Fun to see my Saints get a lucky break on the road against Baltimore. We’re usually on the wrong side of freaky happenings, but this time, the kicker who’d never missed an extra point missed one that would have sent us to overtime. Glad to sneak out of town with a win.
Heard radio talking heads asking what QBs could the Jags trade for. This was *before *the game Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Browns entertained offers for Tyrod Taylor, not that I think they should, but they just traded Carlos Hyde to the Jags for what I consider to be not a great return (5th round pick).
Maybe it’s like a dealer giving the first hit for free then charging you after you’re hooked.
You can have Hyde for nothing but now you want Taylor, well we’ll take a 2nd rounder for him…
Amari Cooper traded to Cowboys for 2019 first round picks.
Given how players are valued compared to first round picks in the NFL, this seems like a significant overpay by the usual standards.
I would say, “The fire sale continues in Oakland,” but I don’t know if I can really characterize it that way when they are getting back 1st rounders. They now have 5 first-round picks in the next two drafts, one of which is likely their own top-5 pick after this season. Trading away Mack might have been a mistake, but Gruden is certainly building a nice collection of draft picks to rebuild what he’s lost.
Well said. They just need to hope Derek Carr survives until the rest of the team is ready to be good with him, and that its not a repeat of his older brother’s career.
Question: will having 5 first round picks in two years wreak havoc on their salary cap management? Or are rookie contracts now structured such that it wont be a total mess?
I don’t have much faith in Gruden, honestly. I think he is still living in a different Era, and I don’t think players will respond to that at all anymore. But I do think that if you think you got the right head coach, it is best to give him a good long term, and a lot of latitude to build his team as far ad personell. Watching the Lions for decades with coach after coach knowing that he would only have 3-4 years at most to build and making stupid moves to get a couple more wins this year or next, to save his job short term rather than really aiming for true success, is a major factor in their sustained crapitude.
Rookie contracts are relatively cap-friendly these days (and I imagine that the Raiders will have a lot of cap room next year, anyway). But, if the Raiders manage to get guys who actually perform well with those picks, they might well not be able to afford to keep all of them when it comes time for their second contracts. (However, that’s a big “if,” and years down the road, at this point.)
It’s a heck of a risk to trade known good players for potential good players. First round draft busts seem like a cliche at this point. Hopefully they can recognize talent and draft people who will fit their scheme. It doesn’t do much good, say, to draft a superstar RB who needs holes to run through but a lousy OL and no fullback.
But I have to say, if you feel you have to rebuild a team you go all in and don’t do it halfway. He seems to be serious about this.
Definitely agreed, and over the past 15 years or so, the Raiders, in particular, have had a number of serious whiffs with high first-round picks, including JaMarcus Russell, Robert Gallery, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Rolando McClain, and Darren McFadden. OTOH, they also drafted two Pro Bowlers in the first round, whom they’ve traded in the past 2 months. 
This is the best thing Gruden has done for the Raiders. He’s trying to make the team younger. They were the oldest roster in the league, IIRC.
The Lions suddenly look legit again with their rookie RB. The Chiefs are clearly the best offense in the NFL after they utterly dismantled my Bengals. Ah, my Bengals…breaking my heart on primetime since…time immemorial?
Cowboys, despite their loss, look to be better with Cooper.
The Saints seem to keep getting late game FG gifts…
Rams are the best team in football. With their remaining schedule, on paper, they shouldn’t lose a game all season.
Yes to the first part. They are the juggernaut this year. But they have to play the Seahawks again and each team is always each other’s Kryptonite. Even in the darkest days of the Jeff Fisher era when the Rams just stank and the Seahawks were one of (if not the best) team in the NFL they were competitive against them. And now even though the Hawks have lost a step (and most of their stars) they still have the Rams’ number. It’s like it doesn’t matter how good each team is, when they play each other anything goes.
Those were all Al Davis moves, weren’t they? At least they’re rid of that problem (may he rest in peace).
Yeah, kinda like Bengals and Browns, or Steelers and Ravens. Or the Patriots playing the Fins in Miami.
There was a run there in the late eightes and into the 90’s where it seemed that Davis was utterly enamored with Willie Gault type players.
They were; he died in 2011 (the Raiders had no first-rounders in 2011 nor 2012).
He just had a bad game. He missed a ton of open WRs this week. Prior to this week his completion % was in the high 60s, he was below 50% for most of this game. It certainly wasn’t the coverage, it was windy so it could have been the weather combined with a scheme that favored down field throws. The frustrating part was how many times he underthrew guys that were 2 steps behind the DB. If he’d have been sharp, we’d have scored 50+ cause that Pats D is fucking terrible.
I disagree that he took off too soon when he ran. He was wildly effective and the pass protection was usually pretty good, he ran because there were opportunities not because he was flushed. I think every single rush, with one exception, was for a score or a first down. That exception was a 2nd & 13 for 11 yards, followed by another run for the first down.
The risky throws in the red zone right now are the alarming trend.
And to pile on, Marshawn Lynch is now on the IR (eligible to return week 16). What a brutal start to Gruden’s 10 year contact, sheesh. If they whiff on a couple of those first rounders the next 5-10 years could turn out to be disastrous.
It’s a shame because Marshawn looked to still have the “beast mode” in him. That offensive line is so miserable though. Lynch is good enough to make up for a bad o-line (he did in Seattle after all) but even he has his limits. On a different team he could have had a great year.
I’ve heard criticism about Carr who was once considered one of the next great QBs but honestly I don’t think it’s his fault. He has no protection and not much to throw to (especially now).
Seems to be a family trait.
For the first few years of Derek’s career, a common refrain was, “the Raiders aren’t going to let what happened to David, happen to Derek.” Whoops. 