tukafan21

Not cool The T-Mac jerseys were supposed to ship out by tomorrow, they've had it listed as such for a while now. But they just sent out an email saying they're being pushed back another 2 weeks, which is what it is. But it's a bit of a kick in the nuts to then go to the team's site and see they have a 20% off sale going on right now, including on T-Mac jerseys. So those who wanted it bad enough to order early have it pushed back the day before they're supposed to ship, and we get told that while you currently have them on sale, kinda a dick move Panthers/Fanatics. At this rate, they're going to end up selling them in other colors or the better quality version before these even ship out, which was the only reason I waited a couple weeks before putting my order in anyways, so dumb.

He's signing with the Raiders for just over $4 million for one year?!?!?! Makes me think they're the only team that called him up that had a starting spot open, as why the hell else would you go to there for that amount of money instead of going to a contender on the cheap?

huh? Tremble is 39th, and Thomas is 25th, but having played in more games than all but 6 players above him on the list

If Thielen can get 919 yards this year, he'll move into 7th all time for us, which would mean 4th highest WR on the list

T-Mac about to take that #2 spot form Moose, would love to see him give Smitty a run for his money too, would mean he turned into a HOFer playing almost all, if not his full, career here.

While true, he still only just turned 29 and he'd be replacing either Jewell or Rozeboom who are 30 and 28 respectively. I don't see his age stopping interest on our end if they think he can be a big enough of an upgrade for us

No, next it will be Free Agents, which is why I think the teams are going to hold the line. If they give out fully guarantees to a ton of this year's 2nd rounders, those same agents are going to start demanding it for the top FA's next offseason before the draft ever happens, something that they've never done before except Watson and everyone said it was dumb and they were right.

No, you're just flat out not comprehending what is going on, because if it was really how you think, more than only the first 2 players taken in the round would be signed right now. Enough teams would just say screw it, it's not worth fighting with the agent over such a relatively low guaranteed cap hit. Your point about teams being afraid of spending that draft capital and not getting the player signed is also just asinine on the surface. Because yes, the teams want to make sure the draft capital they used is on the field for them, but 2nd rounders fail more than they succeed in general. If one holds out to try and re-enter the draft after a year off of football, they're tanking their career before it ever gets started and will fall further in that draft too. Teams expect their 1st rounders to pan out, but they just hope their 2nd rounders do, it's why the pressure is on the team to sign a 1st rounder, but it's why the players have so much more to lose by holding out than the teams do for anyone after the 1st round. It's 100% about precedent, that's literally the only thing driving this right now, on both sides. Again, if half the teams had signed them, or even a third of them, you might have a leg to stand on. But it's clear this has nothing to do with agent/team leverage at this point, it's about both sides trying to set a new precedent for contracts, and I don't see the agents winning this one on the whole. Maybe a few more end up getting it, but I'd bet at least 20 of the 2nd round picks do NOT get a fully guaranteed contract.

Why is it so difficult for you to understand it has literally NOTHING to do with the cap hit of these 2nd rounders, like not even 1% of the issue here. If anything, it's "draft pick value vs future cap implications of being forced to give fully guaranteed deals to FA signings" and if that's the case, then the Agents will lose every single one of these battles, because teams aren't going to go down that path, as those are massive cap impact implications. There is a reason the #2 pick of the 2nd Round got his fully guaranteed deal and after that, the only other player to sign was the #1 pick of the round, who also then got a fully guaranteed deal. And spoiler alert, it's not because they're afraid of the minimal cap hit of these players, and they won't be swayed to give them the deals because of the draft pick value. If half the teams had signed their 2nd Rounders by now and they all gave the fully guaranteed deals, then I'd say you have more of an argument. But the proof is in the pudding, the teams don't want to give these 2nd rounders the guaranteed deals and I don't think the agents will win in the end, the players have more to risk than the teams in this instance. That the Browns haven't even signed their other 2nd rounder, who was only 3 picks later, is kinda telling to me. It says they knew they were going to be forced to give their first pick the fully guaranteed contract because of Higgins and then are drawing the line in the sand after that, nothing else would make sense for that deal to not be done yet unless that's the case.

You keep mentioning the impact on the salary cap, but that's literally not the point with all these 2nd Rounders, it's all about precedent and it being a slippery slope that would lead to more fully guaranteed contracts for veterans. That's what the teams are making sure this doesn't get to, because yes, you're right, the guarantees for a 2nd rounder won't have significant cap implications if the player doesn't work out. But you give that fully guaranteed 3-4 year contract to a FA who then shits the bed in year 1 and never regains the form that got them the contract, then yes, it's going to screw up your cap management and won't be a rounding error. And you can say it's a big leap to go from guaranteeing a 2nd round pick's contract to a big FA signing, but it's really not. Once teams start giving them out, it's only going to keep growing and be insisted upon by agents in other situations and once the ball starts rolling down the hill, it's going to be impossible to stop it's momentum. Also, the only reason a 2nd rounder's contract would be a rounding error, is explicitly because contracts aren't guaranteed and teams can finagle the cap hits with various tactics. Once contracts become more and more guaranteed, that won't be as easy to do, if even possible at all, and those individual rounding errors become serious problems in totality.

Agents only have the upper hand if they think/expect the teams to cave in the end, but that 30 of the 2nd rounders remain unsigned, it shows the Agents might not have it in this case. A 2nd round pick isn't going to sit out their rookie season as a holdout to re-enter the draft the next year and improve their draft stock and/or ability to stick in the NFL, you really need to be an elite QB prospect to even have the remote chance of doing that successfully. Teams have to draw a line somewhere, if they all say the line is the 1st round, then there isn't much the Agents can do about it if the teams all hold firm, which they should. And yes, you're right about the rookie wage scale, which is exactly why I don't think the Agents will be winning this battle in the end. The teams know they already screwed up rookie contracts once, they aren't going to fall down that slippery slope again and let it snowball on it's way down.

Except it's not about the money, it's precedent and teams not wanting to go down that path. Once you guarantee all the 2nd rounders, then the 3rd rounders will want it, and so on. If they keep viewing it as say, "well it's only X amount of money" then it's a slippery slope that doesn't end. Then you get Free Agents saying, "well if you're fully guaranteeing the contract of an unproven 57th pick of the draft, you clearly should be fully guaranteeing mine as your big FA signing this offseason" The NFL doesn't work with fully guaranteed contracts under it's current cap model. If you want to give them out to the true elite of the elite players at impact positions like QB and Edge, then so be it, but there needs to be a line in the sand or it will get real messy.

Was just reading the Ask the Old Guy story on the team's website and was shocked to see that only two 2nd Rounders have signed so far, 30 of them haven't. That isn't normal, the Texans really screwed things up for the rest of the league, no other explanation that I can think of for 30 of the 32 picks to still be unsigned at this point.

Except it wouldn't be Rodgers leading them on a postseason run, it would be the defense and he's there to not screw up their great games. Which is why..... This times a million. I didn't watch a ton of the Jets last year, but from what I did see, Rodgers himself didn't look like a bum, the team just struggled and was more than likely due to poor coaching on the whole. The Steelers don't need MVP level Rodgers to win games, they just need him to be good enough to make some plays when it matters because the defense is keeping them in games every week regardless. In their 7 losses last season, the Steelers scored 10, 13, 17, 17, 17, 19, and 24... while giving up 19, 20, 24, 27, 27, 29, and 34 in those games. With only marginally better offense last year, they probably end up winning a few more games too. They only scored over 27 points in 3 games last season. I think this is a great move by the Steelers and if Rodgers can stay healthy all year, will get them back into the playoffs and could make some noise if their defense is up to the normal level of a Steelers defense.

Going to keep watching, but what a really weird way to start the interview. "Is it true that you were the first Freshman LB to start at Miami since Ray Lewis?" "Yep, that's a true story" It's like they both seem to forget that yes, while Ray Lewis played at Miami a long time ago at this point, so did Morgan. Morgan's freshman season was only FOUR years after Lewis' freshman season (with the 2 years following Lewis' Freshman season being the years Lewis was still there, and thus not even an open spot for another MLB to start anyways" Not exactly some groundbreaking amazing trivia here, LOL