2018-2019 NFL Thread

[xskarma]

Welcome everyone to the 2018-2019 NFL Thread

Where we discuss the 2018-2019 NFL season from the pre-Combine days in February, all the way to the Superbowl of this season on Sunday February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with all the news and all the games that go on in between.



Thread Rules:

There aren't many specific rules in this thread other than the normal forum rules that apply everywhere. We expect people to follow the spirit of the thread and the forum, mostly by respecting that every one has a favorite team and is entitled to cheer for them. Some banter is fine, insulting and trolling is not.

We also ask to keep the discussion largely centered around the current season and to leave in depth discussions about which team or player from yesteryear was better than which other team/player to threads made to discuss such a topic.




Let's start off with some things from last year's thread:

Links to previous seasons threads:

2010-2013 thread: link
2013-2014 thread: link
2014-2015 thread: link
2015-2016 thread: link
2016-2017 thread: link
2017-2018 thread: link

Some of the numbers of the NFL thread over the years:

Total pages:

2014: 428
2015: 662
2016: 506
2017: 442*

Total posts:

2014: 8,547
2015: 13,238
2016: 10,119
2017: 8,829*

Posts per day:

2014: 23.54
2015: 36.56
2016: 27.72
2017: 25.33*

*=truncated year

Top 10 posters of the last thread:






Interesting facts of the 2018-2019 season:


This season will be the 99th season of the National Football League.

This season will be the Cleveland Browns 70th season as a Professional Sports franchise.

This season will be the Indianapolis Colts 35th season in Indianapolis.

This season will be the Oakland Raiders 25th season since their return to Oakland.

This season will be the Dallas Cowboys 30th season under owner Jerry Jones.

This season will be the Green Bay Packers 100th season overall.

This season will be the Arizona Cardinals 25th season under their current name.



There will be no Christmas or New Year's interference with the schedule this year

Mexico game: The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Los Angeles Rams in Mexico City on Monday Night Football on November 19. Kickoff will be at 8:15 p.m. ET. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...f-in-november/

London games:






Superbowl odds for this season:




So, what can we expect in this coming year?

2018-2019 League Calendar:

February

Feb 20th
First day for teams to designate franchise or transition players.

Feb 27th - March 5th
Scouting Combine - Indianapolis

March

March 6
Deadline for teams to designate franchise or transition players. Tags are in this post: https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post49014813

March 12
Clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2017 Player Contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 9. However, a contract cannot be executed with a new club until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 9.

March 14
Free agency begins.

The 2018 league year begins, and free agency opens. By 4pm ET, teams must make decisions on player options, submit qualifying offers to restricted free agents, submit minimum tenders to exclusive rights free agents, and be under the 2018 salary cap. Trades can be made and free agents can be signed after 4pm ET.

March 25-28
Annual League Meeting, Orlando, Florida.

This is likely where rules changes are first brought up and discussed.


April

April ??: NFL 2018-2019 schedule released. Usually around the middle of the month. It's been 17th to 23rd the last few years. It's usually announced when it will happen a few days in advance, and there's usually a whole show and dance around the release its self on release day.

April 20
Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets.

April 25
Deadline for previous club to exercise right of first refusal (ie. match offer sheets) on restricted free agents.

April 26-28
The NFL draft will be held at Cowboys stadium in Arlington Texas (Dallas).

Draft order: COMING AS SOON AS AVAILABLE

May

May 4-7: First weekend after the NFL Draft: clubs may elect to hold their one three-day post-draft rookie minicamp from Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday.

May 11-14: Second weekend after the NFL Draft: clubs may elect to hold their one three-day post-draft rookie minicamp from Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday.

May 14: Rookie Football Development Program Begins.

May 21-23 Spring League Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia.

This is likely where proposed rules changes are voted on.

June

June 1: Deadline for prior club to send “June 1 Tender” to its unsigned Restricted Free Agents who received a qualifying offer for a Right of First Refusal Only in order for such player to be subject to the CBA’s “June 15 Tender” provision.

June 2: For any player removed from the club’s roster or whose contract is assigned via waivers or trade on or after June 2, any unamortized signing bonus amounts for future years will be included fully in Team Salary at the start of the 2018 League Year.

June 15: Deadline for club to withdraw qualifying offer to Restricted Free Agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by substituting “June 15 Tender” of one-year contract at 110 percent of the player’s prior-year Paragraph 5 Salary (with all other terms of his prior-year contract carried forward unchanged).

July

July 16: At 4:00 p.m., New York time, deadline for any club that designated a Franchise Player to sign such player to a multiyear contract or extension. After this date, the player may sign only a one-year contract with his prior club for the 2017 season, and such contract cannot be extended until after the club’s last regular season game.

Mid-July:

Training Camp

Clubs are permitted to open preseason training camp for rookies and first-year players beginning seven days prior to the club’s earliest permissible mandatory reporting date for veteran players. Veteran players (defined as a player with at least one pension-credited season) other than quarterbacks or “injured players” (as defined in CBA Article 21, Section 6) may report to a club’s preseason training camp no earlier than 15 days prior to the club’s first scheduled preseason game or July 15, whichever is later.

Veteran quarterbacks and injured players may be required to report to the club’s preseason training camp no earlier than five days immediately prior to the mandatory reporting date for all other veteran players, provided the club has already opened (or simultaneously opens) its official preseason training camp for all rookies and first-year players.

A three-day acclimation period will apply to players who are on a Club’s roster up to and including the mandatory veteran reporting date. Players who join the roster after that date may practice (including wearing pads) and play immediately after passing a physical.

July 23*: Signing Period ends for unrestricted Free Agents to whom a “May 9 Tender” was made by prior club. After this date and until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the Tuesday following the 10th weekend of the regular season, prior club has exclusive negotiating rights.

* or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later.

July 23: Signing Period ends for Transition Players with outstanding tenders. After this date and until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the Tuesday following the 10th weekend of the regular season, prior club has exclusive negotiating rights.

August

August 2nd - Hall of Fame game - Baltimore Ravens vs Chicago Bears in Canton Ohio in the Hall of Fame stadium

August 5th - Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Rest of the Pre-season games: list of games per week, exact dates and times coming later.

Roster cutdowns

September

September 6th, Thursday: Opening day, the Superbowl winner Philadelphia Eagles open the regular season

September 10th, Sunday: Opening week-end, the first full slate of Sunday games of the regular season





Lastly:


We hope everyone that likes football will join us as we go on the journey to learn who will eventually follow last year's winners the Philadelphia Eagles as the 2018-2019 NFL Superbowl LIII winners.

Have at it, ladies and gentlemen!

signed, the mods.

[WskyDK]

*sniffs*
Ahhh, smells like victory

[xskarma]

*sniffs*
Ahhh, smells like victory

Dang, that was fast. 2 min after starting the thread and I told no one I was doing this. Impressive!

[Crissi]

damn you for doing this while I was asleep

[draynay]

There isn't gonna be a whole lot of news upcoming? Just tagging this week.

For some reason, Washington was considering tagging Cousins even though it would cripple them by putting $34 million on the cap with no guarantee anybody would trade more than the compensatory pick they're likely to get anyway.

QB movement is going to be a lot more interesting than usual. Brees could be tough on negotiations, the Vikings have three competent starters hitting free agency, COUSINS, and I think teams might be willing to invest in veteran backups more this year than last after seeing how Philly was able to endure the loss of their starter.

[Northern Goblin]

A lot of contracts tick over this week, so expect a few releases to save cap.

[xskarma]

A lot of contracts tick over this week, so expect a few releases to save cap.

SPEAKING OF

"Bucs have released RB Doug Martin, as @NFLSTROUD said. Give Martin credit for his comeback to stick in Tampa last year. Now looking for a new team." - Garafolo

"Texans officially released Lb Brian Cushing today, per source." - Schefter

"Bears have released LB @jerrellFreeman per source." PFT


Teams definitely starting to clean house and gear up towards free agency in a few weeks.

[Crissi]

Talk is of tagging Demarcus Lawrence as they work toward a long term deal. I can get that, as 1 great year does not necessarily make a great player worth a ton of money.

[draynay]

Talk is of tagging Demarcus Lawrence as they work toward a long term deal. I can get that, as 1 great year does not necessarily make a great player worth a ton of money.

He plays a very expensive position, so its gonna be tough. Might impact what happens to Dez.

[Crissi]

He plays a very expensive position, so its gonna be tough. Might impact what happens to Dez.

yeah. All the other good ones are already tied up, so we'd be downgrading if we let D.law go without tagging him.

We're def taking a WR in the draft. Id like to keep Dez around though for at least a mentor role, so I hope Dez is amenable to a slight cut in pay.

[Grube]

Whoever/whatever came up with those odds really have no expectations for the Browns. They aren't much worse than the Cardinals who don't even have a QB right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if CJ Anderson is added to the cut list pretty soon, even though he is much better than Booker at everything other than hurdling. Talib could also end up being cut, but that probably wouldn't be until after at least Cousins signs someplace and maybe even the draft.

[xskarma]

"Eagles promoting WRs coach Mike Groh to offensive coordinator" - various outlets

Eagles promote from within, should mean they continue to roll on.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Let the Bell to TB pipe dream commence!

Also holy 100 years. Think we'll get a uniform patch?

[Pendulous]

Wow, Vegas putting a lot of stock into Green Bay, huh? Not a Super Bowl team from where I'm sitting.

[MAGAmobile]

Its because Rodgers is that good. Not many teams can rely solely on their QB to bring them to playoffs consistently. They're also not losing as many players to free agency like Pittsburgh and others might be.

[WskyDK]

Dang, that was fast. 2 min after starting the thread and I told no one I was doing this. Impressive!

Not only that, I just realized I was the last post before the close of last season's thread.

OT: I'm hoping the Pats keep Harrison at a decent deal. I get that he didn't play a full season worth of snaps, but he was pretty huge there when we snagged him.

[Deleted]

This season will be the Cleveland Browns 70th season as a Professional Sports franchise.

Are there any minimum requirements for this denomination?


And looking at the Vegas odds, the 9'ers at No. 6 for the SB. Absurd. I want five+ years of being relevant, not nine months of hype; thank you.

[xskarma]

Are there any minimum requirements for this denomination?


And looking at the Vegas odds, the 9'ers at No. 6 for the SB. Absurd. I want five+ years of being relevant, not nine months of hype; thank you.

It's Vegas/betting, not a list of how good each team actually is, just a list of how likely people are to bet on these teams combined with how good they potentially are.

It's just the easiest way to link a list of what some expectations are going into the season. Every list would have it's flaws, this one is that it's balanced by Vegas to make sure they can make money.

[WskyDK]

Hmmm, Bears release left guard Josh Sitton. Not that Thuney is doing poorly, but better depth at Brady's back would be nice.

- - - Updated - - -

Are there any minimum requirements for this denomination?


And looking at the Vegas odds, the 9'ers at No. 6 for the SB. Absurd. I want five+ years of being relevant, not nine months of hype; thank you.

Not in today's NFL

[Northern Goblin]

"Texans officially released Lb Brian Cushing today, per source." - Schefter.

That's a surprise, he's still got a few years left in him, I expect to see a 2-3 year contract on him very quickly in FA.