MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

After their first year together ended perfectly, Matthew Stafford and the Rams have agreed to stay together for many more years.

The Rams announced today that Stafford’s contract has been extended. According to multiple reports, it’s a four-year, $160 million extension that includes $135 million guaranteed. Stafford is now under contract through the 2026 season.


The 34-year-old Stafford, who spent his first 12 NFL seasons with the Lions, is now poised to play out the rest of his career with the Rams.

The full structure of the contract hasn’t been revealed, but it surely lowers Stafford’s $23 million cap hit and instead pushes cap charges to future years. The Rams currently don’t have much cap space, but they have worked hard this offseason to keep the team competitive, and this move should help.

In an offseason in which several well-known quarterbacks have changed teams, Stafford and the Rams are staying in business together.

PFT

 

There “could” be a suspension in play in 2022

Well, there “could” be a suspension in play in 2023 instead.

Do you think they are planning for 2023 instead of 2022? I don’t.

roster improvement is the basis of my post. I can say for an absolute certainty, they are not expecting to have an improved roster by keeping a $18M backup Baker Mayfield at QB.

I’m not sure what your definition of “resounding statement” is, but mine is defined as the following:

Trade for Amari Cooper to bring in a proven #1 receiver rather than rely on a draft pick.

Trade for a 3 time Pro Bowl and 1 time league yardage leading QB despite the repercussions that his personal issues may cause at some point in time, all the while alienating your 5th year #1 overall draft pick QB.

Restructure and move out cap heavy players to give the team as much cap space as possible to add higher level players to positions of need.

This could have been done throughout the year, or even after the season, one step at a time, with the mind set that the QB will most likely miss games this season due to suspension.. they are not hesitating in any way early in this off season. They are building to win in 2022.

 

It's possible, but the league, the Browns and Watson are going to seek a resolution sooner rather than later for PR purposes.

I think they are planning for 2022 through 2032. This isn't some 'go for broke' deal, IMO.

Of course not, but rushing into a deal at a reduced price makes zero sense for the Browns. They should look to optimize the return regardless of what Baker wants was the basis of my post.

Yes, and they are also looking beyond 2022, which is obvious because this roster is not ready to roll the AFC North, IMO.

This could easily travel down the path of a semantics argument, so I will clarify part of my thought process on it -

Moving Baker in a market that currently looks like it is going to be depressed (reporting out today suggests that Indy was never interested to begin with) does nothing to maximize the value of return on a former #1 overall pick. The closer we get to the draft, the more teams that don't have an answer at passer feel the squeeze, the better the odds for the Browns to get something out of Baker that is boosted. Rushing to deal Mayfield is not the smart move because the Browns are now in the mix for an extended period. The smart move is to work the phones and play it patiently while a team like Carolina or Seattle is forced to come to terms with either making a deal with the Browns or going after one of the passers in this draft.

There's also potential for another team to pop up with an offer that helps Cleveland see a lift in value for Baker. All it takes is for one or two teams to believe they have a chance to get Mayfield for less. If they get active into the market for him then one of the more desperate teams will need to up their price into at least a fair market situation in order to get the deal done.

 

Taking a reduced rate gets us what? Probably a 5th and 7th round draft pick, unless the team he gets traded to is offering a 4 year contract, at which point that moves it to a 3rd rounder maybe. Keeping him, you might get the price tag up to a 2nd and conditional pick in the 2023 draft.

None of which gives you what a $12-15M per year proven edge rusher gives you now.

If it meant getting a signed contract, would you give up a 3rd round draft pick for Jadeveon Clowney or Za’Darius Smith? That’s the difference in trading him now rather than later, imho. Whatever they get for Mayfield, the odds are low that they will add too tier talent to the roster. Depth? Sure, that is what you typically get in the 3rd round on. Anyone can hit on someone that is missed, but it is almost as common to do so in the 5th round as it is the 3rd round.

Right now, freeing up his salary is more valuable than holding out for possibly a higher draft pick compensation package.

 

Which is a fair assessment that I do not disagree with based on where I believe your opinion separates from mine.

The difference between our opinions appears to be centered more on the idea of which direction you would rather go with building the Browns roster up. It looks like it starts from contrary ideas on the element of urgency for 2022.

Looking at the EDGE rushers that are remaining, if you believe that the Browns are that position/player away from making a deep playoff run, then I easily can understand why your scale would tip in that direction.

I see the current situation for Cleveland a bit differently, but I respect your position on it.

 

I was luke warm, at best, when both Deshawn Watson and Baker Mayfield entered their respective NFL drafts. Oddly enough, it was for the same reason . . .their competition. Clemson's Watson played in arguably the weakest Power 5 conference in the country while Oklahoma's Mayfield played in the Big 12 - a conference that still hasn't discovered defense. Watson obviously proved me wrong. Mayfield, not so much. Watson's skill set and demeanor translated very well to the NFL. Meanwhile, Mayfield's skill set became inconsistent against NFL caliber defenses.

Fast forward to today. Mayfield's inconsistency is overshadowed by his fiery, rah-rah, chip on his shoulder personality while Watson's skill set is overshadowed by his legal problems. There is no question that Watson is, by far, a superior NFL quarterback. So, it all boils down to how legitimate are his legal issues.

I cannot emphasize this enough . . . this is MY opinion. Watson's legal problems have all the earmarks of a cash-grab by multiple women pulled together by an ambulance chasing team of lawyers fueled by the MeToo movement.

• They have already failed at their first goal of having criminal charges filed against Watson as a Houston Grand Jury denied an indictment. Even a rookie Prosecuting Attorney could indict a ham sandwich as he's the only lawyer in the courtroom with no rebuttals by a defense attorney allowed. Yet, even by presenting their best case by one of the accusers, the PA failed to get an indictment.
• To my knowledge, the civil evidence against Watson is basically "She said, He said". It would be interesting to know how many (if any) of his accusers date back to his time at Clemson. Typically, a serial sex offender (which they're painting him to be) doesn't just move to Houston and decide to be a sex offender.

Then there's that pesky NFL suspension. I have to assume that, when he checked into the likely decision from the NFL, Jimmy Haslam decided to green light the trade for Watson.

So, @Tim , you're exactly spot on regarding the split in Browns fans. I'm in the camp that hopes the franchise makes the moves to improve. IF Watson's legal problems are resolved in his favor, then there's no doubt the franchise is improved. If not, then the Mayfield fans can sit back, gloat and then back whichever team he's playing for.

 

If im Goodell im waiting to suspend him in 2023 because they are trying to pull a fast one and save watson money.

Im just super glad the Steelers went and grabbed Mitch and passed on Watson. Yeah maybe it turns out he did absolutley nothing but I doubt that is true.

 

Will Matt Ryan be traded today?



The Falcons were willing to throw long-time starter Matt Ryan overboard for Deshaun Watson. Ryan agreed to delay a roster bonus to accommodate what would have been both a trade for Watson and a trade of Ryan.

Although they didn’t land Watson, could they still trade Ryan?


It’s possible that Ryan, in exchange for delaying the due date of his $7.5 million payment by four days, asked to be traded no matter the outcome of the Watson sweepstakes. If that’s going to happen, it needs to happen by 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday.

After that, the roster bonus vests. The cap hit for trading Ryan would spike from $40.525 million to $48.025 million.

If he isn’t traded, Ryan may want a financial apology. A restructuring that would have dropped his all-time-record $48.66 million cap number by $12 million, reported as a done deal, was never done. If the restructuring ends up back on the table, Ryan may now want something a little more for his trouble, especially as the market continues to spike in the years after he signed a deal with a new-money value of $30 million per year.

PFT

 

Per multiple reports, the Falcons have sent long-time quarterback Matt Ryan to the Colts for a third-round pick.


The Falcons will take a $40.525 million cap charge for trading Ryan. That’s less than the $48.66 million cap charge that would have applied to him, if he’d stayed.

 

Matt Ryan is out.

Marcus Mariota could be in.


According to NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, now that the Falcons have agreed to trade their longtime quarterback to the Colts, Atlanta is expected to pursue free-agent QB Marcus Mariota.

Should Mariota sign with the Falcons, that would reunite him with head coach Arthur Smith. Smith was with the Titans Mariota’s entire tenure with Tennessee, first as the tight ends coach and in 2019 as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Mariota has spent the last two seasons with the Raiders backing up Derek Carr. But Mariota has also dealt with several injuries. In 2020, he appeared in one game and completed 17-of-28 passes for 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He only attempted two passes in 2021, completing one of them for a 4-yard pass. But he also took 13 carries for 87 yards with a TD in the 2021 regular season.

The No. 2 overall pick of the 2015 draft, Mariota compiled a 29-32 record as a starter with the Titans. He was benched in favor of Ryan Tannehill midway through the 2019 season and Tennessee advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

Mariota’s best season was in 2016, when he completed 61 percent of his passes for 3,426 yards with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He rushed for 349 yards with two TDs that season.

PFT

 

Saints, Jameis Winston agree to two-year contract



Jameis Winston will remain in New Orleans.

Winston and the Saints have agreed to a two-year contract, according to NFL Network. The deal is reportedly worth $28 million, with $21 million of it guaranteed.


The Saints attempted to upgrade at quarterback this offseason, including by trying to trade for Deshaun Watson, but in the end they’ve decided to go back to Winston, who led them to a 5-2 start last season before suffering a torn ACL.

If Winston is healthy and ready to go, all expectations are that he’ll be the Week One starter in New Orleans. If it takes Winston longer than 10 months to be ready to go, backup quarterbacks Ian Book and Blake Bortles would likely compete to start until Winston is healthy.

PFT

 

Not a big fan of his. But, the Saints had to do something. Hill is not the answer. Now we've got two years to go shopping for the real thing. I know we went 5-2 before he got hurt. But I got spoiled with Brees. I'm not ready for real world realities yet.

 

Come to think of it... is Jimmy G the last QB standing? Does any team who needs a QB want him? Whats the deal?

 

He was always a tough trade. Didn't help SFs cause when Trubisky and Mariota signed their deals. If Seattle and Carolina have interest why not just wait until he's released? Might be approaching same territory for Baker but its worse for Cleveland because Mayfield's contract is guaranteed.

 

Jimmy G and Baker Mayfield...

Reports are, the Colts were not wanting to take any chances with Garoppolo due to his recent surgery and the unlikelihood he would be able to start the off season on time. This could also have played a factor in Mayfield as well.

As far as Jimmy, one of the two teams is out automatically since the 49ers will never trade him in division to Seattle. The only team left, it would seem, is the Panthers. The problem with Carolina is they invested in Sam Darnold and are currently on the hook for his 5th year option, which is the same as that of Mayfield. Darnold and Mayfield are both owed $18.858M in 2022, then both are free agents. Are they willing to invest over $37M in two failed top 3 overall QBs picked the 2018 draft?

The bigger question is whether either of these teams have a rookie in their sight with both having top 10 picks.

 

I'm not sure the 49ers are going to release Garoppolo. Who knows where they stand on Trey Lance.. What we do know is Garoppolo has put the 49ers in the position to compete to get to a Super Bowl 2 out of the past 3 years, making it just 3 years ago. Unless they see a marked improvement from Lance, they might decide to ride out his contract for one more push for a Super Bowl. If they make it and he is a big part of it, they always have the franchise tag since he hasn't been tagged in the past. This would give them the ability to still trade him, or keep him if Lance is developing. He is a slightly above average QB that doesn't lose you games.. In this league, that is even hard to come by.

 

Listening to NFL radio today the beat writers for the Colts and Panthers were both asked if their teams had any interest in Jimmy or Baker. Both replied each of their teams kicked the tires on Jimmy. Neither had interest in Baker. Browns in a tough spot now. Looks like maybe an Osweiler-like trade.

 

Maybe he would redo his deal to stick around but they aren't paying him 24M. They have some time. It's not guaranteed. But they won't let him practice or use the facilities.

 

$24M is cheap for a starting QB.. which is what he is until proven otherwise. Are you sold on the fact they are sold on Lance? What if he got there and can't even understand Shanahan's playbook? I don't think he is the type of person that will cut off his nose to spite his face. If Lance was ready, either a) the (2) 2nd round draft pick offer didn't actually exist or b) they value Jimmy G more than you are giving credit.