Re:
And then, on incentives, Wilson has shown he does not need incentives to work harder than anyone else. In fact, his work ethic is so far off the charts that his rep in SEA is that of a robot on some never ending power source. Right there, that's the reason I'd say he's got potential to be a top 3 QB eventually. I would not even discount being the top QB eventually. I will never say something is beyond reach when there is that amount of heart in someone.
Right you are about all that. I will say though, after all the management and personnel mistakes they have made, they are remarkably in a position to have a breakout year. Make the Super Bowl? Not yet. Playoffs? Possibly if all goes as they hope.
Overhype and posturing by both sides. And this has been going on since the Super Bowl ended. I have held off saying anything until now because it's a waste of energy to speculate too much. Now, however, there seems to be more substance to the rumors. I am guessing Wilson will sign this week, before or near the start of camp, mostly haggling about how much guaranteed money he will get.Alpe d'Huez said:I want to see the real numbers, because agents have a tendency to completely overhype and inflate numbers in order to make themselves look great. It's like the "monster" contract Colin Kaepernick signed, which turned out to be not so monster after all.
Yup. I'd agree with that. But I would say he has the potential to grow into the 3rd best overall (or best QB). It may likely take some retirements to get there. The rationale for giving him more money now than he's worth based on rankings (NFL top 100 he was 5th after ARod-Brady-PMann-Luck, Scout.com had him not even in top 5 after ARod-Brady-Luck-BRoeth-Romo, with Wilson-PMann-Brees getting honorable mention) is it puts off salary compression as other QBs get bigger money over the next 4 or 5 years. Not that I like it with all the starters being overpaid and SEA ticket prices going through the roof. As a side note, sky high ticket prices in SEA is driven more by season ticket holders than it is the team's owner/management. Even for nose-bleed seats, the season ticket holders are making money by selling off their $70/seat nose bleed section tickets for $300 to $400 or more, even when playing easy opponents... more for marquee games vs the like of DAL, NE, GB or any NFCW teams.Alpe d'Huez said:But let's just pretend that Wilson ends up the third highest paid QB in the NFL. I hate to say it, but I don't think he's that good. Granted, I agree with Foxxy and think athletes are generally overpaid to begin with (not that the owners should just keep all the money), and Eli Manning is going to be way more overpaid than Russell, but if I created a list of the top 10 QBs for 2015, I'd probably put him on there. But not 3rd.
That's not going to happen. Now way SEA will let Russell go. Just wanted to get that out of the way. He is the best QB they have ever had, better than Matt Hasselbeck in clutch situations and getting wins when it should not be there. To get a really great QB in the draft who is also a great leader, you have to be lucky first of all just to be able to pick the guy, and then you have to hope he is the real deal. Luck was a no brainer, But no brainers do not come along very often, which goes without saying. Interestingly, RGIII was not a no-brainer selection. I said before that draft there were question marks about how his college play would translate to the NFL. That's how tough it is. It is too hard to draft a great QB, and SEA is not going to play in that game of Russian roulette.Alpe d'Huez said:Then they lose him and hope they can draft someone to replace him? That's the risk. Or do they hope he plays more poorly this year, so they can pay him less next year? That won't work either. They're kind of stuck paying him at least something, try to get it incentive laden...
And then, on incentives, Wilson has shown he does not need incentives to work harder than anyone else. In fact, his work ethic is so far off the charts that his rep in SEA is that of a robot on some never ending power source. Right there, that's the reason I'd say he's got potential to be a top 3 QB eventually. I would not even discount being the top QB eventually. I will never say something is beyond reach when there is that amount of heart in someone.
Very true he'd get $20M if franchised. That's why $21M is a good deal for SEA. I mean if a team is going to contend they are going to have to pay. But I do not think SEA is trying to push, manipulate, or coerce him into taking less money. It looks to me like they are trying to be fair, maybe more fair than some others would be. That's part of why I think he signs soon, after the guarantees are worked out.Alpe d'Huez said:I don't know the team has a lot of room to push him though. Look at it this way. They can pay him a cheap $1.5 mil this year, and run the risk that he's unhappy and under performs. Then what? They franchise tag him? An arbiter will rule to pay him close to $20m anyway.
I told y'all that would happen. Goodell should step down. But he won't.Alpe d'Huez said:Meanwhile, Goodell drags the Brady thing on and on and on. It's just laughable. And as I said before, the more I think about it, the more this should have been a 15 yard penalty at the start of the second half, and a fine for the team for each ball they tampered with. That's it. Now, it's become a joke.
The Hitch said:on3m@n@rmy said:p.s. Anyone interested in seeing how the Browns pan out this season? Due largely to injury, they lost their last 5 games last season to finish 7-9. Before that losing streak they were 7-4 and had some come from behind wins vs PIT and NO. If rookie DT Danny Shelton can help them get some QB hurries and plug up the middle they might be in a better position to win a few more games, especially since they lost a number of games by less than a TD. I'm interested, but it has nothing to do with Manziel either, who IMO needs more time.
That was partly due to an easy schedule. Those 7 wins include Tenessee, Jags, Bucs, Raiders and some of those were very close. Not saying they weren't good at times. They could have also beaten Pitssburgh and Baltimore. But they just as easily could have lost to Tenessee.
But they surrendered their chance at a good season this year in the 2014 draft. Taking Manziel when their own scouts had Bridgewater as top dog. Could also have taken OBJ who was the obvious pick.
Imagine they had walked out with OBJ and Bridgewater - what a more competent gm would have chosen. Say then they get 9 wins last year as a result and Josh Gordon doesn't resort to drugs because he's on a good team now.
they could be challenging for the superbowl this year. But the situation they have now, don't see it.
Right you are about all that. I will say though, after all the management and personnel mistakes they have made, they are remarkably in a position to have a breakout year. Make the Super Bowl? Not yet. Playoffs? Possibly if all goes as they hope.