we have 8 o-linemen and one of them is Lamm. Not great.