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NFL Off-season 2019 (2 Viewers)

Scott Merryfield

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Per Peter King, the Steelers outbid the Giants and Falcons for the #10 overall pick that Denver owned and Pittsburgh used to draft Devin Bush. Supposedly Denver really wanted one of the Iowa tight ends, but didn't want to use that high of a pick on Fant. If they couldn't have worked out a deal, the Broncos would have selected Bush at #10.

It looks like the trade worked out well for both teams. Pittsburgh desperately needed a replacement for Shazier and had the picks to spare after the Antonio Brown trade and LeVeon Bell free agency loss, while Denver wanted a tight end and could use the additional picks (they used the 2nd rounder to get QB Drew Lock).
 

Scott Merryfield

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Is Shazier done?
Not officially, but I just cannot see him ever playing again. The Steelers did keep him under contract, but mostly as a means to provide him with health care insurance and accrue years for his pension. It was a classy move by the organization. He definitely will not play this upcoming season, though.
 

Malcolm R

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Yeah, they weren't sure he'd even walk again after the injury. I cannot see him tempting fate by playing again, even if the team doctors would ever give him the green light.
 

Scott Merryfield

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The Jets fired GM Mike Maccagnan and VP for player personnel Brian Heimerdinger yesterday. Supposedly new head coach Adam Gase and Maccagnan were not seeing eye to eye, and one of the biggest issues was that Gase did not want the team to sign free agent Le'Veon Bell, as Gase did not want to tie up that much cap space in a position where he prefers to use a running back by committee approach.

So, now Gase is stuck with altering his offense to use Bell as a 3 down back, since no team is going to pay a RB that much money to sit on the bench for half the plays. Gase also inherits some new job responsibilities, since he is the interim GM. It's also very odd timing -- letting the GM run the draft and free agency, and then firing him.

The Jets continue to be a dysfunctional organization.
 
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Robert Crawford

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The Jets fired GM Mike Maccagnan and VP for player personnel Brian Heimerdinger yesterday. Supposedly new head coach Adam Gase and Maccagnan were not seeing eye to eye, and one of the biggest issues was that Gase did not want the team to sign free agent Le'Veon Bell, as Gase did not want to tie up that much cap space in a position where he prefers to use a running back by committee approach.

So, now Gase is stuck with altering his offense to use Bell as a 3 down back, since no team is going to pay a RB that much money to sit on the bench for half the plays. Gase also inherits some new job responsibilities, since he is the interim GM. It's also very odd timing -- letting the GM run the draft and free agency, and then firing him.

The Jets continue to be a dysfunctional organization.
Except for the Yankees just about every NYC team is a dysfunctional organization. As you know by observing the Lions, there is nothing worse than having poor ownership as you're stuck with them for decades. It doesn't matter how much money they have as it's about their inability to hire the right people to run their organization and/or getting in the way as to how that organization is run.
 

Scott Merryfield

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Except for the Yankees just about every NYC team is a dysfunctional organization. As you know by observing the Lions, there is nothing worse than having poor ownership as you're stuck with them for decades. It doesn't matter how much money they have or it's about their inability to hire the right people to run their organization and/or getting in the way as to how that organization is run.

In the case of the Lions, it may be centuries. They are well over a half century into the Ford Family ownership debacle, and there is no end in sight.
 

Robert Crawford

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In the case of the Lions, it may be centuries. They are well over a half century into the Ford Family ownership debacle, and there is no end in sight.
The same with the Giants, as Wellington and his son are overrated as owners. IMO, I think they stink as owners. They got lucky because Pete Rozell stepped in with George Young and they later hired another competent GM in Ernie Accorsi.
 
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Robert Crawford

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The problem with some owners is they think they know football better than they actually do. Off the top of my head, there were only three NFL owners that really knew football: Paul Brown, George Halas and Al Davis. In each case, they got old and couldn't adapt to a newer version of NFL football. However, in their prime, all three owners were really good at their job. Excellent football minds.
 

Scott Merryfield

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The problem with some owners is they think they know football better than they actually do. Off the top of my head, there were only three NFL owners that really knew football: Paul Brown, George Halas and Al Davis. In each case, they got old and couldn't adapt to a newer version of NFL football. However, in their prime, all three owners were really good at their job. Excellent football minds.
Yes, even the Rooney Family, with all their success since the NFL - AFL merger, struggled for decades running the franchise until they finally figured out how to hire competent people to make the football decisions -- starting with Chuck Noll. Brown, Halas, and Davis actually made the football decisions, and each did it very well in their heydays.

Now, the few owners who attempt to do it themselves -- Mike Brown, Jerry Jones, etc. -- struggle.
 

Robert Crawford

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Yes, even the Rooney Family, with all their success since the NFL - AFL merger, struggled for decades running the franchise until they finally figured out how to hire competent people to make the football decisions -- starting with Chuck Noll. Brown, Halas, and Davis actually made the football decisions, and each did it very well in their heydays.

Now, the few owners who attempt to do it themselves -- Mike Brown, Jerry Jones, etc. -- struggle.
What separated Brown, Halas and Davis from the rest is that in their prime years, they were actual football coaches with excellent evaluation skills when it comes to judging football talent.
 

Scott Merryfield

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The Jets story continues to unfold. John Clayton reported that the Jets are interested in trading LeVeon Bell before the start of the season. Of course, finding another team willing to pay Bell $20 million over the next two years will not be easy. The Jets were the only team that seriously persued him in the off-season, and were really just bidding against themselves for his services.
 

Jeffrey D

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Nobody will trade for that contract, unless the Jets agree to eat some of it (I don’t know if money trades in the NFL are similar to baseball- eating salary is something baseball teams do).
 

Scott Merryfield

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I don't think retaining salary as part of a trade is an option in the NFL, but I am not 100% certain. Anyway, I agree that it's unlikely any other team is taking on that contract. The funny thing, though, is that Pittsburgh offered him a better deal originally and Bell opted to sit out a year instead. The Steelers dodged a bullet there.
 

Winston T. Boogie

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Obviously, the trend in the NFL is not to invest heavily in running backs. Teams like the Patriots have shown it actually works out well to use a committee of backs each with different areas of expertise. A back that catches well, a back for short yardage, a back that blocks. I mean the thing is it is a position where the player takes an extreme beating so you will usually go through more than one back to get through a season. Using a group of backs spreads the beating they take around and removes the dependency on a single player. It works. Plus if a guy goes down you lose only one aspect of the RB position and you ask another guy to step in and do the thing that guy did. This also seems to work because if the "next guy up" is told, you are now going to be our short yardage back, well, that's all he has to focus on doing. It makes it simple for him. Not a bad thing.

So, the Jets going after Bell was the sort of old school approach of thinking "Hey, we need a three down back." but the truth is in this version of the NFL you not only don't need a three down back you really don't want to give one guy that much time on the field.

I'm not saying that having a good talented back is a problem, hey they can make a big play too, but to invest heavily in one back is now seen as a mistake. You don't draft a RB in the first round anymore, you don't pay them a huge salary, and you don't trade anything of great value for one. Their best years tend to be their first 4 or 5 and then you are moving on from that player if he is lucky enough to last that long.

So, I can understand why Gase, who is more of a pass oriented coach anyway, would think "Why the hell are we spending all this money on a RB?" when in his offense a TE (or 2) and collection of WRs probably have greater value.

However, I also see the other side of the coin too. I mean Gase is supposed to be this offensive mind, why can't he just scheme up a way to use Bell? Bell is a good player, so find a way to use him now that you have him. Chances are he won't be in New York for long, not with that salary. They will ship him out at some point and this contract will be the last huge one Bell ever gets. Bell should play his ass off this season, so not a bad time to have him around.
 

Robert Crawford

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Wow, Bart Starr died and so did some of my childhood. I remember being at my best friend's house watching the Ice Bowl between the Packers and Cowboys. My buddy Danny was a huge Cowboys/Chiefs fan so naturally me being a Giants/Raiders fan I was rooting on that particular day for the Packers. What a game! May he R.I.P. A truly underrated HOF QB from yesteryear by the people that follow the NFL today.
 

Scott Merryfield

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If Le'Veon Bell isn't the dumbest athlete of all time, he certainly is in the top 5. Listen to his 911 call after two girls he left in his house (naked) stole $1M in cash and jewelry from him.

That was one expensive threesome!
 

Jeffrey D

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I really hope this isn’t true- a talking head on Mad Dog Radio (I think it was Steve Torre) brought up the 18 game schedule on today’s show. He said the league wants it, and as a concession to the players association, the owners might put a 16 game limit on every player. This is assinine- what sport would force the best players to miss regular season games?
This makes no sense, and I hope this is just spitballing.
 

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