2021-2022 NFL Thread

[Coniferous]

Wait, are coaches salaries guaranteed in the NFL, but not the players? LOL.

To me, the "salaries are not guaranteed" complaint is completely overblown. At the end of the day, the money the players get is set by the salary cap, so non-guaranteed contracts just means that cutting some players means other players get paid with the salary cap money that is freed up.

And most NFL contracts contain a mixture of guaranteed and non-guaranteed money, so it's not like the players who get cut are destitute.

To me, that's better than the NBA, where a player on a bad contract can ruin a franchise for years (a guy like Ben Simmons, for example).

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It's interesting to me that even though the Giants have been an absolute trainwreck organization for years, they seemingly are still the ones dictating this offseason with their hires. They were the first domino to fall in the GM search and also seem to be the team everyone is waiting on to make their Coaching hire.

Guess that NFC East/Old Guard pull is still strong in the league, even with them being this bad this long.

I guess the idea is that they're going to be given time to turn things around, and this is a franchise with still relatively recent success that is known for being relatively stable (a lot of other organizations would have moved on from Manning after 2006).

The Giants cap situation is an absolute disaster though. Things aren't going to get better soon.

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By the way, I think the NFL schedule has become too imbalanced. The way it works is everyone in the division plays the same 14 games, then the last three are assigned based on your place in the division - if you were first place, you play 3 games against first place teams, etc.

So if you're a last place team that's not bad (like this year's Seahawks) you end up with a huge advantage going into next year. Next year the Rams's extra three games are against the Cowboys, Packers, and Bills, and the Seahawks get the Giants, Lions, and Jets. This affect appears muted in schedule strength ratings because the last place team's schedule strength will always look worse than the first place team's because they play each other twice, but it's a pretty big imbalance.

Excluding the games they play against each other, the Rams' opponents next year had a record of 150-105 this year. The Seahawks' opponents were at 125-129-1. That means the Rams' opponents on average finished more than a game ahead of the Seahawks' (except for the two times they play each other) because the difference in those three games is so extreme.

[eschatological]

NHL, MLB, and NBA contracts are all guaranteed. They only "ruin" your franchise if you're a bad franchise.

[ProphetFlume]

To me, the "salaries are not guaranteed" complaint is completely overblown. At the end of the day, the money the players get is set by the salary cap, so non-guaranteed contracts just means that cutting some players means other players get paid with the salary cap money that is freed up.

And most NFL contracts contain a mixture of guaranteed and non-guaranteed money, so it's not like the players who get cut are destitute.

To me, that's better than the NBA, where a player on a bad contract can ruin a franchise for years (a guy like Ben Simmons, for example).

What’s the average shelf life of an nba vs nfl player? What’s the likelihood of injury that’s career ending or worse? Which has more significant long term damage on players?

[Coniferous]

What’s the average shelf life of an nba vs nfl player? What’s the likelihood of injury that’s career ending or worse? Which has more significant long term damage on players?

My point is that the money is redirected to other players, it's not like it disappears. If you have guaranteed contracts, that would just mean that injured players make more, and healthy players make less. Wouldn't change anything about the health implications of the sport.

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NHL, MLB, and NBA contracts are all guaranteed. They only "ruin" your franchise if you're a bad franchise.

That's just blatantly not true. It's always a good idea to give a max contract to a great NBA player, but if he gets hurt, you could end up with a crippled cap for 4 years. Nothing to do with whether you are good or bad, just unlucky.

NFL has the right mix of guaranteed money with non-guaranteed that means the players earn plenty, but franchises can recover much more quickly from major injuries to key players.

[Kyanion]

NHL, MLB, and NBA contracts are all guaranteed. They only "ruin" your franchise if you're a bad franchise.

Riiiight, because said contracts can predict the decline of a player suddenly. Oh wait. Because those contracts expect a player's performance to stay the same or improve and they never go the opposite direction right? Oh wait. Because the contracts are always short term deals like in the NFL where most contracts are 1-5 years. Oh wait.

I mean you can make a blanket statement like yours if you want but it is fucking wrong. So wrong.

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That's just blatantly not true. It's always a good idea to give a max contract to a great NBA player, but if he gets hurt, you could end up with a crippled cap for 4 years. Nothing to do with whether you are good or bad, just unlucky.

And I believe NHL and MLB are more common to see 5-10 year deals where the NFL I think the most recent one was Mahomes deal but for the most part none of them are really over 5.

[eschatological]

The "injuries can happen so guaranteed money shouldn't be a thing" isn't an argument against guaranteed money - it's an argument FOR guaranteed money.

It's an argument for the players, where an injury can cut off all their earning potential or end their career, while it might hurt for a couple of years for a franchise in these four major sports, which earn billions.

[PhaelixWW]

The "injuries can happen so guaranteed money shouldn't be a thing" isn't an argument against guaranteed money - it's an argument FOR guaranteed money.

It's an argument for the players, where an injury can cut off all their earning potential or end their career, while it might hurt for a couple of years for a franchise in these four major sports, which earn billions.

...especially considering the fact that the injury was caused by the sport (in most cases, at least). If these players get damaged while playing hard for our enjoyment, it's not right to punish them.

We don't have to go full gladiator.

[Kyanion]

The "injuries can happen so guaranteed money shouldn't be a thing" isn't an argument against guaranteed money - it's an argument FOR guaranteed money.

It's an argument for the players, where an injury can cut off all their earning potential or end their career, while it might hurt for a couple of years for a franchise in these four major sports, which earn billions.

NHL, MLB, and NBA contracts are all guaranteed. They only "ruin" your franchise if you're a bad franchise.

The problem is you are trying to make the claim that guaranteed contracts only "ruin" bad franchises which is bullshit. Nothing you just said proves your claim. A good franchise that has bad luck and a few players have freak accidents on guaranteed contracts does not suddenly become a badly run franchise that made stupid errors signing players. Freak shit like that does not only target the 'stupid' teams that give out huge money on long term deals. It can happen to any team.

[Northern Goblin]

Well that's certainly one way to start this game Tennessee..

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Sudden fear of KC knocking off their third different team in a row in the AFCC.

[draynay]

Now it's like the refs have decided to never blow the whistle and let Burrow take big hits on delays and timeouts.

[Northern Goblin]

The referees legitimately hate Joe Burrow. They're ignoring when they should blow the whistle and letting him get killed.

[Coniferous]

The "injuries can happen so guaranteed money shouldn't be a thing" isn't an argument against guaranteed money - it's an argument FOR guaranteed money.

It's an argument for the players, where an injury can cut off all their earning potential or end their career, while it might hurt for a couple of years for a franchise in these four major sports, which earn billions.

The players earn millions and are fine. A significant percentage of many contracts is guaranteed. The NFL unlike other sports allows players to negotiate whether their contract is guaranteed or not... see Kirk Cousins, who got a 100% guaranteed deal. It's not like they're kicking poor destitute players out on the street. If you are a good enough player to have signed a long term contract, you got a signing bonus and a significant chunk of guaranteed money.

And again, when one player is cut, the teams spend that money on other players, so it's not like the owners pocket it. The non-guaranteed portion of contracts results in spreading the money around more than if they were guaranteed. I don't see how having a smaller group of players earn more (which is what would happen if contracts were guaranteed) is better than a larger group of players earning slightly less.

The league with the worst contract structure is MLB, where you're lucky to hit free agency before 30 and as a result there are a ton of long, bad contracts because free agency is so limited and teams end up massively overpaying a few guys.

[Breccia]

Is it just me, or is Cincy vs. Tenn the closest playoff game yet?

[PhaelixWW]

Holy crap.

What a crazy 2 play sequence...

[draynay]

Passing the game away right when the run is working.

[PhaelixWW]

Passing the game away right when the run is working.

It's a travesty to basically undo what was an amazing 45-yard run.

[cuafpr]

Holy crap.

What a crazy 2 play sequence...

that much up and down could break their spirit wow

[PhaelixWW]

that much up and down could break their spirit wow

And now they're right back near the red zone.

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Hot damn.

This is the most exciting game of the playoffs so far.

[xskarma]

They should go with the call on the field here, but I bet they won;t.