Week 2 NFL thread

I agree there. The contracts make it much less fun.

I think Simmons might be trying too hard to carry Mike Lombardi's water on this one. All those guys he mentioned had a lot more wear and tear than a second-year player. Lynch was in his fourth year and had some severe off-field issues too, and everyone else was at least five years in. Edge was 10 years in and closer to retirement than anything else. He's trying a bit too hard to make his point.

I can't remember any trade quite like this one of a marquee running back this early.

 

Richardson has less than 400 carries, right? Isn't he like 22? Unreal. I still think it turns out to be a good trade for both teams in the long run with that teeny caveat that Cleveland doesn't fuck up the pick.

Pretty fascinating all around, though.

 

I guess the question will be whether he is actually an elite back or not. Obviously the Cleveland brass don't think he will be and traded him when his price would be the highest.

I think Richardson has to turn into one of the best backs in the league for this to blow up in Clevelands face. Even if he has some very good years they should be able to get a back that comes close if not exceeds that type of production.

Richardson right now is probably the third best back in that draft, with apologies to Christine Michael so getting first round value doesn't seem all bad to me.

It's a ballsy, ballsy move that would probably be better received if it wasn't made by the Browns and their embarrassing history of player evaluations.

 

Mybe it really is "contracts," but the reason there are so few trades of top players is the signing bonus rule when it comes to the cap. If they made it so you could still space out the signing-bonus cap hit over the cours of the contract, trades would be easier to make.

Example: Sign a guy to a five-year deal that includes a $10-million signing bonus. If you want to trade that player after two years, your cap takes a $6-million hit in the first year after the trade. If you could still space that out as $2 million a year over the next three years, trades become much more feasible.

It's simply a bookkeeping rule that would not be tht hard to change.