2020 NFL Season Thread

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Wentz won’t be cut this year, he’s like a 64 million dollar cap hit.

That's if it's a straight cut at the start of the new league year. If they designate him a post-June 1st cut, he counts as $34M against the cap, which is the same as his cap hit would be for staying on the team.

I think the Eagles are going to be pretty motivated sellers with him. Trading him doesn't really help they're 2021 cap hit, but if they can find someone to take him this year, they'll gain an extra $31M in cap money for 2022. If they wait until 2022 to move him, they only gain $6.8M in space.

I would bet there will be be some idiotic front office that thinks they can fix him and is willing to give up a 4th for the opportunity. If they end up being right, it looks like a stroke of genius. If they're wrong, they can just dump him at the end of the season.

[KelVarnsen]

The back injury in 2018 seems to have done him in. He hasn't been the same since.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

The back injury in 2018 seems to have done him in. He hasn't been the same since.

The rumours I read seemed to suggest the concussion he suffered in the playoffs was much more severe than originally reported and they think it might be playing a role.

[transplant99]

Cutting Wentz at the start of the league year would cost the team $59 million in dead money against the salary cap and would actually cost the Eagles $25 million in additional cap space, making this an inconceivably bad option.

For reference, overthecap.com is projecting next year’s salary cap to be around $176 million, which is an 11 percent decrease from this year because of revenue loss due to the global pandemic. There’s no way the Eagles, who are projected to be around $70 million over the projected cap already, can afford to flat-out cut Wentz, so we can get that out of the way now.

Also important: Wentz has a $10 million roster bonus due on the third day of the league year, which should be March 20 if the rest of this season goes off without a hitch. The Eagles would incur a $74 million dead-money charge against the cap if they cut him after that bonus.

Howie Roseman could designate the move as a pre-June 1 transaction, which would let him spread the cap charges out over two seasons, but even that is daunting. It would count for $34 million against the cap in 2021 and an additional $24 million against the cap in 2022. The biggest dead money charge against a team’s cap to date is Brandin Cooks’ $21 million against the Los Angeles Rams’ books this season. Wentz’s potential cap hit would be unprecedented and would cripple the Eagles’ roster building for several years.

Translation: It ain’t happening.

So if cutting him won’t work, what about a trade? While it will still hurt the team’s bottom line significantly, this is a far more palatable option for the Eagles if they decide to move on.

If they shop Wentz before his roster bonus kicks in, he’d count for $33.8 million in dead money for next season but it would save the team the $25.4 million cap hit. It would still be difficult to maneuver the lower salary cap, but, according to Over the Cap writer Jason Fitzgerald, there’s a way to do it, although it’s a lengthy one that involves trading or cutting Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Marquis Goodwin, Derek Barnett, and Zach Ertz. It would also require restructuring deals with several players, including Fletcher Cox and Darius Slay.

“If you trade or June 1 [designation] Wentz, you don’t get any savings meaning that you will need to navigate the salary cap without getting cap relief from Wentz,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The path at that point is to cut Jeffery, Jackson, Goodwin, Barnett, and Ertz while kicking the can with restructures, at a minimum, on Cox, Slay, [Javon] Hargrave, [Lane] Johnson and [Brandon] Brooks while potentially extending [Brandon] Graham. That would give them a few dollars to play with, but the path is much easier if they can work with the Wentz contract numbers.”

https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters...-20201208.html

[Drake]

If his first test was inconclusive, why was he allowed to be out on the field warming up with everyone? What a #### show.

@Jonmachota:
According to @JayGlazer Dez Bryant had an inconclusive COVID-19 test this morning and thought he could play tonight. When he was warming up, the doctors pulled him because the test was inconclusive. They retested him at the stadium. That test came back positive. He was sent home

[Nsd1]

So Dez Bryant was pulled from warmup tonight and tested positive for Covid. NFL rules are that any close contacts have to be pulled from the lineup also.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1336473462668464128

[dirk diggler]

Dez is such a mental wizard.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by rubecube

That's if it's a straight cut at the start of the new league year. If they designate him a post-June 1st cut, he counts as $34M against the cap, which is the same as his cap hit would be for staying on the team.

I think the Eagles are going to be pretty motivated sellers with him. Trading him doesn't really help they're 2021 cap hit, but if they can find someone to take him this year, they'll gain an extra $31M in cap money for 2022. If they wait until 2022 to move him, they only gain $6.8M in space.

I would bet there will be be some idiotic front office that thinks they can fix him and is willing to give up a 4th for the opportunity. If they end up being right, it looks like a stroke of genius. If they're wrong, they can just dump him at the end of the season.

Assuming he finishes the year on the bench I read a bit thinking Philly might have to Osweiler him. Send him and a premium pick to someone to get him off their hands.

If (when) they pick in the 4-8 range QB will be on the table. See what you have in Hurts to finish the year and if the new coaching staff wants him great. If not you get the next guy top 10 and move on.

[flamingred89]

So that‘s where Luke Wilson ended up. Good for him. There’s gotta be a record number of Canadians in the league this year.

[ResAlien]

That was one of the funniest announcer jinxes I’ve ever seen happen live.

[dirk diggler]

wasn't it only a couple years ago, the cowboys were being praised for having an up and coming defence? they are awful

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Assuming he finishes the year on the bench I read a bit thinking Philly might have to Osweiler him. Send him and a premium pick to someone to get him off their hands.

If (when) they pick in the 4-8 range QB will be on the table. See what you have in Hurts to finish the year and if the new coaching staff wants him great. If not you get the next guy top 10 and move on.

The Eagles have so many holes on their roster that giving up a premium pick just to dump Wentz isn't worth it. I think a lot depends on if they are blowing it up or not. If you're going full rebuild you can afford to take the dead cap hit to get Wentz off the books.

[Sylvanfan]

This Thursday night game this week is a real oddity. The two teams were in the Superbowl two seasons ago, but making a team come accross the Country for a Thursday Night game in these conditions is a bit silly.

Patriots can't afford any more losses, so they need this one pretty badly. The only other losses outside of the 49'ers on the Rams are the games they lost to AFC East teams.

I'll also be interested to see the Monday Night game with the Browns and Ravens. It's a chance for the Browns to try and show that they can win against the good teams in that Division. If the Ravens win that game, I don't think they lose anymore in the regular season. It's not out of the rhealm that the 7 AFC playoff teams all finish at 11-5 or better.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

This Thursday night game this week is a real oddity. The two teams were in the Superbowl two seasons ago, but making a team come accross the Country for a Thursday Night game in these conditions is a bit silly.

Patriots can't afford any more losses, so they need this one pretty badly. The only other losses outside of the 49'ers on the Rams are the games they lost to AFC East teams.

I'll also be interested to see the Monday Night game with the Browns and Ravens. It's a chance for the Browns to try and show that they can win against the good teams in that Division. If the Ravens win that game, I don't think they lose anymore in the regular season. It's not out of the rhealm that the 7 AFC playoff teams all finish at 11-5 or better.

They stayed on the west coast from last week so not that big of deal.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Assuming he finishes the year on the bench I read a bit thinking Philly might have to Osweiler him. Send him and a premium pick to someone to get him off their hands.

I don't think they'll have to Osweiler him. Poking around the various internet rumour mills, it sounds like there's a market for him. Some team with questions at QB and too low of a first round pick to snap up one of the blue-chip prospects will take a chance on him.

It's really going to come down to how Hurts performs though. If he ends up rallying the team to a couple of wins down the stretch and looks competent doing so, odds are the Eagles move on from Wentz. If the offense looks just as bad, I'd put money on Lurie canning Roseman and Pederson and trying to hire a new regime that can come in and fix him.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Weitz

They stayed on the west coast from last week so not that big of deal.

Yeah I forget the Chargers are in LA and share a stadium with the Rams. Than again the Chargers are easy to forget. They likely got to stay in the same dressing room.

[troutman]

The Dec. 20 Browns-Giants game has been flexed to NBC’s Sunday night broadcast.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by troutman

The Dec. 20 Browns-Giants game has been flexed to NBC’s Sunday night broadcast.

Meh, doesn't really seem any better than the originally scheduled SF/Dallas game.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Meh, doesn't really seem any better than the originally scheduled SF/Dallas game.

Game with playoff implications. Giants have been decent the last few weeks. Will be a much better game.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Meh, doesn't really seem any better than the originally scheduled SF/Dallas game.

Two teams likely to make the playoffs, as opposed to two teams likely not to make the playoffs.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...l-predictions/