The Buscher

Nope, he didn't get paid as he never signed his franchise tender. But obviously he preserved is health and cashed in as a result.

That was part of the reason they were letting Gordon explore a trade: he’d quickly find that nobody would be willing to pay him AND give up an acceptable return. His choice is to either report or pull a Le’Veon.

Well, the Giants have a ton of money coming off the books in 2020 between Eli, Beckham, and Vernon. But that's not going to last long because in 2021 they're going to have to give Barkley enough money to buy Greenland.

And with one of the most colossal choke jobs in team history, I’ve watched my last Mets game for the season. Edwin Diaz blowing his UCL opening his hotel room door would be a better contribution to the team than him pitching for them again.

Jerry Jones is one of those old owners who is probably desperate to win another title before he kicks it. He’ll pay Dak.

I’ve heard of a few leagues that even have offensive line. Usually you draft an entire team’s line like you would with a defense. Points for meeting yardage thresholds, negative points for sacks, etc Given the popularity of PFF’s offensive line rankings I could straight up see there being dynasty leagues where you have individual linemen, and actually a full roster from QB to punter. It could actually be super fun and immersive but much like a real team, you might have to rebuild over several seasons.

My dad joined an ESPN league once and was shocked to find that there were roster spots for a punter and a coach.

Oops, was tired last night. Meant to say a healthy Rodgers with an offensive-minded coach plus a bunch of new defensive playmakers, since they went very heavy on D in the draft. That’s probably one of the more interesting divisions to me since I can’t get a read on the Vikings. 3 team races are always fun.

Predictions: NFC East: Eagles NFC North: Packers NFC South: Saints NFC West: Rams NFC Wild Cards: Cowboys and Seahawks I have to go with the two East and West teams both making it again if only because those teams could all have a four-win headstart due to the other two teams in their respective divisions being among the worst in the league. I have the Saints going back too, though I think a Bruce Arians-led Bucs team could give them a run for their money. Toughest call for me was the North. The Bears defense is amazing, but can a repeat performance be expected from them in a league that is constantly changing rules to the defense's detriment? Packers won six games last year even with an extremely hobbled Rodgers, a healthy Rodgers with some new playmakers and an offensive-minded head coach could be trouble. AFC East: Patriots AFC North: Steelers AFC South: Texans AFC West: Chiefs AFC Wild Cards: Browns and Broncos Pats will cakewalk to the division like they always do, and their schedule is so bad this year I think 14 wins is possible. Chiefs and Texans win their divisions again - Chiefs because they're loaded offensively and Texans because even after losing Clowney and Miller, I think the Tunsil add is huge and if he can keep Watson upright I'm going to pick the team with the best QB to take the close division. AFC North is being predicted by many as being a tight three team race and I could see all three making the playoffs, but I'm going with the Steelers to get back into the playoffs after a rare absence from them last year. Not fully on the Browns hype train but I could see this being a very top heavy conference and 9-7 being all it takes to get a Wild Card so a whole bunch of teams hovering around that mark will have a chance. Every year one playoff team seems to have a huge fall off and in this case I can see the Chargers taking a big step back with this Gordon distraction going on and them not really having any home games all season. Conversely, usually one unexpected team makes it and I have a feeling Fangio's Broncos could emerge from a crowded Wild Card field. Super Bowl 54: Saints vs. Patriots The Pats will get their annual bye to the AFC Title game and given that I'm projecting this game to be in Foxboro, how can I lay money against them in that spot? NFC is a much tougher call, but I have a weird feeling the planets will align and we'll get the matchup that would've happened last year if not for a brutal call that then resulted in a rule change that will alter the sport for the worse. Super Bowl Champion: Patriots. Sigh. Not going on any limbs here but again, how can I pick against them at this point? Brady wins ring #7, everyone hopes he'll retire on top, and instead he once again reaffirms his commitment to playing until 45.

Demaryius Thomas has already signed back with the Patriots. His release on Saturday was a procedural move to allow them to put N'Keal Harry on the temporary IR.

More than just signing Hoyer, they have him three years, $12 million with $9 million guaranteed. He’s earning more than Brissett, who is in the final year of his contract.

It’s easy to forget just how good of a career Verlander has had. Dude is a HOF lock

On a Giants message board I frequent, we tend to take guesses on the 53 going into camp and after each preseason game. Seemed to be a close battle between TJ Jones and Alonzo Russell for the last WR spot. Both guys had great preseasons across the board, both offensively and on special teams. I figured only one would make it, but I would've found a way to keep both instead of a 3rd QB or 9th LB. Russell had the best preseason of any Giant and made the initial cut, only to then be released today because they claimed some random WR from the Bengals. So yeah, basing ANYTHING on preseason, even the back end of a roster, is a completely pointless exercise.

I never had any hopes that Zeke wouldn't be out there for week 1. Guys don't need preseason or even training camp anymore, they stay conditioned at home and for someone like Zeke that's probably all he needs. They might limit his snaps but there's no way he won't be out there if and when the deal gets done. If he somehow doesn't play, it becomes a must-win game for the Giants right out of the gate. Without Zeke, they can focus on the pass and if they can't muster together any sort of a pass rush it's already clear that the season is going to be another trainwreck. That said, I don't have much hope for the team anyway. The last two years were awful because they got off to a 1-7 start both times leaving nothing to watch for. At least if that happens this year, I'll still have a reason to watch since it means they can finally put Eli out to pasture and start the Jones era.

Twins break the single-season team home run record with a whole month of baseball left to play. Home run stats in 2019 might be less legitimate than the steroid era.

The Giants kept three QBs and I have no idea why. Seems like a waste of a roster spot. If Eli gets hurt, Jones takes over and you sign someone to back him up. It’s not complicated. But even if they were going with three QBs, they kept the wrong one. Kyle Lauletta outplayed Alex Tanney in every conceivable way all preseason. The beat writers are saying that they kept Tanney because they don’t want Eli to worry about mentoring Jones so they kept Tanney because he’s a veteran. But Tanney has been a do-nothing in his career. He won’t teach Jones jack.

And the game is already out of date as he has his old theme. 0/10, will not buy.

The Eagles were rumored to be in on Clowney so I'm very happy he ended up not going there.

Mets come off of a sweep against Cleveland to lose five straight including Syndergaard giving up six runs in the first inning tonight. At least they got me to football season before the wheels fell off.

It's not even September and Pete Alonso has already set the Mets' single season home run record. 42 in his rookie year with a whole month to pile on. And many of them were moonshots that probably would've left the yard even if the baseballs weren't juiced.

I am all about seeing Keith Hernandez learn how the internet works.

He’ll be back with the Patriots in January.

Just by doing a quick gauge of Colts boards, the people mad at Luck feel he owed the team this season, that if he'd told them he was retiring at the end of the year everyone would be okay with it. They're likening it to walking out of a job rather than at least putting your two weeks in. First off, the comparison is bunk because the "real world" and sports are totally different. But if you want to be technical, the point of giving two weeks notice is to allow the company to transition your work to other people. Well, the Colts now have two weeks to prepare for Brissett being the starter. It's not like Luck just walked out of practice during the middle of the season. But let's play ball. Say Luck gives the Colts one last year. They're likely to be pretty good. Very possibly a playoff team. But if you have a star QB that you know is leaving and no backup plan, it's gotta be Super Bowl or bust. Is this team good enough to get past both the Pats AND the Chiefs? More likely is that they end up with a draft pick in the mid 20s and no long-term plan at QB. At least now, they can learn if Brissett is good enough to be a starter. And if he's not, they're probably going to be in a position where they can make a realistic play for one of the big three QBs in the 2020 class. I know emotional fans don't want to hear it but if Luck's heart wasn't in it, it's far better for the long-term future of the team that he exits now.

Seven years in the league: -Torn shoulder labrum -Torn abdomen -Two torn ribs -Lacerated kidney that caused him to piss blood -At least one concussion, probably more that were undiagnosed with how often he was taking hits behind a terrible Colts O-line for years -And now calf and ankle issues that he's been dealing with this year Luck owes the fans nothing.

The unfortunate thing is that the news broke while the game was still going on, and Colts fans booed Luck on the way off the field.