NFL 2013 Off-Season Discussion

[Sheep]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-romo-gets-more-guaranteed-money-than-flacco/

The Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo have a deal, and it’s reportedly a deal that will guarantee Romo even more money than Joe Flacco just received in his blockbuster contract with the Ravens.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Cowboys and Romo reached an agreement on a six-year extension that contains even more guaranteed money than the six-year, $120.6 million contract that Joe Flacco got from the Ravens.

Cowboys just stole the dumbest team in the league title from the LOLJets and the Raiders. Holy fuck.

 

[Timby]

The market is changing for good quarterbacks. Romo is probably the fifth-best quarterback in the league right now (there are five quarterbacks with a career passing rating north of 95: Brady, Manning the Elder, Aaron Rodgers, Steve Young and ... Romo); if Dallas didn't dump money on him, another team happily would have.

The Cowboys have an awful offensive line and a non-existent running game. Their pass rush is completely and solely dependent upon DeMarcus Ware. If Romo isn't having an ace day, they lose, plain and simple. If he plays a game that's merely middle of the road, it's not enough. As of now, the entire team's success depends on Romo turning shit into gold. It's rather amazing that they can pull eight wins a season out of it.

 

[Sheep]

Admittedly I don't watch the Cowboys unless they're playing the Bears or on the Sunday night game, but whenever I do watch it seems like Romo's inconsistency is due to his own screwups as much as it is due to the rest of the team's shortcomings.

The state of QBs in the NFL is admittedly pretty sad but I'm not sure Romo's the key to anything, personally.

 

[Timby]

Admittedly I don't watch the Cowboys unless they're playing the Bears or on the Sunday night game, but whenever I do watch it seems like Romo's inconsistency is due to his own screwups as much as it is due to the rest of the team's shortcomings.

Looking at some statistics ... Romo is sixth among active quarterbacks in fourth-quarter comebacks and eighth in game-winning drives. In close games (0 - 7 point margin), Romo has a career 91.3 QB rating. In November-December (the months the media claim Romo chokes in), he has a TD:INT ratio of 99 to 40. And he has a passer rating of 90 or higher against seven of eight NFL divisions (86.3 against AFC North).

Basically, with quarterbacks right now, you have the top tier with Brees / Rodgers / Peyton / Brady, people who always seem to be on and a bad game is a rare sight from them. After that, you go to a second tier with Eli, Rivers, Romo, Roethlisberger, Ryan, Flacco, and you could make a weak argument for Cutler.

So, Romo isn't a demigod like Brady, but he's far from being middle of the road, too. Like I said, if the Cowboys didn't give him this deal, someone else gladly would have; I can think of probably a dozen teams that would give up anyone on their roster to have Romo under center.

In any event, Romo has zero buttfumbles in his career, so he can get whatever he wants.

 

[1001001]

In any event, Romo has zero buttfumbles in his career, so he can get whatever he wants.

His snap-handling in the Seahawks game came pretty close...



Still, I think you're right. He's not as bad as people think he is. He's got no help at all.

 

[Skywalker]

Romo is probably the best quarterback the Cowboys have had since Troy Aikman. He's had his fair share of mistakes, but Cowboys fans get on his case way too much. Their team would be much, much worse without him.

 

[RAMA]

Admittedly I don't watch the Cowboys unless they're playing the Bears or on the Sunday night game, but whenever I do watch it seems like Romo's inconsistency is due to his own screwups as much as it is due to the rest of the team's shortcomings.

Looking at some statistics ... Romo is sixth among active quarterbacks in fourth-quarter comebacks and eighth in game-winning drives. In close games (0 - 7 point margin), Romo has a career 91.3 QB rating. In November-December (the months the media claim Romo chokes in), he has a TD:INT ratio of 99 to 40. And he has a passer rating of 90 or higher against seven of eight NFL divisions (86.3 against AFC North).

Basically, with quarterbacks right now, you have the top tier with Brees / Rodgers / Peyton / Brady, people who always seem to be on and a bad game is a rare sight from them. After that, you go to a second tier with Eli, Rivers, Romo, Roethlisberger, Ryan, Flacco, and you could make a weak argument for Cutler.

So, Romo isn't a demigod like Brady, but he's far from being middle of the road, too. Like I said, if the Cowboys didn't give him this deal, someone else gladly would have; I can think of probably a dozen teams that would give up anyone on their roster to have Romo under center.

In any event, Romo has zero buttfumbles in his career, so he can get whatever he wants.

Romo's numbers easily make him one of the best QBs of the last 25 years. As you say his CAREER QB rating puts him in the top 5 ever. Many don't realize he had the 6th highest passing yardage total in history last year. Romo needs a running back and a LINE and he wouldn't be running for his life.

 

[Skywalker]

Romo needs a running back and a LINE and he wouldn't be running for his life.

This reminds me of when Steven Jackson fell right into their laps in the draft, but instead of drafting him they traded back. Instead they ended up with...Julius Jones.

 

[chrisspringob]

More QB carousel news….

Oakland and Seattle have reportedly agreed on the terms for a trade that would involve sending Matt Flynn to Oakland in exchange for draft picks, but the trigger hasn't been pulled yet, because Oakland wants Flynn to agree to a pay cut:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...tt-flynn-oakland-raiders-could-have-staredown

NFL.com's Albert Breer reported Friday that trade terms between the Seahawks and Raiders have been settled. The Seahawks would acquire a 2013 draft pick and a conditional 2014 selection as part of the deal, if it's completed. The Seahawks' portion of the deal essentially is done. Now it's on the Raiders, but a deal isn't expected to be completed Friday, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.

Sources familiar with Flynn's thinking told Rapoport that the quarterback would be resistant to changing the terms of his contract. That indicates the Raiders aren't necessarily happy with paying Flynn $5.25 million in 2013 and $6.25 million in 2014. This looks like the holdup.

This comes after Carson Palmer reportedly refused to take a pay cut of his own. It sounds like Palmer is now likely to be cut, and both Arizona and Tampa Bay might be interested in signing Palmer, should he but cut as expected:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...ona-cardinals-start-homework-on-carson-palmer

If Oakland can't get Flynn for the salary they're offering, then they might instead try to sign Kevin Kolb, though both the Bills and Jets have been rumored to have an interest in Kolb as well.

 

[tighr]

Oakland is stupid. Palmer may not be the greatest qb ever, but he's a veteran and there are probably half a dozen teams who would sign him in a heartbeat. Unless Oakland's plan is to hang tight for a few years and develop a young qb, palmer is their only hope to win games now. Give him a defense and some receivers and he'll shine.

 

[chrisspringob]

ESPN's sources say that Buffalo is set to sign Kevin Kolb:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9116035/buffalo-bills-sign-kevin-kolb-sources

 

[Sheep]

ESPN's sources say that Buffalo is set to sign Kevin Kolb:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9116035/buffalo-bills-sign-kevin-kolb-sources

Even though I'm not a fan of Kolb, I don't think he'll be any worse in Buffalo than Fitzpatrick.

 

[Skywalker]

Kolb should be much better than Fitzpatrick, provided Buffalo's OL can help him stay on his feet. He helped the Cardinals get to 4-0 and had 9 TDs to 3 INTs last season before he got hurt.

 

[Timby]

Kolb should be much better than Fitzpatrick, provided Buffalo's OL can help him stay on his feet. He helped the Cardinals get to 4-0 and had 9 TDs to 3 INTs last season before he got hurt.

Eh, I think Kolb is a stopgap / transition QB for the Bills. Obviously keeping Fitzpatrick wasn't an option after the GM brutalized him in the media, and there was no way in hell they were going to trot out Tarvaris Jackson's broken soul. Their defense is mediocre at best, and they really don't have many legitimate weapons on offense. This year's draft sucks out loud for quarterbacks; given how quiet the Bills have been in free agency, everything points to them having a 2 - 4-win season and praying that Johnny Manziel declares for the draft in 2014.

Basically, Kolb is a league-average quarterback who was on the worst possible team for a non-elite quarterback to be, given that in 14 starts with the Cardinals he was sacked 57 times. But, he is not a great decision-maker, and he sits on the ball entirely too long. He has decent mobility to extend plays, and adequate but not great velocity -- so he can put it where it needs to be in intermediate and short passing situations, but if he has make any kind of throw across his body or against his momentum, it's going to end in tears for everyone except the opposing team's defense.

He isn't a tremendous upgrade over Fitzpatrick (it's really a lateral move; their statistics compare pretty well to each other), but they saved a lot of money by choosing him and cutting Fitzpatrick, and his play is adequate given the money saved.

That being said, there's got to be some injury concern on the Bills' part, because Kolb has yet to reach double-digit starts in any season. He's also going from throwing to Larry Fitzgerald to throwing to Stevie Johnson ... which is a downgrade any way you look at it.

 

[chrisspringob]

Matt Flynn is indeed headed to Oakland, in exchange for a 2014 draft pick and conditional 2015 draft pick:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...iders-who-are-close-to-trading-carson-palmer/

The Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders are completing a deal today that will send quarterback Matt Flynn to the Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round 2014 draft pick and a conditional pick in 2015.

In Flynn, the Raiders acquire a quarterback who will earn roughly half as much in 2013 as Carson Palmer, whom the team is close to trading to Arizona for a late-round pick, according to Yahoo’s Mike Silver. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer first reported the Flynn deal.

As they say, looks like the previous speculation about Palmer being cut was incorrect. He's instead being traded to Arizona:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ardinals-oakland-raiders-draft-picks/2042507/

The second expected trade of a quarterback Monday is about to go down. The Oakland Raiders are finalizing an agreement to send Carson Palmer to the Arizona Cardinals, a person informed of the talks between the sides told USA TODAY Sports.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade isn't yet complete, said the teams discussed a swap of late-round picks in 2013 while the Raiders would also pick up another Day 3 draft selection.

As part of the agreement, the person said Palmer will sign a reworked deal with the Cardinals that will pay him $8 million this season along with incentives that will allow him to potentially earn more money.

 

[tighr]

As they say, looks like the previous speculation about Palmer being cut was incorrect. He's instead being traded to Arizona:

Well, at least Palmer's getting a HOF receiver. Still no good news on the defense, though!

I knew they wouldn't cut him, though. It'd be lost value.

 

[tomalak301]

Colt McCoy is headed to the 49ers to be Kaep's back up. Not sure how I feel about that. Maybe I should just shrug it off, but it is news. Still looking forward to seeing this rivalry between SF and Seattle Flourish for years to come.

 

[Timby]

Colt McCoy is headed to the 49ers to be Kaep's back up. Not sure how I feel about that. Maybe I should just shrug it off, but it is news.

McCoy certainly isn't elite (if he were, he'd be starting somewhere), but he's a serviceable quarterback. It was a necessary move for San Francisco, in any event -- with Kaepernick's style, he's going to take a lot of hits, there just isn't any question about that whatsoever. McCoy can run a read-option offense, which is what the 49ers have hitched their train to, so it makes sense to go with a backup who has that experience. The biggest knock on McCoy is that his arm is dogshit, so any deep routes would be out (and even intermediate routes would be in trouble), but they've got Frank Gore to keep defenses honest.

In any event, I imagine they'll draft for QB depth, as well, despite this year's quarterback crop offering something between jack and shit.

 

[gblews]

Oakland is stupid. Palmer may not be the greatest qb ever, but he's a veteran and there are probably half a dozen teams who would sign him in a heartbeat.

This, my friend, is no reason to keep a player who is old (-der) with a salary that is taking up so much of the cap as his was. The Raiders did try to keep him, but at a more cap friendly salary.

Palmer has thrown 30 interceptions while with the Raiders, against only 35 touchdowns. Many of those interceptions came not because of a an offensive lineman's screw-up, but from just plain bad judgement.

As presently constructed, the Raiders' margin for error could not, and will not, accommodate Carson's negative proclivities.

In other words, he wasn't the quarterback for us, though he may be fine for a team with at least one great receiver.

No, the stupid move would have been to keep Palmer, especially at the same salary.

 

[gblews]

More good stuff from the Raiders. They release idiot linebacker, Rolando McClain, one of the dumbest players they've ever drafted and consequently, also one of the biggest busts. They have signed Nick Roach, formerly with Chicago, as his replacement. I don't know anything about Roach except that there can be no possible way he could be as dumb as McClain which makes him an automatic upgrade.

I like what Reggie is doing so far this off season -- on paper at least.