Showboat

Yeah, Dobbins has been hurt a lot, but I would not put him on a DnD list just yet. There have been other backs who have shaken the injury bug to post some good seasons (Terry Allen and Robert Smith come to mind). The trick is to know when to pull the trigger if he falls - at some point he could be a great value pick.

The Vikings were smart to let Cousins walk. If they give up too much to move up, I could see a Panthers 2023 season on the horizon for them. The roster needs talent in plenty of other areas. They should be planning on rolling with Darnold, and targeting a day-2 QB and only pulling the trigger on one of the first round QB prospects if he falls.

If you say so, but it seemed eerily similar to what your previous posts about it being a mistake to sign Mayfield for $30M when cheaper/similar talent options were out there. We'll see how it turns out, but I think the Bucs did the right thing - not breaking the bank for Cousins, and keeping Mayfield (who IMO is still young enough to have room for growth) on a relatively reasonable contract given the current QB market. Cousins will probably get the Falcons to the playoffs and may even win the division, but you'll be glad he is not the Bucs QB when he does nothing to prevent an early playoff exit.

Still sore about the Mayfield signing?

Not sure that Samuel is a great replacement for Davis. Davis is one of the better blocking WRs in the league (I know, not great for FF but real important for real football). I believe he was even awarded a game ball this past season for a game where he recorded zero catches.

A cap hit isn't really paying a player to go away. That money is already spent and gone from the team's perspective, but cap shenanigans allow teams to spread the cap hit over the life of the contract - the hit gets accelerated if the player leaves before the contract is up. Plus the Seahawks got a haul of draft picks and players in trading Russ away - I can't see how that can be considered as paying Russ to leave. The Broncos on the other hand, are paying Russ about $39M for the 2024 season to not play football - that is paying him to go away. The amount that the Broncos have to pay can be reduced by the amount any other team is willing to pay him to play football in 2024. The rest of that $85M you quote is the cap hit for money already spent and gone. I guess the premise that teams should be skeptical of a player that two other teams have decided that they don't want as their QB is valid, especially when one of those teams was willing to pay him, release him, and get nothing in return. However, it is simply not accurate to say two teams paid him to go away. In a league where 20-35% of teams do not have a settled franchise QB, Russ is a low cost/low risk option to consider for 2024.

Actually. I think the Seahawks got paid handsomely to let him go. But now since the Broncos are on the hook for his 2024 salary, if he wants to play, he should be agreeable to a league minimum salary (which I believe would offset what the Broncos need to pay, so no team has any incentive to go any higher as there is no way any team would offer more than the Broncos are already paying him).

Also one of the worst trades in history - maybe not as bad as the Hershel Walker trade (but maybe so, considering the contract that Russ got on top of the trade compensation).

A two-year deal for Evans screams "win now". I think this makes it less likely that the Bucs make a move for any of the top rookie QBs and makes it more likely that they hammer out a deal with Mayfield (or perhaps make a play for Cousins - which would be a huge mistake IMO).

Another guy that could have a sneaky good year is McLaurin. Top 5 would be a bold prediction, but with a new coaching staff (maybe a QB upgrade? or some growth from Howell), he could be a later round league winner.

RB is becoming more like the TE position used to be where there are 2 or 3 guys who will be a featured back and put up pretty consistent numbers. Everyone else is mired in RBBC specialization with no certainty that they will even be on the field when their team gets into the redzone.

The nugget I take from this is that you think Odunze has the best chance of all the rookies to crack the top 5. Obviously, it is near impossible to rank the rookies until we see where they land and get some camp/depth chart reports (and even those are a bit like reading tea leaves). Are you expecting him to land in a better situation than Harrison or do you think he is actually a better prospect than Harrison (or were you really just being creative and throwing out one of the top rookies at random). Leagues will be won on guessing right on which of the top guys won't even crack the top 20 and which rookies/sleepers will get into the 5 or 10.

I don't think the Vikings will just hand a workhorse role over to Chandler - he's got about a 50-50 chance for the "meat and potatos", but he'll need to beat out whoever they bring in and Akers is still hanging around. Most likely it will be some form of RBBC which pretty much all teams are transitioning to.

Need is a strong word. I think it would be a mistake for the Vikings to sign Cousins for the price he is asking. The only thing Cousins has shown is that he is not a crunch-time QB. Any RB the Vikings may draft or sign is a threat to take touches away from Chandler.

This is where we disagree. I could certainly be wrong, but I really do believe there will be teams out there willing to give Mayfield $30M. The Vikings for one should certainly be looking at an alternative to Cousins. It's a game of chicken that the Bucs will be playing, unless the owners collude to not offer free agent QB contracts until after the draft. It is certainly a huge advantage if a team can get the right rookie QB, but "getting their guy" is no guarantee - even sure-fire generational talents like Luck and Lawrence won exactly how many championships?