# NFL - OFFSEASON of Mist and mellow fruitfulness **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 7, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586 "2020-02-07T15:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/62 "2020-03-19T05:34:42Z")
Just saw that the NFL has made [NFL Game Pass free](https://gamepass.nfl.com/packages?campaign=sp-nc-gd-af-pj&affiliateId=43737&affiliateCustomId=k7ybhofpif02ylrr00due&affiliateCustomUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfl.com%2Fnews%2Fstory%2F0ap3000001106855%2Farticle%2Fnfl-offers-fans-free-access-to-nfl-game-pass&clickId=3037721330) for until what appears to be May 31st as something for fans to do while sheltering in place. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/63 "2020-03-19T05:45:17Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Just saw that the NFL has made [NFL Game Pass free](https://gamepass.nfl.com/packages?campaign=sp-nc-gd-af-pj&affiliateId=43737&affiliateCustomId=k7ybhofpif02ylrr00due&affiliateCustomUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfl.com%2Fnews%2Fstory%2F0ap3000001106855%2Farticle%2Fnfl-offers-fans-free-access-to-nfl-game-pass&clickId=3037721330) for until what appears to be May 31st as something for fans to do while sheltering in place. I was just remembering that I’d paid for that since I was working Sundays last season until I got laid off. It’ll be interesting to revisit some games, I’m doing basically the same thing with every sport. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/64 "2020-03-19T11:38:12Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Prescott got franchise tagged. Do you think the Cowboys wont give Dak a long term contract? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/65 "2020-03-19T13:14:30Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Do you think the Cowboys wont give Dak a long term contract? Not at the price he was asking or he wouldn’t get the tag. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/66 "2020-03-19T14:31:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Not at the price he was asking or he wouldn’t get the tag. Of course not. Otherwise the contract would have been done already. But do you believe they wont sign him to a long term contract? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/67 "2020-03-19T22:57:45Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Do you think the Cowboys wont give Dak a long term contract? Not this year. Isn’t that how franchise tags work? (He asks, not quite sure of the answer…) ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/68 "2020-03-19T23:00:01Z")
Personally, I’m surprised that T.B. and P.R. have been signed by other teams. I would’ve thought that _all_ the examples from over the decades of older players _not_ fulfilling expectations late in their career after switching to a different team would’ve given teams like T.B. and Indy reason to **not** sign those guys, but. . .apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/69 "2020-03-19T23:10:42Z")
Off the top of my head: Peyton Manning won a Superbowl with the Broncos. Alex Smith did pretty well with the…Chiefs, I think? Vinny Testaverde got to the conference championship with the Jets. Joe Montana got to the conference championship with the Chiefs. I’m having trouble thinking of an example of an old QB going to a different team (as the starter) and NOT having success. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/70 "2020-03-19T23:31:14Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Off the top of my head: > > Peyton Manning won a Superbowl with the Broncos. > Alex Smith did pretty well with the…Chiefs, I think? > Vinny Testaverde got to the conference championship with the Jets. > Joe Montana got to the conference championship with the Chiefs. > > I’m having trouble thinking of an example of an old QB going to a different team (as the starter) and NOT having success. Also, Brett Favre got to the NFC Championship Game with the Vikings (and was one bad pass away from the Super Bowl). The archetypical examples of old QBs going to a different team in the twilight of their careers and being bad have long been Johnny Unitas (1973 Chargers) and Joe Namath (1977 Rams). But, Unitas had not been particularly effective in his final two years in Baltimore, and was only a part-time starter in those seasons, and Namath, too, had gone through several poor years with the Jets before going to Los Angeles. Also, note that both of those examples are now over 40 years old. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/71 "2020-03-19T23:59:44Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not this year. Isn’t that how franchise tags work? (He asks, not quite sure of the answer…) Once a player is tagged by a team, [they have until July 15](https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/franchise-tag-nfl-meaning-deadline-2020-values-rules/1nn0kl8x7hg5210kevqk2oim4w) to sign a long-term deal. If they don’t, they get the 1-year contract at the price specified by the tag. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/72 "2020-03-20T00:40:01Z")
I’m a Packers season ticket holder; every year, I get an email from them in late February, reminding me that my ticket payment is due by the end of March. I got that email a few weeks ago, of course. Yesterday, however, I got another email from the Packers, indicating that they were pushing the payment deadline out to June 1st; in the email, they specifically mentioned the financial pressures that the COVID-19 pandemic is placing on people as the reason for the extension. I admit I’ve become ambivalent about football for a lot of reasons over the past few years, but dang, I do appreciate how the Packers operate. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/73 "2020-03-20T02:39:47Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Off the top of my head: > > Peyton Manning won a Superbowl with the Broncos. > Alex Smith did pretty well with the…Chiefs, I think? > Vinny Testaverde got to the conference championship with the Jets. > Joe Montana got to the conference championship with the Chiefs. > > I’m having trouble thinking of an example of an old QB going to a different team (as the starter) and NOT having success. It probably depends on what you call “old”. There’s a million examples of QBs not getting brought back by the team they had success with and having a couple mediocre to miserable years at their final stop. Matt Hesselbeck in Tennessee. Warren Moon in Seattle. Steve McNair in Baltimore. Dave Krieg in Seattle and Chicago. Randall Cunningham in Dallas and Baltimore. Bernie Kosar in Miami. Boomer Esiason in New York. Jim Harbaugh in San Diego. Ken Stabler in New Orleans. Mark Brunell in Washington. Drew Bledsoe in Dallas. Certainly no one compares to Tom Brady and many of these examples had deteriorated to injury prone backups at the tail end of their careers, but the guys you picked I think can safely be called exceptions to the rule. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/74 "2020-03-20T03:05:33Z")
I qualified with “as a starter.” Cunningham appears to have just been a backup in Dallas and Baltimore. Bledsoe appears to have played one good year in Dallas, posting similar numbers as he always had, and then got benched the following year for Romo. That kind of sounds like a success to me, compared to examples like Namath. I didn’t bother checking any of your other examples, but there’s so many that I concede your point. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/75 "2020-03-20T03:41:01Z")
Every situation is different of course. But it’s a very select few QBs that get to retire with the team they succeeded with on their own terms. This invariably means one of two things for all previously winning QBs…were forced to retire or they went and got a late-career contract from another team. In most cases it’s the latter. Some came in to “compete” and never got past being a backup. Some managed to hold on for 1 more not-terrible season before the wheels came off. Some were simply cooked and are an albatross pretty much from day one. ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/76 "2020-03-20T17:29:19Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > Personally, I’m surprised that T.B. and P.R. have been signed by other teams. I would’ve thought that _all_ the examples from over the decades of older players _not_ fulfilling expectations late in their career after switching to a different team would’ve given teams like T.B. and Indy reason to **not** sign those guys, but. . .apparently not. The TB12 jersey sales alone will probably pay for Brady’s contract. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/77 "2020-03-20T18:47:47Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m a Packers season ticket holder; every year, I get an email from them in late February, reminding me that my ticket payment is due by the end of March. I got that email a few weeks ago, of course. > > Yesterday, however, I got another email from the Packers, indicating that they were pushing the payment deadline out to June 1st; in the email, they specifically mentioned the financial pressures that the COVID-19 pandemic is placing on people as the reason for the extension. > > I admit I’ve become ambivalent about football for a lot of reasons over the past few years, but dang, **I do appreciate how the Packers operate.** If I didn’t live in the state that almost came to be called “Columbia” once upon a time the Green Bay Packers would probably be my favorite N.F.L. team for the very reason you stated. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/78 "2020-03-20T22:52:54Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not this year. Isn’t that how franchise tags work? (He asks, not quite sure of the answer…) It could happen, but I expect if it was going to happen it would have by now. Using the tag is Dallas’s way to say that they’re not going to be able to come to terms with Dak, but still want him as their starter. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/79 "2020-03-20T23:06:34Z")
Since the board is broken and hasn’t let me edit my post for the past 10 minutes I have to add this as a new post… According to ESPN Dak likes having the tag, and prefers it over a long term deal. > **[NFL free-agency winners and losers: Why Dak, Kyler and Browns fans are happy](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28921248/2020-nfl-free-agency-winners-losers-why-dak-prescott-kyler-murray-browns-fans-happy)** > > Dak Prescott is set for a big future payday, the Browns attacked areas of need and the Patriots are left in a post-Brady world. Here are the highs and lows of free agency. To me that means it is guaranteed that he’s not going to sign a longer contract with Dallas, and is hoping for a big paycheck next year (with them or elsewhere). I hope he does well this year or that’ll backfire. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/80 "2020-03-21T00:17:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Since the board is broken and hasn’t let me edit my post for the past 10 minutes I have to add this as a new post… > > According to ESPN Dak likes having the tag, and prefers it over a long term deal. > > [2020 NFL free agency winners and losers - Why Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray and Browns fans are happy - ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28921248/2020-nfl-free-agency-winners-losers-why-dak-prescott-kyler-murray-browns-fans-happy) > To me that means it is guaranteed that he’s not going to sign a longer contract with Dallas, and is hoping for a big paycheck next year (with them or elsewhere). I hope he does well this year or that’ll backfire. In Dallas, he has a fantastic offensive line, a great running game, a true #1 receiver and a group of solid pass catchers, and one of the easiest schedules in the NFL in 2020. He’s all set up to have another good statistical year. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586/81 "2020-03-21T00:31:30Z")
Well, things could have gone better for Melvin Gordon. Last year, he rejected a deal that would have paid him 10 million a year and instead held out. He just now signed a 2 year contract paying him 8 million a year in Denver. Oops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-offseason-of-mist-and-mellow-fruitfulness/847586.md?page=5)