2014-2015 NFL thread

[Pendulous]

Free Agency starts tomorrow, so I guess now is as good a time as any for a new thread.

Cowboys need defensive help, but what they certainly don't need is defensive players with health issues. Plus they had to drop some players just to get under the cap. I'd say they're best off just waiting for the draft and making some deals, but I don't expect any fireworks.

Here are the last few posts if anyone wants to continue from there:

So, Mendenhall retired, and wrote a piece on it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rashar...b_4931316.html

Now, I understand what he is saying, and I acknowledge that attention euh, seekers and divas are popular and that the profession of being an athlete in the NFL has probably shifted towards that of an entertainer in recent years, but I think his conclusion out of it all is wrong. Or maybe not his conclusion, since that's his personal prerogative to feel like he wants to spread his wings, but his assessment that he's got heart for the game. I feel the fact he doesn't care enough about the game to jump through the hoops he's asked to jump through is precisely why some people have gotten the idea he doesn't love the game. He was probably professional in what he did and how he prepared, but part of being a professional is also that you take the bad with the good and that if you love something enough that you will put up with far worse then the picture he paints in his piece.

Whatever heart he had for the game was not enough to overcome the obvious downsides of being a pro athlete, which in my opinion simply proves people were right about him and that he lacked the love for the game. There's people out there that would do anything, and put up with anything to play in the league and there's enough of them that love the game enough to put up with what he clearly does not (anymore) to fill all availble roster spots on teams.

It's a nice piece, and I wish him the best, but he kind of just totally showed why he's not fit (anymore) to be a player in the NFL.

Jets cut Antonio Cromartie, decent enough plan, they have Milliner and Cromartie was being overpaid. They also cut Holmes, both moves save them a TON of money, I wonder who they are gunning for with these moves, are they looking to make some serious moves in FA?

Steelers cut Lamar Woodley, that is another veteran presence out in Pitt, they resigned Polamalu, but it seems that they are cutting every other one of that ancient defense. I'll agree with the youth movement, that defense was two steps away from being considered decrepit.

Seahawks resigned Bennett, four years, 28.5 million bucks, with 16 million guaranteed. Not a bad price for him, I wanted him to abandon ship, but he scared me less than Bryant, so I'll take it. Will Seattle keep Clemons now is my question.

Niners are actually cutting Rogers as well. THANK GOD! It'll be a slightly bigger cap hit cutting him now rather than in June, like a million buck if I recall correctly. Probably means the Niners will be gunning for a slot corner in free agency or in the draft. If they go for one in the draft, I am liking Verett from TCU more and more, he plays bigger than 5'9 and holy hell, the kid is fluid with his movements. Still like Fuller a bit more, but would not be upset drafting Verett.

And @ demise below me, I win! Beat you to it!

Pitta, one of the best recieving TEs in the game? Him and Flacco have great chemistry, its a no-brainer to sign this guy for the long haul.

Seahawks resign Bennett.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10...ichael-bennett

Deal seems pretty good overall, big money this year but drops down pretty substantially for the rest of the deal which should help the Seahawks have room for the big Sherman, Thomas, Wilson, etc. in the next few years. Its pretty clear Bennett gave the Seahawks a "good chance to win the superbowl again" discount, article says he had two higher offers.

[xskarma]

First!

Got some nice info to start the thread:

March 11th: At 4:00 PM ET, free agency officially begins, and teams may begin signing players or trading players who are still under contract. Additionally, all teams must be under the salary cap at this time.
March 23rd - March 26th: Annual League Meeting, Orlando, FL
April 7th: Clubs that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2013 regular season (including the Browns) may begin offseason workout programs. Teams with returning coaches begin April 21st.
May 8th - May 10th: NFL Draft, New York City, NY
May 19th - May 21st: NFL Spring League Meeting, Atlanta, GA

[Deleted]

Does anyone know when the NFL 2014 schedule will be released. Already considering taking a trip to Miami some time in the fall to the Pats-Dolphins game seeing as plane tickets are fairly cheap and the weather in Florida is pretty nice.

[Pendulous]

Wait, the draft is in mid-May? What happened to April 20-something?

[Lucied]

Wait, the draft is in mid-May? What happened to April 20-something?

If I'm not mistaken, the usual place (Radio City Music Hall, I think?) was booked for that time so they had to do a different time. I could be rediculously confused, though.

I am also going to say what I say every year, THIS IS THE YEAR FOR THE EAGLES! Seriously, though. They need to do it before Nick Foles big pay day comes. We shall see.

EDIT: I really see Jarius Byrd being a nice fit for the Eagles. They could use a playmaker safety, we've been weak at safety since B-Dawk left. It is amazing how they always have so much cap space to work with, yet somehow always come up short...

[Vetali]

Good job Pend, new thread right when the league year starts. Was gonna say something after tomorrow passed about it lol.

Anyway, Bennett signing is super shocking to me. Something tells me they heard the 9ers were going to make a deal and they had to sign him. This means Golden Tate and maybe Chris Clemons will be gone.

[Jibjabb]

Bears going hard for Bennett at least gives me hope that they are trying their best to answer their problems, which would mean cutting Peppers after they already let Hester walk. I really like this new regime, seem to have a lot more common sense, other than keeping Mel Tucker around

[Robbyjawz]

Good job Pend, new thread right when the league year starts. Was gonna say something after tomorrow passed about it lol.

Anyway, Bennett signing is super shocking to me. Something tells me they heard the 9ers were going to make a deal and they had to sign him. This means Golden Tate and maybe Chris Clemons will be gone.

Isn't Tate a RFA? I thought you guys gave him a second round tender. That might make sure that some teams don't go sniffing around for him. Also, @ the Bennett thing, I heard absolutely nothing about the Niners looking into him. If they were to be after new d-linemen it would be through the draft I think, or young free agents like Arthur Jones (I would kill for Greg Hardy from the Panthers, but his is tagged). They need to get younger a the d-line if anything. As much as I love J. Smith and R. McDonald, both are on the wrong side of 30, RayMac was not playing like he had been in previous seasons, while Justin cannot play at his level forever (as much as we Niners fans would love him to).

THe Panthers are reportedly shopping Steve Smith around, and the Bears are doing the same with Peppers. I don't know about SS's contract, but isn't Peppers' like some obscene number for a guy who is past his prime? Good luck getting anything for either of them if they are too expensive contract wise or the teams are asking too much for them. I mean, Boldin came to San Francisco for a freaking 6th round draft pick!

[Vetali]

Isn't Tate a RFA? I thought you guys gave him a second round tender. That might make sure that some teams don't go sniffing around for him. Also, @ the Bennett thing, I heard absolutely nothing about the Niners looking into him. If they were to be after new d-linemen it would be through the draft I think, or young free agents like Arthur Jones (I would kill for Greg Hardy from the Panthers, but his is tagged). They need to get younger a the d-line if anything. As much as I love J. Smith and R. McDonald, both are on the wrong side of 30, RayMac was not playing like he had been in previous seasons, while Justin cannot play at his level forever (as much as we Niners fans would love him to).

THe Panthers are reportedly shopping Steve Smith around, and the Bears are doing the same with Peppers. I don't know about SS's contract, but isn't Peppers' like some obscene number for a guy who is past his prime? Good luck getting anything for either of them if they are too expensive contract wise or the teams are asking too much for them. I mean, Boldin came to San Francisco for a freaking 6th round draft pick!

Doug Baldwin got the 2nd round tender. I heard the 9ers were looking Bennett's way before the chicago rumors started gaining steam.

[xskarma]

So many roster moves today! Hard to keep up. Several people getting cut, shopped or retiring. So far no Patriots news, which sucks, cause I was kind ahoping they'd get a last minute deal done with Talib or Edelman in this legal tampering period, once those guys had an idea of what their market is.

I'll definitely be around tomorrow when free agency starts, should be fun watching the signings come in (and possibly the cuts).

[Tyrgannus]

And so, it begins. GO SEAHAWKS!

[xskarma]

And so, it begins. GO SEAHAWKS!

Haha

I want to at least know more of the roster moves before I start the outright cheering in this thread. Maybe after the draft

[draynay]

and Carolina's awful Jon Stewart contract has tied them up so badly they're going to have to cut Steve Smith now it seems, so bad

doesn't surprise me that the Dolphins landed Delmas, of all the teams vying for him they had the most cap space and the most incentive to sign him

as for the moves to come, I would love to see the Chargers land Nicks, he fits their style of receiver rather well, if the price is right they should go for it, and the Saints picking up McCluster would be the only cure for the bitterness of losing Sproles & Moore

wouldn't mind stealing a former Panthers DB for the Saints either, Munnerlyn and Mitchell are out there


and it sounds like Revis is gonna get cut, somebody figured out that you don't rebuild a team by paying a corner $16mil a year

[Robbyjawz]

Doug Baldwin got the 2nd round tender. I heard the 9ers were looking Bennett's way before the chicago rumors started gaining steam.

I always confuse the two unless they are on the screen right in front of me. I would prefer Baldwin over Tate in the first place though thinking about who is who for a moment.

The Bucs are shopping Revis, no one in their right mind would trade for that contract. He is still one of if not the best CB in the NFL, but that contract is outrageous. I'll say that he winds up on the Raiders for less than he is getting from the Bucs, but still a hellova lot more than I would pay a non QB/ Elite pass rusher. CB is one of those positions that if you're great, good on you, but a lot of faults can be made up for with an elite front seven (see, San Francisco 49ers and Carlos Rogers, the last three years).

[Vetali]

I always confuse the two unless they are on the screen right in front of me. I would prefer Baldwin over Tate in the first place though thinking about who is who for a moment.

The Bucs are shopping Revis, no one in their right mind would trade for that contract. He is still one of if not the best CB in the NFL, but that contract is outrageous. I'll say that he winds up on the Raiders for less than he is getting from the Bucs, but still a hellova lot more than I would pay a non QB/ Elite pass rusher. CB is one of those positions that if you're great, good on you, but a lot of faults can be made up for with an elite front seven (see, San Francisco 49ers and Carlos Rogers, the last three years).

Yeah I agree Baldwin>Tate. More so with Percy Harvin in the mix, better YAC than Tate.

[xskarma]

With Revis on the market things suddenly take an interesting turn. I mean if you are the Raiders or somebody, don't you jump at this? Instant upgrade, and you have the cap room to keep him, even if only for a year or 2. Remember, his contract was with no guarantees in it, iirc, so even if he isn't worth the money anymore you can cut him with impunity.

And this might actually be good news for the Patriots. If one of the teams with cap room decides to sign Revis, it would mean 1 less team to overpay for Talib. I doubt Talib would be willing to go back to the Bucs after they traded him (and I doubt they'd want him back too) so even if losing Revis would put the Bucs on the market for a CB I doubt it would mean anything for the Patriots in their bid to keep Talib.

This is pretty much the only half decent news I've gotten all day, with the WoW release date in the fall and other related crappy Blizzard news.

[Vetali]

With Revis on the market things suddenly take an interesting turn. I mean if you are the Raiders or somebody, don't you jump at this? Instant upgrade, and you have the cap room to keep him, even if only for a year or 2. Remember, his contract was with no guarantees in it, iirc, so even if he isn't worth the money anymore you can cut him with impunity.

And this might actually be good news for the Patriots. If one of the teams with cap room decides to sign Revis, it would mean 1 less team to overpay for Talib. I doubt Talib would be willing to go back to the Bucs after they traded him (and I doubt they'd want him back too) so even if losing Revis would put the Bucs on the market for a CB I doubt it would mean anything for the Patriots in their bid to keep Talib.

This is pretty much the only half decent news I've gotten all day, with the WoW release date in the fall and other related crappy Blizzard news.

Well Revis 100% wants a multi year contract. But yeah, anybody with the cap room should jump on it.

Don't get me started about the WoW info either.

Something neat, sounds like the Redskins were over the 2013 cap based off of "not likely to be earned" incentives (whatever the fuck that means). Leaves them with just above 132m this year.

Seahawks will have a cap of $135,866,540.00 this year. Sweet.

[apepi]

Yeah a new thread, I need to get caught up on some football news...

[Rinex]

Looking forward to the new season!
Last one was the first one i followed and i didnt understand a whole lot in the beginning. Now i got more knowledge from the start!

Go Patriots!

[Toxigen]

I enjoyed Mendenhall's little piece on why he's retiring. I don't think its a cop-out of any sort.

I'd probably do the same. Play 5-6 years of pro and peace the fuck out and enjoy 50+ years of doing whatever I want with no lingering injuries.

Good for him.