2014 NFL draft thread (no longer too early)

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

There will be backups next season making almost the same as the first QB taken in this draft. There are a couple backups making more than $5 million a year and I think the top pick will average something close to $5.5 million a year for four years.

I don't have a problem with that, especially not where guys like Colin Kaepernick are likely to get $18M deals after three years in the league.

Obviously, you don't waste a high pick and you don't take a QB just for the sake of doing so, but if you're the Jaguars or Texans or Browns and you can get a QB who you think has a chance to be your starter of the future, I think you're more likely to use a high pick then to wait, at least moreso than previous years.

This did not happen last year, probably because it was the crappiest QB class in recent memory.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The Raiders are a wreck everywhere, so they can draft purely on overall player rating. The Browns and Jaguars, whom I actually watched several times last season, are not complete wrecks and could improve significantly if they address their yawning voids at QB.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

It says a lot that any of the top QBs would be a lot better off going to Jacksonville than to Oakland or Cleveland.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The Raiders were way over the cap and had to purge their roster.
They are still paying for Al's roster decisions.
Better to lose with these temp workers than Carson Palmer and DeAngelo Hall.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The only way the Raiders are going to be successful again will be if a big name coach or GM goes there and gets complete control or a player like Andrew Luck falls into their lap.

Gruden's constant flirtation with going back to the Raiders is intriguing, but I can't imagine it actually happening. If things go completely sideways with Harbaugh in SF, I could see Oakland making a run at him, but I don't think even Harbaugh is that crazy.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

3 Octave is right. The Raiders are just less far along in the reconstruction process than some of their fellow flotsam and jetsam. They're still hauling away rubble, where Jacksonville has at least poured a little concrete.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The Jags are rebuilding. The Raiders are just waiting to bring out the wrecking crew once again, and I think people feel the same way about the Browns. One good year can change that dramatically, because at this time last year, people would have said the same thing about the Jets and Panthers.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Maybe I'm just overimpressed by the game against the Pats they eventually blew, but Cleveland looked to me like it had a number of pieces of a good team on its roster.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

There were reports McKenzie's job was on the line in January.
They are in a tough predicament. They must turn it around now if they want to stay in Oakland.
The stadium negotiations are going very badly.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

They will never get a stadium.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Yeah, I can't imagine a scenario where the Raiders stay in Oakland and get a stadium.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Yeah, if there's one thing voters in California have been fairly consistent on, it's not spending public money for sports facilities.

Prior to the new 49ers stadium opening this year, the only new Big 4 sports stadium/arena that had opened in California this century was Petco Park (2004).