Hongbit

One nice part about being the Rams and absolutely sucking is they don’t have to worry about playing in an empty stadium and losing ticket revenue. Just means more seats for the many opposition fans that regularly fill SoFi every weekend. That Lions game next year will sound like Ford Field.

It absolutely could’ve turned out better but they got what they wanted. I remember years and years ago on the old board debating if the goal of a professional sports team was to win a single championship at all costs or was it better to build a competitive team that would have many chances over an extended time. There’s no definitive answer and it probably depends on the specific franchise.

They won a Super Bowl. That was the primary goal. Maintaining success and trying for more was hoped for but obviously that’s not happening. It didn’t turn out as good as it could’ve been but it was still a successful deal on their end.

It sure seems like the Rams would like nothing better than to tank 2023 and reset for the future with Caleb Williams. Cutting or trading Stafford and eating the huge hit this year while signing nobody in free agency would be a huge signal.

I believe it has to do with his demand of a fully guaranteed contract. The rank and file of NFL owners don’t want to go there. They didn’t like it when the Wilf’s gave Cousins the fully guaranteed deal but it was only 3 years so it didn’t really matter. They lost their shit behind the scenes when Jimmy Haslem, one of the rouge contingent, broke rank and went on his own to give Watson a 10 year guarantee. This is not a trend they want to see. The majority of owners look out for each other and try to act in the best interest of the collective. Baltimore’s owner is definitely one of these guys and as much as he may want or need Lamar, he’s not going to act in a way to turn the league against him. They are trying to hold the line at the moment and not make long term fully guaranteed the norm for QB’s. Personally, I think the toothpaste is already out of the tube. Expect a few more of these to happen before the rest of the owners give in and finally you see the core league guys like Jerry Jones, The Rooneys, and Hunts doing it.

Once Lamar drops the demand for a fully guaranteed contract, Jim Irsay will pull out the checkbook faster than if Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock guitar went on sale (he probably actually owns it already).

This sucks for the Lions but good for him. He earned it on the field and will probably get overpaid by someone else. Hopefully it’s not Chicago.

Goff is probably out of the league and semi-retired in Northern California if he’d been drafted by Baltimore and put in the same situation as Lamar. There are many reasons to say no to Lamar but Goff being a better QB isn’t one of them.

I’m not sure how I feel about the possibility of Lamar. I keep going back and forth. These stats are loaded though. The offensive talent and schemes around Goff have been so much better. I kind of think had their situations been reversed the difference for Jackson in LA and Detroit vs Goff in Baltimore would be more skewed in Lamar’s favor than they currently are for Goff. Reality is if he wants a guaranteed contract there is zero chance of him coming here. Sheila wouldn’t go against the best interests of the rest of the owners like moron Haslem did.

Can’t leave out possibly the worst outdoor concert venue in America, Northerly Island. You couldn’t pay me to go see another show in that shithole.

My information on Wood comes directly from people that have worked for him.

I’m not ready to say Goff is good enough. I’m not saying he’s not either. I need more time. I’ll be ready to say with much better clarity after this season.

There are definitely creative ways to maximize the value of a rookie contract for the full 5 years. Take a look at the Mahomes contract that he signed after year 3. It was a 10 year extension that started after the remaining 2 years of his initial rookie deal. They have him a big signing bonus to keep him happy for those 2 years and they were able to spread it out over the life of the contract. It bought them 2 more years of friendly cap numbers and another Super Bowl. I expect they will continue to keep extending it and giving him more signing bonuses for years to come. The Chiefs will probably be on the hook for $80M a year when he’s 35 but that’s a long way off.

This appears to be a pretty weak draft at the top but good depth overall. May not be a bad idea to trade one of the firsts for a package that includes a first next year.

I don’t want a 29 year old rb for $10M either but it would be interesting if they would pay some salary and a late draft pick. Lions could let Williams and Swift go and proceed to run Henry into the ground for 2 seasons until he breaks. Could draft a couple the next few drafts on later round flyers too. Won’t happen but fun to ponder.

Titans also apparently listening on Derrick Henry. No love for old running backs.

Doubt it. Only chance is if he shows up in the next Ja Morant IG.

Tough call between Elon and Jerruh for genius of the day.

The engine is fine. It’s the design and concept that is flawed. They’ve been recent champions and know what it takes. It’s not like one of these teams that hasn’t won it in like 15 years. Mercedes will get fixed…eventually.

I hate Gibbs. Seems small and fragile. Achane is even worse.

I don’t want them to resign Swift. I just think he gets a bad rap from fans for being unreliable and underperforming. He’s the best back the team has drafted since Barry. That includes about 30 different players. Go ahead and nitpick the names. 30 players drafted over 30 years is alot. How the team chooses to use him is great. 80% of plays is too much wear and tear and the Giants will regret that number. Good teams have a reliable 2nd and 3rd back. That is no knock on Swift. There have been maybe three games in his career where they have trotted him out as mainly a decoy while he wasn’t fully able to play. It’s very much the exception and not the rule yet you keep bringing these situations up because it sounds believable.

He’s still a Super Bowl winning QB. I think he’s very happy with the trade.

His O/U is 35.5 I got +390 on 45+

I’d love to add the next Alvin Kamara to this offense. I want them to find him in the 3rd round just like the Saints did with Kamara. These guys are so fragile and the shelf life is short that it adds to the risk of taking one so high. Even if they don’t bust, the durability on almost all of them is so low. Barkley and CMC are great players taken top 10 but both have been injured and played in less than 75% of games which is less reliable than Swift, who you guys already complain about missing too many games. In today’s NFL, I’m not so sure it’s even a good idea to ever sign a RB to a 2nd contract. The fall off is so quick along with damage that it seems best to draft them outside the first and keep changing out every 4 years. Really effective new ones pop up every single draft now in the later rounds. I’d hate to spend the 6th pick on someone that it probably doesn’t make sense to extend beyond their rookie deal. It does sound like you are off the idea of spending 6 on him so maybe it makes more sense at 18 but I still think they need to place their 1st round bets in other areas.

I’d be disappointed if they drafted any RB in the first round. It’s the least valued position in the league and there are ton of options in both the later rounds as well as many proven backs in free agency. This would be a luxury pick and they still have multiple needs that are more scarce and harder to find than RB. First round picks are especially important assets for a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs for 6 years. They need to be able to maximize the value of these and I don’t think taking a RB would do that.