2020 NFL offseason thread

No worries. You did get me thinking about the delicious option of Kap joining the Pats, and the wailing and gnashing of teeth from my neighbors that would result.

 

I agree, but that in and of itself is progress.

 

The Brees redemption arc was something else, 2020 writers are on fire with these sub-plots. Least we got some good memes out of it

 

People who are idiots about football are saying “this is Drew Brees white privilege he can put black people down and still be a starting NFL quarterback Kaepernick was kicked out for standing up for equality”. Drew Brees is an elite level, top 5 QBs. Kaepernick is the opposite of that, at best. If Wilson, Watson, Jackson, Mahomes or Prescott made some controversial statement I can absolutely guarantee you they wouldn’t lose their jobs over it.

 

I don't think he's good enough to start but if Nate Peterman has a job in the NFL then it's embarrassing that Kaepernick doesn't.

 

Counterpoint: what team is built around a trash QB who throws a pick 1 out of every 11 throws in his career? There are some truly terrible, horrible, no good, very bad backup quarterbacks right now. Putting Kaepernick in there and just saying "screw it let it rip" and seeing what happens might not turn out better, but it'd be hard to be much worse.

 

I don't even think it will be as bad as Tim thinks, but the problem is Kaepernick will instantly become the spokesperson for the franchise, despite the fact that he is the backup. Which puts your starter in an uncomfortable position. It could work feasibly in Tampa Bay because Brady's respect and loyalty from his teammates are untouchable, politics irrelevant. In the other extreme, if they don't like their starter anyway, and are genuinely unsure themselves whether what they have now is actually better than Kaepernick, that's where he could also be viable. But for a comfortable majority of the league, signing him would probably be a bad idea.

 

I don't think signing Kaepernick as a backup is a viable option. He's too famous and too young. Maybe in 3 years, when he's 35, but if you sign him now it would be with the intention to play him. I think there are teams that could use him skillwise, but the issue was always the political baggage. He was always being blackballed and will continue to be. He's not good enough to get a job in spite of the baggage. If he was Mahomes caliber, he'd be playing. If there was no baggage, he'd be playing.

The other thing is that Kaepernick playing risks his impact as a symbol of the movement anyway. If he fails, that will then undermine the fact that he was blackballed because of racism and the kneeling protest. If he succeeds, then he becomes a sellout, and the league get to claim that they're off the hook.

 

Yup.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned so far is that he's been out of football for (IIRC) 3 years. For a QB, that'll be a long row to hoe as far as getting back in playing trim.

 

He can always play Madden to train to get back in shape.

Edit: but that’s just for the specific football part. As for actual physical fitness, there’s always Wii Fit.

 

Ezekiel Elliot tests positive for cornovirus. I am seriously beginning to think there won’t be football this year.

 

Jamaal Adams requests trade, Jets give him permission to look around.

 

Cam Newton signs one year contract with the Patriots. The amount it's for hasn't been released yet, but it is "an incentive-based contract". My opinion is Newton is a huge upgrade from what they currently at the position. Whether it will be enough to make their offense better than it was last year I'm unsure of, but at least their QB position went from awful to acceptable (as long as Newton can stay healthy).

edit: deal up to (including incentives for the max value) 7.4 million. Potential bargain if he stays healthy and plays like he has the majority of his career. Could keep the Patriots in playoff contention.

 

From a financial standpoint, it's low risk for the Pats (1 yr vet minimum + incentives). Obviously the real question is a) is he more or less fully recovered from injuries and b) If so, can he stay that way. IMHO the beating he's taken over the years argues against it but we'll see.

 

Honestly, the Pats can't lose. Even IF he fulfills all incentives on his contract (probably meaning he had a pretty good season with them for this year), he only gets 7 million, tops. That's less than one-third of what Brady is definitely going to get. If he turned out to be garbage, they didn't pay significantly more than the vet minimum amount for him, and they traded away absolutely no draft capital (or players) whatsoever to get him.

If he turns out to be garbage (as well as all other QBs on the Patriots roster), then it was safe to assume that there was nothing they could have done anyway, thus the blame cannot be put on the front office. So the fans shouldn't be too angry, especially considering they sacrificed almost nothing for him to begin with. And in that case, they would almost certainly have very good draft picks the following year. And with the AFC East being far more stacked (outside of the Patriots themselves) than it's been in a long time, that could easily happen if they don't get good QB play. At worst, they get nothing out of him (or the other QBs on their roster) giving them great draft picks to reload the next year, possibly even scoring Trevor Lawrence.

At best, he balls out like he has the majority of his career, making mediocre wide receivers seem much better than they really are, and is also a legit dual-threat, and puts the Patriots right back in contention to win the AFC Championship game, in conjunction with having found their long term answer at QB for possibly the next 10 years or so, while giving up nothing for him and one year of him for a very inexpensive contract, compared to other non-rookie QBs who would put up that kind of production.

"But he's injured"

First, again, the risk here is virtually non-existent. So what?

Second, he hasn't actually played in a long time. And based on his workout videos, he seems like he has made the most out of his time off and is in incredibly good shape. And at the very least, he did pass his physical and will have even more time to recover. And he passed his physical back in March, not even now. He could be in even better shape now, and better shape than that by the time the season starts.

They would have to scheme differently for Newtons' skill set (if they play him at all) but I trust someone who has a legit argument as the GOAT head coach to figure that out.

They managed to absolutely humiliate a competent Texans defense several years ago with Brissett, and a healthy Cam Newton is definitely not worse than Brissett. But the point is Brissett's playstyle is also very different than Bradys, and they made it work with him. Meaning having to change their offensive scheme to match Newton's skillset probably won't be an issue, especially if they have several months to prepare for it rather than one week.

If he plays like he has for the majority of his career, the front office of teams like the Chargers are going to have some very serious questions to answer.

 

I thought his receivers in their super bowl year were very meh and he elevated them.

 

Any reason why the Colts are paying Jacoby Brissett 27 million dollars for this season? Is someone who meets the criteria of "solid backup quarterback but far from a long term solution" good enough to justify that? I could understand if they signed the contract in the past and are stuck now, but they made the deal THIS year.

 

LMAO I read this and thought "Who the eff is the Colts starting quarterback right now?"

I had to look it up... Phillip Rivers... so yeah, signing Jacoby Brissett to a big contract, as a "backup" makes total sense. He'll be starting before the end of the season.

 

All Jacoby Brissett does is make it harder to get good draft picks. In other words, you're not going to the playoffs regardless of how good your roster is otherwise as long as he's your starter. There are also capable backups you could sign for far less than that. Cam Newton signed for one million. Andy Dolton signed for three million. Nick Foles is getting 8 million, which I think is an overpay, but still nowhere near what Brissett is getting.

Brissett is getting paid more than Drew Brees and Tom Brady. Do you think Brissett is better (or as good) as those two, even at this point in their respective careers?

 

Drew Brees and Tom Brady are old. They're possibly riding on their laurels at this point. I'm interested to see how they perform going forward.