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

Don't understand why people are upset about players holding out. It's the only leverage they have. Sure they have a contract, but its one-sided. They can be cut at any time and not get full value of the contract. Kahail Mack is in the last year of his contract, the Raiders haven't even talked extension since February and all he gets for reporting is a chance to get hurt. His $13 mil doesn't kick in until the regular season.

 

WAAAAAAAY back when I was covering an NFL beat in the days before unrestricted free agency, you always knew when a veteran's contract was up he was going to hold out until a week or two before the season. Not because of any real contract dispute, but because he wanted to get out of camp.

 

I'm not sure Cockrell was done just because he was pushed out in Pittsburgh. More than a few decent players end up getting shoved out, labeled "a bad fit" because of fan base, scheme, chemistry in the locker room or goodness knows what else, and end up working well in another spot.

Cockrell never had blazing speed, but right now the Panthers need cover corners. They never got over losing Josh Norman. James Bradberry looks like he has the potential, but the secondary has been getting knocked around during the learning curve. Bene Benwikere was a sacrificial lamb who Rivera foolishly cut because Julio Jones burned him for 300 yards (thing is, if getting beat by Julio is the standard, a lot of current starting cornerbacks would be on the street). Captain Munnerlyn came back, but so far, he's a nickel/slot corner.

The kid Donte Jackson might be a hot dog. He has Norman's swagger. Then again, he could be burnt worse than bread in a broken toaster.

 

I was also basing that on watching every game Cockrell played for two years in Pittsburgh. He wasn't good.

 

This spring Tom Brady skipped OTAs and there were howls of pain from fans and the lower elements of the media. If Brady doesn't know how to play football already, who does? It's not just that fans take management's side of things, that happens in all sports. In football, it's like the players are their property.

 

I thought Cockrell was decent. I really liked him when the first got playing time. I think he was one of the brighter spots on a woeful secondary in 2016.

When you can't generate a rush on a QB, I don't care who you have in the secondary, someone is getting open.

 

He showed some promise at times in 2015, but regarding 2016, we will have to agree to disagree. Either day, I feel for the guy having such a nasty injury.

 

Patriots spend 15 yrs telling their fans every practice matters and they work harder than everyone else, then the QB gets mad when they believe it

 

Oh, I have no sympathy for Brady here. He's trying to monetize the myth with TB12. But it's so sappy. These same morons said with Brady and are saying again with Edelman, that missing the first quarter of the regular season is good because the player will be fresher for the playoff run. It'd serve 'em right if Brady came in after tomorrow's practice and said, "God this is boring. I'm retiring effectively immediately."

 

Looks like the NFL got a real handle on the whole catch/hit situation. Should be a fun year.

 

They may just want to outlaw playing defense at this point. That does look like a correct interpretation of the new rule because he put his head down and hit the opposing player with his helmet, but this will not go well once the game counts.

I did see the revised catch rule early in the game and I thought it improved things. That said, I don't think the definition of a catch was the only problem last season. The league also abandoned the part about needing indisputable evidence to overturn a call. That needs to be addressed.

 

Yeah... Thought the same thing.
They blew that call. I thought the earlier call they made was spot on. This on? No.
And here we go again.