MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Yeah...he’s exactly what they need.

 

The Browns reportedly want Adam Gase

 

All he’s gonna do is put training wheels on a QB that obviously doesn’t need them.

His offense is too safe and no longer in tune with what the trends are in the NFL.

 

No shit. But the owner is supposedly great friends with Peyton Manning, and Manning told him to get Gase. My money is on this dumbass following Mannings advice.

 

News out now... Foles is good to go and will start vs the Bears.

 

Are you serious? Because I think there is a snowballs chance in hell that Gase becomes the next HC of the Cleveland Browns.

 

It was the only way he could work "dumbass" and "Browns" into the same post.

 

Lamar Jackson will be NFL’s first 21-year-old postseason starting QB...

On Sunday, Lamar Jackson will start at quarterback for the Ravens in a playoff game against the Chargers. On Monday, Jackson will turn 22 years old.

Jackson will be the first quarterback in NFL history to start a postseason game before turning 22. The previous youngest quarterback to start a postseason game was Bernie Kosar, who was 22 years, 40 days old when he started a playoff game for the Browns against the Dolphins on January 4, 1986.

Although many saw Jackson as a project who would need a long time to learn to be an NFL quarterback (and some, including Hall of Fame personnel man turned ESPN commentator Bill Polian, thought Jackson wasn’t an NFL quarterback at all), he has proven himself to be ready for the challenge of starting as a rookie. He still has work to do as a passer, but the Ravens’ run-first offense with Jackson running the show has given opposing defenses problems.

If Jackson can lead the Ravens to a win over the Chargers, he’ll also be the youngest quarterback to win a postseason game. That distinction currently belongs to Michael Vick, who was 22 years, 192 days old when his Falcons beat the Packers on January 4, 2003. (PFT)

 

Joe Flacco: Don’t even go there, Lamar Jackson did a great job...

There will be plenty of talk in the days ahead about whether Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson should have been benched in favor of Joe Flacco during today’s loss to the Chargers. But Flacco is refusing to fuel such talk.

When a reporter suggested to Flacco after the game that perhaps he should have gone in to replace Jackson, Flacco quickly shut it down and praised Jackson for his big fourth quarter, which gave the Ravens a chance at a dramatic comeback.

“You can’t even go there, man,” Flacco said. “I thought Lamar did a great job of hanging in there and giving us a chance at the end.”

That’s a classy answer from Flacco, who also acknowledged after the game that he doesn’t have much say in where he’ll end up next season, with the Ravens ready to move on from him and make Jackson their franchise quarterback. Flacco didn’t want to leave Baltimore this way, having been benched for a younger quarterback, but he’s still leaving Baltimore with his status as a good teammate and consummate professional intact. (PFT)
________
____________________

Joe is a class act... good sport.

 

Eagles have a decision to make...

More will be said and written in the coming days and weeks regarding the future of the quarterback position in Philadelphia. For now, those, the Eagles surely know they have a decision to make.

However they resolve it, it’s a decision that will shape the franchise for the next decade, maybe longer.

They need to decide on a quarterback. Although coach Doug Pederson has said on multiple occasions that Carson Wentz is and will be the guy, the evidence requires, at a minimum, more careful deliberation.

Wentz is the better quarterback, when healthy. But the Eagles are a better team when Foles plays, and Foles has now played 11 games in December and beyond over the last two seasons, leading the team to a Super Bowl win and giving the Saints a real scare in Sunday’s divisional round game.

We’ve yet to see what Wentz can do in December and beyond because of a playing style that has left him injured in each of the last two years. His skills notwithstanding, an inability to be able to play in the most important weeks of the season must be a factor in the long-term decision, especially since he’s shown no inclination to alter his style — and since he has a back problem that could resurface in the future.

The Eagles could try to kick the can, by paying Foles starter money for 2019 while Wentz enters the fourth year of a wage-scaled rookie deal, waiting one more season for an answer to become obvious. But what would they do, if Foles is making franchise-tag money? Have an open competition? Or simply make Foles the highest paid backup quarterback the league has ever seen?

From the standpoint of both sending an unequivocal message to the locker room and charting a clear course for the short- and long-term future, the Eagles should choose one or the other. Apart from asking the question of which guy they’d rather see on the opposing sideline, they need to have a candid and honest discussion about which guy makes them better.

Given that the Eagles were blown off the Superdome playing surface eight weeks ago with Wentz at quarterback and pushed the Saints to the limit with Foles under center, it’s a real debate that Pederson, executive V.P. of football operations Howie Roseman, and owner Jeffrey Lurie must have, asking tough questions about what’s truly in the best interests of the team.

Some will call it a good problem to have. But the only good problem is no problem, because the likely outcome for the Eagles is that one will stay, and one will go. Whoever they choose, they’ll have to worry in 2019 and beyond that they picked the wrong guy. (PFT)

 

I know the Birds have played better with Foles...but I'd still be SHOCKED if they kept him and dealt Wentz.

 

Philip Rivers misses another chance for ring to go with Hall numbers...

Another year. Another year without a championship for Philip Rivers.

The Chargers quarterback turned 37 last month and is running out of time to get a ring.

“I only think I appreciated [how hard it is to win in the postseason] as the more years I’ve been in it, that’s how hard it is to get back to right where we were yesterday,” Rivers said Monday, via Ricky Henne of the team website. “It’s not just like, ‘Alright, we’ll get them next year.’ It’s like, ‘That was a heck of a task to get to where we were, winning 13 games.’ I think as long as we acknowledge that and don’t just think that it’s going to happen because I remember early in my career [in] 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, we were in. You have a shot; you have a shot; you have a shot; you have a shot; and then when that dries up a little bit, you realize how hard it was to do. It didn’t just happen.”

The Class of 2004 — Rivers, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger — could be remembered like the Class of 1983 — John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. Maybe. Possibly. One day. Eventually.

The Chargers drafted Manning first overall in 2004 and then traded him to the Giants for Rivers, whom the Giants selected fourth overall. The Steelers made Roethlisberger the 11th overall choice that year.

Roethlisberger ranks sixth in career passing yards (56,194), Manning seventh (55,981) and Rivers eighth (54,656). Rivers ranks sixth in career touchdowns (374), Roethlisberger seventh (363) and Manning eighth (360).

Rivers also has a higher career completion percentage (64.5), fewer interceptions (178) and a higher passer rating (95.6) than Manning or Roethlisberger. He has more regular-season victories (118) than Manning (116).

But Roethlisberger and Manning both have two Super Bowl rings. Rivers has made one AFC Championship Game, a 21-12 loss to the Patriots in 2007.

So what are Rivers’ Hall of Fame chances if he never wins a Super Bowl?

Of the 26 quarterbacks in Canton, 20 won at least one title. Only Y.A. Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, Warren Moon, Marino, Kelly and Dan Fouts got into the Hall without a championship.

But Fouts earned three All-Pro nods. Tarkenton played in three Super Bowls and won an MVP award. Kelly started four Super Bowls. Marino won an MVP award and retired holding most of the league’s major passing records. Tittle won an MVP and four times was All-Pro.

Rivers, playing in the same era as some of the greatest passers in history, has never made All-Pro, though he does have eight Pro Bowls.

His resume most closely resembles that of Moon. In 1990, Moon was offensive player of the year and earned All-Pro honors, but he never won another All-Pro, was a Pro Bowler nine times and never played in a conference championship game or a Super Bowl.

Rivers’ numbers are better than Moon’s.

Rivers could get into Canton, even without a ring, but a Super Bowl obviously would help Rivers’ candidacy and greatly improve his chances of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The Chargers will enter the 2019 season as a contender, but how many more chances is Rivers going to get? His time is now. (PFT)

 

Eagles: Carson Wentz is our QB, but we’d love to have everyone back...

Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson met with reporters in Philadelphia on Tuesday and the future of the team’s quarterback position remained a major topic of conversation.

Roseman said that the team has “a lot of confidence” in Wentz and his ability to be the team’s long-term starter despite the injuries that have cost him time over the last two years. As a result, Pederson said that Wentz is the quarterback “going forward” but both men made it clear that they aren’t shutting the door on having Nick Foles back.

“We would love to keep Nick Foles. You talk about a guy we’ve drafted here and grown incredibly close with. Certainly, as we go into the substance of those discussions, no question … we’d love to keep him,” Roseman said, via WIP

Keeping Foles would likely take a franchise tag as the Super Bowl LII MVP can buy out the final year of his contract when and if the Eagles pick up their 2019 option. That’s a pricey road to go down even if Foles has proven his value to the team over the last couple of years, so there’s a lot that still has to play out in Philadelphia. (PFT)
_____________
______________________

Eagles want their cake and eat it too. This could come back to haunt them. Its a tough situation, but that's why these execs make the big bucks, they have tough decisions to make.

 

Believe the Eagles are in the WORST shape (currently) in the league regarding the salary cap.

 

Wentz is still on rookie contract. Foles is quite a bit higher paid. The Eagles only have two more rookie contract seasons left. They won’t be able to field a winning team If they don’t get rid of one of them.

 

If the article Will posted is accurate - in that it will likely take a franchise tag to keep Foles - they've got some creative accounting ahead of them. I think I saw the Eagles were $13 million OVER the projected 2019 cap (only one of two teams currently over), and franchising St. Nick would run about $25 mil or so.

 

The problem is that they want something for him. Greed, just release him and save your team.

 

I think they are $13M over counting the Foles option. Peters, who is great but always hurt and aging is $8M. Chris Long is likely retiring and would save $5.3M.

At that point the Eagles could be about $20M under the cap before considering Foles.

They aren't in cap hell like certain teams with less space. And yes I understand they need to extend certain players.

 

Unless my math is off, losing Peters and Long saves about $13+ mil ... which might bring you back to even, not $20 mil under.

"Cap hell" - maybe not. But as of right now, there isn't a team in worse shape than Philly cap-wise.

 

If you're assuming the Birds just let Foles opt out, then yeah - that would bring you a bit under, Peters and Long leaving get you to about $15 mil under.