Russell Wilson and the NFL's Top Paid Players

Now that Russell Wilson has signed a new contract with the Seahawks - Albert Breer tweeted out a list of the last 8 highest paid players in the NFL (including Wilson). All 8 players were QB's which was not surprising. Also not surprising  is the lack of winning their teams have done after the contract was signed.

Andrew Luck signed in June of 2016 for an average of $24.6 million per year. He then missed all of 2017 and last year "led" the Colts to a 10-6 record.

Derek Carr signed in June of 2017 for an average of $25 million per year. Since then he's "led" the Raiders to a 10-21 record.

Matthew Stafford signed in September of 2017 for $27.5 million per year. Since then he's "led" the Lions to a 15-17 record.

Jimmy Garoppolo signed in February of 2018 for $27.5 million per year. Since then he's "led" the 49ers to a 1-2 record before getting a season ending injury.

Kirk Cousins signed in March of 2018 for $28 million per year. Last year he "led" his team to a 8-7-1 record on a team some had pegged to go to the Super Bowl. Instead the Vikings missed the playoffs.

Matt Ryan signed in May of 2018 for $30 per year.  Last year he "led" his team to a 7-9 record and the Falcons too missed the playoffs.

Aaron Rodgers signed in August of 2018 for $33.5 million per year. Last year he "led" his team to a 6-9-1 record and the Packers also missed the playoffs.

Now Russell Wilson has signed a contract that will pay him $35 million per year. The previous 7 QB's that held the title (however briefly) as the highest payed player in the NFL have gone a combined 57-71-2 a less than 45% winning percentage. Only Andrew Luck was able to even lead his team to the playoffs after signing the mega-deal. Vegas has Seattle's over/under at 8.5 wins next season which doesn't exactly scream playoffs.

Meanwhile Tom Brady never ends up on one of these highest paid lists yet the Patriots have been to three straight Super Bowls and Vegas has New England's over/under at 11.5 wins next season.

Just saying.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Suddenly NFL people are wondering if Nick Mullens is going to do to Jimmy G what Tom Brady did to Drew Bledsoe... Any time I see Newt Gingrich - I picture him as Santa's gay half-brother to see if it makes him more likable... 10 Commandments of Irish Pub Etiquette... Quote of the Day: "I am an old man and have known many troubles, but most of them never happened." - Mark Twain... Heh Heh... Rental Soap would be a good name for a band (or a really bad business start-up idea)... When a bad guy with a gun meets a good guy in a cowboy hat...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- A fittingly beautiful tribute

- Why does the Left hate Tolkien?

- 5 space companies zeroing in on first launch of tourists into orbit and beyond.

- The inside story on San Francisco's $137.5 million Jimmy Garoppolo gamble

- Where do we find such men?

- This looks delicious

-  Heh Heh

NFL Thoughts and Observations

With the NFL playoffs starting today - here are some of the NFL thoughts and observations that have been swimming around in my head.

First let's address the ESPN story about friction between Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I think "11 out of 12 Patriots fans think ESPN can eat a bag of dicks" would be a good starting point. An article using unnamed sources exclusively is refuted by a joint statement from Kraft, Belichick and Brady. The report is refuted by the agent for both Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo plus also from Jimmy G directly. Again - 11 out of 12 Patriots fans feel ESPN can eat a bag of dicks. Sadly that feeling is also now being extended to the once great Boston Globe too as many people think John Henry uses the Globe sports to take gratuitous swipes at the other pro franchises in Boston in an effort to make the Red Sox somehow look better in comparison.

The only 2 ESPN employees that the Patriots themselves and  Pats fans feel comfortable with are Mike Reiss and Tedy Bruschi. Reiss because of his hard work and solid reporting and Bruschi because he's a Pat for life. Reports from ESPN by anyone other than Reiss and Bruschi are immediately suspect. This goes back to the Tom Jackson quote about how Belichick had lost the Pats locker-room and that the players hated their coach. New England went on to win their first Super Bowl that season. So let me quote the great Bill Belichick "fuck you!" Tom Jackson and the same in regards to everyone else at ESPN (except Bruschi and Reiss).

In any organization as successful as the Patriots there always exists the potential for disagreement over who should get the credit for success. But in New England it is clear that Kraft, Belichick and Brady are mostly responsible for the success and all three will be acknowledged for their efforts with enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. That's not to say that things are perfect but every other NFL franchise would gladly swap places. Every other NFL franchise.

Speaking of other NFL franchises - let me remind people that a Mike Tomlin coached Steelers team was once beat by Tim Tebow. In the playoffs!

Hey Andy Dalton that's great that Bills fans have been flooding your charity with donations since you beat the Ravens with a late dramatic TD pass. But that TD pass cost me $250 as I had Baltimore on the moneyline. How about using some of that cash to put things right with me? Oh and by the way - I can't look at you and your dumb hairstyle without thinking about Mister Softie. And it should be said that Mister Softie has never won an NFL playoff game either. (Boy I'm really bitter - better have some more coffee.)

We've been over (and over) the fact that the Patriots really had no choice but to trade Jimmy Garoppolo and that Belichick did Jimmy G a solid in trading him to the 49ers. It should also be noted that since 2004 the Patriots have played Cleveland 5 times and the 49ers only once. Trading him to San Francisco also greatly lessens the chances of Jimmy G beating New England. There's value in that.

Things are pretty cold out there but just remember that the Atlanta Falcons led in the Super Bowl 28-3. Let the memory of what happened next warm your heart.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If you play The Christmas Shoes on the jukebox - I should be allowed to throw darts at you. No exceptions!... Heh heh... Juicy Throwup would be a good name for a band (or a product cross between Juicy Fruit gum and Redman tobacco)... If the Clinton Foundation was a publicly traded company - how do you think they would be doing? The opposite of BitCoin maybe?... Love Jimmy G! Also love how he yells "Let's Go!" at the end. The connection with Brady will be forever... Louis CK's Erotic Handshake would be a good name for a band (or his next comedy special)... Heh heh - love the looks on the guys on the benches...

Patriots 2018

After the New England Patriots' performances in the past two games many people are discussing if this is the end of the dynasty. And you know what - it just might be getting close but not yet.

Two weeks ago Tom Brady looked old and slow in the 27-20 loss to the Dolphins. He looked like a 40-year old QB. This past week he once again looked like the GOAT version of Tom Brady (due in large part to having the GOAT tight end Rob Gronkowski to throw to). However, these past two weeks did not occur in a vacuum. They occurred while the handsome Jimmy Garoppolo was setting the NFL world on fire. That got many in New England wondering if they cut bait too soon.

Well barring the Patriots winning another Super Bowl this season and Tom Brady riding off in the sunset in a storybook finish to the best career any QB ever had - Tom Brady will be back next season as the QB for New England. The Pats really had no other option but to trade Jimmy G (and they did him a solid by trading him to the 49ers).

And if the Pats do win the Super Bowl this year and Brady retires is there anyone who would begrudge him that? Seems like a good problem to have to me.

What could really derail New England next season though is the high turnover in NFL head coaches. There should be about 9 job openings and both Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia will be on the short list for just about all of those jobs. If the Patriots were to lose both their offense and defensive coordinators that could be a big problem. Is there anyone waiting in the wings to step up for those positions? We saw how badly that went when Dante Scarnecchia retired as offensive line coach for a year and the line just fell apart. Dave DeGuglielmo just didn't cut it in New England (though he seems to be doing fine in Miami).

Bill O'Brien would be in demand if Houston lets him go as HC. Would he be willing to take a step back and come home to New England as offensive coordinator? Doubtful but possible. A Romeo Crennel return if Matt Patricia takes a head coaching job? If O'Brien leaves Houston and Patricia leaves New England that has to be a considered a possibility.

In any case - it is not the QB that might derail the dynasty next season. It's the coaching staff fans should be worried about.

NFL Sunday - Week 13

Most people have mentioned how little reaction Bill Belichick had during the Patriots 5 TD's last week vs the Dolphins but I love how he gets excited by good work and small details. Belichick knows that if you take care of the little things that the big things will take care of themselves.

People talk about how the Browns can't find a QB but consider that Bill Belichick has more wins for Cleveland (34) than any of the Browns coaches who came after him. The closest is Romeo Crennel with 24. Maybe they should find a decent coach first?

So the NFL is going to give millions to "social justice" charities in hopes of buying off players who might protest the anthem. Some players complain that these funds will come from monies already going to support the military and breast cancer awareness. The NFL says "No these will be new monies for these social justice programs." This is the same NFL that was supposed to provide millions in funding towards concussion studies but then backed out when they learned it was to be actual studies and not NFL approved conclusions already drawn studies. The NFL has zero credibility and is just making matters worse.

Meanwhile the Giants have "benched" Eli Manning. A move so poorly thought out and executed that all of New York is in an uproar. That must really please the NFL offices. The TV ratings are already in free-fall and now the Giants give their fans a reason to boycott the rest of the season. Fans in the biggest TV market in America actively avoiding NFL product. But sure give Roger Goodell a fat new contract. That will fix everything.

My guess is Eli Manning may have played his last game. He's made millions upon millions (his last contract payed him $35 million in guaranteed money) and he already has one more Super Bowl ring than his brother Peyton. What's left for him to prove? Why subject his 36-year old body to more pounding?

Rob Gronkowski is quietly having a very good season.

Today's pick is a three-team parlay involving the three QB's who started the season as the Patriots depth chart but all all three starting NFL games today; Tom Brady Patriots (Money Line), Jimmy Garopollo 49ers (+3 points) and Jacoby Brissett Colts (+9.5 points) - risk $100 to win $328.

Good luck.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Patriots actually got more in return for Jimmy Garappolo (a 2nd Rd pick plus Brian Hoyer) than they got for trading Jamie Collins a year earlier (3rd Rd pick)... So Rand Paul was assaulted by a neighbor while Paul was mowing his lawn. Not excusing the attack but I do have to wonder just how early was Paul mowing his lawn? And who mows their lawn in November?... Inadvertently giving birth to the show Rick and Morty... "If the able and good withdraw themselves from Society [Government], the venal and ignorant will succeed." John Tyler 1783... Heh heh... Hillary Clinton's campaign manager's name was Robby Mook. She had a mook run her campaign and people were surprised she lost?... The Violent Femmes song Gone Daddy Gone has the best rock xylophone in history... Best random Halloween costume - guy wearing Red Sox jersey holding handful of losing scratch tickets - dressed as a Masshole... Can a welcome mat be viewed as an invitation to enter an unoccupied home?... Henry Miller's 11 Commandments of Writing... Just a reminder - the Red Sox magic number is now 163...

Jimmy Garoppolo

So there was a nuclear accident in North Korea yesterday reportedly killing 200 people but all the news in New England will be about the trade of the Patriots back-up QB - Jimmy Garoppolo. We have have priorities in Boston.

The trade was Garoppolo to the 49ers for a 2018 2nd round draft pick and Brian Hoyer. Make no mistake Hoyer was absolutely part of the deal. There's no way the Patriots don't add a back-up QB to the roster with the trade of Garoppolo and the 49ers don't release Hoyer without the trade. Both things are part of the same transaction.

All the news today will be bemoaning that the Patriots didn't get enough back in return for Garoppolo. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Boston sports talk radio today (and everyday for that matter).

The bottom line is this is Tom Brady's team and the Patriots will only go as far as Brady can take them. That's true for 2017, 2018 and 2019. Jimmy Garoppolo was never going to unseat Tom Brady as the starter so in reality he had at most 8 more regular season games holding a clipboard in Foxborough. They were never going to be able to sign him this offseason without using the Franchise tag which is something they didn't wish to do. So the Pats did him a favor and traded him to his hometown team the 49ers.

Did New England just trade Steve Young in order to keep Joe Montana? You'll probably hear that analogy today at some point but truth is situations are very different. Montana missed all of the 1991 season and played just 1 game in 1992 before being traded to Kansas City to finish up his career. Tom Brady, meanwhile, was the Super Bowl MVP last year and this season statistically he's the best QB in football.

I wish Jimmy Garoppolo all the best. I hope he's everything Pat fans envisioned. And I hope that the Pats make other trades today because they really could use a better pass rush.

Whither Jimmy Garoppolo

Here's what I think the Patriots will be doing with Jimmy Garoppolo.

First off they will not be trading him. The Patriots know what they have in Garoppolo and know he's both great insurance for 40-year old Tom Brady and also potentially their QB of the future. New England is the defending Super Bowl champions and their roster has actually gotten better this off-season. There is nothing a trade of Garoppolo would bring in return that would be more valuable to the team than what Garoppolo already represents.

The first two rounds of the NFL Draft are normally where teams find immediate starters. The Pats don't have any starting roles that really need to be filled. Maybe there's also no players that Bill Belichick thinks are worth trading into the first or second round to obtain either.

The third round on is where teams normally find roster depth. The Patriots are already a deep roster and they have picks from the third round on. No need to trade for "assets" here.

Now I've seen multiple sportswriters suggest that if New England wants to keep Jimmy Garoppolo after 2017 - then they "franchise tag" him after next season. I disagree with that view. Instead why wouldn't Bill Belichick offer Garoppolo a first round tender just like they did for Malcolm Butler?

If someone gives him an offer sheet then the team has the option to match it. Chances are great that the offer would be for multiple years at much less money than the franchise tag price. The teams who are most likely to make an offer are also likely to be the worst teams in the NFL with high first round draft positions. The Pats would then have the choice of matching the offer or getting a high first round draft pick which is more or what they could get if they traded Garoppolo today.

I could be all wet but this is what I see the Patriots doing with Jimmy Garoppolo.