NFL 2018 OFF-Season thread

[DungeonmasterJim]

So when people say oh Rodgers will go get another, or Wilson will get another shot, or Brees could get there again, it's actually very unlikely that they do.

I can agree with this mainly because of free agency and the money players now make compared to earlier eras. Teams love to pick off free agents from play-off teams these days. The Patriots didn't even win the Super Bowl and they lost some big names from their team. The money and length of rookie contracts seem to play a big role these days: get for about 4 years and then lose the player after 1 or 2 great seasons thus keeping a good core of players much harder.

[DungeonmasterJim]

Case Keenum in Denver. And Chargers upgraded their run defense. KC will probably surprise everyone, as Andy Reid is wont to do. Honestly the Raiders have been overrated and Gruden was also overrated. I'm thinking Chargers win the division this year.

No matter which team wins that division the AFC Championship game next year will probably be a home game for either The Patriots, Steelers or Jaguars and one of those three will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

[Jackmando7]

The big thing is teams win Super Bowls. Usually you see teams win them in chunks.

-Packers in the 60's won a bunch in a short period of time.
-Steelers in the 70's won 4 over 6 years.
-The 70's Dolphins went to three in a row with roughly the same cast and won 2.
-The Niner's won 4 from 82-89 (so 4 in an 8 year period) and then it took another 6 years to win another with a largely different team.
-The 90's Cowboys won 3 in 4 years.
-The 2000 Patriots won 3 in 4 years and then didn't win for 9 and then won 2 more (appearing in 3 from 2014-2017) with largely the same cast of teammates.

You generally do need the same core group of guys to win multiple Super Bowls and the window shuts. To do it again you really need to rebuild right away. They aren't long windows. To this day only Brady,, Staubach, and Manning have the biggest gaps between one Super Bowl win and the next

-Brady from 2004-2014 (9 seasons in between)
-Manning from 2006-2015 (8 season in between)
-Staubach from 71-77 (5 seasons in between)

Staubach did that despite being pre free agency. Brady needed a new core guys to start up his second run. Manning took a different team and really needed to be carried and wasn't the primary factor.

One situation will never happen again (Staubach), one wasn't really on the QB (Manning), and the other was a rare situation where the QB was still a major player and they were able to build another Super Bowl level cast around him before he retired (Brady).

So when people say oh Rodgers will go get another, or Wilson will get another shot, or Brees could get there again, it's actually very unlikely that they do.

It still blows my mind that there has only been 1 year since 04 that the QB for the AFC team in the superbowl wasn't Ben, Brady, or Manning. That being Joe Flacco vs the 49ers.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

It still blows my mind that there has only been 1 year since 04 that the QB for the AFC team in the superbowl wasn't Ben, Brady, or Manning. That being Joe Flacco vs the 49ers.

Well that was the year Denver's over-confidence did them in. I mean we all had to laugh as they literally dared Flacco to throw deep (and that is one thing Joe Flacco can do is throw deep) and the guy beat the CB on that.

[Scott Taylor]

No matter which team wins that division the AFC Championship game next year will probably be a home game for either The Patriots, Steelers or Jaguars and one of those three will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Lots of faith in Bortles there. I really hope you're wrong, we need new blood in there from both conferences. LA Chargers might just make a run this year.

[BeastieRunner]

Well that was the year Denver's over-confidence did them in. I mean we all had to laugh as they literally dared Flacco to throw deep (and that is one thing Joe Flacco can do is throw deep) and the guy beat the CB on that.

Good ol' Arm Punt Flacco.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

NFL News


- Brandon Marshall has signed a 1 year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Marshall is heading into his 13th season and as claimed has battled injuries and age the last 2 seasons. Marshall will be a 3rd WR and likely be used as a big target in redzone since Jimmy Graham has left.

[DungeonmasterJim]

Lots of faith in Bortles there. I really hope you're wrong, we need new blood in there from both conferences. LA Chargers might just make a run this year.

Heh. Not much faith in Bortles but more of that defensive line.

Provided the Chargers don't eliminate the Patriots, they could be possibly interesting to watch. I have a soft spot for Melvin Gordon since the time I drafted him as a rookie on my fantasy team.

[HowitzerJoe]

No matter which team wins that division the AFC Championship game next year will probably be a home game for either The Patriots, Steelers or Jaguars and one of those three will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

I got Houston as a dark horse in the AFC. Watt, Clowney, and Watson all need to stay healthy though.

[Ghost Rider TheHellfireDemon]

I'm surprised Kurt Werner talked about returning to the NFL as s player since it's hard to be decent or great playing QB in the NFL when the person is 46 or older.

[Ghost Rider TheHellfireDemon]

NFL News


- Brandon Marshall has signed a 1 year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Marshall is heading into his 13th season and as claimed has battled injuries and age the last 2 seasons. Marshall will be a 3rd WR and likely be used as a big target in redzone since Jimmy Graham has left.

He's never been in the playoffs and possibly that could Change with the Seahawks.

[Ghost Rider TheHellfireDemon]

Lots of faith in Bortles there. I really hope you're wrong, we need new blood in there from both conferences. LA Chargers might just make a run this year.

I don't know why you would have faith in Bortles. He has decent speed and hard to bring down but I don't trust him to be a QB that can carry the team to the Super Bowl.
The Jags best strength is their ferocious defense a primary reason they were able to defeat the Steelers twice including the Playoffs both in Pittsburgh, and were in a close game for the entire game vs the Pats for the afc championship game.
As shown in the AFC championship vs a great team the Patriots he wasn't able to play great in the 4th to win a close game.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Jerry Jones: President made it clear that he wasn’t letting anthem issue go

The first snippets of testimony have emerged from the depositions taken in the Colin Kaepernick collusion grievance. And it’s becoming even more obvious that the NFL changed its anthem policy at the direct behest of the President.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, while testifying in the Kaepernick collusion grievance, shared the details of a phone call with the President.

“This is a very winning, strong issue for me,” the President told Jones, according to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal. “Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.”

The President was right. There was no way to win. Even by giving in.

Per Beaton, the NFL declined comment on the matter, citing the confidentiality that applies to the grievance proceedings. A White House official did not dispute the testimony.

Well, of course Trump wasn't going to let the anthem issue go. He has a longstanding ax to grind against the league for the lawsuit he lost in embarrassing fashion back in 1987, and his having been rebuffed by owners in his attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014, so he used the bully pulpit of the Oval Office to exact revenge....and it worked. Trump got the league to cower like whipped dogs to his whims and is having the last laugh against perhaps the most powerful sports empire in the world today.

[Surf]

All you can do is trust the process.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Eagles' Carson Wentz making progress at OTAs, could be ready for Week 1

The Philadelphia Eagles' chances to repeat as Super Bowl champs likely comes down to Carson Wentz's recovery from a torn ACL and LCL that ended his MVP campaign last December. If Wentz is healthy and fully operation, the Eagles will be the frontrunners in the NFC. If Wentz is limited, the race will be wide open.

Good news about Wentz's recovery continues to arrive.

In March, video surfaced of Wentz throwing at the Eagles facility. On Tuesday, more video footage -- this time from OTAs -- emerged, and it shows Wentz moving around with ease.

On CBS Sports HQ on Wednesday, CBS Sports Senior NFL Writer Pete Prisco delivered more good news.

"In talking to Eagles people, they think he's going to be ready to go for the season opener," Prisco said in a video you can watch at the top of his article. "That would be great for him."

However, Prisco provided a warning for Wentz if he does rush back for Week 1. It has to do with Eagles fans and Nick Foles, who led the Eagles to the Super Bowl after Wentz went down in December.

"The one negative of that is, I hope he plays well in that season opener," Prisco said. "Because you know how Eagles fans are. If he struggles at all, 'We want Nick Foles,' right?"

This is just me, but I still think the Birds should take it slow with Wentz and take their time putting him back on the field.