NFL 2015

[K9]

That Brandon Marshall cracks me up, it's not the first time he's made a joke out of the confusion.

[sickrubik]

Yeah, hoping he sticks around for a good long time. Good player, great attitude.

[HaemishM]

Saw this comment on the Deadspin article about the Brandon Marshall trade hoax. Thought it was too good not to share.

Makes sense for both the Bears and Brandon Marshall. Being on another team is usually the best way to catch touchdowns from Jay Cutler.

 

[K9]

The burns are real 

[01101010]

The burns are real 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12432188/chicago-bears-trade-brandon-marshall-new-york-jets

So is the Brandon Marshall trade - but to the Jets. 

[HaemishM]

Now they just need a QB. Of course, Marshall is likely to break down even further on the turf but he'll likely still be an upgrade over everyone they have there once they release Harvin.

So yes, the Bears really are in rebuild mode. I expect if they don't make the playoffs in 2015, both Cutler and Forte will be cut.

[Paelos]

Beat the rush, Cut Cutler now. He's no good to them in current format.

[Malakili]

Beat the rush, Cut Cutler now. He's no good to them in current format.

Don't even cut him, just trade him.  There's plenty of teams that will pay top dollar for him right now.  If you're going to rebuild, go all the way.

[01101010]

Beat the rush, Cut Cutler now. He's no good to them in current format.

Don't even cut him, just trade him.  There's plenty of teams that will pay top dollar for him right now.  If you're going to rebuild, go all the way.

I doubt there is a team out there that would be willing to take on his current contract. Even my Browns aren't that stu... no. Not even going to say that lest the stupid actually happen.

[Bunk]

God damn it.

The fucking Jets?
If it isn't obvious, Marshall's on my fantasy team. So is Cutler (douche or not, his fantasy stats are really good). At least they had chemistry together. Glad I still have time to decide who I'm protecting.

[Paelos]

The problem is that Cutler's contract is almost nigh untradable. But they can't really cut him either because he's got like $38M in dead money floating around. I was being facetious there.

Cutler's cap hit is $16.5 in 2015. In 2016 it's $17M. Then you can start to renegotiate the deal because the dead money is gone.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, nobody is going to take Cutler's contract in a trade. At the very least, they'll be expected to part with a 1st or 2nd rounder and based on his performances last year, you'd be just as likely to win with a rookie QB as you would Cutler (and you KNOW Cutler is going to lose you at least 2-3 games by himself - that's just a fact). Plus, the only teams with that kind of cap money either have a QB established or that they are still kicking the tires on (like the Raiders and Jags).

I'd love to see either the Jets or Redskins trade for him just for the LULZ.

[01101010]

Yeah, nobody is going to take Cutler's contract in a trade. At the very least, they'll be expected to part with a 1st or 2nd rounder and based on his performances last year, you'd be just as likely to win with a rookie QB as you would Cutler (and you KNOW Cutler is going to lose you at least 2-3 games by himself - that's just a fact). Plus, the only teams with that kind of cap money either have a QB established or that they are still kicking the tires on (like the Raiders and Jags).

I'd love to see either the Jets or Redskins trade for him just for the LULZ.

Arizona.

[HaemishM]

Carson Palmer. Even though he restructured his contract, I still don't think they'd take Cutler.

[01101010]

Carson Palmer. Even though he restructured his contract, I still don't think they'd take Cutler.

Yeah true, but a 35 year old QB coming back from injury? That injury? I'd be highly suspicious of him lasting 1-2 more years there. And no, Cutler to Zona makes no sense, but neither does McCoy to the Bills.

[Paelos]

Cutler's an anchor. I joked they'd be better off cutting him now because, A - You eat the money now in a shit year instead of 2 years, and B - You get to try out new QBs on the offchance they don't suck ala Romo.

[HaemishM]

No, you draft a rookie. You're going to be eating his money anyway, and he will win some games despite his complete and utter lack of motivation to do so. If he's terrible, the rookie gets some starts and maybe pushes The Cutlet to get his head out of his own ass.

[Paelos]

If you cut him it accelerates the money though I believe,  and I really want to watch the bears field a team short 38m

[Paelos]

Looks like the Eagles are resigning the Butt-Fumble.

As a Cowboys fan I give this move 

[HaemishM]

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the fuck the Eagles are thinking this offseason. Unless they are angling to go full-on crazy with draftees, I just don't get it. Maybe they feel like they want to go younger like the Packers and just build from the draft and very limited free agency?

[Paelos]

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the fuck the Eagles are thinking this offseason.

http://deadspin.com/what-is-chip-kelly-doing-1690255848

Short answer: Kelly must believe there are no irreplaceable players on a football team. He believes his scheme wins all. In short, he's a fucking idiot if he thinks the NFL is not about talent and is about a chess game. It's not.

[Nebu]

I'm inclined to agree with Kelly aside from a few key positions that you absolutely need a marquis player at in the NFL.  You need a great QB, OT, MLB/ILB, and at least one star CB.  You can build around that with players willing to lose some identity for team chemistry.  Belechik has built teams around scant few players with  his scheme.  I assume Kelly has an inflated enough ego to think he can do the same.

[WayAbvPar]

Belichick has also done it with probably the best QB of all time (as much as it pains me to say it). That lessens the difficulty quite a bit.

[Cyrrex]

I'd probably add either a top tier RB or WR, but yeah, pretty much.  

[Paelos]

Belichick has a first ballot HOF QB and he still managed to fuck it all up until recently, when he finally produced a top tier defense by picking up Revis, Browner, and Chung.

It's nigh impossible to win the Super Bowl with a system. You need top tier HOF type talent at several positions.

[HaemishM]

And he still was one play away from losing that Super Bowl. 

[K9]

Maybe they feel like they want to go younger

The logical first step in this plan is to draft Frank Gore   

Belichick has a first ballot HOF QB and he still managed to fuck it all up until recently

What the hell is your metric for fucking up? In the past 14 seasons they've only been under 10 wins once (2002, 9-7) and they've only missed the playoffs twice (2002, 2008). They've been to the Superbowl six times, winning four. Of their 12 playoff seasons, they've only been knocked out without at least one win twice.

I get that you have some festering hatred for Bill Belichek, but to describe this as fucking up is baffling. At the levels of the playoffs over this span most of the teams are fielding HOF QBs and other players; the man has achieved stupid amounts with often very raw talent.


In other news, Patrick Willis seems to have caught a really bad case of Religion from some prosperity gospel preacher and has retired, thus capping off the complete implosion of the 49ers. I'm sorry 49ers fans, this offseason has got to be rough.

[Trippy]

We knew this last season was going to be it for a while.

[Paelos]

What the hell is your metric for fucking up? In the past 14 seasons they've only been under 10 wins once (2002, 9-7) and they've only missed the playoffs twice (2002, 2008). They've been to the Superbowl six times, winning four. Of their 12 playoff seasons, they've only been knocked out without at least one win twice.

I get that you have some festering hatred for Bill Belichek, but to describe this as fucking up is baffling. At the levels of the playoffs over this span most of the teams are fielding HOF QBs and other players; the man has achieved stupid amounts with often very raw talent.

You want me to give them a medal for dominating the AFC East? Because I won't do that. They basically got a free playoff spot a year minimum unless the AFC went completely insane like 2008. For 13 years. That's not just them being good, that's being top dog in a dumpster fire. Even now the best shot to unseat them is what? Buffalo? Good lord.

By fucking up I mean losing in the playoffs many times as a prohibitive favorite to inferior teams, and not winning since getting busted for spying. This was their best shot to prove it because Tom is almost done and the team has to retool again soon.

If he lost this year, they would have been described poorly by everyone, including many Boston fans for not living up to the hype. Is that fair? Well, nobody gives a shit about regular season titles, and NFL fans are greedy. He's a great coach, but don't get it twisted, this Super Bowl saved his legacy.

EDIT: I mean fuck, these are the articles you see about that division. http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/football/patriots/tim-benz/2015/03/09/because-tom-brady-even-worst-case-scenario-offse It's literally the worst division in the NFL, possibly in sports over the last decade.

[Ingmar]

I await your thoughts on Bobby Cox then.

[Paelos]

I await your thoughts on Bobby Cox then.

I fall in the group of fans that wishes he would go away. I think he massively underachieved in the playoffs and with that lineup the Braves would have had 5 titles if it was Bruce Bochy today instead of Cox back then.

I respect his ability to win, but damn. The NL East was a floating joke for years. Atlanta fans still bring it up about how many divisions we won and I want to punch them.

[HaemishM]

Winning divisions even two years in a row is impressive. To do what Bobby Cox and Bill Belichek have done is fucking amazing. Hearing Braves fans run down Cox sickens me, then I remember how fucking shitty those fans are when they can't even fill up a stadium for a goddamn playoff game because they don't think a wild card playoff game is anything worth getting up about. Cubs fans would have killed for one shot in the goddamn World Series over the last two decades and Braves fans have the itch vag because they only won one of them. BOO-FUCKYOU-HOO.

I don't give a shit if the division is a dumpster fire. It's still impressive. It's not like they got into the playoffs at fucking 7-9 any of those years, it was a consistent 10-13 wins every year. Yes, he had a Hall of Fame QB for all those playoff years (the only one they didn't make the playoffs was the year that QB got hurt).

[Paelos]

Cox is one of the top managers of all-time. He's a HOF, and I went to the ceremony in Cooperstown to watch him get inducted along with Maddux and Glavine.

I don't hate Cox, nor do I hate Belichick. They created amazing teams. But sports in America aren't defined by the regular season. If your vag is sandy over that, too fucking bad. It's never going to change. Nobody rates best sports towns in the long run how many divisions you won. They do it by titles. Both guys were getting heat from fans, media, and outsiders about not winning enough. It holds over Bobby to this day. It would have held over Belichick if he didn't win this year with the obvious best team in the AFC.

I'm happy for what Bobby did in Atlanta much like what Vince Dooley did at UGA. But that's one title over 20 years ago. One title in an entire city's history of professional sports. That's what people don't get. No other team in Atlanta has won anything.

Cubs fans can boo-fucking-hoo all they want, but the rest of Chicago has won titles more recently in a lot more sports. I mean for fucks sake they had the Bulls and the Blackhawks. Even the White Sox won more recently than the Braves. The City of Chicago can eat a dick if they want to complain about Atlanta wanting more championships. The city has like 17 in pro sports.

As for filling up playoff games? Take a look at the games after the run was over. In 2013, the Braves averaged 46,000 in the stands for both games. The media likes to hold is against the Braves because the building holds 50,000 people. Even though it's like 3rd biggest in the league. Yet when the Yankees didn't sell out their playoff games they get a free pass because it's a great sports town, blah blah blah.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, but the Yankees suck monkey ass and have their cock firmly lodged in the media's mouth. So fuck the media.

[shiznitz]

Get this shitty sport out of the football thread, please.