Falcons Release Marcus Mariota

[Mike FF Today 721]

Falcons have the 8th pick in the draft and/or could add a veteran QB in free agency.

[jrokh 608]

Wouldn't it be better served to have one thread with all the released players? Giants just released Golladay, don't think that deserves it's own thread. Neither does Wentz or Mariota...

[Ray_T 740]

I dont mind the idea.  none of these guys are really considered premium fantasy players.

[seafoam1 2,805]

Mariota was a baby at the end of last season. Good riddance. 

[Ray_T 740]

45 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

Mariota was a baby at the end of last season. Good riddance. 

I dont know about the issue.  but its not surprising.

I really stopped paying attention to what goes on in Atlanta because there were no fantasy relevant players there that I had on any of my teams.

if he was a bit of a baby its not abnormal.   You can say that about almost any QB who lost their starting job.   Show me a guy who lost their starting job to someone else, and i'll show you a malcontent 9 times out of 10.

some guys are better at masking their feelings than others.   clearly hes not good at this (or throwing the football from the sound of it)

[League Champion 1,896]

Marriota is ass juice 

[seafoam1 2,805]

45 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

I dont know about the issue.  but its not surprising.

I really stopped paying attention to what goes on in Atlanta because there were no fantasy relevant players there that I had on any of my teams.

if he was a bit of a baby its not abnormal.   You can say that about almost any QB who lost their starting job.   Show me a guy who lost their starting job to someone else, and i'll show you a malcontent 9 times out of 10.

some guys are better at masking their feelings than others.   clearly hes not good at this (or throwing the football from the sound of it)

He needs now to accept the rest of his career as being a back up. 

[nobody 2,569]

On 2/28/2023 at 7:52 AM, jrokh said:

Wouldn't it be better served to have one thread with all the released players? Giants just released Golladay, don't think that deserves it's own thread. Neither does Wentz or Mariota...

Bucs are supposed to release Fournette too.  I saw a story today that Vikings might sign him and let Dalvin Cook to.  

[League Champion 1,896]

4 minutes ago, nobody said:

Bucs are supposed to release Fournette too.  I saw a story today that Vikings might sign him and let Dalvin Cook to.  

Why, that would be a significant downgraded for Minnesota. 

[Ray_T 740]

6 minutes ago, nobody said:

Bucs are supposed to release Fournette too.  I saw a story today that Vikings might sign him and let Dalvin Cook to.  

I feel like that would be a difficult move explain to the fans.

I'd be more concerned about that lis franc problem that fournette claimed he had late in the season.    As there was no surgery its likely less serious but these injuries can linger and they are an absolutely terrible injury for RB's. 

I know they want to cut costs, but this is overkill in my opinion.

[nobody 2,569]

2 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

I feel like that would be a difficult move explain to the fans.

I'd be more concerned about that lis franc problem that fournette claimed he had late in the season.    As there was no surgery its likely less serious but these injuries can linger and they are an absolutely terrible injury for RB's. 

I know they want to cut costs, but this is overkill in my opinion.

According to sporttrac cook's contract guarantees him $2M on March 17th, so if he makes it to that date, he's on the vikes this year.

[seafoam1 2,805]

I have Ridder in a dynasty super flex league. Hoping he can be man moving forward in Atlanta for years to come. 

[League Champion 1,896]

10 hours ago, nobody said:

According to sporttrac cook's contract guarantees him $2M on March 17th, so if he makes it to that date, he's on the vikes this year.

2 million dollars is nothing in their world, especially to downgrade at RB. There's no scenario where I see that happening. Bloated Lenny has nothing left in the tank. 

[Ray_T 740]

5 hours ago, League Champion said:

2 million dollars is nothing in their world, especially to downgrade at RB. There's no scenario where I see that happening. Bloated Lenny has nothing left in the tank. 

I agree 2 mil is nothing to them, but I suspect if they move on From Cook its likely because hes not gonna be easy to re sign.   

What you dont do is pay him to go away so you can bring in a lesser back.   Given the fact that the market has moved and everyone is getting paid more, they may not even save significant money to move on from him to Fournette.

That said.... its possible there is more going on than we are aware of.   maybe hes feuding with some teammates or something stupid  like that.    Teams can sometimes do a good job of keeping a lid on stuff like this until they can move on from the player.   so if they move on from him, its likely something like this.

more likely he wants a long term deal, and the team doesnt want one and hes become a bit of a malcontent over the contract negotiations.

its not like his production has been bad or anything.   Hes a top 10 RB.

 

[Ray_T 740]

ok on the danny dimes thread it sounds like they have a choice to franchise Dimes or Sequon.   they are gonna franchise dimes and let sequon go.

so if moving on from Cook this is the guy they target.  Not Fournette.

[League Champion 1,896]

28 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

they are gonna franchise dimes and let sequon go.

They have to. Saquon is useless without a QB 

[nobody 2,569]

8 hours ago, League Champion said:

2 million dollars is nothing in their world, especially to downgrade at RB. There's no scenario where I see that happening. Bloated Lenny has nothing left in the tank. 

It is nothing, but that doesn't mean their not going to make a decision and burn $2M on their cap for no reason.

[League Champion 1,896]

43 minutes ago, nobody said:

It is nothing, but that doesn't mean their not going to make a decision and burn $2M on their cap for no reason.

Cook is no slouch. I can't imagine them not bringing him back. Especially since the Kirk Cousins window to win a Superbowl is closing. 

[Gepetto 1,291]

On 3/1/2023 at 4:40 PM, seafoam1 said:

Mariota was a baby at the end of last season. Good riddance. 

He got benched for Desmond Ridder, the worst QB in the NFL.  And Mariota left for surgery.  I don't blame him.  That coach that benched him was way wrong and every QB with any integrity would also have left that franchise immediately never to return.  Mariota played pretty well for them actually and helped make them a viable competitive team.

[seafoam1 2,805]

1 hour ago, Gepetto said:

He got benched for Desmond Ridder, the worst QB in the NFL.  And Mariota left for surgery.  I don't blame him.  That coach that benched him was way wrong and every QB with any integrity would also have left that franchise immediately never to return.  Mariota played pretty well for them actually and helped make them a viable competitive team.

"The worst QB in the NFL" ? He's not even worst QB on his team. 

Ridder as a rookie.

Regular Season

Career

 

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
73	115	63.5	708	6.2	2	0	40	86.4

 

Mariota on the same team, same year. As a long time veteran.

 

Year	Team	YDS	TD	INT	Rating
2022	ATL	2,219	15	9	88.2

 

[TBayXXXVII 2,485]

9 hours ago, seafoam1 said:

"The worst QB in the NFL" ? He's not even worst QB on his team. 

Ridder as a rookie.

Regular Season

Career

 

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
73	115	63.5	708	6.2	2	0	40	86.4

 

Mariota on the same team, same year. As a long time veteran.

 

Year	Team	YDS	TD	INT	Rating
2022	ATL	2,219	15	9	88.2

 

To be fair, the Falcons last 4 games were against the Saints (who stunk), the Ravens (without Jackson), the Cardinals (without Murray), and the Bucs (Brady only played the 1st quarter).  His team never went against an offense that could put the Falcons in a disadvantageous position.  In the Tampa game, the Bucs were winning 17-10 at halftime, but lost 30-17 when Trask played the second half.

In their first 13 games, the Falcons scored an average of 22 ppg and gave up 24, but in the last 4, they scored 19.25 and gave up 18.5.

Mariota wasn't that good, but let's not make it seem like the situations both he and Ridder played in, were the same.

[seafoam1 2,805]

32 minutes ago, TBayXXXVII said:

To be fair, the Falcons last 4 games were against the Saints (who stunk), the Ravens (without Jackson), the Cardinals (without Murray), and the Bucs (Brady only played the 1st quarter).  His team never went against an offense that could put the Falcons in a disadvantageous position.  In the Tampa game, the Bucs were winning 17-10 at halftime, but lost 30-17 when Trask played the second half.

In their first 13 games, the Falcons scored an average of 22 ppg and gave up 24, but in the last 4, they scored 19.25 and gave up 18.5.

Mariota wasn't that good, but let's not make it seem like the situations both he and Ridder played in, were the same.

You are comparing a 7 year veteran QB against a rookie in his first 4 games. Mariota only played against 2 tough teams in SF and Cinci. 

Personally, I was more impressed with Ridder. I hope he's the guy this year to see how he does. Mariota will go sit on the bench somewhere for the rest of his career waiting for injuries to happen. 

[TBayXXXVII 2,485]

10 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

You are comparing a 7 year veteran QB against a rookie in his first 4 games. Mariota only played against 2 tough teams in SF and Cinci. 

Personally, I was more impressed with Ridder. I hope he's the guy this year to see how he does. Mariota will go sit on the bench somewhere for the rest of his career waiting for injuries to happen. 

Again, I didn't say Mariota was good, I'm just saying that it's not like Ridder was in any kind of situation where he was pressed.

On top of that, it's not the Falcons had any real talent to throw to.  Ridley was suspended, Pitts got hurt in Week 10, & a rookie was their best WR.  All the while, you're condemning Mariota when he had a better passer rating and QBR than Ridder.  In Ridder's first 2 games, he generated 2 TD drives, one of which was only 32 yards.  He didn't even throw for 100 yards in his first game.

Also, Mariota didn't get benched because HE stunk, he got benched because the team stunk.  They, and we, all knew that Mariota isn't/wasn't, the future of this team and that's why they wanted to see what they had in Ridder.  Look, I'm not one of those people who think that QBR is the end-all-be-all to judge QB's, but Mariota's 55.6 ranked 13th in the league last year.

[LaChup 229]

Mariota would be better served being the third string QB on the Saints, which is the same as being the 7th string QB on any other team. Here is how it would look on paper:

QB1 - Fake to Carr and direct snap Taysom

QB2 - Fake to Taysom and snap it to Taysom anyways

QB3 - Taysom

QB4 - Carr, when Taysom isn't looking

QB5 - Taysom wildcat

QB6 - Taysom when they need 15 yards, but like to fake out the other team with a 2 yard run.

QB7 - Mariota, if Taysom and Carr get hurt

[seafoam1 2,805]

1 hour ago, LaChup said:

Mariota would be better served being the third string QB on the Saints, which is the same as being the 7th string QB on any other team. Here is how it would look on paper:

QB1 - Fake to Carr and direct snap Taysom

QB2 - Fake to Taysom and snap it to Taysom anyways

QB3 - Taysom

QB4 - Carr, when Taysom isn't looking

QB5 - Taysom wildcat

QB6 - Taysom when they need 15 yards, but like to fake out the other team with a 2 yard run.

QB7 - Mariota, if Taysom and Carr get hurt

Mariota would play angry. He's soooo disrespected. 

[WhiteWonder 2,681]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:49 PM, Ray_T said:

I feel like that would be a difficult move explain to the fans.

I'd be more concerned about that lis franc problem that fournette claimed he had late in the season.    As there was no surgery its likely less serious but these injuries can linger and they are an absolutely terrible injury for RB's. 

I know they want to cut costs, but this is overkill in my opinion.

RB's just really are not worth paying at a certain point. 

I've read where the Vikings are interested in re signing Alexander Mattison who should come much cheaper (2-3 million annually).. Dalvin Cooks cap number is 14 million. They save 9 million if they cut him after June 1. 

That scenario gives them a really good RB who they are familiar with and saves them a nice chunk of cap space. 

Where does Fournette fit? I had not heard that rumor but I suppose being that few teams rely on 1 RB these days, if the price is right on Lenny that could form a more cost effective 1-2 punch. 

[WhiteWonder 2,681]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:01 PM, League Champion said:

Marriota is ass juice 

 

On 3/1/2023 at 7:43 PM, League Champion said:

Why, that would be a significant downgraded for Minnesota. 

 

On 3/2/2023 at 12:45 PM, League Champion said:

They have to. Saquon is useless without a QB 

 

On 3/2/2023 at 3:17 PM, League Champion said:

Cook is no slouch. I can't imagine them not bringing him back. Especially since the Kirk Cousins window to win a Superbowl is closing. 

 

I get the sense you don't actually watch much football 

[Ray_T 740]

4 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

RB's just really are not worth paying at a certain point. 

I've read where the Vikings are interested in re signing Alexander Mattison who should come much cheaper (2-3 million annually).. Dalvin Cooks cap number is 14 million. They save 9 million if they cut him after June 1. 

That scenario gives them a really good RB who they are familiar with and saves them a nice chunk of cap space. 

Where does Fournette fit? I had not heard that rumor but I suppose being that few teams rely on 1 RB these days, if the price is right on Lenny that could form a more cost effective 1-2 punch. 

Fournette really doesnt make sense in this scenario.  getting rid of one vet to sign another coming off a lis franc injury who may or may not still be able to play.

its far easier to explain when they draft a top RB instead of signing one.

 

[WhiteWonder 2,681]

4 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

Fournette really doesnt make sense in this scenario.  getting rid of one vet to sign another coming off a lis franc injury who may or may not still be able to play.

its far easier to explain when they draft a top RB instead of signing one.

 

I'm not saying adding Fournette is a GOOD idea.  I'm saying I can understand the team moving on from Cook if they plan to sign Mattison and can save significant cap space in the process. 

I had not heard any rumors of Fournette to the Vikings.  So again, if it did happen I can only imagine it's because he comes cheaply and would be the 40% guy in a 60/40 split with Mattison. 

You're not just "getting rid of one vet to sign another", you're getting rid of one expensive vet to sign a cheaper veteran backup. 

[Ray_T 740]

51 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

You're not just "getting rid of one vet to sign another", you're getting rid of one expensive vet to sign a cheaper veteran backup. 

if indeed hes actually cheap.

I can see the value in going with a vet in case Mattison cant cut it.   but honestly everytime Cook got hurt Mattison was able to perform.    so from this standpoint, Mattison makes a lot of sense.  Hes earned his shot.   If They can sign him for a reasonable amount and trade or buyout Cook and then bring in a vet who can play if they need him.....  Thats better.

But from an ego standpoint.... Fournette will wanna start.  I cant see him going into a backup role unless the lis franc injury is so bad hes unable to take a full workload.

but if thats the case he probably needed surgery.   it sounds like they didnt perform surgery in the offseason so maybe they think he will be full go by training camp.

[WhiteWonder 2,681]

4 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

But from an ego standpoint.... Fournette will wanna start.  I cant see him going into a backup role unless the lis franc injury is so bad hes unable to take a full workload.

but if thats the case he probably needed surgery.   it sounds like they didnt perform surgery in the offseason so maybe they think he will be full go by training camp.

you may be right. again, I had not heard this rumor. I was simply speculating why Minny might do it. It really had more to do with signing Mattison fairly cheap and parting ways with Cooks cost. 

At that point they would need to bring someone else in. 

[Ray_T 740]

Just now, WhiteWonder said:

you may be right. again, I had not heard this rumor. I was simply speculating why Minny might do it. It really had more to do with signing Mattison fairly cheap and parting ways with Cooks cost. 

At that point they would need to bring someone else in. 

well, they are probably in somewhat the same position as the titans.   Hoping someone makes them an offer.   

teams looking for him or King Henry might be a little more patient hoping that one of those guys gets released.    why pay for something you can get for free right?

though someone should be willing to pay something for these guys.   they shouldnt have to go through the process of being released.   A RB needy team with cap space should be willing to take the plunge with one of these guys.

[WhiteWonder 2,681]

4 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

well, they are probably in somewhat the same position as the titans.   Hoping someone makes them an offer.   

teams looking for him or King Henry might be a little more patient hoping that one of those guys gets released.    why pay for something you can get for free right?

though someone should be willing to pay something for these guys.   they shouldnt have to go through the process of being released.   A RB needy team with cap space should be willing to take the plunge with one of these guys.

In the other thread I'm not suggesting Henry gets traded before the season begins. I don't think the Titans would cut him.  I'm looking at that more like the 49ers making the in season move for CMC to theoretically put them over the top (which could have been if not for Purdy's arm). 

I don't know if Cook is as tradeable as Henry. I think you have to be a very special RB to get a trade return. Henry is that special, like CMC is when healthy.

There is also a difference in the situations of the Titans and Vikings. the Titans are entering a rebuild. Unless someone gives them a good offer that includes assets for this coming draft, they can just keep him and try to trade him during the season. The Vikings are trying to win now. If they need the cap space, and feel that they are just as well off at RB with Mattison as they are with Cook, then they can't wait around for a trade and cutting him becomes more realistic. 

[Ray_T 740]

1 hour ago, WhiteWonder said:

n the other thread I'm not suggesting Henry gets traded before the season begins. I don't think the Titans would cut him.  I'm looking at that more like the 49ers making the in season move for CMC to theoretically put them over the top (which could have been if not for Purdy's arm). 

I don't know if Cook is as tradeable as Henry. I think you have to be a very special RB to get a trade return. Henry is that special, like CMC is when healthy.

Yeah I  dont think the Titans cut him either.  but the asking price goes down when there is the possibility that Cook will get cut.  Like it or not, hes a pretty good player.   some team may be of the opinion that Cook for free is just as good as paying for King Henry so I think its actually harder to deal him now.   I also think you need to have a line that plays smashmouth football for Henry to really thrive.   That really limits the number of teams that should go after him.

That said, teams go after players that dont fit their scheme all the time, so in the end,  it can be done, but there does seem to be a lot of RB talent available right now.   its a good time to be shopping for one I think.

 

[LaChup 229]

Give it another 5 or so years and the Raiders will go after him. They love old Heisman players.

[weepaws 3,158]

Mariota already had his time with the Raiders.  

[TBayXXXVII 2,485]

16 hours ago, LaChup said:

Mariota would be better served being the third string QB on the Saints, which is the same as being the 7th string QB on any other team. Here is how it would look on paper:

QB1 - Fake to Carr and direct snap Taysom

QB2 - Fake to Taysom and snap it to Taysom anyways

QB3 - Taysom

QB4 - Carr, when Taysom isn't looking

QB5 - Taysom wildcat

QB6 - Taysom when they need 15 yards, but like to fake out the other team with a 2 yard run.

QB7 - Mariota, if Taysom and Carr get hurt

He should go to Miami.  Tua is going to get hurt, again, at some point and maybe Mariota will be on a team that finally has talent and he could show everyone that he's better than what people have given him credit for.  Now, I'm not saying that's what'll happen because don't think he's that good, but that should be HIS mindset.

[jrokh 608]

2 hours ago, TBayXXXVII said:

He should go to Miami.  Tua is going to get hurt, again, at some point and maybe Mariota will be on a team that finally has talent and he could show everyone that he's better than what people have given him credit for.  Now, I'm not saying that's what'll happen because don't think he's that good, but that should be HIS mindset.

Considering Miami just spent 8 million on Mike White that is unlikely. What is likely is Baker Mayfield to TB. Thoughts?

[Ray_T 740]

4 minutes ago, jrokh said:

Considering Miami just spent 8 million on Mike White that is unlikely. What is likely is Baker Mayfield to TB. Thoughts?

not impossible.   the big factor in TB is cap space and they likely can sign Baker for a reasonable price.

Not sure hes the guy you wanna see there, but from what I can see.....cap issues are really potentially handcuffing this team.

[Ray_T 740]

also worth noting the panthers have placed Matt Corral on the trading block.