Showboat

I agree - I just think the Penix pick is not as bad as it is being portrayed. Now, if they had given away next years first to move up, that would make the pick more questionable. Maybe it was a reasonable gamble to sign Cousins and give him the opportunity to flip his career script (I'm not convinced of that), but I think the Falcons are wise to not have all their eggs in the Cousins' basket and give themselves a plan B.

Well, I'd argue that if they really cared about winning (a championship and not just a nice regular season record), they wouldn't have signed Cousins in the first place.

I've seen a lot of reports about how this pick didn't make sense and was disrespectful to Cousins (when did football players become so fragile?) But seriously, if Cousins is so great and actually worth the cash he got, he should be able to elevate the performance of his teammates to get them where they want to go (not that he has ever demonstrated that capability in the past). With the pick the Falcons are telling Cousins, we showed you are money, now show us yours and if you can't flip your career script within the next 1-3 years we are moving on. And given Cousins age, it's likelier than not that his performance will actually decline rather than improve over the course of his contract. Now, you could argue that Penix isn't the right prospect, but at least the Falcons were patient and let the draft come to them instead of panicking and giving away the farm to move up and grab their guy.

Will the Vikings panic for McCarthy or let him fall?

Will the Giants let the clock expire?

Nobody should be out of the draft contest, yet.

Emmitt, Brady, Calvin Johnson, Mahomes, Tyreek has done just fine.....

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).