2015 NFL Season

[Adam]

And any chance of expanding the league past 32 teams, since I know they want a London franchise and have mooted various other locations in the future, or is it a case of not complicating the current Conference/Division set-up and just shifting existing teams of need be?

I've been an NFL fan for about 7/8 years now so the idea of LA getting a team again has for the most part seemed far off, so I've never really looked into this whole relocation business.

[Lowerdeck]

I see the Jaguars eventually moving somewhere.  By the time London becomes a feasible host for a team, the Jags could be it.

It could also be St. Louis, which I really don't see why they can't sustain a team (that's run competently.)

[Maxx]

6 hours ago, Mad Jack Frost said:

I don't get why the NFL would choose the Rams to move (1800 miles!) over the Chargers or Raiders...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Los_Angeles_Rams

Plus it makes sense for their division, now we get the fun and violence of an LA/SF rivalry in the NFL.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Maxx

[Lineker]

2 minutes ago, Lowerdeck said:

I see the Jaguars eventually moving somewhere.  By the time London becomes a feasible host for a team, the Jags could be it.

It could also be St. Louis, which I really don't see why they can't sustain a team (that's run competently.)

Khan has already said "no way" to this, today. But we'll see what happens down the road, won't we...

[Maxx]

4 hours ago, Dan said:

Mark Davis isn't exactly "rich" compared to the other owners though, is he? I'm pretty sure most of his wealth is the Raiders themselves. If he can't afford a stadium and the city can't afford a stadium then the don't really have a choice.

Kroenke is worth $7.7b, Davis is worth $500m for comparison.

It's enough to buy a sweet ass van, and that's all he needs.

[Pizza]

38 minutes ago, Adam said:

And any chance of expanding the league past 32 teams, since I know they want a London franchise and have mooted various other locations in the future, or is it a case of not complicating the current Conference/Division set-up and just shifting existing teams of need be?

I've been an NFL fan for about 7/8 years now so the idea of LA getting a team again has for the most part seemed far off, so I've never really looked into this whole relocation business.

The current division set-up is nearly perfect, but it's only been in place since 2002. The NFL has had odd numbers of teams before, most recently 31 between Cleveland re-entering the league and Houston entering the league, and divisional symmetry is not going to get in the way of expansion or relocation. 

[The Buscher]

The 31 team league necessitated at least one team being on bye week every single week of the season, which was just really awkward.  I'd be firmly against any plans that expand the league really.  I think talent is stretched out extremely thin as is and adding a brand new team would just dilute it further.

I also think that a London franchise would be a nightmare logistically.  Their schedule would need to be booked in blocks to prevent them from having to travel every single week.  Probably something like 4 games at home, 4 games in the US, 4 at home, 4 in the US.  And they'd need a US "home base" to practice at during their road trips.

Still, it seems inevitable that the league will try doing that at some point.  It'll probably be the Jaguars.

[Meacon Keaton]

Something that isn't usually brought up when discussing a London franchise is the appeal to free agents. I could be completely off base, but I wouldn't think the majority of free agents, at least the top name ones, would want to move out of the country to play when they'll have other options here in the States. I'm sure some of the middle tier/lower tier free agents will just want a job and go wherever they can play, but it seems like a much bigger deal and pain in the ass to uproot your family and move them out of the country than maybe just moving a couple hundred miles away. 

 

[Maxx]

London is going to love Brandon Weeden.

[Pizza]

10 minutes ago, Bad News Busch said:

The 31 team league necessitated at least one team being on bye week every single week of the season, which was just really awkward.  I'd be firmly against any plans that expand the league really.  I think talent is stretched out extremely thin as is and adding a brand new team would just dilute it further.

I also think that a London franchise would be a nightmare logistically.  Their schedule would need to be booked in blocks to prevent them from having to travel every single week.  Probably something like 4 games at home, 4 games in the US, 4 at home, 4 in the US.  And they'd need a US "home base" to practice at during their road trips.

Still, it seems inevitable that the league will try doing that at some point.  It'll probably be the Jaguars.

I agree completely, 31 was shit, but that doesn't mean that they won't go to 33 if the money is there. 

[Mofoticon]

Hue Jackson is the new Browns HC...I like it a lot. For once, the Browns hired someone who was actually coveted by other teams as well. I think he deserved another shot at being a HC and he should be a big help in developing the soon to be rookie QB the Browns take at 2.

[Meacon Keaton]

I actually love that hire. Its just gonna piss me off when they fire him in eleven months though.

[HC]

6 hours ago, Lineker said:

I heard San Antonio.

Although the Raiders colors would match with the Spurs, I feel like Jerry Jones would never let that happen.

Also can't believe Hue would choose Cleveland over his other potential options (especially NYG) but good for Cleveland.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

32 is a perfect number. It makes scheduling and everything easy and non-confusing.

When it comes to the Rams leaving St. Louis, St. Louis will now be the city the NFL uses as bait when it wants to hold a city hostage and get public financing for a new stadium.

This is a great write-up on how NFL teams stick it to taxpayers when it comes to stadiums, how the Bengals bent over Hamilton County, Ohio, to fund a stadium that is still somehow named after the billionaire's father that owns the team. I'm sure @zero could expand on it.

• The Giants will name offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo as their new head coach
• Lawrence Phillips was found dead in his prison cell this morning in a suspected suicide, just one day after he was ordered to stand trial for first-degree murder in the death of his cellmate in 2013. He could have faced the death penalty in that case.

The remaining vacancies are the Bucs, Titans, Eagles and 49ers, though Bucs' offensive coordinator Dirk Cutter is considered the favorite in Tampa and is the reason why they fired Lovie Smith

Edited January 14, 2016 by TheSqauredCircleMessiah

[The Buscher]

You can pretty much pencil in McAdoo for a minimum of 4 years at the helm, as that's when Eli's contract is up and there's not a chance in hell they are having him learn a new offense again.

It's pretty tough to be excited about the hire because he's only been a coordinator for 2 years and Coughlin helped to mentor him, so how different could he possibly be from what they already had?  It just feels like the Giants just made a move for the sake of making a move but they're too wrapped up in organizational history to fire the guy who really should have been the one to go (Reese).

At the same time it's not like it was a particularly strong class of free agent coaches.  Probably better to just keep the offense you know works in-house rather than going completely outside of the box.

[Maxx]

I dunno, plenty of great coordinators turn out not to be suited for head coaching jobs.

[Lineker]

It's a sensible if safe choice from the Giants. What is surprising though is Steve Spagnuolo remaining defensive coordinator.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

32 minutes ago, Maxx said:

I dunno, plenty of great coordinators turn out not to be suited for head coaching jobs.

So much of being a "good coach" is dependent on talent. In college, a system can make up for lack of talent, that doesn't happen really in the NFL. Bill Belichck and Pete Carroll both were failed NFL head coaches until their current jobs.

[Maxx]

Thanks for the support.

[zero]

8 hours ago, TheSqauredCircleMessiah said:

This is a great write-up on how NFL teams stick it to taxpayers when it comes to stadiums, how the Bengals bent over Hamilton County, Ohio, to fund a stadium that is still somehow named after the billionaire's father that owns the team. I'm sure @zero could expand on it.

Not as well as John Oliver would: