kungfoodude

I know but we are also living in the age of late 30's and early 40's QB's. I am certainly not saying it is the rule but I don't think it is happening rarely enough for it to be the exception, either. It seems like we are getting a lot more of these top 10 guys sticking around until their late 30's.

It is in the new CBA. Article 4, Section 9 (a) (vi) and also (b). That addresses the arbitration of attempting to recoup "Forfeitable Salary Allocations." It does read as if they have to go after it in a year-by-year manner, though. They can't go after the future years outright, it doesn't appear. So he is likely to be out his 2021 salary and bonuses at most. Unless the Texans are dumb enough to continue this past a year. IMO, the league would be likely to step in if that happened. If there is anything the NFL doesn't like, it is bad press.

It is still subject to arbitration. It is not something they can just "take."

The signing bonus arbitration is part of the negotiated CBA. The owners gained some more ability to levy fines for holding out but that didn't include the ability to summarily go after signing bonuses. Furthermore, the NFLPA isn't going to roll over on that one. Watson isn't Antonio Brown.

That is incorrect. All that money was paid out at signing. That is all that is required for him to get that money, to simply sign. However, they can go after the bonus in an arbitration. It isn't likely to net them a victory and certainly not a complete victory. What they can do is pile on fines as he sits out but that won't impact his bonus money much.

Protecting his draft stock. Ouch. Well we know that guy won't be in Carolina....

I must have missed that. They had a guy decline to cover a guy in a drill??? Seriously?

Yeah, I think the salary cap reduction hurt him. If I were him, I'd take a 1 year deal and bank on the cap jumping next year.

This also depends on what the market looks like for him. That is going to be a big unknown.

I'd rather see the Rams win than any of our division rivals, I will say that.

I don't think you are gonna see him publicly trash any of these guys. If you saw the workouts he might be hard on them but his focus was trying to get them in a better place to be drafted and be better players. Now privately, I am quite sure he would tell some people that X or Y player just wasn't worth the trouble. I haven't seen him burn a player publicly, be a little critical maybe.

He just went through the Senior Bowl. I would say his stock level is about to be locked into where it will stay for the next couple of months.

Luck wasn't a style of play issue. Teddy Bridgewater wasn't a style of play issue. Nor was Alex Smith. Sometimes this poo just happens. Tom Brady and Drew Brees both had extremely serious injuries. Drew Brees one that almost cost him his career. That is my point. You make your assessment of how much a guy has left in the tank, his skill level and all the other factors. You don't just look at a birth date and assume someone is near the end. How many 38+ QB's have been playing more and STILL being effective in recent years? That playing style factor is more pertinent for the running QB's like Vick, Cam, Lamar Jackson, etc. They get RB wear and tear and that can really add up quickly....as NFL RB career length stats have shown. I will hear the argument against Stafford in that his peak window and our competitiveness window may not necessarily align(although we seem to be ahead of schedule in that regard). I just can't agree with the bulk of the arguments against him(age, money, injury history, W/L record, etc).

CBS mocks = flavor of the week/lotto ball selections.

Yeah but you could also draft a guy like Luck or RGIII that is injured and out of the league far short of the expectation. I just don't think we agree on that 30-33 range being "the back end" of a QB career.

I mean....okay. I agree that is probably the best spot for him but we will see. Not a position I would take that strong of a stance on.

Well Watson is also rumored to be interested in the Jets, and that is about as far from a "win now" franchise as you could get.

The thing is that of course he gets injured. Philip Rivers got injured all the time too. EVERYONE IN THE NFL GETS INJURED. I really have no idea how he got the "injury prone" rap. My God....if he is always injured, how is he throwing for 4k+ yards all the time?? Guess he wasn't that injured.

Well 6 of the 10 ten passers in the NFL this year were 30+. Hell, 4 of the 6 were 36+. Also, of those 4, one has struggled with(and played through) injuries his entire career and two of the others have had serious knee injuries. Remember that this is also the modern NFL where it is almost illegal to touch the QB. As long as you don't have a guy that isn't getting a RB pounding(Carr, Cam, etc), they should last for a while. I just am not buying into this "too old" mantra for these top flight QB's. Not all of them are Andrew Luck.

Is Russell Wilson on the back end of his career?

That was a great commerical.

He is actually less talented than Teddy, IMO.