National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

Merckx and I answered at the same time, so let me edit my post:

OC Pete Carmichael will very likely be the Saints HC for the year, and Steve Spagnola will stay at DC. They may switch roles though, with Spags being HC as he has experience doing so, and Carmichael staying as OC. But the Saints are in good position here, as good as you could expect I guess. Either guy would likely be okay taking the job for a year, knowing Peyton will be back next season. This has been a very tight knit bunch until Spags replaced Williams, and Carmichael has been Peyton's right hand man and considered a future HC elsewhere. So I don't see Brees leaving. I really don't. Yes, they're losing the best offensive minded coach in the NFL, maybe the best coach, period, but they're a very well run organization otherwise.

Look for Greg Williams to be fired from the Rams, and for them to start a search.

Agree with Pazuzu on Goddell. If this had been Pat McQuaid and the UCI running the NFL, the decision wouldn't have happened until just before the season started,, and the suspensions would have been minimal for the most egregious, and some would have gotten off scot free after multiple secret meetings with officials. Think about this next time there's a cycling scandal: Goddell and the NFL acted swiftly, probably justly and fairly, and didn't play favorites or allow outside influence to affect the decision at all. If only cycling fans could be so lucky.

I agree with Merckx on Tebow. I just can't see Tim on the dysfunctional egotistical Jets with crazy Rob Ryan. Even Joe Namath says so.

Jerry Porter is, and has always been, a loudmouth and an idiot. He played in six games last year, and had just 16 tackles (as a comparison. Ray Lewis had 76 solo tackles last year, while playing in only 12 games, a few of those while playing hurt). Tebow was 8-5 as a starter last year, winning six games in a row at one point, and a playoff win against the Steelers.

Agree the 49ers look quite good on paper. They've added missing pieces, and if Alex Smith can get in sync with his new receivers, they have to be considered a big favorite in the NFC. Look for the Packers to step up as well, obviously. And the Eagles may finally be good.

Merril Hoge of ESPN watched over 100 hours of video and was so impressed by RG3 he says RG3 is better than Luck. He mostly said what I did earlier, RG3's deep accuracy blew him away. Hoge didn't pull any punches about his analysis. A good read: Link here.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Good call by Goodell on the bounty issue. The NFL is lucky to have him as commissioner.

stupid post in my opinion. If you are a Saints fan this makes you hate that carpetbagger. If you are a Saints fan you would say that the NYC boy has a built in bias against New Orleans.

SO IN THE TRADITION OF THE CRESCENT CITY ------**** HIM and **** ALL HIS FAMILY.

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Merckx and I answered at the same time, so let me edit my post:

OC Pete Carmichael will very likely be the Saints HC for the year, and Steve Spagnola will stay at DC. They may switch roles though, with Spags being HC as he has experience doing so, and Carmichael staying as OC. But the Saints are in good position here, as good as you could expect I guess. Either guy would likely be okay taking the job for a year, knowing Peyton will be back next season. This has been a very tight knit bunch until Spags replaced Williams, and Carmichael has been Peyton's right hand man and considered a future HC elsewhere. So I don't see Brees leaving. I really don't. Yes, they're losing the best offensive minded coach in the NFL, maybe the best coach, period, but they're a very well run organization otherwise.

Look for Greg Williams to be fired from the Rams, and for them to start a search.

Agree with Pazuzu on Goddell. If this had been Pat McQuaid and the UCI running the NFL, the decision wouldn't have happened until just before the season started,, and the suspensions would have been minimal for the most egregious, and some would have gotten off scot free after multiple secret meetings with officials. Think about this next time there's a cycling scandal: Goddell and the NFL acted swiftly, probably justly and fairly, and didn't play favorites or allow outside influence to affect the decision at all. If only cycling fans could be so lucky.

I agree with Merckx on Tebow. I just can't see Tim on the dysfunctional egotistical Jets with crazy Rob Ryan. Even Joe Namath says so.

Jerry Porter is, and has always been, a loudmouth and an idiot. He played in six games last year, and had just 16 tackles (as a comparison. Ray Lewis had 76 solo tackles last year, while playing in only 12 games, a few of those while playing hurt). Tebow was 8-5 as a starter last year, winning six games in a row at one point, and a playoff win against the Steelers.

Agree the 49ers look quite good on paper. They've added missing pieces, and if Alex Smith can get in sync with his new receivers, they have to be considered a big favorite in the NFC. Look for the Packers to step up as well, obviously. And the Eagles may finally be good.

Merril Hoge of ESPN watched over 100 hours of video and was so impressed by RG3 he says RG3 is better than Luck. He mostly said what I did earlier, RG3's deep accuracy blew him away. Hoge didn't pull any punches about his analysis. A good read: Link here.

Laughing at the bolded. In your dreams. Of course in my sour opinion at this time.

 

[leftover pie]

manning to denver, tebow to NYJ, saints coach out for a year!

my head is spinning!


(my avatar feels appropriate)

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Laughing at the bolded. In your dreams. Of course in my sour opinion at this time.

Bah! You haven't been paying attention in class! I have expressed many times I like the Saints, and don't like NY teams. I do think the suspension was harsh, mostly towards Peyton, but too much? I don't know. Take a look at what the Saints did. And I'll certainly take Goddell as a commish more than any other in any major sport I can think of.

Meanwhile, it looks like Tebow will be headed to the Jets. With Sanchez signing a big extension, after putting up weak numbers...

Pro Day for RG3 & Baylor, and apparently he knocked some people's socks off, and Shanahan and the 'Skins came away very impressed. Watch this video! RG3 looks about 10lbs more muscular than just a couple months ago, and his rhythm and delivery are more smooth. Also a very good day for WR Kendall Wright who didn't show well at the Combine.

Here's the video of Merrill Hodge talking about why he says RG3 is better than Luck.

Luck's pro day is tomorrow. Should be interesting to see how he does. I still think the Colts are going to take Luck. But...

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

stupid post in my opinion. If you are a Saints fan this makes you hate that carpetbagger. If you are a Saints fan you would say that the NYC boy has a built in bias against New Orleans.

SO IN THE TRADITION OF THE CRESCENT CITY ------**** HIM and **** ALL HIS FAMILY.

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

Hmmmmm, nope. That was a stupid post. The Saints will recover from this several years down the road. That's just a short disturbance. The WORST thing the Saints still have to live with for long time to come is owner Tom Benson. This is the same owner who proposed to bring in an NHL team, and people in New Orleans said if Benson is the owner then don't bring in a team. If it were possible (tho it's not) for Goodell to order Benson to sell the team to a new owner as part of the bounty punishment, ppl in New Orelans would be glad and call it a wash.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I would actually argue that the Saints will probably still be good this season, and they will come back with Peyton in 2013 just fine.

They're likely to only lose one player (Jonathan Vilma) to a long suspension, may be a couple to shorter suspensions. They'll still have a very solid coaching staff, as I noted, and this staff will have months to prepare. They can even meet with Peyton for another week to get a plan and hand off in motion.

There's also the chance that when the dust clears Peyton will appeal, and get the suspension reduced. Though it will likely still likely be in excess of a half-season.

Again, the timing of this was very just when it comes to Goddell. If he wanted to hurt the Saints unfairly he would have waited until just before the season started. That would have left them completely scrambling. As is, they can shift coaches a little, pick up some slack, prepare with Peyton for another week, and prepare for the draft. And the Rams as well have time to find a new DC with months to go before the season starts.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Hmmmmm, nope. That was a stupid post. The Saints will recover from this several years down the road. That's just a short disturbance. The WORST thing the Saints still have to live with for long time to come is owner Tom Benson. This is the same owner who proposed to bring in an NHL team, and people in New Orleans said if Benson is the owner then don't bring in a team. If it were possible (tho it's not) for Goodell to order Benson to sell the team to a new owner as part of the bounty punishment, ppl in New Orelans would be glad and call it a wash.

No. Tom Benson does not really control the operations of the Saints these days it is his Daughter. Since I am from there and my family still live in and around there ....I can say in part you are correct. There is some bad blood with Tom Benson and the people, most of that dates back to pre Hurricane Katrina and post Katrina. He wanted to move the team out of New Orleans. The NHL team is a Horrible idea for New Orleans. They are not able to support a NBA team as it is.

If the league knows that Drew B. was involved with the bounty program and suspend him then the team is done. No telling how hard this will be to recover from. It is the closest thing to a death penalty for a franchise in my opinion.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Hockey in NO is a stupid idea. My city, Portland, it would be a hit. We're ready for it. Every year it gets discussed why we don't have an NHL team, and one day we will. But in NO it will be doomed to fail.

Jets looking to keep Greg McElroy, even after his comments, and dump Drew Stanton instead. The Jets are so messed up as a team, this doesn't shock me.

Broncos picked up Caldwell at WR, a good grab. They're looking at possible Haine as a back-up QB. Don't be shocked if the Broncos draft a QB in the 3rd round. Someone they think they can groom behind Manning.

Good article on NFL.com about why the Saints need to open the wallet and pay Drew Brees, now. Not next week, now. And what it will take to keep them competitive through the season.

High winds at Andrew Luck's pro day, but the QB adjusted well and impressed anyway. Link here. May post video later.

Team player Tom Brady restructured his contract (again) to help the team gain more cap room.

Manningham said he went to the 49ers not because he'd get the ball more, but because he likes their D, the team, thinks they can win it all. A bit of a loss for the Giants, may be a key gain for the Niners. Have to admit, San Francisco so far made some excellent off-field moves. Though they'll likely lose Tedd Ginn, getting Manningham, Michael Crabtree and Moss, on top of having Vernon Davis...Alex Smith now has real receives to throw to.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Thanks for those links Alpe. I agree Saints need to lock up Brees to provide stability right now. IMO it's more than just stability. Drew is, along with Manning, the closest thing there is to a player/coach. He studies and prepares hard every week, and he knows how to run the offense against any kind of defense. The article says they have to July 15 to sign him to an extension.

Here's the big question posted on the NFL.com in the second of those links (what it will take to keep them competitive):

The Saints can survive those punishments (although the looming player punishments could change that perspective), but whether the Saints can survive the absence of their head coach is a completely different story.

I just heard on NFL radio, who was interviewing John McClain (Houston Chronicle), that McClain thinks the Saints will be okay next season no matter who they plug in there as the temporary head coach. From what I can tell, McClain is fairly highly regarded by the media, including the NFL network. The basis for McClain's statement:
1. Drew Brees - (IMO kind of a player/coach)
2. Saints team talent level - those guys are going to make plays no matter who's coaching, and
3. (McClain did not say this, but) Saints fans, who will be more galvanized and behind their team than ever, if you can fathom that. Heck, those fans were behind their team in the days when many wore paper grocery bags over their heads to the games. Just for fun - general Louisiana philosophy is - if you ain't breakin the rules or the law, you ain't tryin hard enough. Point is, they WILL BE BEHIND THEIR TEAM.

Now, will they make it to the playoffs next season, or go deep into the playoffs? Only time will tell. But I agree they should be okay. IMO they won't be as bad as say Seattle was in 2011, who actually ended fairly strong. And definitely won't be anywhere nearly as bad as the Skins were (sorry Amster').

On a related bounty topic... Shocker... snitch revealed???
Word on NFL radio is that Warren Sapp, who's an NFL network studio host, may be in some legal trouble when he allegedly accused Jeremy Shockey of being the Saints snitch in the bounty scandal. See the article (not the video that loads) when you click on: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-03-24/warren-sapp-jeremy-shockey-bounties-new-orleans-saints-jonathan-vilma-nfl-networ.
Stay tuned I guess.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

There can't be only one snitch here. This was discussed and analyzed and looked into over and over, over the last few years. It's now known that Greg Williams instituted a bounty program when he was at both Washington and Buffalo.

Agree with you on Brees. Like Peyton Manning, he's like having a coach on the field. Very, very few players are like this. Joe Montana was one of them. John Elway was late in his career. Plenty of great QB's run the offense and call great audibles. But these guys are on another level.

Lots of talk that the Saints are looking for a one-year coach to fill the gap. That is, someone who won't call plays, only wants to coach one year, and will keep things together with their persona as much as anything. Names kicked around have been Steve Mariucci, Eric Mangini, Tony Dungee (won't do it), Bill Cowher (won't do it). Mariucci hasn't said one word on his Twitter account for example. But the two biggest names are, are you ready? The Big Tuna himself. Bill Parcells, who I think would be a good pick. And...Jim Mora. Yes, that Jim Mora. "Playoffs??!?" Jim Mora, who coached the Saints years ago and is now happily retired in San Diego. None of these guys would call plays and would mostly just be the glue that keeps the team going.

Personally, I think it's going to be Spagnola, or Carmichal. But we'll see.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Regarding snitches, it was my understanding too that there was more than one source. That is why I was a bit shocked that Sapp claimed it was Shockey. But to be fair to Sapp, he may not have said Shockey was the ONLY one who gave out information.

I agree with who you think will more likely be the stop-gap head coach; Spagnola or Carmichal. But I think the other "big" names you suggested (The Big Tuna, and "Playoffs" Mora) are at least interesting. Of those two big names, The Big Tuna is by far more interesting than Mora. IMO Mora would actually not be the best choice of all those candidates.

Speaking of the Big Tuna, and to switch gears a bit, the NFL network (NFL films) broadcast a superb documentary on Parcells today. It was mostly a collage of video clips containing statements made by Parcells during games, practices, and to the media. Very entertaining. I can't find a link to it. One of those was during a game where Bill was chewing the ear off a sideline official over holding calls that were not flagged. After about a minute of that barrage, Parcells started to walk away from the official, then turned back around and said this to the official, "...and you know I never b--ch about anything". That was funny.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I think the two guys most interested have to be Parcells, because I don't think he likes the way he left the game, but knows he's getting old and wouldn't be interested in a long term deal. Or Mariucci, who I think would like to coach again, and be okay with a 1-year deal. But his name has been floated not by him, and he hasn't said one word.

I just don't see Mora doing it, though I think he could, and would be very popular. Brock played for him when he was a rookie and Mora took them from the 'Aints to the playoffs in a few years. Said at first Mora came into camp when they had finished 1-15 the year before, and saw how undisciplined and out of shape they were, and he announced he wouldn't tolerate it, and wouldn't tolerate losing. And he really put them through the ringer. Mora admitted to him years later he's surprised that in training camp no one collapsed with heat stroke, or worse. But he did turn them into a good team. They just couldn't get past then then powerhouse teams of the 49ers, Cowboys, etc. Brock said twice they got to the playoffs, and had to face SF and Montana, and the niners were just that much better.

I digress. The fact is this coming year Carmichel is going to form the offensive plans and call the plays, and Spagnola is going to form the defense and call their plays. If they get an HC in there, he's going to be the voice, the glue, more than x's and o's.

And yes, they simply cannot wait on Drew Brees. They have to be offering some sort of "retire in NO" type of contract. They can back load it with incentives, or a lump of guaranteed money up front, but they can't afford to lose him. Could you imagine Chase Daniel or rookie Sean Canfield leading them next year? And there's no one left in free agency to pick up. Not only are Manning and Flynn gone, so are Campbell, Orton, Tebow, everyone. Vince Young is likely to resign with the Eagles, and there's no one else left. Without Peyton and Brees, the Saints become this year's Colts.

Just for kicks, I did a search. Here's a sampling of who's left from the free agency QB pool: Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Charlie Batch, Kellen Clemens, Dennis Dixon, J.P. Losman, Curtis Painter, Billy Volek, and Matt Leinhart. That's pretty much it.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Just for kicks, I did a search. Here's a sampling of who's left from the free agency QB pool: Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Charlie Batch, Kellen Clemens, Dennis Dixon, J.P. Losman, Curtis Painter, Billy Volek, and Matt Leinhart. That's pretty much it.

Ugh! I'm glad Seattle, Skins (for Amster'), and Bears (for Foxy) have their men! Cutler's proven enough and is legit. RG3 is a slam dunk IMO. And only time will tell how Seattle's QB situation will turn out, but at least it appears to be on the upswing - or put it this way for Seattle - is as good as it can get right now.

But yeah. Saints owe Brees for what he did for that city in ruins when he arrived there after Katrina. Helping the city out of that horrible situation was one of the reasons he chose New Orleans over whoeveritwas he was also being courted by. So they should help him retire there.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Oh-oh. Saints & Rams aren't the only teams effected by bountygate. The Skins just got docked $36M in cap money over 2012 and 2013. Likewise, the Cowboys got docked $10M in cap money over the same time period. This announcement was made by Roger Goodell today.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Oh-oh. Saints & Rams aren't the only teams effected by bountygate. The Skins just got docked $36M in cap money over 2012 and 2013. Likewise, the Cowboys got docked $10M in cap money over the same time period. This announcement was made by Roger Goodell today.

It seems that this 'fine' has nothing to do with Bountygate, but with some convoluted business that I don't understand, but which, no doubt, one of you ITK guys will be able to put into plain English for me. There is more info on the link than I have quoted, but it's all pretty much Greek to me.

The Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys have filed a case with an arbitrator challenging the salary cap reductions imposed on them by the NFL for the way the two teams structured players’ contracts in the sport’s season without a salary cap in 2010.

The Redskins were given a $36 million salary cap reduction over two years by the NFL, at least half of which must be absorbed this season. The Cowboys were given a $10 million subtraction over two seasons.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...y-cap-penalty/2012/03/25/gIQAZeI7ZS_blog.html

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Well, I started my last post here with 'oh-oh'.
I'll start this one with OOPS... and thanks for the correction Amsterhammer on why the Skins and Boys had cap penalties imposed on them. That's what I get for coming into the announcement on the NFL network half way through the interview with Goodell, who was at the time also talking about sources related to the bounty program and accusations made by NFL host Warren Sapp.

Well, here is a decent explanation of the cap penalties imposed on the Skins and Boys: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/37451/nfls-statement-on-redskins-cowboys

If 2010 was a loophole year in terms of the cap, why didn't other NFL teams follow the example of the Skins and Boys by also manipulating their 2010 payroll to avoid salary cap hits in later years by paying players excessive amounts in 2010? Apparently teams were warned by the league, knowing this tactic might be used, on multiple occasions that:

"...manipulating the salary cap in 2010 would come back to haunt clubs once the salary cap came back under the new collective bargaining agreement."

Here is one link describing the position of the league and other team owners:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-cole_redskins_cowboys_salary_cap_john_mara_owners_032512

Basically, the league has imposed the cap penalties on the Skins and Cowboys because they took unfair advantage of the un-capped 2010 season when other teams did not.

It is interesting that the cap penalties imposed on the Skins and Boys were agreed to by the NFL Players Association. Interesting because:
1. It appears the league strong-armed the NFLPA into agreeing with these cap penalties under threat the league would reduce the salary cap to each team, which is something the NFLPA would want to avoid.
2. The cap reductions to the Skins and Boys will be reallocated (increase the cap) to 28 of the other 30 NFL teams, which is another way of appeasing the NFLPA.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Jaguars owner Shahid Khan says Tebow didn't want to play for Jax

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-03-26/jags-owner-says-tim-tebow-didnt-want-to-come-to-jacksonville

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan says his team was aggressive in trying to trade for former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, but that Tebow didn't want to play for the team

But does Khan know why Tebow did not want to go to Jax?
I doubt it.
Sounds like sour grapes to me.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Compensatory picks for the 2012 NFL draft were awarded today:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d827e13f2/article/nfl-distributes-compensatory-draft-picks-to-23-clubs

Oakland was probably the biggest winner, having had no picks in the first 4 rounds until the compensatories were awarded.

In other news, The Big Tuna says he does not think he has the desire to coach again.
At age 70 or 71, I don't blame him.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d827e2931/article/bill-parcells-i-dont-think-i-have-urge-to-coach-again
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/03/26/bill.parcells.saints/index.html#ixzz1qGVRJOLb

 

[Amsterhammer]

I felt embarrassed to actually be in a position to correct you, 3man. It's unlikely to happen again!

Now we're really getting into uncharted territory for me with concepts like a "loophole year" and "compensatory picks". I mean, wtf?

Come on, a 'loophole year'? How can you shelve certain rules for one year and then reinstate them again? All this stuff would be impossible in my major sport (and one that I understand!), the other football, or soccer to you.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I'm not stupid enough to think I can't make a mistake. Humility stares back at me all the time.

The loophole year is a term being tossed around to loosely describe the salary cap situation in 2010 at the end of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the players (the NFL Players Association actually = players union). Before explaining further, here is some background on the CBA:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80868b78&template=without-video&confirm=true
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement, initially negotiated in 1993, had been extended on several occasions. The 2006 extension, which could have continued through the 2012 season, gave both the NFL and the NFLPA an option to shorten the deal by one or two years.

In May of 2008 the NFL team owners opted out of the extended 1993 CBA, which caused the agreement to expire at the end of an un-capped 2010 season (e.g. they played the 2010 season without an agreement or salary cap in place). The NFLPA renounced its collective bargaining rights in March 2011, the date the agreement expired, to allow the players to pursue antitrust litigation. The NFL and the players came to terms on a new antitrust settlement in of July 2011, and a new CBA was then agreed upon in August 2011. The latter is why we had a short to almost non-existent NFL preseason last summer.

Why did the owners opt out in May 2008? Some of the reasons were:
1. openness of owners' financial books,
2. rookie pay scale,
3. player revenue sharing and salaries,
4. free agency details,
5. player bonus payments for players that failed to perform,
6. player health and retirement benefits,
7. extending the regular season to 18 games.

So, hopefully that explains why certain rules (e.g. in this case, the salary cap rules) were shelved for the 2010 NFL season.

The lack of a salary cap for the 2010 season gave teams an "unfair" opportunity to sign players for 2010 and beyond, by paying them huge salaries in 2010, but lesser salaries thereafter when the salary cap came back into effect. This is how some teams avoided big salary cap hits in the 2011 season while not taking any cap hit in the un-capped 2010 season. This is what is called the salary cap "loophole". The teams that attempted to benefit from this were teams that happened to be looking for big market, big money players and who had the cash to go after them.

The league was aware of this opportunity and asked all teams to be fair in their salary structuring for new player signings leading up to the 2010 season, and issued several warnings to the teams that unfair practices would not be tolerated. This essentially was an attempt by the league to leverage some control over teams player salaries at a time when there was no control (e.g. no CBA).

Compensatory picks are supplemental picks handed out to teams who lost players to free agency, and did not replace the players lost with players of equal or better talent. Can you imagine how many compensatory picks the Colts will get for letting Manning go? I will be interested to see if getting Luck in the draft offsets the loss of Peyton to the point that Indy will not get much in the way of compensatory picks in the 2013 draft. Translation: I really don't know that much about how compensatory picks work. I just know what they are.

Compensatory picks are only awarded following the end of draft rounds 3 through 7. They are not tradeable picks. In the 2012 draft an example of a compensatory pick will be the Vikes, who lost QB Tavares Jackson and WR Sidney Rice to Seattle and also did not pick up much in free agency to replace them.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

And you guys thought I made geeky (sage?) posts?!

Both Pete Carmichal and Steve Spagnola are rumored to not want to be HC for the Saints this coming year. Sean Peyton is stills set to meet with Parcells, so who knows on that one.

Jim Irsay, the Colts owner, was apparently quite impressed after meeting with RG3 and said it's up in the air as to who they will draft. I actually think they'll draft Luck, but I believe him. The reason why is because if his mind were truly made up, he could start negotiating with and sign Luck now. Or this coming week. NFL rules don't stipulate he wait until he drafts him. Interesting thought. Nice shot here of RG3 and Luck. Expect to see about 1000 more of the two of them together in the future:

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Geeky? You haven't seen geeky. I'm an I&C (instrumention & controls) guy. Means I play on computers all day and they pay me for it... like a paid vacation.

Ya know, you bring up an interesting point about the possible dilemma the Colts have in choosing either Luck or RG3. I said before I think RG3 is a slam dunk. I'll go on record by saying I also think the same about Luck. So if you are the Colts, wouldn't you like to have a guy with that extra gear for making plays? In the back of my mind I've been thinking that since the Colts have not yet signed Luck, which they could do as they have the 1st pick, just maybe they are having a hard time deciding. OFC if the Colts go with RG3, the Skins I am sure will not hesitate to snap up Luck. Both teams can't lose, they are in a win-win situation.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Yeah, I'm really impressed with both guys, very much so. Two of the best QB prospects in quite a while coming out in the same year. Very exciting. Presuming the Colts take Luck 1st, I actually think RG3 will have a better year. The reason why is simply that the Redskins have a better team and are in less of a transition. Plus he's a little more mobile and can throw well on the run, which will help.

After Pro Day I have to think that Cleveland has to be licking it's wounds, they had a chance to trade up to #2 and get RG3 for almost the same the Skins gave up, but hesitated, and lost. If RG3 in two years leads the Redskins to winning, and the Browns still stink, heads are going to roll.

You said a few posts ago the Seahawks didn't really pay that much for Flynn, and you're right. Unless he turns out to be a bust, because part of the contract is guaranteed, and it will go against the cap into 2013. But as long as he doesn't suck, it's not a bad deal.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I agree with all the points you just made. Regarding RG3 having a better first year than Luck, the Colts also lost some veteran key offensive players. The Colts will be going through as about as big a rebuilding project as we have seen other than Seattle's retooling that started with GM Schneider, HC Carroll and staff, and the massive player turnovers.

Oh man, I would really not want to be in Cleveland GM Holmgren's shoes right now just because of how the Browns missed out on RG3. The NFL network could possibly add this to their list of all time draft trade misses (I'm sure they have a top 50 of something like that). And I don't hate or dislike Holmgren at all. He really did a lot for Seattle football that I'm grateful for. For instance, the 12th man vision was really born from him. One of his first press conferences when being introduced in Seattle at his arrival he said he wanted to see the fans become more supportive. He created so much hope that the Seattle fan base went viral, and now rivals the fan support that has long existed in other big football towns around the league. So I hope it works out fine for Mike, but at this time I don't think he is a very good GM.

I'm impressed because you actually read those geeky posts . You are correct about Flynn. Obtaining any inexperienced player is a bit of a gamble. But teams have to hedge their bets with what they know about players to reduce the risk. Heck, even vet Peyton Manning to the Broncs is a bit of a gamble because there is some risk with that neck of his. But yeah, if Flynn turns into a bust then it would be a bad deal and we might call him Whitehurst II.