2018 NFL Transactions & News

Sox and Rocks

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Until the league balances the foreign schedule, these games are a joke anyway. It's the same owners who willingly give up home games year after year, simply to make more revenue. It's good for their bottom line, which is, of course, all they and the greater powers in the NFL care about, but it creates competitive imbalance, which the league pretends to care about like they pretend to care about player safety.
 

Noseminer

New Member
Jun 17, 2018
77
So this concert that destroyed the field was a month ago? And they just now notice the field is in shitty condition? Wouldn't common sense tell you to start preparing the field right away? I don't understand why they waited so damn long to start repairing it. Or am I missing info?
 

Gunfighter 09

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Until the league balances the foreign schedule, these games are a joke anyway. It's the same owners who willingly give up home games year after year, simply to make more revenue. It's good for their bottom line, which is, of course, all they and the greater powers in the NFL care about, but it creates competitive imbalance, which the league pretends to care about like they pretend to care about player safety.

Part of the reason it is the same owner is the teams that are in the process of moving (Raiders, Rams, Bolts) are all obligated to give up a home game as part of the unwritten price of move approval.
 

Cellar-Door

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Field safety is probably pretty important to the NFL, because that's an obvious problem. A scrapped up field that led to an injury would be a travesty for the league, the team, and the player, so this move was easy.
Meh, the field in Miami last week was abysmal and in general that field has been trash for a while. Azteca probably could have gotten to around that level, but it was getting a lot of attention so they moved it
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Part of the reason it is the same owner is the teams that are in the process of moving (Raiders, Rams, Bolts) are all obligated to give up a home game as part of the unwritten price of move approval.
Peter King talked about this on WEEI yesterday and said pretty much the same. Also that the Radiers have already petitioned the league to get the Mexico game next year to reduce the road trip.
 

Ed Hillel

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Dec 12, 2007
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I...uh...ok?

The Browns would like to interview former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for their head-coaching job, a league source tells ESPN.

If the Browns follow through on it, Rice would become the first woman ever to interview for an NFL head-coaching job.

...

A potential interview hardly means the Browns will hire Rice, but they are interested in talking to her about the job and seeing what she could bring to the position and the organization.

"She's an amazing person," one Browns source told ESPN.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25310452/cleveland-browns-want-interview-condoleezza-rice-head-coaching-job
 

DJnVa

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Why not interview for a FO job. Coaching? I mean, we know that’s not happening.
 

bankshot1

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While I'm certain the Browns will have an expansive and diverse candidate list, I would think they're kind of covered on the Rooney rule for awhile.

This smells like PR.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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why is everyone so fascinated with Condi Rice? First she was rumored to be in consideration for NFL Commissioner, then another random role or two I can't recall right now. And of course she's on the CFB playoff selection committee. She appears to (A) like football, and (B) be a tremendously successful and well-regarded politician and diplomat. But damn if her name doesn't pop up in the oddest of places (and usually not with her confirming any real interest, as with the oft-rumored idea that she could be a VP on a presidential ticket).
 

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
30,096
So this concert that destroyed the field was a month ago? And they just now notice the field is in shitty condition? Wouldn't common sense tell you to start preparing the field right away? I don't understand why they waited so damn long to start repairing it. Or am I missing info?
Aside from the hideous condition of the field it was the lethargy of the Mexico City leadership that had to piss the hell out of the NFL and rightfully so. Did you guys see what Yankee Stadium looked like for the Notre Dame game yesterday? There was no excuse for the field to not at least somewhat resemble what we saw yesterday......certainly no excuse for the field to be deemed unplayable. This is an example of multiple levels of leadership failing, period.
 

dcmissle

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Seriously? Ok, we're most certainly in a simulation and now the game masters are just fucking with us.
Yup, though with the road team winning this time unlike last.

Felger and Mazz time now in DC, especially with Colt hitting the road against the Cowboys in 4 days. Nobody as popular here as the backup QB. And because Smith was mildly disappointing — but no worse — given his contract and the other limitations on offense, and because the contract includes an injury guarantee, we’re in for fun times. Troll city.
 

dcmissle

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Audition for backup role in DC. TJ Yates, Sanchize, Manuel, no Kap.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/18/kaepernick-hasnt-heard-from-washington-and-likely-wont/

I don’t carry a torch for Kap, and it may be — probably is — that he has been away for so long that he’s not a feasible backup for the 2018 season. But that’s the rub in this situation — he’ll probably not get another chance becuase he’s repeatedly been denied another chance. As a backup. In this League.

Good on Florio for pointing out the Allen angle.
 

HomeRunBaker

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But that’s the rub in this situation — he’ll probably not get another chance becuase he’s repeatedly been denied another chance. As a backup. In this League.
……..after a respectable 90.7 Rating with a 16/4 TD/Int ratio as a STARTER! Nope, no blackballing here. Nothing to see here.

 

dcmissle

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It seems the Nike ad was right on, and that this guy is well on his way to sacrificing a career over principle. He’s 31 and hasn’t played in two years.

What that career would have been is anybody’s guess. I always thought Jaworski had a moment of temporary insanity, that his Kap projection was right up there with Collinsworth’s observation last night that this Bears’ Defense is reminiscent of 1985. But it doesn’t matter — this isn’t right.

I want Kap to flip the page and commit to setting on-field protests aside. He’s sacrificed enough. If he doesn’t do that, he has no chance. And I want a GM with guts who doesn’t give a damn about iabout anybody thinks — someone with street cared to burn — to sign Kap, who reportedly is working out 5 hours a day 6 days a week to be ready.
 

splendid splinter

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Audition for backup role in DC. TJ Yates, Sanchize, Manuel, no Kap.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/18/kaepernick-hasnt-heard-from-washington-and-likely-wont/

I don’t carry a torch for Kap, and it may be — probably is — that he has been away for so long that he’s not a feasible backup for the 2018 season. But that’s the rub in this situation — he’ll probably not get another chance becuase he’s repeatedly been denied another chance. As a backup. In this League.

Good on Florio for pointing out the Allen angle.
Setting aside the anthem protest issue, I don't see how Washington could possibly sign Kap, or how he could possibly go there. With the controversy about the team name, they would need assurances that he would not comment on the Redskins name. Assurances that he could never give, because staying silent on that issue in order to land a job would make him a huge hypocrite in the eyes of many. Washington is a total non-starter.
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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"I'm just here to talk about football"

"Other people have said a lot about that, I don't have anything to add"

"I'm concentrating on being prepared to help my team win games"

I really don't think it'd be hard to deflect in that case. It's not like nobody is carrying the torch forward on that particular issue, or they're in desperate need for an activist on the matter. If they insist that he go out there and make a hostage-video-like repudiation of his principles or a statement in favor of the Redskins name, sure. But I rather doubt they'd go beyond just asking him not to actively hurt his employer's business (in their eyes). I think he'd have no problem giving those assurances.
 

splendid splinter

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"I'm just here to talk about football"

"Other people have said a lot about that, I don't have anything to add"

"I'm concentrating on being prepared to help my team win games"

I really don't think it'd be hard to deflect in that case. It's not like nobody is carrying the torch forward on that particular issue, or they're in desperate need for an activist on the matter. If they insist that he go out there and make a hostage-video-like repudiation of his principles or a statement in favor of the Redskins name, sure. But I rather doubt they'd go beyond just asking him not to actively hurt his employer's business (in their eyes). I think he'd have no problem giving those assurances.
Agree to disagree then, I guess. I don't see how he could play the "I'm just here to talk about football" card on this particular issue, or decline to comment because it would hurt his employer, without being labeled a sellout.
 

dcmissle

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Washington is not a good place for him. The organization is too fragile, political (internally) and sensitive to PR.

You need a team that will put him in a protective cocoon to focus on football. And a GM and HC with the fortitude to say, in substance, we’re here to talk about football, not my patriotism, his, or anyone else’s — and if you (the media) don’t like it, you can go fuck yourselves. Any more questions?
 

dcdrew10

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Dec 8, 2005
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Audition for backup role in DC. TJ Yates, Sanchize, Manuel, no Kap.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/18/kaepernick-hasnt-heard-from-washington-and-likely-wont/

I don’t carry a torch for Kap, and it may be — probably is — that he has been away for so long that he’s not a feasible backup for the 2018 season. But that’s the rub in this situation — he’ll probably not get another chance becuase he’s repeatedly been denied another chance. As a backup. In this League.

Good on Florio for pointing out the Allen angle.
And to boot, Allen's brother, a former Virginia governor and US Senator George Allen, blew his his Senate reelection bid, in part, when he called an Indian-American man "macaca" twice at one of his rallies. The man was observing the rally for the Virginia Democratic party and had been at other rallies. Macaca is Portuguese slur for dark skinned people, generally used in Colonial Africa. It's French counterpart "macaque" was also used widely in Africa. Allen's mother grew up in French Tunisia.

It would be a good test of how serious that Kaep is about playing if he was offered a chance to try out for Washington. Not that it would ever happen.
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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It seems the Nike ad was right on, and that this guy is well on his way to sacrificing a career over principle. He’s 31 and hasn’t played in two years.

What that career would have been is anybody’s guess. I always thought Jaworski had a moment of temporary insanity, that his Kap projection was right up there with Collinsworth’s observation last night that this Bears’ Defense is reminiscent of 1985. But it doesn’t matter — this isn’t right.

I want Kap to flip the page and commit to setting on-field protests aside. He’s sacrificed enough. If he doesn’t do that, he has no chance. And I want a GM with guts who doesn’t give a damn about iabout anybody thinks — someone with street cared to burn — to sign Kap, who reportedly is working out 5 hours a day 6 days a week to be ready.
Kap's on-field career is just so interesting to me. Harbaugh made what was at the time a very gutsy decision to let go of Alex Smith and start Kaepernick. In 2011 the 49ers went 13-3 and Smith had a solid year at QB: 3144 yds, 17 td, 5 int, 90.7 rating. Not off the charts, but a solid player who didn't make mistakes and the 49ers were excellent.

But Harbaugh realized that Smith wasn't the guy to get them to the next level, that he needed something more dynamic. Smith started the next year and actually played much better than he did in 2011 - putting up a stat line of 70.2% passing, 1737 yds, 13 td, 5 int, and a 104.1 rating in just 9 starts. Kaepernick started in game 10 against the Bears and while he wasn't great, they crushed Chicago. He kept improving and then came to Foxboro and beat the Patriots 41-34. 14-25, 221 yds, 4 td, 1 int, plus 28 more on the ground. He was coming of age.

They ended up going to the Super Bowl and probably should have won. He put up a 98.3 rating and seemed like the next great thing in the NFL.

His passing numbers declined the next two years but he was still a solid player. But was the league catching on? Or was he not doing what it took to improve? His numbers kept declining until he actually became a pretty bad NFL QB in 2015, putting up a 78.5 rating. Then in 2016, he was solid again, 59.2% wasn't good, but 16 td and only 4 int was terrific. 90.7 rating. Plus 468 yards on the ground. All in just 12 games. Nice offensive weapon. Unfortunately, the 49ers were terrible by then, going just 2-14 under Chip Kelly.

So it's really hard to say what Kaepernick IS. Is he a talented QB? He sure has physical skills, and his running makes him a real threat. But he isn't accurate and doesn't complete passes at a high enough rate to truly be a good NFL quarterback. Should he be in the league? From a talent standpoint, I'd argue yes. But I don't know that he's a starter in the league. And what team will want to deal with all the extra stuff (rightly or wrongly) that will come with Kap, especially for a backup?

I hope he gets another chance. Not sure he will.
 

Marciano490

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Setting aside the anthem protest issue, I don't see how Washington could possibly sign Kap, or how he could possibly go there. With the controversy about the team name, they would need assurances that he would not comment on the Redskins name. Assurances that he could never give, because staying silent on that issue in order to land a job would make him a huge hypocrite in the eyes of many. Washington is a total non-starter.
I don’t understand this and think it’s unfair, frankly. If you’re a minority standing up for one issue, you have to stand up for everyone on all issues? It seems like an extra burden we wouldn’t put on a white dude standing up for this or that group.
 

splendid splinter

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I don’t understand this and think it’s unfair, frankly. If you’re a minority standing up for one issue, you have to stand up for everyone on all issues? It seems like an extra burden we wouldn’t put on a white dude standing up for this or that group.
No, but if you’re seen as a leader on social issues, and you go to work for an organization embroiled in a controversial issue like this, people are going to ask you about it. I don’t see how Kap could avoid commenting on it without blowback, or how the Redskins could reasonably expect him to. So it doesn’t look like a good fit to me for those reasons.
 

InstaFace

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So it's really hard to say what Kaepernick IS. Is he a talented QB? He sure has physical skills, and his running makes him a real threat. But he isn't accurate and doesn't complete passes at a high enough rate to truly be a good NFL quarterback. Should he be in the league? From a talent standpoint, I'd argue yes. But I don't know that he's a starter in the league. And what team will want to deal with all the extra stuff (rightly or wrongly) that will come with Kap, especially for a backup?

I hope he gets another chance. Not sure he will.
I feel like I'm on pretty solid ground saying that he's better than Mark Buttfumble Sanchez, who (in the spirit of this thread) was the person actually signed to be the backup in Washington now. Whether he's still starter material in the league at his age is a fair question; if he'd taken a CFL job in the meantime, maybe one might have more confidence in that.
 

BaseballJones

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I feel like I'm on pretty solid ground saying that he's better than Mark Buttfumble Sanchez, who (in the spirit of this thread) was the person actually signed to be the backup in Washington now. Whether he's still starter material in the league at his age is a fair question; if he'd taken a CFL job in the meantime, maybe one might have more confidence in that.
I agree - he's better than Peterson (formerly of Buffalo) as well. But I don't know if Kap is willing to take backup money. There were stories that he turned that down in Seattle (not sure how true they are) so who knows.
 

InstaFace

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Right, turned that down two years ago. He'd surely take the veteran minimum now just to break the seal and get teams evaluating him on a football basis, rather than thinking of him as a leper.
 

j44thor

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Right, turned that down two years ago. He'd surely take the veteran minimum now just to break the seal and get teams evaluating him on a football basis, rather than thinking of him as a leper.
Are there any quotes from him saying he would accept the vet min though? Surely if he wanted to play football again he could be playing in the CFL ala Johnny Football. I'm not sure he is willing to take any offer just to get back on the field.
 

InstaFace

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Are there any quotes from him saying he would accept the vet min though? Surely if he wanted to play football again he could be playing in the CFL ala Johnny Football. I'm not sure he is willing to take any offer just to get back on the field.
Are there any quotes from the past 18 months saying he wouldn't? I bet the money from Nike is good right now but it's not forever, especially if the public starts to forget why they should care about him, and $500k to have a reason to stay in the spotlight and prolong his "moment" is surely worth many times what he's getting paid in salary.

The part that makes this a Greek tragedy is that he opted out of that SF contract instead of continuing to make $16.9M in 2017 and almost have to be starting as a result of that contract. They probably trade for Jimmy G anyway, but that move was his original sin.
 

j44thor

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Are there any quotes from the past 18 months saying he wouldn't? I bet the money from Nike is good right now but it's not forever, especially if the public starts to forget why they should care about him, and $500k to have a reason to stay in the spotlight and prolong his "moment" is surely worth many times what he's getting paid in salary.

The part that makes this a Greek tragedy is that he opted out of that SF contract instead of continuing to make $16.9M in 2017 and almost have to be starting as a result of that contract. They probably trade for Jimmy G anyway, but that move was his original sin.
There have been comments in the past that football perhaps isn't a top priority for him the last few years. Whether or not that his true I don't know but the fact he hasn't tried to play in the CFL (where he would likely excel) leads me to believe he isn't 100% committed to getting back to the NFL.
As to your second point he was going to be cut if he didn't opt out. That wasn't really his choice or fault. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/05/31/john-lynch-49ers-would-have-cut-kaepernick-if-he-hadnt-opted-out/

I don't want to turn this into another Kaep thread so I've said my peace and will leave it at that.
 

Winger 03

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Washington is not a good place for him. The organization is too fragile, political (internally) and sensitive to PR.

You need a team that will put him in a protective cocoon to focus on football. And a GM and HC with the fortitude to say, in substance, we’re here to talk about football, not my patriotism, his, or anyone else’s — and if you (the media) don’t like it, you can go fuck yourselves. Any more questions?
Sounds like New England it the right place for him then.
 

dcmissle

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Sounds like New England it the right place for him then.
New England, Seattle ... that sort of place with those sorts of people. Belichick and Carroll would tell people who won’t let it go to shit in a hat, and they have the stature and ownership support to make it work. They are A+ football organizations. Ideally, from Kap’s standpoint, this is where you want to be.
 

pappymojo

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New England, Seattle ... that sort of place with those sorts of people. Belichick and Carroll would tell people who won’t let it go to shit in a hat, and they have the stature and ownership support to make it work. They are A+ football organizations. Ideally, from Kap’s standpoint, this is where you want to be.
The problem is that New England is constructed around Brady who in many ways has opposite strengths than Kaepernick. Seattle would have been a good fit but it seems that ship has already sailed.
 

Winger 03

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So then what makes DC (aside form the name and owner issues) a good fit for him? It seems as though every team with an opening or a poor performing QB sparks "sign Kap to XXX team and if they don't it is proof that he is being blackballed" as if no regard is given to can he play in that offensive system. I point out NE given the strong support system but from a style of play perspective maybe not such a good fit. What makes WAS offense, or BUF or insert terrible team name here a good fit?

What would be the ideal team for his skill-set? I think that every time his name is mentioned as a reflex reaction all it does is rile up the pro-Kap v. anti-Kap sides without any real substantive discussion.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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New England, Seattle ... that sort of place with those sorts of people. Belichick and Carroll would tell people who won’t let it go to shit in a hat, and they have the stature and ownership support to make it work. They are A+ football organizations. Ideally, from Kap’s standpoint, this is where you want to be.
'

I'm not sure the stability in Seattle is exactly a foregone conclusion anymore with Allen dying and succession still to be determined.