2021 NFL off season thread

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Again wouldn’t it be more efficient for Pace and Nagy to resign now? Playing out the whole season before being fired feels dumb

Edit: there has to be some sort of plan to move up in the draft. Unless they had all their eggs in the Wilson basket and blew it nothing makes sense. These moves are not the moves of a coach and GM who are both going into the final year of their deal. Viewed from the outside it is insane what they’re doing.

I'm not sure what's really going on. They got 3 different guys to restructure their deal to free up money, signed a cheap QB and are now losing top defensive players for cap reasons, but are trying to sign Golloday?

I can't really put my finger on what's going on, I can't picture who the Bears move up for since they can't afford a top 5 pick and teams like the Jets and Jags aren't going to move down from one.
It appears they've lost the locker room as well. Bears will be a bottom 5 team this year

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Next 11 years? Yeah, the NFL is gonna be a strong league for the rest of our lives and beyond.

ABC/ESPN getting back in the Super Bowl mix, as well getting five flex games per season for MNF is a big win for them. There were a fair amount of Monday Night duds they had to stick with.

I know a lot of people like to trumpet the demise of sporting leagues citing waning fan interest but the NFL will be immune as long as they have a steady pipeline of players. Look at the most watched prime time broadcasts of 2020 as it's crazy how the NFL dominates;

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/top...wl-1234866838/

If you are a major broadcaster you can't afford not to have a partnership with the NFL. As long as they don't get heavy into politics or get too cute with the rule changes they should be dominant for decades.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Things are not looking good for Watson. This probably explains the Taylor signing as the team may be preparing for a suspension. I can't see any trades happening with him as long as he has this over his head.



https://theathletic.com/news/third-l...e/duvxcbvGXMhz

Seems like this story is still not taking off they way you’d expect it might. Maybe because it all sits with one plaintiff’s attorney and to date, there is no criminal investigation.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Seems like this story is still not taking off they way you’d expect it might. Maybe because it all sits with one plaintiff’s attorney and to date, there is no criminal investigation.

I believe the NFL is investigating. There does appear to be something to his conduct with masseuses that may be pretty sketchy. I've seen rumours on other NFL forums that there will be more women coming forward so time will tell.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I believe the NFL is investigating. There does appear to be something to his conduct with masseuses that may be pretty sketchy. I've seen rumours on other NFL forums that there will be more women coming forward so time will tell.

Yeah i read the NFL is doing its own deep dive into things under their personal conduct policy.

If there is anything there, it will be acted upon. The lack of any law enforcement involvement though suggests the only evidence to this point are the claims of the plaintiffs, which i do not think is enough for the league to do anything at this point.

It does seem odd that it is all coming out at once however, and maybe gives their claims more backbone than otherwise. If it comes out that they did go to authorities who in turn did nothing about it...shame on them. If they did look into it and found nothing, then i understand the civil suit road. If the women never contacted police and went straight to sueing him, then you have to really question their motives.

Need more information to draw any conclusions however.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I believe the NFL is investigating. There does appear to be something to his conduct with masseuses that may be pretty sketchy. I've seen rumours on other NFL forums that there will be more women coming forward so time will tell.

Yeah his attorney said the NFL is investigation but I haven't heard of a criminal investigation and he is being accused of sexual assault.

The attorney said there would be at least seven suits coming forward and knows of nine women in total. He has released a text message showing someone apologizing for making the masseuse uncomfortable, and claims it's Watson.

Since they seem to be from all over, wouldn't think the women knew each other. So Buzbee, the attorney, must have done quite a bit of work to track them down.

Think I'll reserve any speculation until more facts come out. A criminal investigation would certainly seem warranted.

[ResAlien]

As this is playing out either he’s a scumbag and predator who’s been hiding in plain sight or this is the most effective character assassination done on an NFL player that I’ve ever seen. Either way his trade value is tanked and he’s not going anywhere.

To keep it football related he’s either going to have to show up or sit out since I think a trade is off the table. Filed civil suits shouldn’t lead to a suspension, until he loses them or criminal charges are brought I don’t think you can suspend a guy because someone field a suit against him.

Broncos are locking up Justin Simmons long term at 4x61 with 35 guaranteed. This frees up cap space, they converted the kicker’s money to free up cap space, while before it was strongly believed they’d make a run at Watson now it looks like Fuller is the target and maybe they go QB in the draft.

[Erick Estrada]

Really if you want to go on with tin foil hat theories maybe these accusations have been known for some time and McNair was using his power to keep it quiet until it no longer served a purpose to him? Who knows really as nothing seems too bizarre for the Texans these days. I hope that Watson isn't being defamed here but it's hard to jump to any conclusions until this is investigated thoroughly.

Edit: I see 4 other females have now filed suit for 7 total.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

As this is playing out either he’s a scumbag and predator who’s been hiding in plain sight or this is the most effective character assassination done on an NFL player that I’ve ever seen. Either way his trade value is tanked and he’s not going anywhere.

To keep it football related he’s either going to have to show up or sit out since I think a trade is off the table. Filed civil suits shouldn’t lead to a suspension, until he loses them or criminal charges are brought I don’t think you can suspend a guy because someone field a suit against him.

Broncos are locking up Justin Simmons long term at 4x61 with 35 guaranteed. This frees up cap space, they converted the kicker’s money to free up cap space, while before it was strongly believed they’d make a run at Watson now it looks like Fuller is the target and maybe they go QB in the draft.

Fuller the WR? He signed with Miami.

[transplant99]

Sounds like we should hear/see more info this afternoon.

This brings the total to seven lawsuits filed against Watson by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, who has said on Instagram that there are nine total cases against Watson. Buzbee told ESPN on Thursday via text message that his office has been in contact with police and that he would provide information to the police about all nine of the women who intend to sue Watson.

Houston police declined to comment to ESPN whether they're investigating the matter. A spokesperson for the Harris County district attorney's office told ESPN on Thursday that nobody from any law enforcement agency has provided information to the DA's office yet about the allegations involving Watson.

Buzbee will address the media in Houston on Friday afternoon, when he says he will provide some background about the seven lawsuits that have been filed and provide copies of multiple texts and messages relating to the suits.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...inging-total-7

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Fuller the WR? He signed with AZ.

No the starting cornerback Chicago is cutting at 1 MST who knows and loves Fangio. Sorry I should have been clear, the absolute last position of need in Denver is WR.

[transplant99]

Some rivalries are just to hate filled to cross lines for money i guess?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1372961466274492426

[ForeverFlameFan]

^ don’t see that very often

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

^ don’t see that very often

Or maybe he's exaggerating that the other teams offered "significantly" more. I can understand if other teams are offering similar or slightly more money that it's probably best to stay where you are given comfort level with the organization, coaches, QB, offense especially if the deals are one year prove it deals. Sometimes these guys go to new teams and it just doesn't click and then a year later he's seeing lowball offers of $2 million after a disappointing season.

[ForeverFlameFan]

JuJu Smith Schuster's other offers, per @TaylorBisciotti:

#Chiefs: 1-year $8M with another $3M in incentives.

#Ravens: 1-year $9M with another $4M in incentives.

Decided to return to Pittsburgh for 1-year, $8M.

[devo22]

super. Now they have to cut Steven Nelson, which doesn't help one bit. I mean, good on Juju for taking the home discount, but it hardly makes any sense given the Steelers' situation. It's going to hurt his own market for next offseason, and it's going to be an 8-8 season and or so. Steelers really should have ripped off the band-aid this summer, instead they are setting up a few really bad years once the old guard rides into the sunset after this upcoming season.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

JuJu Smith Schuster's other offers, per @TaylorBisciotti:

#Chiefs: 1-year $8M with another $3M in incentives.

#Ravens: 1-year $9M with another $4M in incentives.

Decided to return to Pittsburgh for 1-year, $8M.

That one year deal with the Chiefs may be one he regrets passing on but he would be the #3 target there and with the Steelers the number one target. Still if he had a monster game or two in the playoffs for the Chiefs it may have upped his stock next season in free agency.

[ForeverFlameFan]

According to TMZ sports, there are 12 women making sexual misconduct allegations against Deshaun Watson, and 10 more likely to be added:

There are now TWELVE woman making sexual misconduct allegations against Deshaun Watson -- with up to 10 accusers being vetted, this according to attorney Tony Buzbee.
Tony Buzbee says he now represents TWELVE woman with claims against Deshaun Watson ... and he expects that number to grow.

"We are now representing 12 women and we will file 5 more cases in due course. We have spoken to more than 10 additional women, 22 women," Buzbee said.
Buzbee says the women he represents come from different racial backgrounds -- 7 of them are Black, 2 Hispanic and 3 are Caucasian.
Buzbee says he's been contacted by the Houston Police Dept. -- which is now looking into the allegations.

[Joborule]

That's a lot coming out all at once. With how the #metoo movement was only 3 or so years ago, how come this was kept under wraps right up to this point?

[Senator Clay Davis]

No shocker that Buzbee lied about police contact. These allegations might have more weight if he weren't such an unseemly character.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1373043588431548416