2019 NFL off-season thread

ESPN is reporting (FWIW) a 21.1 million cap hit for the Steelers this year.
This is a great day. The Steelers and Tomlin are shown to be the bitches of Antonio Brown. He played them like fools. Tomlin for all his fake tough guy games like trying to trip an opposing player during a game is shown to be a regular bully. When pushed they cower. And the Steelers organization panicked and succumbed to Brown. And the raiders are paying a guy, up front money, who has no desire to work and play hard. Brown’s going to make Gruden look weak quickly.
Great day.

 

I don't see where Tomlin figures in this very much. Trading away Brown for such a low return was horrendous, but trading away a star isn't a coach's decision, it's a front office and ownership decision. For once, I think OOP's take on the Steelers is correct. This franchise needs new people at the top.

 

Get rid of the guys who drafted Bell, Brown, Schuster, Conner and that O-line?

 

Get rid of the guys who lost two All-Pros for nothing in return.

 

To the extent that it was strictly about money, Tomlin may be an innocent by-stander to the transgressions made by people with bigger titles and smaller paychecks. Bell and Brown seem like All-Pro assholes and Tomlin, contrary to his general reputation, could not keep them focused on their job, which ultimately is his job.
In an odd twist, the quintessential AfricanAmerican football coach, the young, relatable players coach, hitched his star to the white QB. The coach chose the never reformed Prima Donna but formerly white drunken-rapist QB, because the operative word in African American Young Relateable Players’ Coach, is ‘coach’. For all Tomlin’s false bravado and attempts at keeping it real, he knew his money was made, AS DOES EVERY OTHER COACH, on the Quarterback. Not the flamboyant receiver or diva back.

 

Second and sixth round picks.

The Steelers are still loaded with young talent.

They couldn’t control two nut jobs. I’m not ripping up an organization over that.

 

I'm not invested in the Steelers one way or the other. They got rid of two guys who were clubhouse cancers, no matter how good they were on the field. It looks to me as though they had little choice about doing that. Could it have been handled better at various points on the decision loop? Sure - although a lot of that is hindsight.

Like most NFL drafts and trades, it will be a couple of years before we know how it actually grades out. Gruden now has a very talented WR who is going to be at best difficult to control, and at worst will be disruptive as hell. If, as speculated, the Raiders also go after Bell, they get more talented fast - and Gruden's contract is going to feel years longer. Good luck with that.

 

They got plenty in return — like getting past this shit. They haven’t won anything with Bell and Brown, two me-first dipshits. The raiders traded away amari Cooper and khaki Mack and then trade for this idiot? Hah. Steelers got what they could for a 31 year old moron who is now playing for the worst franchise in the nfl. Is the last laugh ever on the Steelers when it comes to things like this?

 

Bc the QB is not as easily replaceable, it’s that simple. It has nothing to do with race. I don’t begrudge Bell for getting paid, but Brown is just an asshole.

 

As long as Papa Ben is there the biggest and most empowered clubhouse cancer remains.

 

Winning is the best chemo.

 

It's not much. There is no way this trade looks good. Brown did the equivalent of a 3-year-old holding his breath and stomping his feet until he got his way and the Steelers caved. Brown beat them. The Raiders beat them, too. And the worst part is they still had a week until the roster bonus. They showed a complete lack of resolve and courage on this one. Between the disaster of the 2018 season, the Bell situation and this, I've never found the Steelers to be more of an embarrassment in over 40 years as a fan.