Today was the deadline for Russell Wilson to negotiate a new deal beyond this season or else he was going to play out his last year. In the 11th hour, Wilson and the Seahawks agreed on a four-year, $87.6 million contract with $30 million up automatically up front and $60 total is guaranteed. Wilson did not get his $25 million a year he originally wanted but did get just under the $22 million Aaron Rodgers got.
He is not worth as much if not more than Rodgers or one of the top 3-5 QBs in the NFL. However, he is still a good, top 8-10 QB in this league and in a quarterback driven league starved with a franchise QB, you have to pay and overpay for one of the top-10 Qbs in the league. Wilson might not be worth it in the eyes of many especially because of the "Legion of Boom" defense and Marshawn Lynch. Two things, one the Seahawks think he's worth it and two, who will you get that's better?
Can you get Rodgers, Brady, Luck, Brees, Manning, or Roethlisberger? I didn't think so and those guys are the ones that are an upgrade over Wilson. Guys like Rivers, Romo, Flacco, are maybe slightly better or about the same. Point is 20% of the league has guys better than Wilson while another 10-15% have as good of a QB as him. A little more than 2/3 of the teams in the NFL are worse off than Seattle having Russell Wilson. That's why ladies and gentlemen he's making as much money as he does.
He has won a Super Bowl and been to another and would have won two had Pete Carroll ran Lynch instead of throwing it, can you believe that? Regardless, Wilson has two Super Bowl appearances in his first three years in the league. I can't think of any QB that has done that in league history. Tom Brady has been to two Super Bowls in his first three seasons as a starter but it was his fourth season. Same with Kurt Warner in two of his first three years as a starting QB but he bounced around the league a year or two before.
Whether you think Wilson or Joe Flacco or Eli Manning are great or not, they've won Super Bowls and you get rewarded for being a Super Bowl winning quarterback even if your not the best or one of the top-5. Also, you don't want to be a team that is looking for a franchise Quarterback. As a Bills fan, I can tell you it sucks to be still searching for a QB as we have since Jim Kelly retired two decades ago.
I wish we can have a guy like Wilson or Flacco or Eli where many experts say he's not the best and we have to overpay, but we still win games and even a Super Bowl. Hell, I'd be excited if we had a Tony Romo. Seattle, trust me you don't want that it's good you paid the man even if it's a lot more than you want to pay. I am not that greedy. Yes I want Rodgers or Luck but I'd "settle" for a Wilson or Flacco or Romo or Rivers. I'd even go Matt Stafford or Cam Newton.
Wilson will always not be given a lot of credit by many because of the fact Lynch is a great runner and the fact their defense is the best in the league. Wilson doesn't throw it a ton so he doesn't put up eye popping fantasy stats like Rodgers, Brees, or Manning. Seattle has been 32nd, 31st, and 32nd in pass attempts in Wilson's three seasons, but first, second, and first in rushing attempts so obviously they run more than they throw thanks to the fact they have Lynch and that Wilson is a great runner too.
But if you look at some of Wilson's passing numbers for as few attempts as he gets, it's actually pretty amazing. He completes nearly 2/3 of his passes with an overall passer rating of 98.6. It gets even better as his total yards per pass attempt is 7.9 and has thrown 72 touchdowns to just 26 interceptions, almost a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio for his career. That is amazing considering he doesn't have many weapons as a wide receiver or tight end to throw to.
Even when Wilson struggles, like last year's NFC Championship Game win over Green Bay, he plays well in the 4th quarter and overtime as he saves his best for last. Even in the second half of the season, he's better as his QB Ratings in the months of November, December, and January/February (playoffs/Super Bowl) are 108.3, 100.7, and 97.8, respectively.
To show Wilson's value to the team, Pete Carroll was about to be fired three years ago when Wilson won the starting job as a rookie as he had back-to-back 7-9 seasons. Since then, the Seahawks are 36-12 (42-14 if you count playoffs including a Super Bowl win) with Wilson starting. For those that think the defense is the reason they win, you are somewhat right but don't forget, they were 14-18 the two seasons before Wilson got there with Matt Hasselbeck, Charlie Whitehurst, and Tavaris Jackson starting at QB with an elite defense.
Even Lynch had been there before Wilson, but his best seasons in terms or rushing yards, yards per carry, and touchdowns have all been there with Wilson starting as Wilson is a threat to throw or run. Teams just don't have to focus on stopping Lynch, which isn't easy by the way, and have to worry about Wilson.
The QB ultimately matters the most of any position on the field. We shall see however if Wilson can still be as successful with a defense that will be losing players in the future thanks to the salary cap and Lynch as well. We will wait and see and if Wilson struggles without an elite defense and Lynch, I'll stand corrected. Until then, I think highly of Wilson and value him a lot more than others.
In other news, New York Jets stud defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson has been busted for resisting arrest for an incident of a high speed road race.. It's not just high (no pun intended) speeding it's over 140 mph. 140 mph and it's not on a race track rather our beloved public streets. If that's not enough, all the passengers in the car allegedly were high and there was a loaded hand gun in the car.
If Dareus got one game for his drag racing along with marijuana charges, what's Richardson going to get for going close to three times the speed limit on the fastest roads in America between 55-65 mph, assuming he did they on a thruway or an unpopulated country back road. Don't forget, Richardson is already suspended for the first four games this season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He apparently was arrested for this incident on July 14, two weeks after the suspension was handed down. He never let the Jets know he was arrested.
How does he treat being suspended for drug use? By going Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rolled into one but they don't smoke chronic nor have loaded hand guns in their car. If Richardson wants a year vacation, he might end up getting it because I could see this being a year-long, maybe half a season long suspension. It doesn't look good for Richardson.
It goes to show you the offseason is too damn long as Richardson's racing incident (even Dareus' racing incident a year ago), Wilson's on-going contract talks, Brady's possible suspension, Ronald Darby's tweets, Aaron Kromer's hitting a kid (allegedly), heck even LeSean McCoy's famous or infamous party invite are demonstrations as to the league having way too long of an offseason and football can't start soon enough.
Showing posts with label Pete Carroll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pete Carroll. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
NFL Upholds Tom Brady Suspension; He's Still Suspended Four Games, but the First Four? We'll See
Tom Brady's appeal to Roger Goodell of the four-game suspension was denied as he currently is suspended for the first four games of the season, including the Bills game here on September 20. The reason for the NFL upholding the suspension is that they said Brady was not cooperative with the investigation and not turning his phone over and being very defiant throughout the investigation. They felt he's been tampering with the investigation thus the cover up is worse than the crime.
I see why Brady fights it because 1.) he doesn't want to miss games and try to clear his name which might never happen, and 2.) he knows he's Tom Brady and he can get away with anything. He's been getting away with stuff for 10-15 years. The Patriots cheat all the time and while they got punished for Spy Gate, they still got away with a not so harsh penalty which should have involved suspensions. They believe they are above the league and can do whatever they want and get away with it.
I don't know but I doubt the CBA has anything where the league can ask for your phone and you have to give it over. I bet it doesn't if it does Brady is screwed. If not, then the NFL can't prove even with the Wells Report and the looks of him cheating. But it appears they can't prove he did it if he went ahead and destroyed his phone instead of turning it over, therefore a settlement will probably be determined.
However, the CBA states Goodell has the ability to punish anyone who performs transgressions on the field and deflating footballs . Of course Goodell comes under intense scrutiny for punishing players due to last year's Ray Rice punching his then-fiance out and only giving him two games. Greg Hardy's 10 game suspension for domestic violence was reduced to four games, the same length as Brady. Yes obviously hitting a woman is a lot worse but as I wrote earlier (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/07/greg-hardys-suspension-reduced-to-4.html) Hardy is essentially suspended 19 games because he missed the last 15 games of last season as he was sat down by the Panthers.
The thing is not that they are looking for his phone as the Patriots did turn over all electronic data just not Brady's phone. That stupid laugh of Brady's the day after the story came out on Boston radio not only makes him guilty but makes me want to punch him or hit him with an object as hard as possible. Why does he destroy his phone instead of not turning it over? Why wouldn't he want to shove it in the league's face and the detractors that he didn't do it by showing his phone and clearing his name? Obviously he's guilty.
If nothing was done, how come the Patriots suspended the two employees who Brady made sure the balls were deflated to his liking? The Patriots accepted the $1 million fine and loss of draft picks (including next year's first round) without a fight as they basically want to end it, but they "did not cheat" according to Robert Kraft they just want it to end. Obviously, they knew they did something wrong or else they'd fight a lot harder. They believe they got off pretty light. However, Brady is making it so hard and ruining their credibility.
I think they want everyone to move on and want Brady to sit and take his suspension and prepare with either Jimmy Garoppolo or Matt Flynn in training camp and preseason in preparation for the first four games. They'd rather let the two QBs, preferably last year's 2nd round pick Garoppolo, prepare and get ready instead of having the suspension possibly moved to the middle or even end of the season where they might enter the games cold instead of full on preparation with a full training camp and preseason with the starters.
Why couldn't Brady be suspended longer? If I were the league, I'd suspend Brady for four games, but they are to start in the playoffs. If the Patriots play four playoff games, Brady is gone from every one of them. If they only play three playoff games, Brady is suspended for the opener the following season as the suspension carries over. If they play two, he misses the first two games the following season, and so on. He cheated in the playoffs and they won the Super Bowl as a result, he should not be allowed to play in the playoffs. I'd make an unusual penalty for Brady to show you don't do that to my game and my league.
The NFLPA is probably trying to push the suspension as long as possible by going to court so when it comes whenever it does, Brady can just retire as he will be 38 when the season starts. There's a chance Brady might play against the Bills Sept. 20 if it goes to court and it could allow him to play while the hearing is going on. I know Bills fans want to see Brady go against Rex Ryan and beat them in a game in which means more beating Brady then say Garoppolo.
My take on that is sure I'd like to beat Brady's smug and arrogant ass. But Brady beats the Bills as he is 23-3 with 58 touchdowns, just 19 interceptions, and a 101.2 QB Rating in 26 games all-time against the Bills. Last year after Brady struggled early in the year, I thought he was easy pickings for the Bills before he destroyed them in the second half of the game here and I made it a point never to assume we're just going to beat him even with an improved head coach.
Brady has struggled against Ryan more than any other head coach he's faced as he has a 61.8 QBR (73.4 against everyone else) and under 60% completion all-time against Ryan (65% all-time against everyone else) and the Patriots' yards and points per game drop significantly against Ryan's defense than everyone else. But he's still 9-4 all-time against Ryan because Ryan has had Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith at QB and Ryan still doesn't have a great QB here.
I want to beat Brady but I also want to win a game, especially in my division Brady or not, it still counts. Playing Garoppolo gives us the better chance to win than playing Brady and early in the season I want wins. This isn't anything like last year's season-finale where the game meant nothing for both teams, it means a lot for both. A win is a win and I'd rather win than face Brady with a good chance to lose. Besides, we'll play him later so we'll get a chance to see what Ryan and the Bills can do.
I have one more thing to say, why didn't Pete Carroll run Marshawn Lynch? This wouldn't be as bad if he ran the ball with Lynch and won the Super Bowl. I don't think I couldn't hate Carroll more than I do now and every time I see the Patriots, Brady, and especially if Brady gets off with less games or none, I'll always think back to the time Carroll decided to throw the football instead of run Lynch.
I see why Brady fights it because 1.) he doesn't want to miss games and try to clear his name which might never happen, and 2.) he knows he's Tom Brady and he can get away with anything. He's been getting away with stuff for 10-15 years. The Patriots cheat all the time and while they got punished for Spy Gate, they still got away with a not so harsh penalty which should have involved suspensions. They believe they are above the league and can do whatever they want and get away with it.
I don't know but I doubt the CBA has anything where the league can ask for your phone and you have to give it over. I bet it doesn't if it does Brady is screwed. If not, then the NFL can't prove even with the Wells Report and the looks of him cheating. But it appears they can't prove he did it if he went ahead and destroyed his phone instead of turning it over, therefore a settlement will probably be determined.
However, the CBA states Goodell has the ability to punish anyone who performs transgressions on the field and deflating footballs . Of course Goodell comes under intense scrutiny for punishing players due to last year's Ray Rice punching his then-fiance out and only giving him two games. Greg Hardy's 10 game suspension for domestic violence was reduced to four games, the same length as Brady. Yes obviously hitting a woman is a lot worse but as I wrote earlier (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/07/greg-hardys-suspension-reduced-to-4.html) Hardy is essentially suspended 19 games because he missed the last 15 games of last season as he was sat down by the Panthers.
The thing is not that they are looking for his phone as the Patriots did turn over all electronic data just not Brady's phone. That stupid laugh of Brady's the day after the story came out on Boston radio not only makes him guilty but makes me want to punch him or hit him with an object as hard as possible. Why does he destroy his phone instead of not turning it over? Why wouldn't he want to shove it in the league's face and the detractors that he didn't do it by showing his phone and clearing his name? Obviously he's guilty.
If nothing was done, how come the Patriots suspended the two employees who Brady made sure the balls were deflated to his liking? The Patriots accepted the $1 million fine and loss of draft picks (including next year's first round) without a fight as they basically want to end it, but they "did not cheat" according to Robert Kraft they just want it to end. Obviously, they knew they did something wrong or else they'd fight a lot harder. They believe they got off pretty light. However, Brady is making it so hard and ruining their credibility.
I think they want everyone to move on and want Brady to sit and take his suspension and prepare with either Jimmy Garoppolo or Matt Flynn in training camp and preseason in preparation for the first four games. They'd rather let the two QBs, preferably last year's 2nd round pick Garoppolo, prepare and get ready instead of having the suspension possibly moved to the middle or even end of the season where they might enter the games cold instead of full on preparation with a full training camp and preseason with the starters.
Why couldn't Brady be suspended longer? If I were the league, I'd suspend Brady for four games, but they are to start in the playoffs. If the Patriots play four playoff games, Brady is gone from every one of them. If they only play three playoff games, Brady is suspended for the opener the following season as the suspension carries over. If they play two, he misses the first two games the following season, and so on. He cheated in the playoffs and they won the Super Bowl as a result, he should not be allowed to play in the playoffs. I'd make an unusual penalty for Brady to show you don't do that to my game and my league.
The NFLPA is probably trying to push the suspension as long as possible by going to court so when it comes whenever it does, Brady can just retire as he will be 38 when the season starts. There's a chance Brady might play against the Bills Sept. 20 if it goes to court and it could allow him to play while the hearing is going on. I know Bills fans want to see Brady go against Rex Ryan and beat them in a game in which means more beating Brady then say Garoppolo.
My take on that is sure I'd like to beat Brady's smug and arrogant ass. But Brady beats the Bills as he is 23-3 with 58 touchdowns, just 19 interceptions, and a 101.2 QB Rating in 26 games all-time against the Bills. Last year after Brady struggled early in the year, I thought he was easy pickings for the Bills before he destroyed them in the second half of the game here and I made it a point never to assume we're just going to beat him even with an improved head coach.
Brady has struggled against Ryan more than any other head coach he's faced as he has a 61.8 QBR (73.4 against everyone else) and under 60% completion all-time against Ryan (65% all-time against everyone else) and the Patriots' yards and points per game drop significantly against Ryan's defense than everyone else. But he's still 9-4 all-time against Ryan because Ryan has had Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith at QB and Ryan still doesn't have a great QB here.
I want to beat Brady but I also want to win a game, especially in my division Brady or not, it still counts. Playing Garoppolo gives us the better chance to win than playing Brady and early in the season I want wins. This isn't anything like last year's season-finale where the game meant nothing for both teams, it means a lot for both. A win is a win and I'd rather win than face Brady with a good chance to lose. Besides, we'll play him later so we'll get a chance to see what Ryan and the Bills can do.
I have one more thing to say, why didn't Pete Carroll run Marshawn Lynch? This wouldn't be as bad if he ran the ball with Lynch and won the Super Bowl. I don't think I couldn't hate Carroll more than I do now and every time I see the Patriots, Brady, and especially if Brady gets off with less games or none, I'll always think back to the time Carroll decided to throw the football instead of run Lynch.
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