This needs to be the must up voted post on the board
-
Welcome to PurpleFlock! Sign up here so that you can chat with your fellow Ravens fans.
2018 Forum Mock: Discussion Thread
- Thread starter JO_75
- Start date
Giants56Ravens52
Veteran
I don't know if Cousins will go to the Browns though, even if they or the Jets offer him more money he may still go to a team like the Broncos or Vikings so he can win and get paid a bit less. That's what I'm hearing at least lately.
That's my thinking as well. If they lose out on Cousins, it could very well be not for a lack of effort on their end.
Giants56Ravens52
Veteran
Yeah. The things I'm hearing related to Cousins fallout are (I apologize for the NY-centric nature, but that is where I follow and get most of my info from source-wise):
- People close to Cousins are saying he is leaning towards the Vikings, and I really don't blame him with the team they have.
- The Browns may feel like they have to trade up as a result from #4, likely with the Giants, to make sure they get both Barkley and their top choice of QB. The Giants are of course making it known that they like Barkley a lot to potentially push this scenario (this I feel is more a rumor, but the logic of it is sound).
- The Jets, if they don't get Cousins will take whichever QB falls to them at 6 unless they feel they have to trade up, in which case the Giants will make out with a king's ransom from either the Browns or Jets and only go down 2-4 spots where they can pick.
i dont know that the broncos are more attractive than the jets per se - i think the obvious move has to be the vikings - and if those reports of 3 years 91 million fully guaranteed are in the ballpark then i dont see cousins going anywhere else...
so a lot of this is what ive been spitballing from the start:
it seems that there is a significant offer going to be made by the vikings and they are fairly confident that they will be able to get cousins - the agents seem confident that the deal is gonna be in excess of 30 m/year and also will have a huge % of guarantees - the extent to which these 2 things are true is obviously completely up in the air but there seems to be a willingness on both sides to have this be the marriage
now im not sure that there's any confirmation or official rumours or anything about the browns moving to the 2nd pick but i 100% have advocated them doing that from the start - they should get themselves picks 1 and 2 in the draft (they have the best draft capital of any team since like 1991 so they can afford to move up 2 spots) - and if im the jets im not sure im worried about moving up from number 6 - obviously they need to be in the top 5 to guarantee themselves a qb but there are 2 teams in the top 6 who already dont need a qb so the only threat to the jets not getting a qb is if 2 teams manage to trade up to those picks... the dolphins could (and probably should from the 11th pick but i think they are more likely to hope that one falls later into the top 10 and they trade up then), the cardinals should but again moving into the top 5 is going to be difficult from the 15th pick, the bills may try but 2 late 1st round picks wont do it either
so there's an element of risk to the jets sticking at the 6th pick but ultimately i cant see both the giants and the colts finding suitable trade partners to jump ahead of the jets for the capital they will want
the problem is that each one of those guys comes with significant doubts whereas cousins is automatically a franchise qb
teddy was a promising young qb pre-injury but had not proved himself worthy of being a franchise qb yet and that was before the knee blew up - who knows whether he'll ever be what he was before - and who even knows if that was franchise worthy anyway
keenum has shown that he's not gonna single-handedly down his own team but he's also demonstrated that he's not anybody's answer at qb - he wont be good enough to get you to the promised land even when surrounded by great pieces - we've seen the upper limit of case keenum this year and it's never gonna be as good - the fact that the broncos might be going after him seems like a crazy move to me given that im not sure he's actually better than trevor siemian
bradford has a degenerative knee condition that lasted 1 game in 2017 - it was maybe the best qb performance he's ever had but if he cant be trusted to play more than 1 game a year then you cant base your franchise around him either or trust him to improve your team
aj mccarron as far as literally anyone in the league is concerned could be mike glennon or he could be better but the other thing the league knows is that he never beat out andy dalton which in and of itself says a lot
its gonna be interesting to see where all these guys go but i wouldnt say that any of them are necessarily good options - better than in previous free agency periods but if im honest there's nothing about any of these guys that you could for sure say they will be better than 39 year old josh mccown
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Cousins would be crazy not to consider Cleveland very seriously from both financial and football/winning standpoint. Eagles managed to turn things around in 2 years, Browns could do the same and build the team with much longer/wider winning window.
And for Kirk, there's a key to the city waiting if he can win.
i think the problem with the winning window is there's no evidence to support the idea of cleveland turning it around
but you're right that if he's at all wondering about legacy then he definitely should be tempted by the idea of doing something historic in cleveland - his legend would be written in stone if he were to succeed there
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
With 100mil in salary cap space and 4 picks in first 35 (#1 and #4 to boot), they will do some damage. It's up to Cousins to decide whether he wants in at the floor level or watch some other clever QB take that opportunity next year, while Vikings miss their shot on a bad field goal attempt.
if im cousins i want to know what those picks are gonna be before i sign tbh - and there's no way to really know that except to know that they would 100% be taking barkley
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
They are almost set in both trenches, if Cousins says yes, then Thomas would, for sure. Between FA and high draft picks they can add a lot of skill to the team. Gordon still keeping his ass in check, too.
DeVito52
Ravens Ring of Honor
I never compared them to Cousins. Of course none of them are as good as Cousins. I was simply saying maybe someone like the Jets or the Browns take a shot at AJ or Keenum, or both, and use their top picks to boost the rest of the team. If it doesn’t work out, they’ll always have next year.
Case Keenum, if he continues where he left off from last year, is so, so far ahead of Trevor Siemian, give me a break. Nick Foles just won the super bowl. Don’t tell me Case Keenum cant take a team to the promise land if Nick Foles can. I see 0 problems with the Broncos going after Case Keenum. That would be smart imo. But then again you did just recently basically say Tyrod will never be anything more than a low end QB who will never last as a starter on any team, which isnt fair at all. So I guess you just don’t really like to believe in QBs who aren’t the big guys.
what?
ive never said tyrod was a low-end qb - all i said was that its clear that the footballing cognoscenti doesnt view him as much more than a game manager/stop gap type qb and therefore he is gonna get passed around from spot to spot never really being believed in
and there isnt a chance in hell the jets or browns dont take a shot on a rookie - its not often that a draft comes this loaded with plug and play starting qbs up top - you cant rely on that happening every year because it doesnt - you cant take risks like that because actually they wont 'always have next year'
and case keenum did admirably but he demonstrated his ceiling is as an above-replacement-level qb who struggles with arm talent and vision but who wont suck the life out of his own offence in the right situation - he takes risks but doesnt have the necessary elements to his game to pull them off - he was a great story but he's a better version of ryan fitzpatrick - give him an oline like the broncos and watch him implode...
the only qb who precludes a ball club taking a 1st round pick qb is cousins because you're investing so much into him that he is the franchise
any other free agent signing on that list may well find themselves (and in the jets, browns, broncos cases should find themselves) with competition from a rookie
im not saying these guys shouldnt be signed, im saying that they shouldnt be trusted
Giants56Ravens52
Veteran
Let's also not belittle the effect of Shurmur on Keenum. The guy is a miracle worker with QBs. There's no guarantee that Keenum will be good in another offense, let alone decent. I would actually say the odds are pretty good he regresses significantly.
this is true of any player moving to another system. Shurmur did an amazing job with Keenam, that's for sure. He will owe him millioins when he signs his new contract.