NFL 2013 NFL - Off-Season & Pre-Draft Discussion

[Sven]

With this move, I'm fairly certain it will result with letting Albert go and taking Joeckel @ 1st overall. Good LT prospect at a marginal cost in comparison to Albert.

Yep, as I stated above the Joeckel contract will be just over $22 mill over 4 years. You could assume that Albert would want something greater than the five-year, $38.5 million deal that Will Beatty just signed

 

[Woodson]

The only problem with that plan is there's no standout player that teams are salivating over that would cause them to trade up. All I've heard over the last few weeks is the desire of teams to move down, there's no talk of anyone wanting to move up at all.

I don't buy into teams wanting to advertise their desire (right now) to move up the boards as the fact still remains whether the Niners intend to do something dramatic with their boatload of 15 picks!! The other obvious factor is that some HC's have their necks on the line and needing to upgrade with 'NEEDS' rather than BPA's is the other reason to push up the boards. I expect a day out from draft day, there will no doubt be dealings wheeled right left & centre along with on the go deals as the draft unfolds. Teams don't need the media to patronize them into who they should pick... as we all remember the Seahawks shocking plenty with 'so called reaches' that the media are clearly not having too much too say as the Seahawks did it smartly... and it clearly paid off!!

 

[Brasher]

In the best interests of GG style conspiracy theories, I'm more than a little intrigued by the timing and value of the Tom Brady contract extension.

Right in the middle of the Joe Flacco contract negotiations (which seem to be going nowhere) where Flacco and his agent are trying to parlay a month of good football into him becoming the highest paid QB in the league, arguably the Ravens biggest Conference rival go and give what appears a modest contract extension to their own multiple SB winning QB.

Could the Patriots be playing at a little mischief by artificially lowering the ceiling for elite QBs with the intent of creating a divide between Flacco's asking price and what the Ravens see as true market value thus unsettling their biggest rival?

Afterall:

- the Ravens don't have that much cap space lying around
- Ravens QBs have never been big ticket items
- with mobile QBs the rage, particularily those playing on their rookie contracts, is Flacco, going into 2013 being none of these things, really worth that much.
- do I have too much time on my hands? Probably.

 

[TheLad!]

In the best interests of GG style conspiracy theories, I'm more than a little intrigued by the timing and value of the Tom Brady contract extension.

Right in the middle of the Joe Flacco contract negotiations (which seem to be going nowhere) where Flacco and his agent are trying to parlay a month of good football into him becoming the highest paid QB in the league, arguably the Ravens biggest Conference rival go and give what appears a modest contract extension to their own multiple SB winning QB.

Could the Patriots be playing at a little mischief by artificially lowering the ceiling for elite QBs with the intent of creating a divide between Flacco's asking price and what the Ravens see as true market value thus unsettling their biggest rival?

Afterall:

- the Ravens don't have that much cap space lying around
- Ravens QBs have never been big ticket items
- with mobile QBs the rage, particularily those playing on their rookie contracts, is Flacco, going into 2013 being none of these things, really worth that much.
- do I have too much time on my hands? Probably.

wouldn't the pats then wait until that contract was signed, the only thing the brady deal does (if at all) is bring the potential value down,

if they waited the potential contract would've blown out and put greater financial pressure on the ravens

 

[Beetlebum]

I've been out of the loop a little haven't been catching up with the latest news but I was surprised to see on Mike and Mike that the Jets have apparently been shopping Revis at the Combine. Would be a good pick up for a team like San Fran, might just tip them over the edge.

 

[Blacky]

If that's the case then two second round picks for a starting QB who adds 7 wins on the previous year is by no means robbery (given recent QB trades by the Cards, Raiders, Seahawks) would be a steal for the Chiefs.

Even if it was one second rounder I would call it robbery. Remember how bad he was before JH got to SF? Kansas City dont have the staff to get the best out of a QB like that.

Plus it wouldn't be him adding seven wins even if it did happen, it would be him managing the game while guys like Charles and Hali win games.

 

[Brasher]

wouldn't the pats then wait until that contract was signed, the only thing the brady deal does (if at all) is bring the potential value down,

if they waited the potential contract would've blown out and put greater financial pressure on the ravens

That's my point, the Pats are dropping the ceiling on the going rate for elite QBs something the Flacco camp doesn't want to hear.

Not sure how the pats extended Brady after the ravens come to an agreement with Flacco would influence the Flacco deal.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Makes more sense patriots wanting flacco to get paid astronomically as it causes cap hell for the ravens, thus weakening their afc rival.

Thats what al davis did, raising salaries to cause hardship for rivals.

Anyway, brady didnt get reduced really. He got more front loaded than he had before just the cap hit on the back-end years pushed back further a couple more years.

 

[Brasher]

Even if it was one second rounder I would call it robbery. Remember how bad he was before JH got to SF? Kansas City dont have the staff to get the best out of a QB like that.

Plus it wouldn't be him adding seven wins even if it did happen, it would be him managing the game while guys like Charles and Hali win games.

Yes the bad Smith still lives fresh in my memory but his stock is high in the "what have you done for me lately" file. You can't fault his win record, quarter back rating, his age and relative experience and the fact he is a positive in the locker room. In a pretty ordinary QB draft class and the number of teams looking for a QB answer then a 2nd rounder isn;t too much to ask for the most important position on the field.

I see your point though re the harbaugh influence, but egos run long and deep in the NFL so the new KC staff probably believe they can get just as much out of Smith as Harbaugh did.

P.S. Smith is far more than a game manager when the staff learns to trust him.

 

[Brasher]

Makes more sense patriots wanting flacco to get paid astronomically as it causes cap hell for the ravens, thus weakening their afc rival..

Agreed, but the Flacco camp has already made it clear what they expect the contract to be worth so the follow on cap implications already exist.

The Pats move could be seen to give the Ravens ammunition to not pay to that level.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Agreed, but the Flacco camp has already made it clear what they expect the contract to be worth so the follow on cap implications already exist.

The Pats move could be seen to give the Ravens ammunition to not pay to that level.

Ok I get you. Well the ravens and flacco will end up compromising or flacco taking less to help the team hes loyal to and been good to him.

No way ravens lose there

 

[drd23]

FWIW it seems that most of the posturing about making Flacco the highest paid QB in the league is coming from his agent, not Joe Flacco himself. Flacco has said that he doesn't want his contract to cause the cutting of any of his teammates - something that is pretty likely if he insists on being paid $20m+/yr

I'd imagine that the contract will be done shortly before the deadline and that it will be less than $20m/yr but be loaded with guaranteed cash as that is what the Ravens tend to do when retaining their high-value FAs

 

[Dirty Bird]

No way ravens lose there

Just you wait.
Coincidence that Flacco played best when a new contract was on the line?
Lets just see him stink it up next year once he's getting the cash he wants

 

[Brasher]

FWIW it seems that most of the posturing about making Flacco the highest paid QB in the league is coming from his agent, not Joe Flacco himself. Flacco has said that he doesn't want his contract to cause the cutting of any of his teammates - something that is pretty likely if he insists on being paid $20m+/yr

That's just good cop/bad cop posturing. Flacco himself was the one that put the "I'm elite" in the public forum.

Flacco comments, whilst nice retoric regarding his teammates, will carry more substance if he actually named his lower price, which he won't do. Queue the "I leave the contract stuff to my agent" catch phrase.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Personally I hope flacco doesnt budge so full of himself. Ends up at the browns getting monster money and thus he slackens off all sated. The browns suffer. The ravens draft landry jones or Glennon and keep the wheels rolling. Making playoffs and winning another super bowl.


Btw ive heard rumors ravens might trade for rolano mcclain. Hed probably be resurrected there

 

[Blacky]

Personally I hope flacco doesnt budge so full of himself. Ends up at the browns getting monster money and thus he slackens off all sated. The browns suffer. The ravens draft landry jones or Glennon and keep the wheels rolling. Making playoffs and winning another super bowl.


Btw ive heard rumors ravens might trade for rolano mcclain. Hed probably be resurrected there

You had me until Landry Jones....

 

[drd23]

That's just good cop/bad cop posturing. Flacco himself was the one that put the "I'm elite" in the public forum.

Flacco comments, whilst nice retoric regarding his teammates, will carry more substance if he actually named his lower price, which he won't do. Queue the "I leave the contract stuff to my agent" catch phrase.

The thing is though that the 2 players most likely to be cut would be the #1 and #3 WRs - Anquan Boldin is due $6m in base salary and Jacoby Jones is due $4m. Flacco would be stupid to push so hard as to result in the cutting of 2 of the 3 best performing players in the SB because all he'd be left with is Torrey Smith (who Flacco constantly over/underthrows), Dennis Pitta and Ray Rice - that's not exactly a great receiving corps.

 

[Brasher]

The thing is though that the 2 players most likely to be cut would be the #1 and #3 WRs - Anquan Boldin is due $6m in base salary and Jacoby Jones is due $4m. Flacco would be stupid to push so hard as to result in the cutting of 2 of the 3 best performing players in the SB because all he'd be left with is Torrey Smith (who Flacco constantly over/underthrows), Dennis Pitta and Ray Rice - that's not exactly a great receiving corps.

Agreed.....I guess it depends on what is going through his own head.....does he think those WRs are good because of the QB, does he want to build a legacy (my all time least favourite sports Americanism by the way) or simply cash out?

 

[Sven]

The NFL announced to all 32 teams that the salary cap will jump from $120.6 million last year to $123 million in 2013, sources tell NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.

The increase is a marginal $2.4 million, but for teams any increase helps with balancing the books.

I've done a bit of salary cap 101 and the following seems reasonable for an NFL team.

|# Players|Total Salary|Average Salary
\Drafted players|28|$28,322,578|$1,011,521
\Undrafted players|8|$4,300,000|$537,500
\Marquee|1|$20,000,000|$20,000,000
\Elite|2|$20,000,000|$10,000,000
\Studs|4|$20,000,000|$5,000,000
\Veterans|10|$30,377,422|$3,037,742
\Total|53|$123,000,000|

The calculations assume four consecutive drafts with picks at (#4 in the first year, #12 in the second, #20 in the third, and #28 in the fourth)

I used salary data from http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/ to get the numbers associated with drafted and undrafted players.

Everyone gets excited about free agency, but as you can see from the above numbers, most of the players on a team have to come via the draft or from the undrafted rookie pool. Teams just can't afford to have too many veterans on their team as there just isn't enough cash to go that route.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

I've been out of the loop a little haven't been catching up with the latest news but I was surprised to see on Mike and Mike that the Jets have apparently been shopping Revis at the Combine. Would be a good pick up for a team like San Fran, might just tip them over the edge.

I've seen it reported that the Jets listened to offers but didn't actively shop Revis.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Regarding previous question about franchise tag...

10 things to know about the franchise tag

 

[Exe Gesis]

This is the stuff that drives me crazy. Nine out of the top 13 sack producing teams missed the playoffs last year.

Atlanta made a pretty strong SB push with a whopping 4 more sacks than Oakland! Sacks are the most over-rated stat in the NFL, IMO.

Remember in 2009 we were 5-11 and I think we were 2nd in the league in sacks with like 48 or something. For a couple yr’s in a row we were in the top 3 I think and it didn’t help in the win column..unless we would’ve been 2-14 w/o the high sack total.

 

[Dagless]

^^^ Chism, cutthroat scoring anyone?

 

[Exe Gesis]

On the Raiders...

I’m expecting Reggie to trade Palmer for a second, trade down the first a couple times, end up around the 16-19 area, collect another two seconds and late rounders, and from that draft OL, DE/OLB, ILB, DB, DT, and a QB somewhere on the second day (2nd-3rd round). QB like Bray, Renfree, Jones, Glennon, Wilson.

From a position of…
#3 (1st)
#66 (3rd)
#97 (4th) or #131 (5th) – pending Curry condition
#162 (6th)
#190 range (6th round compensatory picks)
#193 (7th)
#203 (7th – Murphy trade)

End up with something like…
#19 (1st)
#39 (2nd)
#44 (2nd)
#47 (2nd)
#66 (3rd)
#97 (4th)
#144 (5th)
#151 (5th)
#162 (6th)
#190 range (6th round compensatory picks)
#193 (7th)
#203 (7th – Murphy trade)
#216 (7th)

 

[Shade]

Michael Johnson
Pat McAfee
Ryan Clady
Jarius Byrd

all recieved the franchise tag today.