All Activity

14 B2B games.... 15 of the last 25 on the road. Ehhhh we will be resting by the end anyways.

And that's the issue. I'm socially fairly liberal, but I'm also fairly fiscally conservative. I could see giving them guaranteed contracts at smaller amounts, but guaranteeing a multi-million dollar contract for someone that has around half a probability of being in the NFL for four years and hamstringing teams' finances is not necessarily something I'm cheerleading. Admittedly all of this is systemic and possibly even structural at present, but the NFL FOs and NFLPA is going to have to go to the grindstone and figure this stuff out. There is a possibility that there will be some "pain" that we, as fans, are going to have to endure because of it, but hopefully it will be better for us on the other side. I'm skeptical though. There is greed on all sides--agents, players, owners--but the preponderance of the greed is on the owners, and I as a fan am not into them taking more out of my pockets than they already are.

I didn't like the initial deal either. I've called it a Charlotte Hornets deal several times, because that's what it was. Overpay for some seemingly washed former all star because we don't have anyone on the team, and a bunch of cap to spend. But look at it from this point forward. Adam Thielen's deal is already a sunk cost. This year he's an expiring contract that can provide value to the team. That value is still in line with that contract that seemed so bad initially. I'd consider that a win for this organization.

My reasoning was crystal clear and it has zero to do with Bryce

JT's hate boner for Adam Thielen really put me off tbh. I think he loves a great route runner, and AT is just not. He's a handsy guy that knows how to find the hole in the zone, etc. He also gets frustrated when not thrown to, even when not separated. I think because he knows he can catch anything.

if the guaranteed didn't impact the cap and thus tie our hands in to extent to roster build.....I would agree with you.

I think that’s certainly a big part of it. I feel like there’s another underlying issue too that we can all see if we are honest but that’s not something that needs to be in this thread.

I just don't align with this penchant to make him something he's not. I mean teams like the Texans weren't sitting around building their offense around a 35 year old WR. And they've won playoff games in back to back years after being one play away from the first overall pick. I think where Thielen is helpful is 3rd down and red zone situations due to his hands. Other than that in any critical game situation I prefer to see one of our other young offensive players emerge. They are here long term. We need to know what we have in them so we can continue to build accordingly. Especially with Legette who was very up and down last season. From there we also have two promising young TE's while Tremble is out. And we have a very solid backfield. Canales has plenty of options.

If he looks even slower this season, JT O'Sullivan is gonna be on DEMON TIME.

I would go. I moved back last year and wish we had a legit minor league baseball team or something. The summer league thing is alright.

That would be awesome. Since moving to the Wilmington area from Raleigh a few years ago, I have really missed going to the games. I would be an immediate season ticket holder of WLM got a team

For sure we could have a lengthy discussion about wealth inequality in this country and whether or not politicians corporate executives celebrities entertainers and athletes should realistically be paid what they are. I'm sure we would find ourselves in agreement on most of it. In a perfect world these issues wouldn't exist. Unfortunately we are a heavily flawed society and we look past a greay many things that ultimately make absolutely no logical sense on a daily basis just because it's what we've been told capitalism is supposed to be. But we'll shelve it for another time and another subforum.

AT is what he is. He's not a superstar. He's a solid veteran on an expiring deal. But going back to your original comment, I would not say he is completely inconsequential to this season. He could easily be the difference in winning 8 and 9 games and getting a wild card berth. Which would mean the entire roster getting playoff experience. Even if its just 1 game and getting hosed on the road. So I wouldn't say that he's completely irrelevant before it starts.

It's just comical that accurately describing the aging veterans of this roster for what they are despite them being nice people (Jerry Richardson just happy to be here vibes and hey while we're at it let's hire the kid who cuts my grass to be a WR) after years of complaints of Ron Rivera being overly loyal to his aging mediocre vets to a fault warrants such angry flailing while we have had the worst W/L stretch in franchise history. Not to worry though. These same folks will be screaming to burn the stadium at some point in the season. That's why I keep coming back here. The laughs.

Also with AT's toolkit, I really don't think he's going to fall off athletically. He has not been rated highly at separating to this point anyways. He's a hands guy. That tool ages very well. It's just a matter of staving off the injury bug. That's what will end up taking him out for good.

The only reason I don't like bringing Andy back is he's made of glass at this point. If your starter goes down, you're screwed anyways though. So really it's more of just having a veteran body on the roster that can play QB at a 3rd grade level. In reality that's 99% of 2nd string QBs in the NFL.

Fans that are hating on Andy are mainly doing it because they hate Bryce and want another QB on the roster that they believe can take the starting job. That's really all there is to it at this point.

Fair enough. Cleveland would have put a hit out on Deshawn.

I feel like you either don't follow the rest of the league or just have some kind of axe to grind about Andy Dalton. He's paid like a veteran back up QB because that's exactly what he is. His contract comes in at 41st in AAV in the league. His pay is the exact same as Jameis Winston and Josh Dobbs, right around the same as Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mac Jones, and Cooper Rush, and slightly less than Zach Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Jarrett Stidham, and Tyrod Taylor. Are any other of those guys meaningfully better than Dalton? And what are you even talking about with his situation with the Saints? That was his fourth team in four years, he was signed to be...gasp....a back up QB (just like he was here). He only played most of the season for the Saints the year he was there because their starter (Jameis Winston) was hurt. Then the Saints went and overpaid Derek Carr the next offseason and the rest is history.

Every underperforming player would end up "injured" if that was the case though.

I would be ok with that if they then refunded the cap space if the player gets injured.

The guy caught 77% of his targets last year. Jalen Coker was #2 among WRs st 69%. Legette #3 all the way down at 58.3%. But yeah, you're right. Our anemic passing offense is all because of Thielen and our obsession with forcing the ball to him. LOLOLOLOL What your doing is akin to a failing company blaming their lack of success on their top sales rep who while not knocking it out of the park is actually hitting his numbers and meeting expectations while everyone is trailing far behind. Actually, Coker too. Thielen is meeting expectations, Coker is exceeding expectations considerably for a UDFA and everyone else is basically contributing dog poo while turning in expense reports way over budget. But it's your vet leading sales rep who most people expected to be retired by now but is still delivering to expectations who is ultimately to blame for it all. It's an absurd argument.

For any criticism I may have for Adam Thielen he does at least have a minimal semblance of contribution. Andy Dalton on the other hand while being a great guy is absolutely horrendous. We could have signed literally anyone else and it would have been a significant upgrade. The New Orleans Saints who are in complete disarray at QB rejected him. That was a poverty franchise signing that we made to appease our starter. Nothing more.

I missed the part where the league office forced us to sign Adam Thielen. What teams were clamoring to sign him and make him an integral point of their offense? So far we're the ones trying to convince other teams Thielen actually has something left in the tank. And what's our win percentage the last few years? Worst in professional sports?

We should stop throwing to the guy who gets open and catches the ball. I'm sure that'll help the offense.