sp3ctor

A big part of the issue with inflated cap figures on back-loaded deals are the shady response you get sometimes from one side or the other, something to the effect of what Brees is doing now that he refuses to renegotiate a contract that he clearly doesn't deserve (for the record there isn't a single player in the NFL that deserves 30 mill in a single season) Joe and the Ravens seem to have the best of relationships, both sides acknowledged the need to extend the contract. When I read that a couple years back, I just assumed Joe signed a 9 year deal, but since 6 years is max, the extra 3 would come as an extension. This is a franchise that never had a franchise QB. With war-time flashbacks of their former QB carousel, and keeping an eye on the latest dumpster fire the Browns had going (it's like an annual tradition that they're looking for a QB/coach/gm or all three) it would make sense to go with stability at the position for a near decade with iron-man January Joe Cool Flacco. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to hear that the extension was for 3 additional years and that Joe's cap figure will ding us about 15-16 mill a year for the 6 years of the contract.

I agree that they had our number last season, as we were swept and it sucked out loud. However, 2013 we split wins and our loss came when we were already eliminated from the playoffs and had nothing to play for when we met them week 17 (plus Joe was in a knee brace and hardly had a stellar outing). 2012 was similar, we rested our starters in week 17 because we had no chance of getting a bye and were already AFC North champs. We beat their brains out earlier that year. We may be 4-2 over the past 6, but 2 games were essentially meaningless and we're at a -2 point differential over that time period. Hardly the domination people have made it out to be. Still hate the Bengals sooooo much.

With the level of injuries we suffered at WR, and the maneuvering needed to stay competitive, we are one journeyman WR away from being a great WR corps in 2016. Using another high draft pick on a WR seems like a possibility now that we're probably going to be on the fringe of the top 10 of this years draft, but still only Tredwell seems worth picking in the top half of the first round and he shouldn't go before 12-14, and we will be picking 4 spots higher. Instead we should turn to the dozens of free agents, even if it means giving up a comp pick. I like the possibility to snagging one of Cinci's two dynamo receivers. Think of how great our WR corps could be with SSS, Aiken, Perriman, Sanu/Jones. Plus whomever of the fringe players ends up making it will have to make an impact, whether that be Waller, Campanaro, Givens, Matthews, Brown, or Butler. And there's always the possibility of drafting one or more lower round WR to compete as well. I think our WR problems will be an easier fix than our secondary by a long-shot.

A close friend of mine is a talent scout for the Toronto Argonauts and he's done his fair share of travelling over the years, and has met some pretty interesting characters from the NFL (sat beside Rex Ryan on a plane, said he didn't stop laughing the whole time). He said after his first meeting with Harbs that he would probably run head-first into a wall if he asked him to, he's just that charismatic a leader. He's just a great head coach, plain and simple.

The big problem with the leagues substance abuse policy is that it covers which drugs are banned, but not where these drugs may be found. Now, there is an argument to be made that players should do their due-diligence and check into any drugs taken, but how many of these players are 21, 22 years old. Manziel can't even go one bye-week without boozin' a little bit. Take Adderall for example. Every player in the league should know it's banned. The problem there is that technically Adderall isn't the banned substance, it's the chemical compound found within Adderall that's banned. That includes all 5 chemical compounds, which happen to be found in other drugs like Strattera, which isn't even primarily used for ADHD, but contains ADHD medication. An NFL player takes Strattera, takes a blood-test, tests positive for Amphetamine Aspartate Monohydrate or Amphetamine Sulfate and boom, 4 games gone. The same thing sorta happened to Haloti Ngata last season. He didn't make any excuses and owned his mistake, but he never intended to take behavioral modifiers. Still got him a 4 game suspension and an omission from the pro-bowl when he was on pace for another stand-out year.

Forsett and Flacco in the same game... Why football gods, why?!

Anyone uttering the words, "get rid of Harbs" needs to take a second, or maybe a minute, and think about what it's like to be a fan of a losing franchise. I'm from Toronto. I haven't seen a single one of my teams make it past the first round of the playoffs since 2004! A championship hasn't come home since 1993. The fact of the matter remains that we just won a damn Super Bowl in 2012. Have the Bengals done that? No. Have the Browns done that? No. We have injuries across the board in so many positions it's hard to keep track of them all. How about we take solace in the fact that we are still a winning franchise, put faith in a head coach that won us a Super Bowl a few years back, and save your complaints for next year if we open the season 0-3. One bad season isn't disaster, it's a reality check that teams can't win all the time (unless you're the New England Swindlers)