FootballZombie

A lot of things could happen. I could win the lottery and live the rest of my days eating brains on some tropical beach. It wasn't impossible for them to win the game, anybody can beat anybody, it was just unrealistic given the gameflow. They were losing when he left and had horrible field position to boot. Unless he found a way not to airmail 65% of his passes, not much was gonna change. Our lead was more likely to grow rather than shrink. On a side note I don't think it was what thy were attempting but if Swat (intentional misspell) and Chase were intentionally trying to sow seeds of discontent that would have been amazing.

The idea that hurts was on pace to lead Philly to victory is unrealisitic. If i remember correctly Hurts had a 35% completion percentage and minimal rushing yards. He looked unbelievably horrible out there. You remove the names from the jerseys and any fanbase would beg to have a QB playing as inept as Hurts to be pulled. Granted Sudfield was worse, but that is with revisionist history. You can't put up like 70 yards in 3 Qtrs and think everything is going swimmingly. When you don't have a set in stone starter, any coach would at least be eyeballing the backup. I'd be more concerned if he didn't. Young QBs around the NFL can get benched for sneezing on a guy. (see Tua) It just gets swept under the rug when the coach pushes the right button and the team is successful. Makes me a bit wary of having a really capable QB behind a young guy. That threat of a yank is always there, and that can ruin a player. I feel your better off just letting youngins take their lumps during a bad game.

Newton's deal looks to be worth up to 14M, with at least 6M tied to incentives involving the playoffs. 1yr 8M is not bad for NE. It may be even less.

If they get through this with a playoff looking roster I'll be impressed. Outside of Brees (Who did them a tremendous solid), all I'm seeing is the "hack off limbs to lose weight" approach. Sure you weigh less, but at significant QoL. Very little in the way of cap wizardry, just taking an knife and trimming away. They have already created 19M in dead cap. Just getting Winston to agree to come back would be amazing. eyeballin' Ramczyk, Lattimore and Williams real hard. Everybody can see what is happening. How many players will agree to take less money other than the guy who is probably retiring... Might have to let those guys straight walk. Still looks like a mess to me. I think a few more quality guys get the axe. I'd put my money on marcus williams, who'd I'd have a fair amount of interest in.

While the cap isn't some unbeatable beast, lets not pretend the Saints are just skating around it. they have already dropped significant players in Emmanuel Sanders, J Jenkins, Kwon Alexander, Nick Easton, Josh Hill and their Punter... plus however you want to look at Brees They are still 25M over the cap and further restructures and cuts are looming. On top of that, there are several positions that will require them to bring in talent. Unless they plan on playing WInston w/ monopoly money, they are going to have to shave several more Million off the roster. Gotta pay the incoming draft class too, that's another 7-9M. The world of hurt the Saints are in has only just begun. As we stand Saints still need to throw off another $35M minimum, and that is using a micro first year hit cap hit for Winston.

Now that we have an established cap we will probably see a healthy amount of cuts today. Other teams in the east have some interesting choices coming up. NYG and DAL still need to move some money around to bring in FAs at needed positions. PHI still has a few bombs to take just to get under the cap. should have some good news in the next several days regardless of what we do ourselves.

I think the plan is to have those two as dirt cheap insurance policies. We will likely be looking at a number of QBs over the course of the offseason, but in the event we cant do much in the QB market, we at least have multiple fall back options secured before FA even starts. That both gives us some piece of mind and limits potential desperation and panic moves. These two don't stop you from making further moves at the QB spot as they cost next to nothing. If you do pick up a veteran or a rookie, we are in a good place to run with 3 QBs. If you pick up a veteran and a rookie, you can run all offseason with 4 and then cut one of the two during roster cuts for essentially a slap on the wrist to the cap. If we come out of this offseason with a Allen/Taylor camp battle, it will likely be because we were unable to acquire our targets, not from lack of trying. We already took a swing at stafford, if any above replacement level QB comes available, I'd expect us to be right there.

Now we have two QBs for the combined price of a Ham Sammich. Gotta love that. Paying those two next to nothing. Saves all kinds of moolah.

That is a good way of looking at it. 2 days ago our options were: -Let him walk -tag n trade him (unrealistic) -LTD -F-tag Until he is locked into that tag, all we have really done is eliminate the let him walk option. All the other options are pretty much as valid now as they were two days ago.

I don't think the franchise tag is as bad an option as many are making it seem. While a LTD is by far and away best direction and a franchise tag is not at all good, I think just letting him walk would by far be the worst avenue and the one that needs to be avoided the most. Hear me out a bit. Sucking up an 18M hit for a G is all kinds of wrong, but it might just put us in great position for a potential lucrative outcome. Now that we have the tag on the table, this thing plays out in 4 ways (not counting trades) 1.) Sign him to LTD deal this year 2.) Plays on Tag this year 3.) Sign him to LTD next year 4.) Let him walk next year This means that Sheriff is more than likely with us for this season, but we would have to opportunity to let him walk next year, where it would be much more favorable for us to do so. We are currently one of the most cash flushed teams in FA this season. If we let him walk this year, there would be next to no chance at receiving a comp pick for him as we would easily cancel his out with our own signings. There is very little chance Scheriff would be undesirable next year and he would likely still be in the position to set the G market heading into a year where many teams are more financially stable. We would almost assuredly get some kind of quality comp pick in that scenario. Essentially what I am saying is by eating a couple extra Mil for G play this season, we can pick up a quality draft pick in 2 years. I think that is better than balking at paying him 15M on a LTD and letting him walk for nothing, even if we are in a decent position to pick up a replacement. Hopefully we get a LTD done though. That is the best outcome to me.

All signs show Allen is on schedule and will be good to go in April. Barring some drastic move where we bring in an unquestioned QB1, bringing back Allen is a no-brainer. Even if we do, I can still see him probably coming back. When it is time to make roster cuts in Aug-Sept, then you have a numbers game to deal with if you also have another vet and a rookie, but right now, there is no such problem. It might even solve itself since him and taylor are both so injury prone. Decent chance one of them will be in position to be on PUP... especially if we have a preseason. We have nothing at the QB position and Allen is dirt cheap. Easiest front office choice in the history of the NFL as it stands right now.

I'd think not, especially if those players get cut and are openly available, if your looking in terms of getting back Scheriff. The more quality options come available, the less we need to rely on Scheriff for his services. We would be able to get quality G play elsewhere, and likely for less. If there were no Gs available, Scheriff would more or less have us by the balls. That is looking like it wont be the case. G is often deemed an unimportant position. I would be shocked if the market is not disproportionately flooded w/ interior linemen as teams figure they can get along without them. I don't see Scheriff having much in the way of leverage moveing forward as it will fall by the day and I don't see Gs pulling down big paychecks as a whole this off season due to the cap restraints. I think the longer this takes, the less likely he will return. The longer this goes on, the more swollen the cut pool of Gs will become. Once that pool exists, you can debate numbers with them as there would not be tampering, and you can find that cheap option your looking for.

I'd pretty much expect us to be in on any above replacement lvl QB once available. Just b/c we are not all over the prospect now does not mean too much.

I wonder how many millions of reasons an impending FA would do something like that... mindboggling. He's also said he would welcome a return to the Bears and Jags, two former teams. A-Rob is not dumb, he wants as many suitors as possible, so he will indicate that he will happily play anywhere. Then he will leverage those teams against each other to boost his paycheck and then choose a good situation, as history shows that will be a team with a commited to QB1. The thing about the Jets is, either by trade or by draft, they have a clear pathway to a new QB1. As long as they promise A-Rob that the starting day QB will not be Darnold, NY is a viable destination for him as anyone who costs a #2 overall pick will have the franchises commitment. Until we can tell him who he will be catching passes from, we are not a very viable destination for him.

That extra 4.3 M would pay for the majority of the first year of a new backloaaded Scheriff contract interesting development

We are going to very likely take swings at several vet QBs before draft day comes around. I think the chances we come out of the draft with a QB room of just Allen, Taylor and rookieX is on the less likely side at the moment. Even if we end up with a bad veteran QB, there are just so many available. between Watson, Fitz, Dak, Dalton, Darnold, Tyrod, Trubisky, Mariota, Brissett, !/Bridgewater, !/Jimmy G we will probably get somebody. Roster cuts might even add more names to this list

Need to establish the cap already so teams can start shaping their rosters. Nobody wants to start the demolition spree until they know where they stand. One thing no one seems to realize is that FA will essentially be starting early this year. We wont be waiting until the 15th before stuff starts hitting the fan. With the massive amount of cuts coming, teams will be able to sign players before FA even starts, as cut players don't have an assigned team and are available to talk to. (like JJ Watt) Teams will be able to start plugging holes thanks to the massive pools of available talent. Once those cuts go through with the NFL, tampering is out the window. Furthermore the next two weeks will be more competitive than true FA, as teams don't have to be under the cap until 48hrs after the 17th (I think) so some squads that are currently over the cap will still bring in select players they covet now since it will be approved by the NFL even though they are over the cap. Then they will have the remaining time period to sort things out... leading to even more cuts. This will leave even less money for the pure FA market, so the middle and low tier markets are going to crash even harder. If you want to rake in the green this offseason and your name is not A-Rob, its probably in your best interest to get cut in the next few days. Pure FAs are kinda getting the shaft this year, first in available money, and now getting jumped in line. I think this feeding frenzy will kick off once front offices have a locked in cap situation. Could be tomorrow, next week, who knows. It will be fun tho.

It certainly wont stop a team near the front of the draft from drafting a guy, as Smith is not the future, but I can see it potentially knocking off several teams beyond CHI. NE badly needs a QB and pick all the way back at 15. I could see it eliminate them. Doubt they go back to Smith, but SF does not pick until 12 and its clear they want to move on from Jimmy G. They have no money, but NO has to get somebody. Smith wont cost as much as WInston Then there is the grey area teams like Carolina or Denver, who I don't feel like would be eliminated, but it could at least give them some pause on pulling a trigger.

If Smith catches on to another team in a couple of days for around 6-8M or so, it could go a long way. Might take a QB needy team out of the top of both the FA and trade markets. That would bode well for us.

They are gonna have to carve out the roster so hard I'll be surprised if Winston will have the kind of interest in returning that people seem to think he will have. Its one thing to come back to a stacked roster, but the saints are looking at dropping several impact players. On top of that they have no money. Winston could easily find greener pastures that would be willing and able to pay him larger amounts of money than the Saints could possibly dish out.

Unless you have the 1st or 2nd pick and you can practically guarantee a guy, the draft wont help you in that regard. Impact FA players will be long gone by the time the draft rolls around. If you want to look at the top shelf of offensive talent, we will need to make a trade for a QB or pick one up very early in FA. Otherwise we will be bargain bin shopping on O.

I'm pretty surprised they would move on from Smith this early in he offseason. We are well under the cap and we are in a situation where we didn't have to cut him until we essentially had his "replacement" on the roster. We could hold onto to his rights to avoid any worst case QB scenario. Gimme reduced price Alex over Sam Darnold any day. Either the FO is 100% sure Alex wont be back in any capacity, or they are doing him a solid by releasing him early to give him the best possible opportunity moving forward, which would be a classy move. or maybe they have a QB transaction in the pipeline... A lot of QB moves don't get made until they have to be so this does feel a bit odd. We are in a grave condition (Zombie Pun) at QB but the offseason is still young. Plenty of time and players left

Even if this was possible, it would be pretty stupid to wait until draft day for that reason alone. You can agree to trades in principle. If they want 4 1s in that manner, they can agree to submit an outlined trade on draft day rather than when its conceived, that way they can build their offseason plans in February, with clear knowledge of what they will do on draft day and what their cap situation looks like. A lot of trades do not become official until a later date. There is also ZERO chance a team will back out once it is agreed upon. waiting until the draft to do something you are already confident in doing, would be at the expense of the rest of the offseason and FA.

Even owners will be dragged away from a phone and hogtied before some of those trades are proposed. I agree there will be steep offers, but no one is going to put up their two best D players, on rookie deals, plus 3 1s. No one is THAT crazy. That would be like us dealing Young, Sweat and 3 ones. Its never gonna happen.

Good, that is the kind of thing I want to see with the Watson situation. Slowly inching towards the inevitable. All while Watson is doing next to nothing in regards to cranking up the heat. There is so much room for this to build, and the pressure is already outstanding as it is.