2017 NFL Off-Season Thread

[Lineker]

Absolutely - I agree. But Rick Smith is our GM, so....

[Maxx]

I don't know why the Texans wouldn't sign Jay Cutler, he's an improvement over everything else Bill O'Brien has tried at QB.

[Maxx]

I'm seeing that Romo is going to CBS to replace Phil Simms as the top analyst.  See?  I told you guys that Romo was a wonderful human being, what a great gift he has given us all.

[Meacon Keaton]

4 minutes ago, Maxx said:

I'm seeing that Romo is going to CBS to replace Phil Simms as the top analyst.  See?  I told you guys that Romo was a wonderful human being, what a great gift he has given us all.

You can't replace Phil Simms and his "If *team a* can't score any points, it's going to be tough for them to beat *team b*" analysis. Romo can try. But you just can't.

[Alex.]

My guess is that the only team Romo wanted to go to was Houston and Jerry Jones did not want to see Romo in Houston and bring that team to the next level, especially if Dak struggles next season where cowboys fans will want Jones' head. 

I wouldn't doubt that if Dak gets hurt, Romo would sign back with the Cowboys.

[Maxx]

14 minutes ago, Alex. said:

My guess is that the only team Romo wanted to go to was Houston and Jerry Jones did not want to see Romo in Houston and bring that team to the next level, especially if Dak struggles next season where cowboys fans will want Jones' head. 

I wouldn't doubt that if Dak gets hurt, Romo would sign back with the Cowboys.

My guess is you haven't been reading the news.  Romo had permission to talk to every other team in the league and see if they could come up with a deal.  If Houston wanted him, they should have ponied up a pick and gotten him.  He's being released today, he could go sign with them tomorrow if that's what he wanted to do.  He's choosing broadcasting instead, so yeah, doesn't really sound like the only team Romo wanted to go to was Houston, otherwise he'd be doing that.

But please, continue falling all over yourself to make Jerry Jones seem like an incompetent villain.

[Alex.]

2 minutes ago, Maxx said:

My guess is you haven't been reading the news.  Romo had permission to talk to every other team in the league and see if they could come up with a deal.  If Houston wanted him, they should have ponied up a pick and gotten him.  He's being released today, he could go sign with them tomorrow if that's what he wanted to do.  He's choosing broadcasting instead, so yeah, doesn't really sound like the only team Romo wanted to go to was Houston, otherwise he'd be doing that.

But please, continue falling all over yourself to make Jerry Jones seem like an incompetent villain.

Yikes, sorry for getting something wrong. 

[TCO]

Jones should have released him when free agency began. He had valid reasons for his team not to do that, he basically stallled the QB market which has ramifications across the board. If he wanted to do Romo right selflessly, he would have cut him ASAP and let him hit the market at the right time to make his decision. Look at the Colts and Peyton Manning for example.

Jones did what was right for his team by delaying it and trying to get compensation, but he didn't do what was right for Romo.

[Maxx]

He's done plenty right by Romo, not the least of which was the absurd $108 million dollar contract he gave him.  Romo chose to retire and go into broadcasting.  Not retire to try to get out of the contract so he can go play elsewhere.  Not retire as a fuck you to Jerry Jones.  The Cowboys took the time to explore the options they had with Romo, including trying to work trade deals with the teams Romo wanted to go to and during that time, Romo explored his own options and chose broadcasting.  Peyton Manning was 100% going to continue to play, so they released him immediately.  Certainly sounds like Romo was never there, and if he had asked for his immediate release, it would have been granted.

And none of that changes the fact that he's getting released.  The Broncos and the Texans, allegedly the only two teams he was interested in being traded to or signing with would still be interested in him.  His market hasn't changed at all, the teams he wanted to go to would still want him to come there.  And yet, he's choosing to retire instead.  So again, please explain how Jerry has done him wrong when he's A) Choosing to go into broadcasting B) Still getting released from his contract and C) Still has the teams he was interested as possible options.  You do realize its possible for situations like this to be mutually beneficial for all parties involved right?  It's not either do right by him or completely fuck him over.

[TCO]

The right thing to do for Romo was still to release him right before free agency. I'm not saying he was fucked over or wasn't treating him well, just that releasing him at that point was best for Romo. Releasing him after he decided to retire isn't much of a gesture and letting talk with teams to facilitate a trade a month after free agency isn't ideal either

At that stage he didn't 100% know what he was doing and he would have had the market to himself. I imagine he was expecting his release then too given the goodbye video he posted from the gym. Again, not saying Jerry fucked Romo over or he was treated poorly, just the delay wasn't ideal for him. People are naturally going to jump to conclusions and slam Jones while Cowboys fans will defend their team to the end. I think its somewhere in the middle. 

I just think that given Romo was never going to take a snap for the Cowboys again, the absolute best thing to do for him was to cut him loose at the earliest point. Staying on the Cowboys roster benefited nobody but the Cowboys and they've gotten their ideal outcome.

That's all, I'm not slamming Jerry, saying he did Romo wrong or that he owed him anything. Just explaining where some of the criticism could come from 

Edited April 4, 2017 by TCO

[Lineker]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

So instead of going to a team that's a QB away and risk crippling injury, Romo is able to ease into the number 1 NFL spot on CBS. He'll probably wind up doing stuff on Inside the NFL too, among other things. And his analysis can't possibly be worse than Simms' was. A lot of guys want to go into broadcasting after retirement. Romo was able to walk right into one of the best broadcasting jobs around while technically still an active player.

All I can think is that CBS and Fox (who was rumored to want him too) saw something in him and thought this was a great opportunity to lock him up.

[Alex.]

Now we just need Colinsworth gone

[The Buscher]

Blowhards at ESPN were asking if Romo would be a better broadcaster than he was QB.

How does one even quantify that when the quality of a broadcaster is entirely subjective?

[Meacon Keaton]

ESPN is terrible.

[The Buscher]

It really is.  Not only is it subjective but those at ESPN might be shocked to know that peoples' opinions on broadcasters actually change over time.  I had an automatic bias towards Simms due to my Giants fandom but over the last few years even I can't deny he's terrible.  Conversely, I automatically hated Aikman for the longest time but now I've realized he's actually quite good even when saddled with monotone Joe Buck (well.....except when Aikman calls a Giants/Cowboys game, in which case I get annoyed and turn on the radio feed )

Hell, even Collinsworth has really grown on me over the past few years.  He and Michaels are my favorite of the main teams.  Gonna be sad when Al likely retires after the Super Bowl, he was already gradually transitioning the spot to Tirico.

Gruden seems kinda annoying on MNF but I can't form a proper opinion on him or the ESPN crew because MNF feels unwatchable most weeks.  They've been saddled with so many shitty matchups in recent years that I can't bring myself to sit through it unless the Giants are playing.  I'd say they should just kill it since SNF is clearly far more important to the NFL, but that will never happen.

[gunnar hendershow]

Gruden is not awful, he has good insight when he gets the chance to give it. But the thing is, he's so afraid of criticizing teams and organizations in the league. So he comes across as a shill for everybody.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yup. Exactly how I feel about Gruden. His analysis is pretty good when he's pointing out the positives of players or the way a franchise operates, but it's like he's afraid to burn any bridge by criticizing something done poorly. Or maybe he's just a ridiculously positive guy. 

[livid]

Which is exactly why I can't stand the guy because none of it seems very genuine and his general personality just doesn't do it for me. He's not dumb but I just wish he was coaching again so I didn't have to listen to him talk. 

[The Buscher]

That's pretty much why I find Gruden to be annoying.  Most color commentators are former players and by the time they're broadcasting they know that's going to remain their line of work.  Gruden can't seem to make up his mind on whether or not he'll return to coaching so he plays it safe with his analysis.