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Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
The Bills franchise depends on their QB & defense. With TO & if Marshawn Lynch is any good, the offense has talent. It will be interesting if TO can light it up, esp seeing some TO vs Randy Moss rivalries twice a year. TO will bring it.
Eli sucks:P .. waiting for a response from NYG in 5..4...3.......
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
The New York Giants have just given Eli Manning(notes) a contract reported to be worth $97 million over six years. This makes Eli the highest-paid player in the game. He'll make more than Ben Roethlisberger(notes). More than Tom Brady(notes). More than his brother Peyton.
Let me warn you up front: This is the kind of post that will get me labeled a "hater" by Giants fans and Eli fans. I'm fine with that.
I understand, too, that there were reasons the Giants had to do this. Eli is a good young quarterback, he's earned his stripes in New York City and you don't let guys like that get away. If $97 million over six years is market value, and Eli won't accept anything less, then the Giants almost have to give it to him.
But did you know that our brand new highest-paid player in the game finished 14th in the league last year in quarterback rating? That he was 9th in DVOA?
I'm not saying that makes him a bad quarterback, of course, but it does make him a second-tier quarterback. It makes him a non-elite quarterback. And it makes him an absolute nightmare for any general manager with an elite quarterback who is going to want a new contract anytime soon.
There's this, too: In the last five games of the season last year, when Plaxico Burress(notes) wasn't available, Eli's numbers slipped dramatically. In those five games, he completed 80 of 142 passes for 919 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. For that stretch, his quarterback rating was 74.2, down from his pedestrian season average of 86.4.
I want to call this a bad deal for the Giants, but I guess it depends on your point of view. If Option A is to overpay a non-elite quarterback, but Option B is to let him walk, scramble to find a replacement, sign a few veteran stopgaps in his absence, and give up on your Super Bowl hopes for the immediate future ... I guess Option A is the one you want.
Still, that's a lot of money to hand over to a guy with those numbers.
those are my sentiments exactly
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
More interesting than if TO is going to work in Buffalo, is if the moves on the offensive line improve for the Bills. If they finally get some decent pushes after 4-5 years of lousy play, then the Bills could almost contend with a little luck. But if the line plays like it did last year, no amount of other circumstances will be enough.
Eli is getting more money than he's worth imo but losing him would be terrible for that team, and there's always 10-15 teams unhappy with their QB, so if you find one you really like, I guess you might as well pay him a ton.
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
More interesting than if TO is going to work in Buffalo, is if the moves on the offensive line improve for the Bills. If they finally get some decent pushes after 4-5 years of lousy play, then the Bills could almost contend with a little luck. But if the line plays like it did last year, no amount of other circumstances will be enough.
Eli is getting more money than he's worth imo but losing him would be terrible for that team, and there's always 10-15 teams unhappy with their QB, so if you find one you really like, I guess you might as well pay him a ton.
Just who are their projected OL starters anyway? I caught a few Bills games at the end of the year and thought the QB play was subpar. Edwards is cleary on the hotseat here with no Losman to contend with. The division is interesting in that after New England that second spot (and a potential wildcard spot) is up for grabs. I don't think the Jets will be contending with a rookie QB.
On Eli, QB's are always overpaid and he's above average, maybe not the best, but he's competent and QB's never hit the market. If they have the cap room to do it, then that's fine. Besides almost all NFL contracts are inflated as most of the money will never be realized as there will be a bunch of restructuring in the future.
- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
pats just traded for DE derrick burgess. raiders get a draft pick. does Al Davis owe Bill something or what? he loves trading the pats talent for picks he does nothing with. they'll probably draft some WR with a 4.0 forty who's about 4 feet tall.
its really difficult to pick against the pats this year. revamped secondary, a brand new pass rusher, plus fred taylor and joey galloway...you could argue that this team is more talented than the 18-1 team.
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
49ers’ Crabtree conducts convoluted holdout
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
Aug 6, 4:08 pm EDTNormally, the unpredictable football decisions of Al Davis adversely affect only the team he owns, the bumbling Oakland Raiders.
Rookie Michael Crabtree is threatening to sit out the 2009 season if the Niners don’t give him a deal guaranteeing more than $23.5 million.
The NFL’s other 31 teams often benefit from his strange personnel moves, which allow talented draft picks and free agents to slide to them.
In April, the cross-bay San Francisco 49ers rejoiced when the Raiders selected wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey(notes) seventh overall. It allowed the Niners to select Michael Crabtree(notes), a pass-catching machine out of Texas Tech, at No. 10. Predraft hype rated Crabtree higher than Heyward-Bey.
Now the Niners’ dream pick has turned nightmare. In a convoluted strategy, Crabtree is threatening to sit out the 2009 season by negotiating off mock drafts which didn’t occur rather than the real one that did.
Crabtree has decided that he shouldn’t have to be paid less because – based on all the made-up, predicted drafts – Al Davis made a mistake. He wants to be paid more than Heyward-Bey, demanding his contract reflect that it was actually he who was the higher selected receiver.
It’s a ground-breaking, if intellectually bankrupt, concept.
Crabtree’s camp said Thursday that he is even willing to sit out the year and re-enter the draft next spring unless he gets more than the $23.5 million the Raiders guaranteed Heyward-Bey. The news was first reported by profootballtalk.com. Anything less than that stratospheric number is “unacceptable.”
“We are prepared to do it,” David Wells, a cousin of Crabtree, told ESPN. “Michael just wants fair market value. Michael is one of the best players in the draft, and he just wants to be paid like one of the best players.”
The ridiculousness of a guy who’s never caught a professional pass deeming $20-something million “unacceptable” is a testament to the troublesome way the NFL pays its rookies. A sense of youthful entitlement combines with a flawed structure so that the unproven rookie often makes more than the veteran All-Pro.
While NFL players tend to earn their money – a disturbing percentage leave the game as near-cripples dealing with neurological problems – Crabtree would be best served getting to camp and focusing on the tens of millions he will earn rather than the few more he may not.
More intriguing, however, is what Crabtree is trying to pull. Contract negotiations and holdout threats aren’t new. This is. It isn’t just an unorthodox attempt to bypass the traditional (if unofficial) slotting of rookie salaries. It’s putting real value on the unreal speculation that surrounds the buildup to the draft.
Crabtree is trying to get paid off perception, not reality.
Pre-draft hype has grown exponentially over the years. What was once the domain of only hard-core fans has taken on a life of its own. All forms of media dedicate enormous resources to it. The Internet is awash in mock drafts. The draft itself has become a major event in its own right. Next April, the first round will move to Thursday prime time – where it will, no doubt, pull monster television ratings.
Still, as fun and harmless as it is to follow the various prognostications, all of it remains conjecture.
Perhaps Crabtree isn’t aware that even though ESPN will deem sportswriter speculation on “Who will the Raiders pick?” a “Cold Hard Fact,” it is, in fact, not.
Not only is none of the pre-draft coverage “real” – there is no reason to believe it is accurate.
Since there is virtually no benefit for a team to publicly disclose their honest opinions of players, teams blatantly lie about their plans. Why wouldn’t they? Everything you hear should first be assumed inaccurate, not something you can later use in contract negotiations.
The rest of the coverage and discussion that lead up to the draft is opinion – opinion based mostly on pathetically thin research.
Crabtree may indeed be a better player than Heyward-Bey, however much of the public and media sentiment to that regard is because Crabtree played on a high-profile Texas Tech team and scored a dramatic touchdown to upset Texas. Heyward-Bey, meanwhile, played on a fairly anonymous Maryland club.
Just because fans and media – very few of whom watch even a smidgen of tape, have access to team scouting reports or even comprehend the game of football all that well – were more excited about Crabtree means absolutely nothing.
Even if you could prove (and you can’t) that 31 NFL teams felt the same way, it wouldn’t matter. The draft isn’t about consensus opinions; it’s about the decision of each individual franchise.
In this case, the Raiders believed Heyward-Bay was better than Michael Crabtree and they put an oversized contract behind it. That was the only actual, factual thing that occurred. Whether everyone disagreed with Al Davis or whether his recent track record is sketchy doesn’t matter.
The pick is the pick.
Crabtree apparently operates in a world ruled by Mel Kiper Jr. He wants to be paid based on what was wrongly predicted to occur rather than what actually did. In his mind, he was the first receiver drafted, even if he wasn’t.
Talk about your mock drafts.
Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports’ national columnist.
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
pats just traded for DE derrick burgess. raiders get a draft pick. does Al Davis owe Bill something or what? he loves trading the pats talent for picks he does nothing with. they'll probably draft some WR with a 4.0 forty who's about 4 feet tall.
its really difficult to pick against the pats this year. revamped secondary, a brand new pass rusher, plus fred taylor and joey galloway...you could argue that this team is more talented than the 18-1 team.
They've pretty much been targetting Burgess for some time, but lately I heard it should only take a 4th or 5th round pick to get him. They gave up a 3rd AND a 4th (although that will probably turn into a 5th). So the Pats may have actually given up more than expected. Although the Pats pile up draft picks every year so it really won't effect them. I've also heard some "Oakland" people say Burgess is more suited to play in the 4-3 as a DL instead in the 3-4 as a LB. But what do "Oakland" people know anyway? They haven't seen good football in almost 10 years.
Pats were also close to signing Kevin Carter. He's an ironman of sorts, never misses a game, which is extremely rare for a DE. He also was an elite pass rusher in his prime, getting 17 sacks or so in one season. Though he's about 7 years removed from his prime. He'd add depth to the DL and would help with the occasional sack.
Their offense should be nearly as good as in 07, though that was a record breaking year so it's hard to imagine it could be THAT good. Their defense wasn't great that year and might actually still be a step down. I think the jury is still out on that. Back then they still had Asante Samuel who was a legit #1 CB, and Vrabel was a legit pass rushing LB. They've improved their secondary it appears, but how much we'll have to wait and see. I'm still not sold on the defense, which ultimately is what wins in the playoffs. It COULD be good enough, but I don't know that for sure. It was ALMOST good enough in 07, till that last goddamn drive. They forgot how to tackle the QB and the fact that they weren't playing 2 hand touch, Asante forget how to intercept balls that hit his hands, guys started catching balls with their helmets (Tyree), and they left a hobbled CB (Ellis Hobbs) fall on his face trying to cover a gun wielding WR (Plaxico).
Yeah, still bitter!
- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: The 2009 NFL Season Thread
But see what made the defense passable in 07 was the offense. The offense put up so many points that it forced opposing offenses to give up on the run and go with the air attack, enable the pats to focus much more on rushing the passer. Thus, an old Vrabel gets his sacks and Asante (always a playmaker though) gets better chances for picks.
if this offense is 80 percent of the 07 offense, the defense should be able to have a phenomenal year.
