NFL 2023 Off-Season Thread

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Mahomes is also a bit of an unfair comp because, like Manning when he went to Denver, Jordan in the 90s with the Bulls, and other athletes in various jobs, because he could guarantee a huge influx of sponsorship money.

Also Pat Mahomes wanted a more Tom Brady type situation. He wanted to give KC more flexibility as years pass to make moves and keep a core roster around as he wanted championships too . People wondered how the Chiefs would compete and well his deal helped.

[Gray Lensman]

Also Pat Mahomes wanted a more Tom Brady type situation. He wanted to give KC more flexibility as years pass to make moves and keep a core roster around as he wanted championships too . People wondered how the Chiefs would compete and well his deal helped.

Plus Mahomes seems to understand the sponsorship equation. More Championships Equals Moar Money.

[babyblob]

The colts would be a good fit for Jackson. But the owner today said he did not believe in large guaranteed contracts.

The falcons are a good fit. The have good cap space and two good wr.

[MRP]

The colts would be a good fit for Jackson. But the owner today said he did not believe in large guaranteed contracts.

The falcons are a good fit. The have good cap space and two good wr.

Both those organizations could help their teams more by hitting on 2 first round picks with solid contributors under rookie contracts than they would giving up 2 1st rounders and killing their cap for the next several years paying Jackson. Jackson is a great talent, but he's past his peak, injury prone, and not the type of QB who is going to raise the level of the other skill players around him. He succeeded in Baltimore, which was an organization that already had a strong foundation in place where he could thrive. Most of the QB needy teams are in that position and getting Jackson won't help them get there, in fact it will set them back from getting there. A talent poor team that is in the process of rebuilding would be foolish to give up 2 1st rounders and kill their cap space to get Jackson.

-M

[SUPERECWFAN1]

In NFL News...

- Washington has said they too have no interest in Lamar Jackson. Coach Ron Rivera has said the team plans to stick with Sam Howell in 2023 at QB.

- Owners today voted and approved players wearing #0 jerseys now.

[Kirby101]

I hear the Commies are close to being sold for $6 billion from a group including Josh Harris, Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos and Magic Johnson. Poor Dan Snyder.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The 1988 NFL Draft would again have no real controversy. It also would be unique that one position didn't have a selection til the 3rd round which I'll detail. This was the last year that position would have a player selected that late.


1988 NFL Draft

- There was 333 selections in 12 rounds.
- The Buffalo Bills , New Orleans Saints , LA Rams , Chicago Bears , NY Giants and Miami Dolphins had the most selections in this draft with 14.




#1- Aundray Bruce (LB) : Atlanta Falcons

Coming out of Auburn ; Bruce was considered "the next Lawrence Taylor" given his play in college. The Atlanta Falcons selected Bruce at #1 expecting an impact player and instead....got 3 Ints and 16 sacks in his time there. He would then move onto the LA/Oakland Raiders for 7 seasons. In his time Bruce never was selected for a Pro Bowl , never had over double digit sacks and only started 47 games in his entire career. No team since has selected a LB #1 overall in the draft due to this.


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Tom Tupa (QB) - Phoenix Cardinals

I mentioned earlier that a certain position didn't get selected til the 3rd rd and its the last time it happened. Well it was the QB position in 1988 which saw Tom Tupa selected in 3rd rd at #68. Tupa coming out of Ohio State was not selected for just being a QB. He was selected due to his punting skills as well. A fact that Tupa would after 1992 , would strictly be a punter and emergency QB in rare situations.

Tupa is remarkable for the fact he would go onto a 18 season career in the NFL. He would at times come in to play QB like a great performance for the NY Jets in 1999 on emergency situation. He would retire in 2005 after playing for 7 teams in that span !


- There was 5 Hall of Famers in this draft.
- There was 36 Pro Bowl players in this draft.
- In amazing stat ...33 Pro Bowl players went in the 1st , 3 rounds of this draft !




- Jeff Beathard (WR) - LA Rams

Selected with the 333rd and final pick , this Mr. Irrelevant has carved out a solid career as scout for numerous teams. With over 27 seasons on his resume Beathard never played a down with LA Rams as he was selected from Southern Oregon. Beathard is the son of Hall of Fame GM Bobby Beathard who was Washington GM from 1978-1988.

[Scott Taylor]

Aundray Bruce was scouted by Marion Campbell, Atlanta's coach at the time, and he was basically in charge of the draft as well. In fact, the Falcons basically called Bruce and struck a deal to pick him up prior to the draft, they were so head over heels about him. One problem - his Wonderlic sucked and Aundray Bruce was a head case, playing inconsistently on the field and getting paternity suits off the field.

What makes it worse for the Falcons is that they could have picked up Tim Frickin Brown instead that year.

Good writing, SUPER, I have been enjoying your draft history posts.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Aundray Bruce was scouted by Marion Campbell, Atlanta's coach at the time, and he was basically in charge of the draft as well. In fact, the Falcons basically called Bruce and struck a deal to pick him up prior to the draft, they were so head over heels about him. One problem - his Wonderlic sucked and Aundray Bruce was a head case, playing inconsistently on the field and getting paternity suits off the field.

What makes it worse for the Falcons is that they could have picked up Tim Frickin Brown instead that year.

Good writing, SUPER, I have been enjoying your draft history posts.

They also could have had the following players as well with a few Hall of Famers sprinkled in 1988 : Neil Smith , Bennie Blades , Paul Gruber , Sterling Sharpe , Michael Irvin , Ken Harvey , Keith Jackson , Anthony Miller , and Randell McDaniel.


There are 3 guys on that list who deserve to be in Hall of Fame. With Neil Smith , Paul Gruber and Sterling Sharpe there. Sharpe as his brother Shannon said in his Hall of Fame speech is the better player. The Hall should induct Sterling because the man was heading to Hall before his freak neck injury ended his career out of nowhere. Hell in 7 seasons Sterling had 595 receptions for 8,100+ yards and 65 TDs.

Its clear had Sterling got to play 3-5 more seasons he would have shattered 10,000+ career receiving yards and been at the top yards wise. Instead his career ended so tragic. So he deserves to go in and I'd wish the Hall of Fame would induct him like they did Dwight Stephenson years ago. (another player who was on a Hall of Fame projection until injury ended it all)

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So now Aaron Rodgers is claiming the Green Bay Packers never contacted him during off season and he felt like they wanted to move on and he accepted it. Meanwhile the Packers GM told in an interview the team tried contacting Rodgers to see where he stood but couldn't get with him so they contacted his representatives who informed them finally Aaron wanted traded to NY Jets.

Another aspect is the slow trade deal happening. The Jets aren't going to give the Packers the 1st rd pick. Had this been 2 seasons ago its possible they would have shopped it and a few picks to Green Bay. But now the Jets are realizing Rodgers may only play 2 possible seasons or 3 max before he retires as he told he doesn't plan a Brady like career (mid 40's before he retires).

Its said the Jets likely will send 2 , 2nd rd picks or 2 2nds and a backup player possibly to make the deal.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So the NFL announced that teams now could have 2...Thursday night games. Pat Mahomes used a face palm emoji and it's coming out ...players HATE Thursday night games. Due to being sore from Sunday games at times and risk for injuries higher.

There was talk of flexing games there but those talks were shelved.

[MRP]

So the NFL announced that teams now could have 2...Thursday night games. Pat Mahomes used a face palm emoji and it's coming out ...players HATE Thursday night games. Due to being sore from Sunday games at times and risk for injuries higher.

There was talk of flexing games there but those talks were shelved.

Teams had 2 Thursday games last season********* played on Thanksgiving and on a Thursday either the week before or the week after, so it was still a week between games and 10 days off after the second one.

But the way the rules were, Thanksgiving didn't count as a team's Thursday game. Now it does, and all teams have the possibility of playing 2, not just those playing on Thanksgiving.

-M

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The 1989 NFL Draft is famous for its selection of players who became bigger than the game at times. Its perhaps one of the best 1st rd drafts we will see.


1989 NFL Draft

- There was 335 Selections in 12 rounds.
- The 1989 NFL Supplemental Draft had 3 selections that all played in the NFL with Steve Walsh (QB) , Timm Rosenbach (QB) and Bobby Humphrey (WR).
- The Chicago Bears had 20 selections for most in this draft.
- The Philadelphia Eagles had only 4 selections in this draft.



#1: Troy Aikman - Dallas Cowboys

Its hard to believe that Troy Aikman ever struggled in the NFL given his golden arm and ....ok the guy had the looks. Everything should have came easy for Aikman...but it didn't. In fact in his 1st , 2 seasons Aikman almost was ran out of Dallas by fans given his struggles learning the pro game. With only 20 TD's and 36 Ints at this point. Steve Walsh as the backup selected the same year had some believe he should start before Aikman then.

But the guy settled down and while he never threw Steve Young numbers ; Aikman with Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were the triplets. Leading Dallas to 3 Super Bowls in the 1990s in that span. Sadly for Aikman concussions ended his career as he admitted in a story he doesn't remember the 1993 NFC Championship game and his father had to tell him they won the game.

Today Aikman is one of the best announcers in the game and a Hall of Famer.



Carlton Haselrig (OG) : Pittsburgh Steelers

People love to look at this 1989 NFL Draft and point at the Tony Mandarich (OT) draft day bust in the 1st rd. But one story not one really mentions in the 1989 NFL Draft is the Carlton Haselrig selection. Which came in the final round of the draft. And the selection was unique for the fact that ...Carlton Haselrig never played college football !

Haselrig was a dominant amateur wrestler at Division II Pitts-Johnstown where he once won 122 straight matches. His overall record was 143-2-1 and he won all 15 of his Division 1 matches. He was so dominant that the Division 1 Wrestling Committee changed its rules ...due to him !

Haselrig having never played a down of college football would go on to become a Pro Bowl guard and go on to play in 68 games , starting 47 of them in his 6 year career. While not a Hall of Famer like some in 1989 class , his story is remarkable for what we saw happen.

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- There was 5 Hall of Famers selected in the 1989 Draft.
- There was 24 Pro Bowlers in this draft.
- This draft was unique for having 4 out of the 5 , 1st round selections all go into the Hall of Fame.




Everett Ross (WR) - Minnesota Vikings

The final selection in the 1989 NFL Draft was the 1st Big Ten Mr. Irrelevant. He would be cut in training camp and would go onto a career in the military. Retiring in 1995.

[Deathstroke]

Former Green Bay Packers running back John Brockington has passed away.

[Deathstroke]

Ronnie Lee, the offensive lineman / tight end who spent 10 years with the Miami Dolphins across a 14-year NFL career, has passed away.