The 2021 Offseason Thread

[rmcjacket23]

isnt that kind of what the steelers did with Lev Bell...

Pretty much yes. And ultimately, I think the Steelers got the better end of that, especially when you consider that Bell got to keep very little of the "lucrative" contract he signed with the Jets. He made nothing in 2018, and made $28M in 19-20 combined. He turned down $14.5M in 2018 from Pittsburgh, so he certainly didn't get anything close to what he was expecting.

Of course, the main difference in cases like his and Williams is Watson has, what, like 5 years left on his deal? This wouldn't be a guy on a franchise tag refusing to play. This is a guy who would be refusing to play like 1 year into a 6 year contract, with a ton of guarantees.

I don't know the specific contract language, but I would also think its possible that something like "voluntarily sitting out the season because you're mad about the direction of the franchise" could potentially lead to a breach in some of those guaranteed salaries. Like it wouldnt surprise me if he voided the guarantees he has for 2022 by not playing in 2021. Maybe it doesn't, but it would be a very risky proposition for him.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I wonder if Lamar never existed and we still had Flacco and if we’d make a blockbuster trade for Deshaun

There's no scenario I could see where Joe would be the QB now. His official contract would have expired after 2020, but he would have never made it that long. He would have been gone after 2018 or, at the latest, 2019, regardless, based on his performance and cap hits.

 

[Dom McRaven]

EDC with the product placement amidst his excitement

"and.......extra draft picks." IOW, he's signaling his goons to get into position and I'm totally here for it.

 

[cdp]

Is there a limit to how many comp picks a team can get? Because when I check our FA list, I see there are a lot of guys who might qualify for it. The best strategy for us is to sign cap casualties, so they don't cancel out one of our outgoing FA.

 

[rossihunter2]

Is there a limit to how many comp picks a team can get? Because when I check our FA list, I see there are a lot of guys who might qualify for it. The best strategy for us is to sign cap casualties, so they don't cancel out one of our outgoing FA.

maximum of 4 per year - but they could technically be 4 4th rounders
but that's just for free agency - i imagine the HC comp picks dont go into that accounting

also important to remember that you have to lose more free agents than you gain in the formula (doesnt matter about the size of contracts)

but yeah it's hard to imagine we dont have a lot of comp picks coming our way next year (we've got 1 already for Culley)

 

[Deebo813]

Could this possibly be one of the hardest offseasons for us?

 

[JoeyFlex5]

"and.......extra draft picks." IOW, he's signaling his goons to get into position and I'm totally here for it.

Pearl Jam though? Ugh, I’m fucking disappointed

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Could this possibly be one of the hardest offseasons for us?

It’s a tough one, but the post super bowl meltdown off-season of 2013 was for the books, that was a spiral of epic proportions.

ray lewis retires
Ed reed leaves
Anquan boldin traded for a circus peanut
Matt Birk retires
Bryant mckinnie checks out
Signed Michael huff
Signed Chris canty
Signed Marcus spears
Drafted Matt Elam
Drafted Arthur brown
Traded for and extended Eugene Monroe
Pittas hip disintegrates

 

[rossihunter2]

It’s a tough one, but the post super bowl meltdown off-season of 2013 was for the books, that was a spiral of epic proportions.

ray lewis retires
Ed reed leaves
Anquan boldin traded for a circus peanut
Matt Birk retires
Bryant mckinnie checks out
Signed Michael huff
Signed Chris canty
Signed Marcus spears
Drafted Matt Elam
Drafted Arthur brown
Traded for and extended Eugene Monroe
Pittas hip disintegrates

bernard pollard released...

 

[Deebo813]

It’s a tough one, but the post super bowl meltdown off-season of 2013 was for the books, that was a spiral of epic proportions.

ray lewis retires
Ed reed leaves
Anquan boldin traded for a circus peanut
Matt Birk retires
Bryant mckinnie checks out
Signed Michael huff
Signed Chris canty
Signed Marcus spears
Drafted Matt Elam
Drafted Arthur brown
Traded for and extended Eugene Monroe
Pittas hip disintegrates

Lmaooooo... i forgot about this one. Happening right after a super bowl just made things worse

 

[Adreme]

True. The downside is... what message does that say to every other GM, coach, etc. in the league? I don't get my way, so I half-ass my way through my contract? How does the next team know he won't do it again?

That's a self-sabotage platform. It's unlikely to work.

I mean it's worked in the NBA and its how the stars always get there way. Is it a good look for Watson? No not really, but he has 5 years to fix his image and in 2-3 everyone will have forgotten.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I mean it's worked in the NBA and its how the stars always get there way. Is it a good look for Watson? No not really, but he has 5 years to fix his image and in 2-3 everyone will have forgotten.

NBA is an individual player, star driven sport. Very different landscape.

NFL doesn't care about star players. They're better with them, but they don't need it. You got a pretty large group of teams that don't have anybody on their team worth paying to watch play alone. Yet, in a pre-COVID world, they'd get 50K+ fans in the stands, selling out every seat, and a few million others watching on TV. Thats what the Jets and Jags do, and they have precisely nobody worth paying to watch.

Its about the act of playing football, not about the guys playing it. That's why NFL players get such a big shaft compared to other sports, and when NFL teams add and drop players like baseball cards.

 

[Adreme]

NBA is an individual player, star driven sport. Very different landscape.

NFL doesn't care about star players. They're better with them, but they don't need it. You got a pretty large group of teams that don't have anybody on their team worth paying to watch play alone. Yet, in a pre-COVID world, they'd get 50K+ fans in the stands, selling out every seat, and a few million others watching on TV. Thats what the Jets and Jags do, and they have precisely nobody worth paying to watch.

Its about the act of playing football, not about the guys playing it. That's why NFL players get such a big shaft compared to other sports, and when NFL teams add and drop players like baseball cards.

I mean when the star players on NFL teams want to be traded they get traded. Adams, Mack, and Ramsay just in terms of recent history all got traded when they wanted out and they had far less leverage than a QB had. Each of them is probably worth 1-2 wins maybe, whereas a top flight QB is worth 4-5 wins so the difference is simply greater.

 

[QuothTheRaven]

If AB can find a team with what he did, Watson will find a team in seconds even after half-assing a preseason. We've seen time and time again in the NFL that teams will overlook anything for talent.

 

[QuothTheRaven]

The QB in Cleveland seems a little touchy...

 

[JoeyFlex5]

bernard pollard released...

Crushing blow to harbaugh I’m sure

 

[ThatsMyJoeTerback]

The QB in Cleveland seems a little touchy...

 

[rossihunter2]

Crushing blow to harbaugh I’m sure

i more meant as in didn't the pollard harbs-bashing in the media also start that offseason... maybe im misremembering and it only started later

 

[rmcjacket23]

I mean when the star players on NFL teams want to be traded they get traded. Adams, Mack, and Ramsay just in terms of recent history all got traded when they wanted out and they had far less leverage than a QB had. Each of them is probably worth 1-2 wins maybe, whereas a top flight QB is worth 4-5 wins so the difference is simply greater.

Well, sort of. In some ways, they had more leverage than Watson, because they were trying to get traded off a team that they were soon to be free agents from anyway. Ramsey and Adams had a ton of leverage, because they never signed long term with the team. Their leverage was... you can trade me now, or I'm walking next year and there's no chance I'll ever sign a long term deal with them.

Watson doesn't have that leverage because he already put pen to paper. If Watson had done this move last year, he'd have 1000% of the leverage. But you'll have a much more difficult time showing me the stud players who forced their way out of a monstrous contract with like 5 years left on it, and one year after they signed it.

The star players get traded in the NFL because a) I think Owners cave far too quickly to their demands and b) Owners realize that individual players just don't matter that much to their revenue model, and they're willing to let them go.

 

[rmcjacket23]

If AB can find a team with what he did, Watson will find a team in seconds even after half-assing a preseason. We've seen time and time again in the NFL that teams will overlook anything for talent.

I'm not concerned with whether he half-asses a preseason game.

I want to see him half-ass an entire month of September, or October, or November, or December. I think, and I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money on it, that he simply doesn't have the testicular fortitude to do it.