NFL offseason thread

https://twitter.com/OnionSports/statuses/311525385978380288

 

Do free agents really affect a team these days?

I used to think free agency was way overrated; at least the big money guys, how'd Haynesworth do? Sidney Rice? Roosevelt Colvin?

Thinking back to the 2012 season, what free agents made an impact on the playoff teams? Niners only really added Moss, although Manningham helped some. Falcons? How'd they add? Ravens? Pats?

Of course there was Manning in Denver but that's the exception I'd say. No one like him this year.

Bargain guys help. Here's hoping Reed comes to SF with a bargain price not a superstar price (his most memorable SB play was an uncalled offsides.)

 

Kruger to the Browns...

 

Kruger has the potential to be a 15 sack guy, it's just hard to put a ton of faith in a guy who couldn't get motivated to push himself until he entered a contract year. That an he's worthless against the run. I can't remember how many snaps he played in the Super Bowl, but I think it was less than half. He did have a big sack on Kaep though, so hopefully the Browns get that guy instead of the guy who partied his way through his first three years in the league.

 

I thought that Kruger was an LDS guy. Could not have been much of a party.

Strikes me as a player that has hit his peak and The Browns are not going to get what they expected. The Jason Bay of the NFL.

 

This is where it gets interesting for the Ravens... When they won their first Super Bowl in 2000, IIRC, they had so many salary cap issues that they missed the playoffs in four of the next seven seasons... To be fair, they really only had two really bad seasons (6-10 and 5-11) during that stretch...

I don't expect that to happen again. Newsome is a great GM, I don't know if he's the best GM in the game, but if someone said that he was, I wouldn't argue with them. John Harbaugh is a great coach.

I think they can replace the talent. I think it's going to be the leadership that they may struggle with next season...

 

I don't know if any team has won a Super Bowl with a quarterback getting paid like that. I don't think Peyton Manning had hit the stratosphere by 2006, maybe he had. Brees wasn't quite that far, Eli hit payday in 2009 but it was $15M annual average and "only" $35M guaranteed over seven years which tells me there was lots of built-in flexibility.

Cap problems have hit the Pats, Packers, Colts and others. Hard to slice up a pie that's so much smaller for the other 52 players.

 

That is why teams like the Seahawks and Niners have such a great opportunity over the next couple years. Having Wilson and Kapernick making peanuts allows them to make some bold moves.

 

It's possible the big quarterback contracts will one day be viewed the way 10-year deals are now viewed in baseball. Costs too much over the life of the deal and you can't afford enough elsewhere, unless you draft starters in the first three rounds year after year.

 

It's one thing when the guy who is making that much is going to throw 35-40 touchdowns.

 

It depends... I think Manning and Brees were both among the highest-paid guys in the NFL the years where their teams won the Super Bowl.

 

You could throw the Colts into the mix as well. The Redskins have enough cap problems that they're probably not in a position to take advantage of the QB savings they get with RG3.