NFL offseason thread

Manning's regular season numbers after his rookie year were just fine. Indeed, the rap on him was the same as on Jackson, "couldn't do it in the playoffs." Until he, you know, did.

 

Okay, you run the Ravens and decide you don't want to invest long term in Jackson.
Please describe the next steps you take, to replace Jackson at qb.

 

Aaron Rodgers wants out of GB. He'd stay but only if he doesn't have to start a conf champ game.

 

Seems like it was just this time last year when we were all agog over how great a QB Justin Hebert was going to be.

 

I would imagine they would have a plan. Their choices are limited. 1. Pick up his 5th year option, which makes him their guy, this year and next. 2. Possibly franchise him after that (paying out the wazoo for a year or two, before committing long-term) or 3. Commit long-term this year (I expect the Browns to do that with Mayfield later this summer; his 5YO was picked up last week). Or cut bait, which isn't going to happen yet. But if they cut bait, they'll do what anyone would do, search for another guy. But they won't pay him Mahomes-type money if they don't think he can carry the team. It's too much of a cap hit to not have an extremely dominant player or one with a likely upside. As some have suggested, Jackson may already have peaked. If you believe that, you can't justify $30 mill a year. If you believe he can get better, you pay him. It's up to the Ravens to figure that out, not me. It's why the QB's first five years are really your best chance to win with him, though. Until, at least, he gets to the end of his 10+ year deal, at which time he presumably would be cheap.

 

Is Aaron Rodgers turning into the diva Bitch that Favre was, or was he always like that?

 

That only took, you know, nine years.

 

To win a Super Bowl. Took Elway 14. Marino, Moon and Dan Fouts never did. You would've passed on or lowballed them after the fifth year option, assuming today's contract structure was in place?

 

A: Aaron Rodgers’ tenure in Green Bay.

Q: What is in Jeopardy?

 

There's more to it than that, though. I think after four years it was clear that Manning was a long-term answer. After three, I don't think it's clear that Jackson is. The Ravens still have two years to figure it out. Maybe even four. But I don't think he's going to get a Mahomes-style deal. Mayfield and Allen probably will (though their teams also should be in no rush); they seem to be headed in the right direction whereas Jackson seems to have regressed a bit and has been awful in the playoffs. To continue the Manning-Jackson (and Mayfield and Allen) comparison, in Mahomes they all may have a Brady-level roadblock in front of them.

 

I mean, I was 14 at the time, so I might be mistaken. But I was under the impression that Peyton Manning was ALWAYS seen as the answer in Indy from like, I don't know, the first few games onward? Like, his numbers looked shitty at various points because he was trying to do too much. Nobody doubted the talent. The playoffs thing is a separate issue - he probably had bad luck early on, average luck in the middle and won a Super Bowl, and then great luck later on and got one with Denver.

Again, I think it's too soon to say that Jackson isn't ever going to be good enough in the playoffs to win a Super Bowl. But I do think there are some "does this shit work in the playoffs?" vibe with his skill set. But also - the playoffs are hard, and I'd roll the dice with Jackson like, five or six times, before I'd move on from him.

 

It shocks me how people can be so cavalier about kicking to the curb a high-echelon qb. Lamar Jackson was the unanimous league MVP in 2019. So since he wasn't the league MVP in 2020, yes he did regress. Oh well, that's what message boards are for.

Good luck replacing him with a qb ready to take you to the Super Bowl. Teams go decades without viable, MVP level qbs.