NFL

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As society wonders about what it’s future will look like, we decided to serve you ten nuggets as we wander around in life as we know it today.  They’re scattered about your plate randomly, but give us a break.  They’re tasty as always.  We don’t upcharge for home delivery.  And, most restaurants are still closed.

  1.  Did you know that Jeffery Epstein had a private office on the Harvard University campus?  Harvard reportedly gave Epstein his own office on campus in exchange for almost $10 million in donations he gifted to the university between 1998 and 2007.
  2. He was convicted of underage sex crimes in 2008. Epstein reportedly visited the campus more than 40 times after being released from jail in 2010.   Money talks and Harvard apparently is always listening.  Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow said in September of 2019 that the Ivy League institution feels “regret” accepting nearly $10 million in gifts from Jeffrey Epstein.  Regret?  What a heartfelt response.
  3. The Harvard University endowment (valued at $40.9 billion as of 2019) is the largest academic endowment in the world.  Might they consider a $10 million dollar gift to some worthy institution that combats crimes against children, especially sex crimes?  Probably not it seems.
  4. Harvard University will receive nearly $9 million in aid from the federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the Department of Education announced last week.  The amounts vary, but almost every school across the land received some as well.  Might they consider a $9 million dollar gift to some worthy institution that combats crimes against children, especially sex crimes?  Probably not it still seems.
  5.  Madam Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi remained comfortably ensconced in her posh northern Cali home last week.  With so many ice cream flavors to choose from who could blame her.  She blocked the House’s attempt to vote remotely on matters before them citing concerns that it would not be a safe way to do so.  Meanwhile, she has been a loud proponent of vote by mail in the upcoming November 3rd general election. Hmm.
  6.  How do you justify a stance that is opposite of a stance on a very similar subject as she does above?  It’s really not that hard for some.  Take Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  Please.  “Just because you’re a survivor doesn’t mean that every claim is equal,” she told CNN. “It means we give them the ability to make their case, and the other side as well, and then to make a judgment that is informed.”  Whitmer is apparently an expert on how Tara Reade’s claim of sexual assault differs from Christine Blausey Ford’s claim against the now Supreme Court Judge Kavanaugh.
  7. How does Whitmer find the time to be so well informed on so many subjects given her pressing need to manage Michigan’s coronavirus situation?   Easy.  She just locked down the state another two weeks through May 15.   “Whether you agree with me or not, I’m working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan,” Whitmer said, defending her stay-at-home order that extends through May 15. “We’re going to listen to facts and science because we’ve got to get this right.”
  8.  It can’t be lost on anyone at this point that, in general, Republican governors are relaxing restrictions in their states while Democrat governors are extending restrictions.  The original idea was to flatten the curve.  What is it now?  What does an additional two weeks closure do?  Did those same “facts and science” tell you to close down two weeks earlier before Detroit became a hotspot like few others?  And, do you need to treat rural counties the same as metro Detroit?
  9. No one is forced to go into a restaurant.  Individualism and human rights are getting lost in the cause.  And the cause now has blurred lines.  You can wait until a vaccine is available if you wish.  It’s your right.  Several viruses to this day have no vaccine.  It’s still your right.  Does the government attempt to make you more dependent or independent?
  10.  Meanwhile, the NFL continues to have the only “live” sports news worth talking about.  Fresh off of blowout record TV ratings for their draft last week, they will release their regular season schedule this week.  Its plan is to start on time in early September as usual and end as usual in early February with the Super Bowl.  They have contingency plans too, of course.  ESPN estimates that the absence of sports since March will erase at least $12 billion in revenue and thousands of jobs. That total will more than double if college football and the NFL don’t play this fall.
  11. (Lagniappe)  Kim Jung Un is the modern-day North Korean version of Mark Twain.  Rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. “I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump tweeted.  Whoever coined the phrase “politics makes for strange bedfellows” was prescient.

Cinco de Mayo is but 24 hours away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say What?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Friday.  Another week of sheltering in place, whatever that means these days, has nearly passed.   It means another week of no sports has nearly passed too.  We miss sports.  We miss sports characters too.  With the help of a valued reader, we dug up some colorful quotes from some colorful sports characters.  A baker’s dozen follow.

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model:
    “I wan’ all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I want all the kids to copulate me.”

2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season:
    “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first..”

3. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins:
    “He treats us like men. He let us wear earrings.”

4. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann:
   “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.” (a follow-up appearance was deemed necessary)

5. Senior, unamed, basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh :
    “I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes..”

6. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach:
    “You guys line up alphabetically by height..” and “You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle.”

7. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison:
   “Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton ..”

8.  Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota:
     “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is.”

9. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice:
    “My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.

10. Frank Layden , Utah Jazz president, on a former player:
   “I asked him, ‘Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?’
   He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.'”

11. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F’s and one D: (NOW THIS IS FUNNY)
    “Son, looks to me like you’re spending too much time on one subject.”

12. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford:
    “I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious.”

13. Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips,
   Phillips responded: “Because she’s too ugly to kiss goodbye.”

Goodbye till Monday.

 

 

 

 

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Posted on by thependulumswings staff
It’s Friday and it’s week four, or five, or six of your shelter in place life.   Who’s counting?   Is there light at the end of the tunnel?  Gilead Sciences Corporation thinks so.  Donald Trump thinks so.  He rolled out a general guidelines plan for states to interpret as to how and when they can “return to normal.”
Can sports be far behind?  Maybe.  Big crowds in confined spaces seem like a dream at this point.  But a dream is far better than this nightmare.  With that hope, we give you a few great quotes from sports figures from years gone by below.
Some are fun.  Some are inspirational.  Some are competitive.  Some are saucy.  We need all of them right about now.
Muhammed Ali
“It’s just a job.  Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand.  I beat people up.”
Bobby Knight
“When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want them to bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass.
Paul “Bear” Bryant
“It’s not the will to win that matters-everyone has that.   It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
Bobby Jones
“Competitive sports are played mainly on a five and a half-inch court, the space between your ears.”
Yogi Berra
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Ten Piece Nuggets-NFL

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We miss sports.  A week from tonight the NFL gives us a respite from the drudgery as their annual draft begins.  It’ll be different for sure in a virtual sort of way.  If you’ve kept your social distance from the NFL recently we have Ten Piece NFL Nuggets for you.  We are running low on vegetable oil at the virtual world headquarters, so we oven-fried them instead.

  1.  No one has cleaned their house more this offseason than the Carolina Panthers.  Incoming head coach Matt Ruhle, OC Joe Brady, and QB Teddy Bridgewater are a change to the look and culture of the franchise.  BBR expects them to be bold and active in the draft as well.
  2. Yesterday they tore up the old and wrote the new contract for Christian McCaffery.  It’s now an eye-popping 4 years for a total of 64 million Panther bucks.  Joe Brady will get him isolated on a linebacker much the same way he did with Clyde Edwards Hellaire at LSU and how Sean Payton does with Alvin Kamara at New Orleans.  Good luck stopping that.
  3. Last year the Panthers went 5-11 in Ron Rivera’s last year.  It was also Cam Newton’s last year.  In the upside-down NFL they could reverse that W-L record if the ball even gets snapped in 2020.
  4.  Who knew a QB that started 25 games in college, threw 30 TD’s against 17 interceptions would become the greatest QB in NFL history? Bill Belichick, we guess. That was Tom Brady’s resume coming out of Michigan in 1999.   Though even clairvoyant Bill B. would only invest a 6th round pick on him at the time.  What did Mel Kiper think then?  Kiper wrote, “He’s a straight dropback passer who stands tall in the pocket, doesn’t show nervous feet, and does a nice job working through his progressions.”  That was pretty accurate, just like the QB himself.  He had a fifth-round grade on him then.  His complete writeup from 1999 is here.
  5.  The Patriots likely will be looking around the draft for a QB.  Jalen Hurts anyone?  Belichick is great at using the best of what someone has and building around them as opposed to the opposite.  No doubt he has looked around the league and seen what Westbrook, Mahomes, and Jackson have done.  If the shoe fits?
  6.  The annual head faking is going on as teams jockey for position in the draft to get to the QB they may really covet.  Rumors abound and one has Justin Hebert (Oregon) now considered ahead of Tua Tagovailoa.  Doubtful, but you never know.  Miami has more draft pick capital than anyone in the draft and sits at #5.  They could move the board or move around the board if they so chose.
  7. If/when Tua starts for the team that makes him their choice he’ll be the first lefty to do so since 2014.  The last one?  Michael Vick.  Who was he playing for then?  If you guessed the J-E-T-S you’re in midseason form in the offseason.
  8.  Tom Brady’s new address in Tampa makes him an NFC South Division resident as well.   Vegas has the win total for the Bucs season at nine.  If New Orleans is the favorite to win the division again, and if the Panthers are poised to rebound it’ll be a tough division for sure.  Could the Atlanta Falcons be in for a long season?  There are only so many wins to go around when you play everyone twice inside the division.
  9.  The Dirty Birds are but one of seven teams with new uniforms or tweaks of old ones for 2020.  It’s always a good day to obsolete old unis and sell new ones if you are in the apparel biz.  You can see a good bit of the changes or the hints at the yet to be revealed ones here.
  10.  The draft will be very different this year for many reasons.  Scouts haven’t had the pro workout days they covet.  Individual interviews were kiboshed.  Team management will not huddle in the war rooms.  And, most of all, when Roger Goodell gets ready to announce the first pick of the entire draft he won’t be drowned out by the annual booing.  Too bad.

Cincinnati you’re on the clock.

The Show

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

For the NBA and the NHL, the regular season quickly became the suspended season.  For MLB, the regular season that was about to start became the delayed season.  For the NFL, the offseason goes on.

The NFL really doesn’t have an offseason though.  One of the greatest marketing machines that the world has ever known, the NFL has turned the offseason into a continuum of events and news stories all perfectly designed to hype it’s players, about to be players, teams, schedule, and league.

The scouting combine is followed by the free agency frenzy.  Individual workouts, mock drafts, more mock drafts, rumors, and then the real draft is next.  Offseason voluntary OTA’s (organized team activities) are numerous and anything but voluntary.  The preseason gives way to the regular season which gives way to the post-season playoffs.  And the grand finale, with two weeks off to build the hype, is the Super Bowl.

The year 2020 is threatening to be different though due to an overtly obvious 500-pound gorilla in the room.  The NFL draft is a three day made for TV extravaganza.  It’s so big that two productions, ESPN and the NFL’s own NFL Channel, cover it.

Yesterday by a 6 yay to 1 nay vote the GM committee that oversees the draft process voted to delay it.  How can we properly conduct individual workouts, administer physicals, and administer psychological exams they wondered?  And, what if teams in “hot spots” cannot conduct the draft from their headquarters?

The NFL office said thanks for the recommendation.  And then they said, the draft will go on April 23-25 as planned.  They already put the planned Vegas draft pick flotilla to the middle of the Bellagio Fountains on dry dock.  It’s being moved to a studio for all to see.

GM’s work for the owners.  Owners like revenue then publicity then GM’s.  Some like publicity then revenue then GM’s.

Will the draft go on as scheduled?  Could it be a bad look for the league to showcase itself in the middle of the global pandemic?  Or, would it be viewed as a very welcome relief from the replay boredom that a sports starved world craves?

It’s a big decision.  It’s why Roger Goodell makes the big bucks.  Actually, he makes the big bucks because the owners pay him so.

WWJJS?  What will Jerry Jones say?

The NFL never takes a knee unless it’s lining up in victory formation.   Ask Colin Kaepernick.

The show must go on!

 

Madden Money Was Once Mad Money

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

And you thought Tony Romo was getting paid well.  News broke yesterday that Peyton Manning met with ESPN officials this week.  What for you ask?

The “for” is ESPN’s attempt to take the one-year Booger McFarland Monday Night Football analyst experiment out behind the barn and put it down in a merciful way.

Tony Romo, after only his sophomore year in the analyst chair in the NFL on CBS booth next to Jim Nance, is set to earn $17 million per year according to sources close to the deal. Now ESPN, who has been shedding aged employees and bloated salaries for years, wants to up the game of who announces the game and how much they get paid to do it.

How much will it take to get Manning?  Will Manning be gotten at all?  He has thwarted several attempts to date to entice him to enter the broadcast industry.   Sources close to this yet to be agreed to deal place the value at $18-$20 million per season.  If true Manning would have Nationwide, ESPN, and a whole lot more cash by his side.

Booger in year one was as forgettable in the booth as Jason Witten’s one and done just one year prior.  One of McFarland’s best/worst quotes was “It’s a run/pass option meaning they have the option to run it or pass it.”  Got that?  Unfortunately, there were too many others.

ESPN needs an MNF spark in the worst way.   THE game has become one of the games available in a busy weekly NFL schedule.  Long, long gone are the must-see MNF TV days of Howard Cosell, John Madden, and even recently departed Jon Gruden.

Madden, the godfather of NFL broadcasts, made $8.5 million a year in his best year.  Adjusted for inflation that equates to $13 million in 2020 money.  This latest round has really upped the ante.

Somewhere Troy Aikman is smiling.  FOX will need to keep up with the Romo’s and Manning’s won’t they?  Or, will they?  The seats are getting full and the opportunities are few.

Are you ready for a Monday Night party?  Peyton Manning will bring the quips and the party favors.  He’ll be able to afford them.

 

Elmira?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the calendar flips from February to March the madness of March Madness is nearly upon us.  Two weeks from now, or just 13 weeks removed from the college football bowl season, you’ll tune in to watch a college team you’ve barely heard of taking on another that you know no players on.  And, goodness knows you watched a lot of college football.

But, what about college baseball?  Similarly, 13 weeks from now the college baseball World Series will begin.  Prior to that thousands of games will be played.  Will you tune in now? Then?

It’s hard to tune in now because on traditional network TV none are on.  ESPNU carries a few along the way.  Conference channels carry a few more if you pay a few more bucks for your favorite one.

We wonder.  Why the huge interest in college football, the great interest in basketball, and the indifference in baseball?

Is it because as the weather heats up we choose to head outdoors for fun?  Is it acutely because the north does so? The north’s viewership is an important percentage of the potential TV viewership. And is that because the north doesn’t really play baseball nearly as much as year-round climates like California, Texas, and Florida?  It’s hockey season you know?  Eh?

Is it because the game is too slow?  That theory, which applies to MLB as well, has been advanced for years and years.

Or, is it that college baseball doesn’t allow us to establish a viewer relationship with its players?  What does that mean?  It means that very good and/or very likable baseball players, unlike football and basketball, head to the minors not directly to the NFL or NBA.

In the NFL we soon see which team drafts last season’s success stories.  We watch train wrecks like Johnny Manziel (Heisman to who’s man) in a nearly real continuous-time attempt to take their games to the next level.  We hope for and watch intently 36-month transition, great success stories like the build from Texas Tech to a Super Bowl MVP for Patrick Mahomes.

In the NBA the best ‘one and done” college players hit the hardwood for the NBA fame and fortune a mere six months after they cut down the nets in the NCAA tourney.

In baseball, if you even watched to begin with, the best of the best head to places called Round Rock, Appleton, and Elmira for a year, two, three, or more.  Many never dig their cleats in the major league batter’s box dirt.  Never is a long time.

In baseball we hardly knew you, then you left us.  So it’s harder to make the commitment.

When will I see you again?

Elmira?

 

 

Nibbles, Not Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s going to be 70 degrees with no clouds nor humidity here at the world headquarters of BBR.  Hence, there is no time for Ten Piece Nuggets, plus it’s soon to be swimsuit season.  Here are six nibbles served from the NFL Scouting Combine.

  1.  At least seven WR’s that worked out for the NFL at this week’s combine will receive a first-round grade.  The position is deep.  If you want to zig when others zag you could grab a highly rated “in the trenches guy” in the first and get first-round WR talent in the second.
  2. One WR Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III flashed rare speed Thursday night, but he didn’t quite get the record he had hoped for at Lucas Oil Stadium.  His 4.27 second forty was .05 behind John Ross, currently with the Cincinnati Bengals, who ran a 4.22-second 40-yard dash in 2017. That is considered the record in the combine’s electronic timing format that began in 1999.
  3. Bo Jackson’s hand-timed 4.12 in 1986 has long been considered the best combine 40 time.  Can you imagine tackling that combo of size, strength, and speed?
  4. Joe Burrow will be a Bengal.  Stop the nonsense.  The media has to drum up drama where there is none to sell beer and testosterone ads.   He’ll sell a lot of tickets for the Bengals himself.  Word is that he blew the management team from Cincy out of the combine water in his sit down.
  5. The big uglies hit the field tonight.   Why the make them run a forty is puzzling.  When is the last time you’ve seen a right guard forty yards down the field?  30?  20?
  6. Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden joined general manager Mike Mayock in giving quarterback Derek Carr a vote of confidence Thursday.  “I really think Derek is a heck of a player and I got a lot of respect for what he has done with some tough circumstances,” Gruden told a group of Raiders beat reporters at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.  Ah, the old head fake.  Sounds like the Raiders will be pursuing Tom Brady, doesn’t it?

Drink some water with a wedge of lemon in it if you are still hungry.  Fore!

 

Know When to Say When

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Now ex Astros Manager A.J. Hinch took the ball in game 7 of the World Series last fall from his starting pitcher Zach Greinke with one out and a runner on in the top of the seventh.  The Astros were nursing a 2-1 lead.  Greinke had given up a mere two hits and one run to that point.

It seemed like a good idea to Hinch at the time, obviously.  You have to know when to say when and you have to do it in real-time.  Now was when.  His replacement, reliever Will Harris, surrendered a two-run homer, and the Washington Nationals never looked back. They won game seven 6 to 2, and the World Series 4 to 3.

That was only one game, but it was a huge one.   Organizations take educated guesses on when to say when all of the time.  When it involves a legend, perhaps the greatest to ever play the game, “when” gets very complicated.  Take Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are owned by a very grey-headed Rober Kraft. They are coached by a getting very grey-headed Bill Belichick.  The are quarterbacked by the GOAT who has a bit more grey around the temples daily.  You can own and coach with grey hair, but can you still play at the highest level when you have some?

If you believe that great organizations are built first by great cultures then by great people who strive to get with one, then collectively thrive by being in one, you might favor cutting ties with Brady.  Bring in the reliever, Will Harris.  After all, weren’t the Patriots looking (as they always do) to improve their roster when they nabbed Tom Brady in the sixth round with the 199th pick overall from the U of Michigan?

If you believe that there is only one Tom Brady, ever, then he has earned the right to go out on his own terms.  Maybe you would have stayed with Greinke.  But this isn’t one game.  It’s a body of work stretched over 20 seasons, nine Super Bowls appearances, six rings, and 75k and counting passing yards.

The Astros culture, as it turns out, was severely lacking.  Their owner took the ball from Hinch a month ago.  Where do they go from here?  With a new team president, a new GM, a new manager, and no ace named Gerrit Cole the culture must be built all over again.  This time it must be built with a real foundation.  Great players will only take you so far.  Time will tell.

The culture in NE is firmly in place.  It’s a personnel decision and a huge one.

But time waits for no man.  The Patriots technically have until March 18 at 4 p.m.(one month from today) to ink a new contract with Brady before he hits free agency. You have to know when to say when.   And you have to do it in real-time.

Mr. Kraft and Mr. Belichick, it’s time.  Are you going to take the ball from the GOAT, or are you going to let him face one more batter?

 

Will He Stay, or Will He Go?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Raise your hand if you’ve heard the following before, “The NFL is a quarterback-driven league.”  You can put your hand down now.   The NFL has put a premium on good qb play to the point where if you have a good one you win, and if you don’t, well, you won’t.

So, pray tell, what is going on this offseason?  An inordinate amount of QB’s could, have, or will change addresses this offseason.

Free agency is right around the corner.  Franchise tags must be placed on the keepers by March 10th.  Failing resigning or tagging, free agency begins on March 18th.  Let the wheeling and dealing begin.  But before that, let the speculation begin.

Tom Brady-  Obviously the biggest name that is a FA has nine Super Bowl appearances with six being victorious.  Much has been written on will he or won’t he go.  Reasons to stay are plentiful while reasons to go not so much so.  There are three big egos in the room here (four if you count Giselle) in owner Kraft, coach Belichick, and QB Brady.  Jimmy Garappolo can attest to that first hand.  BBR says he goes as this time his ego is bigger than Kraft’s will and wallet.  Where to?  Great question.

Drew Brees- At a young 41 years of age, Brees is a FA as well.  The year 2020 would be NFL year 20 if Brees returns.  The question here isn’t where.  It’s when.  Brees promised the NO organization an answer on whether he continues playing this coming year in the next few weeks.  He has publicly stated that he is a Saint until he retires.  BBR thinks that his competitive nature and good health will result in a “yay” over a “nay.”  But, we think it’s closer to a “nay” than many people think.

Cam Newton- Whew.  Isn’t it amazing how high Cam was riding and seemingly how far he has fallen?  Just a few years removed from a Super Bowl and a league MVP 2015 award, Cam’s tenure with the Panthers might be over and out.  A new owner, a new head coach, and a QB whisperer (for one year anyway) named Joe Brady are in town.  At 30, and with lingering injuries, BBR says that the Panthers want to rebuild and will say goodbye.

Philip Rivers- After 16 seasons with average to below-average pass protection, and average to below-average wide receivers, Rivers and the Chargers have already agreed to part ways.  Rivers moved his family (not an easy task as the Rivers have eight children and expect a ninth in March) to Florida this offseason.  BBR thinks Rivers will look pretty good in teal and white with a touch of orange on his uniform.

Andy Dalton- If ever there was an easier prediction it might have been the longevity status of the Titanic after the brush with the big ice cube.  Dalton is gone and looks like a serviceable backup somewhere with a shot at being the starter.  The Bengals enter the Joe Burrow era starting about 1 minute after Roger Goodell gets booed off of the draft day stage.

Nick Foles- The Jacksonville sometimes starter lost his job to a guy named Gardner Minshew II midseason.  The salary cap hit for dumping Foles would be huge, but his favorite OC has moved on.  Will Foles?  The cost to keep him is just as huge at $22 million next year.  This smells like a draft day trade to a team that wants a starter but doesn’t see one worth it when they are due to select.  Jacksonville will likely need to add cash and/or a lower pick to get a third with playing time clauses up to a second for him.

Marcus Mariotta-The second overall pick in 2015 has seen his last days as a Tenessee Titan.  His successor, Ryan Tannehill resurrected his career with the address change to Nashville.   Can Marcus do the same?  Maybe.  He stares at initial receivers too long and holds the ball too long.  From the west coast, on a hunch, BBR thinks he heads back that way as a well-paid backup, but no more than that.

Teddy Bridgewater-  After a disastrous leg injury nearly cost Bridgewater his career and his leg, he rehabbed both, went to the Jets, then joined the N.O. Saints in 2018.  In 2019 Brees suffered a thumb injury that kept him sidelined for five games.  Teddy stepped in and bridged the gap until Bress returned and then some.  Shaking off two years of rust he went 5-0 as a starter against some good teams that had some darn good defenses.  He stayed with Sean Payton and Drew Brees to continue to develop in 2019 for less money ($7.5 mil) that was offered to him as a starter elsewhere.  He loves NOLA and NOLA loves him.  But, it’s time to grab a starting position and QB starting money somewhere, isn’t it?  Can you hear the clink, clink, clink of the slot machines from the new Vegas stadium?

Which brings us to Derek Carr.  Ah, enough already.

Coaching careers can be made or finished by the choices made on the above.   The heck with the XFL, let the offseason NFL games begin.