AFC East Predictions

[HUMCALC]

I liked what I saw of him

[CanDB]

I'm Thinking Carolina Will Be A Team To Watch This Season

I do not think it a big leap of faith to say that this could be a big bounceback season for Carolina. Two years ago they were one of the best in the league, only to have a real drop off in '16. Many reasons for that.

But this year, I think they will regain their form, and as long as Newton is Newton, I see them as contenders. It often comes down to the health of your team, but lets just assume all goes well for them on the injury front. If Cam is back, one has to believe their O will be extremely hard to defend! And one of the biggest and possibly most exciting facets of this O comes in the way of Christian McCaffrey, who has this aura about him...not to mention great skillset and positive approach. The kid looks like a force for now and the long term, and when you mix him into a group that has a QB with all kinds of athleticism, a talented RB - Stewart, and some good/huge receivers, I can see opposing DCs losing sleep in trying to defend. Lets not forget the dynamics of another rook - Curtis Samuel.

I am not sure how good their Oline is, but they do have 2 Kalils, and that can't be too bad.

Defensively I expect an improvement over last season. They went young with their CBs, so lets assume experience will make a difference. But when you have players named (Charles) Johnson, Lotulelei, Short, Kuechly, Davis and yes, Peppers....you should be pretty competitive.

Lets just say, last year was not a good one for so many reasons. Try to imagine a talented team with new blood. Watch out for The Panthers!

[atwaterandstir]

I really like Carolina this year. I just got them at 35/1 for the SB and am very happy with that.
They have added more than one weapon to an offense that already has the ability to exploit some matchups with Cam, Olsen and Benjamin. They will be fun to watch this year as will that entire division.

I think Atl, Car, and TB all have a SB contending team yet one of them probably won't even make the playoffs.

[CanDB]

I really like Carolina this year. I just got them at 35/1 for the SB and am very happy with that.
They have added more than one weapon to an offense that already has the ability to exploit some matchups with Cam, Olsen and Benjamin. They will be fun to watch this year as will that entire division.

I think Atl, Car, and TB all have a SB contending team yet one of them probably won't even make the playoffs.

It will be good for the game to have those 3 teams playing really well. It's nice to see some teams step up. I can see The Titans making some progress as well, as Mariota establishes himself as a rising star in this game. Hate to say it, but just like in our Broncos "debates", in a QB driven league, it's nice to have a quality QB at the helm. Of course there's a lot more to it, but a quality on the field leader makes a big difference!

[bfallona]

Help get Guard Jerry Kramer into Hall of Fame - Senior Selection

Let's help him get in by signing the online petition shown below. He's 81 yrs old now and way beyond deserving of the honor.
I came across this today & it's a crime that Kramer is not in the HOF. Evey Godell last year bumped into him & couldn't believe it. I watched him live & he was the real deal. Here are some facts:
But it’s not just family, friends and fans hoisting megaphones. More than 40 former NFL players, including 34 Hall of Famers, have endorsed Kramer. It started informally with Sam Huff in ’97. The former linebacking great, inducted in 1982, went around and collected seven other letters of recommendation.

“The names on that list are validation if you need it without the other [accolades],” Kramer says. “It’s really comforting for me to have Merlin Olsen and Alex Karras and those kind of guys write notes.”

His case has been the same for more than 40 years: He was a key blocker for Hall of Famers Bart Starr and Jim Taylor. He was the fulcrum of Lombardi’s patented sweep play. He was a first-team All-Pro guard five times and second-team once. He was named one of the two guards on the NFL’s 50th-year anniversary team. (When the 75-year team was selected, the three guards were Jim Parker, Gene Upshaw and John Hannah.) And, of course, there’s the Ice Bowl block, where Kramer led the way on Bart Starr’s quarterback sneak that won the 1967 NFL Championship Game over Dallas at Lambeau Field.
Kramer was a six-time All-Pro (five first-team honors) at right guard and also went to three Pro Bowls. No. 64 was also on the NFL All-Decade team for the 1960s.

In addition to all that, Kramer was also a member of the NFL's 50th anniversary team in 1969. Kramer is the only member of that team not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/kramerhof/:logo:

[EddieMac]

Lions, Matthew Stafford agree to $135M extension

The Lions were never very concerned about their ability to keep franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford, comfortably stating their confidence in getting a deal done over the summer while admitting it might take the combination to the bank vault to do it.

On Monday, they started gathering the money bags.


Detroit and Stafford agreed to terms on a five-year contract, the team announced Monday evening. The deal is worth $135 million with $92 million in guarantees, making Stafford the highest-paid player in the league, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source informed of the deal. The $27 million-per-year average surpasses a deal signed earlier this summer by Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, which pays the Oakland passer an annual average of $25 million.

It also opens up the possibilities for future larger paydays for the league's other upper-echelon passers, such as Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan, among others. It's only a matter of time before we end up seeing a $30 million per year quarterback in the NFL.

Detroit, meanwhile, hands out its second key contract extension of the offseason, though the deal given to safety Glover Quin (two years, $13 million) pales in comparison. While we don't yet know the breakdown of the contract, Stafford's existing cap number of $22 million will undoubtedly rise come 2018.


More importantly, though, is Detroit securing the 29-year-old Stafford before the start of the season, eliminating uncertainty and pressure that might have been on the quarterback to produce a career season. The biggest remaining key to Detroit's success in the short and long term is staying healthy, which hasn't worked out so well on both sides of the ball. Effectively replacing Taylor Decker (Greg Robinson has been a mixed bag so far) and protecting the $135 million man will go a long way for a Lions team that has weapons offensively -- Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Eric Ebron, Theo Riddick and the potential of Ameer Abdullah and Kenny Golladay -- and has a reliable, strong-armed quarterback under center who has flourished under offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.

Stafford has posted just one negative TD-to-INT ratio, 13-20 in his rookie year of 2009. From 2011-2016, he's thrown for at least 4,250 yards and 20 touchdowns in each season and has posted a completion percentage of 65 or better in his last two. His passer rating has finished between 84.2 and 97 in each of his last four campaigns. Simply put, his skills have steadied and he shows no sign of slowing down.

Detroit's issues were long centered on the quarterback position pre-Stafford. Since then, they've been everywhere but quarterback (save for an injury-plagued 2010). In a time when locating reliable, above-average quarterback play is like finding one's soulmate, it's beyond wise for the Lions to put a ring on Stafford.



My lord...I now hope Kelly become the guy just to put off us having to pay a stupid amount for any level of starting QB after the rookie contract..... Rodgers will get close to 30 million for certain now....

Brock's crazy contract will be the norm for that level of play.

[Rastic]

That is crazy talk... then you remember NBA salaries and

What I would love to know but have no way of determining what level of effect there is but with colleges and universities sending QBs that are less capable of running a pro-style offense, how much, if at all, this affects these huge salary spikes we are seeing. I know of the salary cap increases with broadcast revenue for the NFL at all time highs, but with less of a talent pool to draw from, skilled players have a huge advantage at the table.

[Freyaka]

Well that's a giant bummer...I wanted him to somehow by some miracle land in our lap.




Not for that price though...

[Hadez]

I like Stafford regardless of his reputation for not being able to win key games.

Cap hits of 26.5 mil in 2018, 29.5 mil in 2019, 31.5 mil in 2020 and 30 mil in 2021 is going to really hurt the team and their ability to get other players around him.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/detroit-lions/matthew-stafford-6078/

I can list other qbs with much smaller cap hits but the more interesting thing is agents.

Stafford is represented by CAA.

CAA will also has leverage to get Rodgers a new contract in 2018. Not sure what the clause is that gets him out of his contract but I am sure CAA intends to leverage this.

CAA will also be trying to get Drew Brees a new deal in 2018.

CAA will also be getting Matt Ryan a new contract in 2019.

So you can see why CAA would push Stafford's deal up as high as possible....because I am pretty sure the above three will get higher contracts. Brees may not get the long term money but it is not hard to argue he deserves more than Stafford in 2018 and even 2019.

We just watched CAA set the "market price" for other clients because of what one team is willing to do.

[CaribouRanch]

2017 NFL Post-Preseason Waiver Wire And Player cut Thread

Hi, Broncos fans. All of preseason games have been played and completed Thursday Night, so now all NFL teams must cut from 90 players to the 53-man regular season rosters by Saturday Afternoon, September 2, at 2:00PM Mountain Standard Time.

I anticipate many veteran marquee players to be release between now and Saturday.

[Rastic]

LOL Browns

Did they get some group discount?

[Bootleg]

[Bootleg]

Bengals have cut OT Eric Winston. Anyone think he's worth a one year deal?

[flosstein]

Bleacher Report Gridiron Heights new episode

I found this one very funny.......

http://bleacherreport.com

[Rastic]

I found this one very funny.......

http://bleacherreport.com

LOL. They packed in a lot of jokes in a one-minute clip.