2018 NFL off-season thread: Mr. Alex Smith goes to Washington

I wouldn't pick Rob for a Jeopardy contestant, but he seems pretty well grounded to me. At least he knows he has a future after age 35. So many jocks don't.

 

My 9-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son know who Gronk is because of the kids marketing he does.

 

@Justin_Rice is an Eagles fan?

 

I reckon you’re right. Tried to find evidence of trade and signs with backup qbs who of that quality — or any quality — and came up empty.

 

Quarterbacks now understand — but especially agents understand — that there are only about 10 good ones in the league at any given point. And there are maybe 10 serviceable ones, and 10-12 bad ones. So any QB who hits the open market with potential is going to get paid a ton. QBs just don't hit the open market, so they're all willing to risk injury if it means they might. Manning and Brees are the only good ones to do it in recent years, and it only happened because they both had major injuries that put their careers in doubt.

Flacco has proven in the last four years that he is essentially the epitome of average. You can definitely do better, but you can also definitely do way worse. So if he became a free agent today (assuming his back injury was healed) someone would give him $65 million guaranteed. Maybe Buffalo or the Jets or Cleveland or Phoenix. All of them would be at least interested, because the alternative is hot garbage.

It says a lot about the frustrating experience fans have these days watching the product. The league can't develop enough good QBs, so half the product is no fun to watch. Thus, if you see one with unlimited potential, might as well gamble or end up with CJ Bethard or Christian Ponder.

Look at how many teams have been snookered into paying Sam Bradford money!

 

I'm not so sure he has a future after 35, even if he retires tomorrow. That damage is done.

 

You and DD of course makse sense. It's just hard to juxtapose the so-far-ahead-of-the-game-they're-lapping-the-field Patriots with the narrative of the Patriots scrambling this week, of which I am automatically suspicious b/c it's being parroted by the league's and/or the Patriots' biggest water carriers (PK, Breer, Reiss, etc).

 

I try to fathom the scenario where one minute I’m $73 million richer, guaranteed. I think I would shit twice and die, but at least my family would be taken care of.

 

Bert Breer on Boston talk radio this morning: 1. Blamed NFL rules for McDaniels backing out of Indy, not McDaniels. Insisted McDaniels would be a good NFL head coach in New England. Given the coverage of McDaniels in the Globe by Ben Volin, I don't think it is too difficult to figure out who's been the main source for reporters in Patriotsland the past few years.

 

I don't place myself in their shoes because I'd just play one year and retire to a tropical island. I'd become completely unambitious once I've got $10 million in my account.

I'd be a terrible rich person.

 

Honestly, it's a shit-ton of money but it's money well spent. The Niners' QBs were crap this season until Garappolo got there. The team was 1-10 before he got the start and the team finished 6-10 with two* wins over playoff teams. And forget the small sample size, he got 100 percent buy-in from the locker room. Players believed in him and it showed up on the field. Now you you have a team with $80 million in cap space to attract free agents. The Niners need nearly an entirely new O line and new D line plus one or two receivers. You think top talent is going to sign if CJ Beathard is the QB? Or Hoyer? F-no. Jimmy G changes that. Sure he had the Niners over a barrel but that if that contract means the Niners can put pieces on place to be a playoff team next season it will be worth every penny.

*Rams were a third but they played their practice squad in the last game