🏈🏈 The American Football Discussion Thread 🏈🏈

[tyKiwanuka]

I do not really think this is about money, (...)

I agree with South Park, Brady has never particularly driven by the money.

Of course it's not about the money. Brady has played his whole career getting average money while arguably being the GOAT. It was his choice and for the love to the Patriots, but also easy to do, if your wife earns even more money than you^^

What I wanted to point out, is, that the Patriots (or Belichick) are creating a mess, where there is no need to. Lets assume Brady would be williing to play for 10mln/year for the Patriots. Now the Titans/Raiders offer him 25mln/year. Of course Brady is still not looking for the money, but he got the taste of what other teams are willing to offer him and how much they would value his services. So in his subtle mind this might still be present, when getting back into negotiations with the Patriots. Now maybe, he wants to have 15mln/year from the Patriots. Not from a money point of view, but for his pride. So Belichick probably drove the price up, while having no real backup plan (probably he has one, but I don't see it, maybe Rivers will go there ).

The new season of Major League Soccer started up last weekend, and I'm anxious to see how LAFC does.

Unfortunately the coverage of MLS is not very good here or the games are taking place during night hours. I always like to watch MLS when I am able to and put your thread on notification already. No fan of a particular team, just like the entertainment and the offensive-minded playing style of most teams.

[South Park]

What I wanted to point out, is, that the Patriots (or Belichick) are creating a mess, where there is no need to. Lets assume Brady would be williing to play for 10mln/year for the Patriots. Now the Titans/Raiders offer him 25mln/year. Of course Brady is still not looking for the money, but he got the taste of what other teams are willing to offer him and how much they would value his services. So in his subtle mind this might still be present, when getting back into negotiations with the Patriots. Now maybe, he wants to have 15mln/year from the Patriots. Not from a money point of view, but for his pride. So Belichick probably drove the price up, while having no real backup plan (probably he has one, but I don't see it, maybe Rivers will go there ).

This is without a doubt a mess that could have been avoided, last year they had the opportunity to extend Brady’s contract and it should not have been an issue because that is what Brady wanted as well, at first it seemed that was the case when the first reports indicated that Brady was extended for two years, when that happened I thought that was probably a little shorter than what Brady wanted but it was definitely a step on the right direction, but then when it was revealed those two years will be void then everyone realized it was not really an extension at all.

To me this seems to be a miscalculation, as I have said it seems NE really thought Brady will never consider leaving or taking any offer other than their own and they are discovering too late this is not the case, now in the best case scenario they get to keep Brady but at an higher price than what it could have been possible one year ago and in the worst case scenario Brady leaves and they are unable to hire a good enough replacement to try to remain competitive.

[tyKiwanuka]

Looks like the 2020 NFL Draft is in danger to be postponed and also Free Agency is being discussed about. With all sports more or less on hold, I have to admit, I am a bit bored and was really looking forward to have at least FA to cheer me up. With some hope left, I had a look at the cap space from each team at spotrac:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers    $84,329,175
Miami Dolphins    $83,364,774
Indianapolis Colts    $80,017,492
New York Giants    $76,735,896
Buffalo Bills    $75,859,551
Dallas Cowboys    $71,839,128
Tennessee Titans    $64,149,521
Cleveland Browns    $63,817,140
Las Vegas Raiders    $56,297,302
Cincinnati Bengals    $55,460,642
Los Angeles Chargers    $54,678,772
New York Jets    $53,082,397
Seattle Seahawks    $52,813,260
Houston Texans    $49,320,776
Detroit Lions    $44,365,888
Philadelphia Eagles    $42,385,150
Washington Redskins    $42,013,010
New England Patriots    $41,424,477
Arizona Cardinals    $38,740,295
Denver Broncos    $36,227,518
Green Bay Packers    $24,977,139
Chicago Bears    $24,471,679
Carolina Panthers    $23,122,965
Baltimore Ravens    $21,973,536
Los Angeles Rams    $21,757,389
Minnesota Vikings    $20,069,056
Kansas City Chiefs    $16,655,495
Jacksonville Jaguars    $13,243,254
San Francisco 49ers    $11,687,819
New Orleans Saints    $9,752,100
Atlanta Falcons    $3,075,672
Pittsburgh Steelers    $-8,301,176

From what I read, Bruce Arians is very interested in getting Tom Brady and TB certainly has some cap space available. Should be interesting what trades and signings will be made and tbh I find FA way more interesting than the draft, because apart from a few players, I am not very familiar with those gazillions of college players.

[morvillz7z]

New CBA was voted and approved today by the NFL players with just 60 votes more in favor of the agreement 1,019 to 959.

NFL players approve new CBA, runs through 2030

Some key takeaways from the new CBA:

• "17 regular-season games as early as the 2021"
• "Adding two additional playoff teams"
• "New labor agreement limits teams to using only one franchise tag."
• "The 14-team playoff would have the top seed earning a first-round bye while seeds No. 2 through No. 7 would play on Wild-Card Weekend."
• "The expanded playoff is expected to begin in 2020."

sources and more information:

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-players-vote-to-ratify-new-cba-extending-labor-peace-through-2030-141728474.html
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-players-vote-to-approve-cba-17-game-season-and-expanded-playoffs-on-horizon/

[South Park]

New CBA was voted and approved today by the NFL players with just 60 votes more in favor of the agreement 1,019 to 959.

NFL players approve new CBA, runs through 2030

Some key takeaways from the new CBA:

• "17 regular-season games as early as the 2021"
• "Adding two additional playoff teams"
• "New labor agreement limits teams to using only one franchise tag."
• "The 14-team playoff would have the top seed earning a first-round bye while seeds No. 2 through No. 7 would play on Wild-Card Weekend."
• "The expanded playoff is expected to begin in 2020."

sources and more information:

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-players-vote-to-ratify-new-cba-extending-labor-peace-through-2030-141728474.html
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-players-vote-to-approve-cba-17-game-season-and-expanded-playoffs-on-horizon/

With such a narrow margin of victory it is interesting to think that most likely the current world events had a lot to do with the quick approval of the CBA taking into account how many of the most prominent NFL stars seemed to be against it, it seemed as if this was going to be rejected but many of them never gave an explanation for their reasons and it seems the rest of the players decided to accept this deal because we do not know how bad things could get from now on and they took whatever deal they had in front of them.

From what I read, Bruce Arians is very interested in getting Tom Brady and TB certainly has some cap space available. Should be interesting what trades and signings will be made and tbh I find FA way more interesting than the draft, because apart from a few players, I am not very familiar with those gazillions of college players.

Tampa Bay has been in the mix of the teams Tom Brady could end up for some time and it makes sense, Winston had 30 interceptions and 5 fumbles lost and they went 7-9 because of it, Brady could easily lead them to go 10-6 or even 11-5, however it is a little bit sad but completely understandable that so many sports cancelled their activities and quite honestly the only thing left for me to be excited about is the NFL Free Agency.

[tyKiwanuka]

Tampa Bay has been in the mix of the teams Tom Brady could end up for some time and it makes sense, Winston had 30 interceptions and 5 fumbles lost and they went 7-9 because of it, Brady could easily lead them to go 10-6 or even 11-5, however it is a little bit sad but completely understandable that so many sports cancelled their activities and quite honestly the only thing left for me to be excited about is the NFL Free Agency.

Would like to see TB in TB^^ They already have an explosive offense and I enjoyed watching them last season. Adding Brady should guarantee them a playoff spot as you said. Their defense could benefit from this move as well, since Brady will allow them more rest than Winston did. I still think Winston is a good QB, but a Bruce Arians offense is probably a bit too much for him and his abilities and confidence.

The Titans locked up Tannehill now, so Brady will at least not go to the Titans. TEN will pay him $118mln on paper for four years, which is insane imo. He is a middle of the pack QB in my book, who just happened to have a very good stretch last season and was also helped by an incredible RB and very good quality around him overall. I guess, this is what you have to pay nowadays, but I don't like that deal. If the team doesn't click after last seasons tremendous achievement, TEN will regret that signing very soon imo. Titans will now tag Henry most likely.

[tyKiwanuka]

Lots of stuff happening already

LB Kyle Van Noy and CB Byron Jones are Dolphins now, Stefon Diggs signed with the Bills, Jimmy Graham from Green Bay to Chicago, Colts traded their first round pick for DeForest Buckner , DeAndre Hopkins signs with the Cardinals , Cowboys tagged Dak and gave Cooper five year deal, OT Conklin goes to Browns (too bad, would have loved to see him with the Giants), OG Glasgow to Broncos, NT Jason Hargrave from Steelers to Eagles.

Hard to keep up with all the news and it's just starting

[South Park]

My greatest nightmare as a NE fan has become a reality, Tom Brady is leaving and will play for another team, Brady has not made a decision on what team he will play next but it is definitive he will not play for NE, what a great run we had, most likely it will take a long time before we see anything like the success NE had during the last 20 years on any NFL team, thanks for the memories and for all the joy we experimented over the years and decades.

[tyKiwanuka]

My greatest nightmare as a NE fan has become a reality, (...)

Phew, what a shocker. Never thought, this would really happen. I remember how sad I was, when Eli Manning was benched, because it was the start of the end of him (and meant his incredible consecutive starts streak came to an end too). His official retirement last season was not that hard to swallow for me, because I was prepared and tbh he just didn't have it anymore and it was time to move on.
Feeling sorry for the Pats Nation and can imagine what the fans go through now. Such a legend. I started following the NFL only in 2003 and there always was the Patriots with Brady as their goat QB being glued together. Will be really strange to have the Pats without him.

But otoh I am also curious to see what NE can do without him and what Brady can do with another team.

[morvillz7z]

Tampa Bay has been in the mix of the teams Tom Brady could end up for some time and it makes sense, Winston had 30 interceptions and 5 fumbles lost and they went 7-9 because of it, Brady could easily lead them to go 10-6 or even 11-5

Would like to see TB in TB^^ They already have an explosive offense and I enjoyed watching them last season. Adding Brady should guarantee them a playoff spot as you said. Their defense could benefit from this move as well, since Brady will allow them more rest than Winston did. I still think Winston is a good QB, but a Bruce Arians offense is probably a bit too much for him and his abilities and confidence.

"Tampa is the expected landing spot for Tom Brady barring anything unforeseen, sources tell me and @JeffDarlington." tweet

I guess it's a done deal then if Adam Schefter is reporting the news...

Bucs extended Mike Evans last week through 2023 season, as tyKiwanuka pointed out Brady will have a lot of options on offense in contrast of what he had last year.

"Super Bowl LV - The game is scheduled to be played on February 7, 2021, in Tampa, Florida." 

[DireWolfM14]

It's official; the Patriots are not re-signing Brady.  Wow, it's the end of a NFL era!  20 years of Dominating the league, and setting so many records, Brady is the greatest of all time.  I say this as a life-long 49ers fan, who grew up watching Joe Montana dominate during his time.  I'm not a Patriots fan, but I do consider myself a Tom Brady fan.  I wish him a long and healthy continuation of his great career.

The news of him going to Tampa seems fairly solid.  I think it's a good move for Brady and the Bucks.  Of course nothing is official until the contract is signed, so we'll see.  Part of me wanted to see #12 wearing the 9er's Red and Gold.  Not because I think it would make the team better (which it might have,) but I think Brady really wanted it.  He grew up a 9er's fan, and his Dad is still a big fan of the team.  He also has family ties in the area, so he would essentially be coming home.  And it would have been pretty cool to have the best quarterback ever wearing our colors.  Again.  

Belichick must have a plan, but who will be starting for the Pats this season?  Jarrett Stidham is probably still too green for the Pats' offense.  But who would have thought any different about Brady back in 2001?  I read a report that suggested back in 2017 Belichick anticipated Brady would want to go to the 9ers and there would be a chance to get Garoppolo back.  The report claimed that's why Belichick didn't shop Jimmy G around, and just suddenly traded him to SF.  And, it almost happened.  Belichick is a scheming football guru, who seems to "know" things, but did he actually plan that?

[tyKiwanuka]

Philip Rivers will not return to the Chargers and will be a free agent.

And he will go to the Colts. One year, $25mln guaranteed. Not bad, lets see how he will do there. Jags seem to be in rebuild mode (again ), but with the Titans and Texans this division is not easy, though wide open.

Belichick must have a plan, but who will be starting for the Pats this season?  Jarrett Stidham is probably still too green for the Pats' offense.

I read they do actually plan with Stidham, but I wouldn't be shocked, if Belichick comes up with someone completely different and surprising. I just don't know who it might be.


On another note, I was really surprised to see Jason Witten being signed by the Raiders. Dude played for the Cowboys all of his life and already retired in 2018 to work for ESPN. Then came out of retirement to play for another year in Dallas and now he still continues to play - but left the Cowboys. Glad he is out of the NFC East, but it's a strange move somehow.

[South Park]

Lots of stuff happening already

LB Kyle Van Noy and CB Byron Jones are Dolphins now, Stefon Diggs signed with the Bills, Jimmy Graham from Green Bay to Chicago, Colts traded their first round pick for DeForest Buckner , DeAndre Hopkins signs with the Cardinals , Cowboys tagged Dak and gave Cooper five year deal, OT Conklin goes to Browns (too bad, would have loved to see him with the Giants), OG Glasgow to Broncos, NT Jason Hargrave from Steelers to Eagles.

Hard to keep up with all the news and it's just starting

I am sorry for not addressing this post yesterday but I was too upset about the whole Brady situation.

Even if we exclude Brady this free agency has been crazy, Houston basically gave away Hopkins to Arizona for a second-round pick, while Minnesota got a great compensation for a problematic player with 4 picks including a first-round pick, Rivers to Indianapolis seemed like an obvious landing spot for him, Bridgewater signed a decent deal with Carolina, but I cannot understand how Tannehill and Cousins got such huge deals when Tannehill is a one-hit wonder and the other is a decent QB but that is all.

Phew, what a shocker. Never thought, this would really happen. I remember how sad I was, when Eli Manning was benched, because it was the start of the end of him

I do not really know which one is harder, to see your QB playing for someone else or seeing him being benched, but both are hard.

But otoh I am also curious to see what NE can do without him and what Brady can do with another team.

Most likely Brady is going to win this one on the short term since NE only has 3 millions in cap space thanks to 18 millions on dead cap space courtesy of TB and AB and they will need those 3 millions to sign the rookies so they do not have too much room for improvement on any position unless they begin to cut players.

Belichick must have a plan, but who will be starting for the Pats this season?  Jarrett Stidham is probably still too green for the Pats' offense.

Belichick may not have any other option, with 3 millions on cap space it is going to be impossible to sign a veteran QB, another option could be to draft a QB with their first-round pick and let Stidham and the rookie compete for the starting job.

[bbc.reporter]

Nick Foles went to the Chicago Bears. Is he a good player? He won a Superbowl and a Superbowl MVP award from playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, why was he transferred to the Jaguars from the Eagles and then to the Bears from the Jaguars?

[tyKiwanuka]

However, why was he transferred to the Jaguars from the Eagles and then to the Bears from the Jaguars?

Jaguars are banking on Minshew to lead them to glory They probably just wanted to get rid of Foles and his huge contract at any cost and found the Bears, who were willing to trade for him. I am a bit surprised, that the Bears are already kind of giving up on Trubisky, but then again he wasn't really helping the Bears. Word is, that both are competing to be the starting QB, but if Foles is healthy, he should get the job easily.


The Chargers are finally strengthening their trenches, should have done that, while Rivers was still in his prime:

Los Angeles Chargers

Biggest remaining needs: QB, OL, LB

Bryan Bulaga, OT: Agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract, according to Rapoport.

Austin Ekeler, RB: Agreed to a four-year, $24.5 million contract that includes $15 million guaranteed, Rapoport reported.

Chris Harris, CB: Expected to join the Chargers on a two-year, $20 million deal, Rapoport reported.

Hunter Henry, TE: The team placed the franchise tag on Henry.

Linval Joseph, DT: Agreed to a two-year, $17 million contract that can be worth up to $19 million with incentives, Garafolo reported.

Trai Turner, OG: Acquired in a trade with the Carolina Panthers in exchange for left tackle Russell Okung, Rapoport reported.

Source: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001106399/article/2020-nfl-free-agency-tracker-teambyteam-signings-and-trades

Everything is pointing to them drafting a QB now. Burrow is a lock to get chosen #1 by the Bengals and then you have Herbert/Tagovailoa for Dolphins/Chargers. If the Chargers are sold on either Herbert or Tagovailoa, they will consider trading up and that should result in some (future) extra picks for the Redskins/Lions/Giants.


I always liked the NFC South. Now with Brady joining the Bucs, it even got better. Two games Brady vs. Brees guaranteed, mouth-watering. Now we just need the Falcons to get back to where they were some years ago and this will be one hell of a divison Out of curiosity I checked the odds for NFC South winner:


Source: https://www.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/nfl-futures

[South Park]

Nick Foles went to the Chicago Bears. Is he a good player? He won a Superbowl and a Superbowl MVP award from playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, why was he transferred to the Jaguars from the Eagles and then to the Bears from the Jaguars?

The case of Nick Foles is interesting, in my opinion he is just a better Ryan Fitzmagic with the difference that he plays the best on the post season which makes him more valuable, he has been in 5 teams if we include Chicago and most of his success came with Philadelphia on the two different times he was with the team, Philadelphia tried to keep him but he could get out of his contract by paying 2 millions back to the team, this was done by him because as we know there is a shortage of good QBs and if you are a backup that won a SB then you will get a starting job elsewhere.

Jacksonville traded him because not only they found a cheaper alternative on Gardner Minshew but he is also way more marketable as he became a sensation on Jacksonville during the last season.

[bbc.reporter]

@tyKiwanuka. There were articles that were saying that a Superbowl winning quarter back would be joining the Bears. I was shaking my head asking myself how many Superbowls, 6? Tom Brady went to the Bucaneers hehehe.

[tyKiwanuka]

The Rams have revealed their new logo:


Source: https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1242165775647023105

I liked that old logo with that big horned sheep way better. I actually bought Rams gear some years ago because of that logo and the blue/gold colour combination, lol. That new logo reminds me a bit of the Chargers logo and now these teams even happen to play in the same city, weird.


There are lots of trades happening, but nothing really worth mentioning. Cowboys C Frederick will retire. Probably one of the best centers in the league, but it's not that hard to find good centers and they are rather cheap. The Panthers are doing some QB stunts and I can only scratch my head, what they are doing. They still want to get rid of Cam, traded Allen to the Redskins for a pick, signed Bridgewater, the best QB from XFL and still have Grier on their roster. Being in a division with Matty Ice, Brees and Brady, Carolina looks like a train wreck.

Patriots have signed Hoyer. Stumbled across this tweet, which suggests Hoyer being or having been an important piece for them/Brady:


Source: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1241814291034050564

And this article speculates about Watson being the next longterm QB for NE.

[South Park]

The Rams have revealed their new logo:


Source: https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1242165775647023105

I liked that old logo with that big horned sheep way better. I actually bought Rams gear some years ago because of that logo and the blue/gold colour combination, lol. That new logo reminds me a bit of the Chargers logo and now these teams even happen to play in the same city, weird.

That logo is a big mistake, if you take a look at some of the NFL team logos that have a similar theme you will see striking differences to avoid any confusion among the fans, I am surprised they have chosen almost the same colors as the chargers and while they tried to incorporate the horn of a ram there it looks very similar in shape to the logo of the chargers, if I was the charges I will change my logo immediately, personally I always felt they could create a very cool logo if they actually used realistic lightning in their helmet and their uniforms but that is just me.

The Panthers are doing some QB stunts and I can only scratch my head, what they are doing. They still want to get rid of Cam, traded Allen to the Redskins for a pick, signed Bridgewater, the best QB from XFL and still have Grier on their roster. Being in a division with Matty Ice, Brees and Brady, Carolina looks like a train wreck.

Cam got released, Carolina tried to trade him but there were no takers and it is easy to understand why, if you were a team interested in Cam you could afford to wait since it was clear Carolina could not keep Terry and Cam at the same time.

Patriots have signed Hoyer. Stumbled across this tweet, which suggests Hoyer being or having been an important piece for them/Brady:


Source: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1241814291034050564

There are reports that say that Hoyer will have a chance to compete for the starting job against Stidham so there are several paths NE can take now, they could decide they are settled at QB but I find that unlikely, they could draft a QB on the first-round, cut the third QB and let the three of them compete for the job, the final option could be to trade their first-round pick of this year for another first-round the next year and maybe even trade one of their good players for another first-round pick on the next year draft and get a total of three first-round picks and then tank this year to get Trevor Lawrence, this may seem weird but from what I have heard Lawrence and other QBs that will be available next year seem to be even better than the current class so Belichick could take some criticism this year for letting Brady go but he will make sure to get his QB during the next draft.

And this article speculates about Watson being the next longterm QB for NE.

I find that very unlikely, this is the last year of his contract but since he was selected on the first-round he can be extended for an additional year and he could be tagged twice in a similar way to what happened to Kirk Cousins, so while he may have the desire to play for NE now at the earliest that could happen until 2024 and by then NE could had found their QB already or if they have not then they will be an average team and he could find a better place for him to play.

[tyKiwanuka]

That logo is a big mistake, (...)

During these boring times, we can maybe have a look at all those logos:



Source: https://www.sportslogos.net/teams/list_by_league/7/National_Football_League/NFL/logos/

By far my #1 is the Cardinals, I just like that bird. Raiders is quite cool and I also like the Viking from MIN. Most boring is Chicago, and Jacksonville I never liked as well. Both New Yorks won't get any design award any time soon too.

There are reports that say that Hoyer will have a chance to compete for the starting job against Stidham so there are several paths NE can take now, they could decide they are settled at QB but I find that unlikely, they could draft a QB on the first-round, cut the third QB and let the three of them compete for the job, the final option could be to trade their first-round pick of this year for another first-round the next year and maybe even trade one of their good players for another first-round pick on the next year draft and get a total of three first-round picks and then tank this year to get Trevor Lawrence, this may seem weird but from what I have heard Lawrence and other QBs that will be available next year seem to be even better than the current class so Belichick could take some criticism this year for letting Brady go but he will make sure to get his QB during the next draft.

For me it's kind of weird thought to imagine Stidham/Hoyer being the starting QB for them this season. They have done quite well without Brady in 2008 (and 2016), but back then, it was just a matter of time, until Brady would return.
Not sure, if Belichick is the guy to tank and drafting a QB with a high pick in 2021 isn't a recipe for success too. If we expect Lawrence to need 1-2 seasons to adapt, you are looking at a 2-3 year span, where the Pats are in some vacuum. Now this is something that all teams have to go through every now and then (some teams even for ages ), but it will be strange to see the Pats maybe only being a middle of the pack team after so many years of domination.