2016 NFL Off Season Thread

[Lineker]

A report claims that the Rams avoided appearing on Hard Knocks in 2014 by agreeing to draft Michael Sam.

[Meacon Keaton]

RG3 has officially signed with Cleveland, because he wants to solidify himself as one of the biggest busts of all time. 

[Maxx]

FUN TIMES IN CLEVELAND AGAIN

[The Buscher]

If there is truth to that Michael Sam story, I'm hardly surprised.  The league would have been crucified had the defensive player of the year from the best conference in college football not gotten picked after he happened to come out publicly.  And usually in the 7th round they just run through the picks on the bottom of the screen and the name gets announced in the background while the announcers talk about other stuff.  Yet for Sam ESPN just happened to show his draft announcement live so they could talk it up as a monomuental achievement for the league.  It felt incredibly staged from the onset.

[The Lusophone]

I'm ever so slightly annoyed by how Michael San wasn't successful, which has been taken by some idiots as "proof" that gays can't play football.

[The Buscher]

Sam actually had a killer preseason and I'm pretty sure if he were on a team other than the Rams (who were absolutely loaded on the D-line) the team would have been blasted for getting rid of him.  Sure preseason performance often means dick all, but the fact that he couldn't even get a practice squad spot for a few months after preseason was telling.  Each team had 10 practice squad spots.  There is not a chance in hell that there were 320 players who were clearly more deserving of a practice squad spot than Michael Sam.  Teams just simply didn't want to deal with the "distraction".

[DMN in the House]

1 hour ago, Buschan Danielson said:

Sam actually had a killer preseason and I'm pretty sure if he were on a team other than the Rams (who were absolutely loaded on the D-line) the team would have been blasted for getting rid of him.  Sure preseason performance often means dick all, but the fact that he couldn't even get a practice squad spot for a few months after preseason was telling.  Each team had 10 practice squad spots.  There is not a chance in hell that there were 320 players who were clearly more deserving of a practice squad spot than Michael Sam.  Teams just simply didn't want to deal with the "distraction".

It's similar to Tim Tebow's problem, where as, although, in terms of talent, they probably belong in the league, the 'distractions' that come with them make teams hesitant to sign them. It's actually much worse with Sam, because there's absolutely no reason other than his sexual orientation (which shouldn't be an issue at all, if he can play he can play), while there are legitimate reasons not to sign Tebow (basically the fact that you have to tailor your offense to him, meaning that, if he goes down, which is probable because of his play style, then you can't really plug anyone else in.).

[Schlitzbrille]

4 hours ago, Meacon said:

RG3 has officially signed with Cleveland, because he wants to solidify himself as one of the biggest busts of all time. 

This is gonna end so well.

[TCO]

Sam signed up for his own reality TV series and had cameras following him 24/7 after being drafted.  He signed his own death warrant as an NFL player then, 7th round picks don't get that sort of leeway.

He burned out of the CFL rather quickly too, so I'm imagine he's happy with his outside commitments. 

[Lineker]

Five-round mock 5.0: Cowboys pluck Myles Jack, Derrick Henry. Tunsil to Tennessee, Wentz to Cleveland, Buckner to San Diego, Ramsey to Jacksonville. Elsewhere it has Goff to San Francisco, Lynch to Denver and Elliott to Philadelphia.

[Lineker]

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday night on NFL Network's Total Access that the San Francisco 49ers won't cut Colin Kaepernick before his contract becomes fully guaranteed on April 1. Rapoport added that the Niners also won't trade Kaepernick unless they are "blown away" by an offer.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, ok, good luck with that, San Fran.

[Maxx]

5 hours ago, Lineker said:

Five-round mock 5.0: Cowboys pluck Myles Jack, Derrick Henry. Tunsil to Tennessee, Wentz to Cleveland, Buckner to San Diego, Ramsey to Jacksonville. Elsewhere it has Goff to San Francisco, Lynch to Denver and Elliott to Philadelphia.

I'm certainly not opposed to use taking Henry, I just don't think it will happen after the Morris signing.  We've got him, McFadden and Dunbar.  Add in Derrick Henry and there's just not enough carries to go around.  And I'd be really surprised to see us pass on Ramsey if he's still on the board at 4.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm going to be beyond pissed if perhaps the best player in the draft falls to friggin' Baltimore at #6. The Ravens seems to luck into incredibly talented defenders falling to them. Crappy ass teams picking in front of them deserve to stay crappy ass!

Also, if Jeff Driskel is a fourth round quarterback, then my balls are fifth round quarterbacks. That dude had one year at LA Tech where he put up big numbers in a pass-heavy offense against questionable defenses. He shit bricks every time he blinked when he played in the SEC. I swear some mock drafts just look at last season's stats and say, "Yeah, he sounds fine".

[Maxx]

1 hour ago, Meacon said:

I'm going to be beyond pissed if perhaps the best player in the draft falls to friggin' Baltimore at #6. The Ravens seems to luck into incredibly talented defenders falling to them. Crappy ass teams picking in front of them deserve to stay crappy ass!

 

I'll remember this quote when the Cowboys draft Bosa and he ends up being mediocre.

[The Buscher]

I keep reading Ronnie Stanley mocked to the Giants at #10 with Jack Conklin also in play.  I'm not going to pretend that I know a whole lot about O-line prospects but the very fact that O-line is even still a need after going OL in the first round in 2013 and 2015 AND investing an early second round pick in 2014 is a pretty sad reflection on the state of the Giants.

I'd rather just see them go back to their roots and take the best pass rusher available.  Put him together with Vernon and JPP and give yourself some depth there especially if JPP's lack of an index finger continues to hamper him.

[SeanDMan]

On 23/03/2016 at 09:47, punky said:

It will cut down on those possible injuries but now we will get even more holding penalties. I understand the need to try to take any "unnecessary" blocks or situations out of the game but man, they're really finding new ways to neuter this game. I wish they'd add penalties to wide receivers and defensive backs that always throw up their hands/call for a flag after every fucking pass attempt.

How many torn knee ligaments result from holding penalties? Absolutely the right call.

[punky]

I've seen at least 2 to 3 because the lineman held on too long and twisted or just dragged the guy down to turf. Like I said, I know it could cut down on those types of injuries by eliminating all chop blocks but now it's just going to lead to the lineman holding on longer/twisting/doing anything they can to keep the rushers from the quarterback and bring those injury possibilities into the fold.

[Lineker]

The Bengals have reached an agreement with receiver Brandon LaFell on Wednesday, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per the player's agent.

[GhostMachine]

Vernon Davis signed with the Redskins. Guess his career is over....

Oh, and the hell with Jim Irsay after what he said about CTE. He's taken his rightful place as the biggest jackass amongst NFL owners, and it just goes to show that he doesn't give a rat's ass about his players. If karma really exists, he'll get a concussion some day.