NFL 2018 OFF-Season thread

[Surf]

GM Chris Ballard started his press conference by saying how hard the passing of Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe has been on the organization putting things in appropriate perspective. He was only 26 years old and the outpouring from the public was so heartfelt. It had been reported earlier Irsay has said he will pay for the funerals of both men.

He said he heard from McDaniels last Tuesday evening and began with "I've got bad news" and Ballard said "give me a yes or no". No other warning before that. Still had a list of participants and everybody always has a perception of time on getting things done and he indicated that it's important to be RIGHT not always first. He was questioned about Luck and Ballard is right, it's never about 1 guy it's about the team. FWIW, those 'issues' about Luck have been there for over a month. McDaniel's bitch ass interviewed once and said yes, interviewed twice and said yes and McDaniels went to PICK assistnats, 2 of which DID sign that will be retained and the rest agreeing to deals and the press conference was scheduled for today, likely on Irsay's plane which did not p/u McDaniels, with no further notice than that. McDaniels and Luck never spoke.

Ballard so far has been a great front office guy with all the downs so far I feel. He believes in Luck (as do I) and however he isn't throwing a football yet he is throwing and working on speed. It is a shoulder after all and it's touchy.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Report: Deflategate plays role in Robert Kraft keeping Josh McDaniels with Patriots

The relationship between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts is still frosty, according to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to stick it to the Colts by retaining offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. So even after the Colts had announced the hiring of McDaniels, Kraft intercepted McDaniels by sweetening his deal with New England.

Deflategate, the source of Kraft's bitterness with the Colts, played a role in this strange turn of events.

As the late Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In, verrrrry interesting!

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Report: Deflategate plays role in Robert Kraft keeping Josh McDaniels with Patriots



As the late Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In, verrrrry interesting!

Doesn't shock me. Costed Kraft a million dollars, his franchise 2 draft picks and an employee he considers to be a son (and this isn't hyperbole, Kraft's actual son Jonathan said he views Brady as a brother) had his name dragged through the mud over a couple of lbs of PSI. He's never getting over that. It was the ultimate screw you to embarrass them and take away their coach after they announced him and got their fanbase excited over his hire.

[GindyPosts]

The Colts were pretty stupid to announce everything before it was official, I'll give you that.

[Jackmando7]

Doesn't shock me. Costed Kraft a million dollars, his franchise 2 draft picks and an employee he considers to be a son (and this isn't hyperbole, Kraft's actual son Jonathan said he views Brady as a brother) had his name dragged through the mud over a couple of lbs of PSI. He's never getting over that. It was the ultimate screw you to embarrass them and take away their coach after they announced him and got their fanbase excited over his hire.

Well, they shouldn't have cheated.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Well, they shouldn't have cheated.

I'm not going to get too far into this rabbit hole but there's a lot of questions about whether they in fact cheated. Not limited to the NFL in open court admitting they had no direct evidence, the Wells report coming down entirely to a complete guess that a ref was wrong about which gauge they used, most of the Colts balls being under the limit as well, and pretty much every reputable scientific organization that looked into it saying that the weather was the most likely cause.

[TheInvisibleMan]

losing your DC and OC in the same season would have been a blow

im sure Kraft paid more than he wanted to, but still keeps the frat boy

I dont know why any team would want to give him another shot at head coach considering what happened with Denver

[Scott Taylor]

I'm really not sure who the Patriots are going to get to do as good a job as Matt Patricia did. Sure the Patriots defense wasn't the best this year but I'm pretty sure it was the best it could be considering the (lack of) talent level. Going to miss "the beard" on the sidelines, he's almost as expressionless as Belichick.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I'm really not sure who the Patriots are going to get to do as good a job as Matt Patricia did. Sure the Patriots defense wasn't the best this year but I'm pretty sure it was the best it could be considering the (lack of) talent level. Going to miss "the beard" on the sidelines, he's almost as expressionless as Belichick.

And I suspect he'll be just as secretive and dismissive of the media as Darth Hoodie.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I'm really not sure who the Patriots are going to get to do as good a job as Matt Patricia did. Sure the Patriots defense wasn't the best this year but I'm pretty sure it was the best it could be considering the (lack of) talent level. Going to miss "the beard" on the sidelines, he's almost as expressionless as Belichick.

There's a guy on the coaching staff named Bill Belichick. Defensive genius ad all that. Patricia was a great DC... but I don't even know how many of Patricia's defenses would rank in the top 5 of Belichick era defenses.

[DungeonmasterJim]

Well, they shouldn't have cheated.

If Kraft screwed over the Colts because of Deflategate that would be HILARIOUS! We can thank so many games being decided by Pass Interference calls because the Colts whined because the Patriots kept beating Peyton in the play-off's.

Let's think about Deflategate and what it's supposed to mean: an opponent got beat because the Patriots could squeeze the ball a little more. Really, that's it, the ball was more squishy. Let's also not forget Brady beat The Legion of Boom with what must have been the most perfectly PSIed balls ever in the history of the NFL.

One of the more interesting off-season deals I'll be following is if the Steelers franchise Bell or give him a monster contract. He deserves the contract but who knows.

For the draft, I'm trying to think of the last time the Patriots did not have one of the bottom 4 picks of the first round.

[BeastieRunner]

Irsay is going to be doing 2 lines of coke tonight.

[Scott Taylor]

There's a guy on the coaching staff named Bill Belichick. Defensive genius ad all that. Patricia was a great DC... but I don't even know how many of Patricia's defenses would rank in the top 5 of Belichick era defenses.

How do you separate what is from Patricia and what is from Belichick? Either way, the combo of the two is at least half responsible for three Super Bowl wins. Hard to argue that Patricia had nothing to do with that.

[Jackmando7]

Quarter back, Russel Wilson, was just traded.

From the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

How do you separate what is from Patricia and what is from Belichick? Either way, the combo of the two is at least half responsible for three Super Bowl wins. Hard to argue that Patricia had nothing to do with that.

Simple. Before Belichick was ever a HC he had a defensive gameplan in the HOF. Before Patricia was even in New England his defense was very instrumental in beating the GSOT and Peyton Colt's on route to 3 Super Bowl victories.