Backside wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 2:45 pm
Grahamburn wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 2:18 pm
Anybody else glad nobody who matters gave a crap about what happened in Cleveland in 2021?
I think people constantly calling out CannonFire, especially Phantom who tags him and always says really nasty stuff is super shitty. Not here for that dog pile.
But I do find it curious that everything prior to Bakers time in Tampa seems to affect the assessment way more than his actual time in Tampa. Which is now 20+ games and two coordinators in. I wish I saw Cannon and other naysayers breaking down his actual play with the team he is on now when making their assessments. But I see very little of that.
I've never had nor have, a problem with him or his play. I never said he sucked. I never said I hated him. People here, have said that I said those things. My only issue is that he's an "ok" QB and we shouldn't be investing a lot of money in an "ok" QB. Other teams do it, and it doesn't work out. The excuse ALWAYS is, "Well, who are you going to get?" When the question is answered, unless you say "Pat Mahomes", they always come back with a sarcastic "yeah, ok" response. That's the homer bias talking and it's not a real response. It's an "I'm scared to be wrong" response.
I said this in another thread... The term/phrase "Franchise QB" has been abused so much that people have reduced the meaning of it. A franchise QB is a guy who can carry you when you're playing a team better than you, more than half the time. This is done by making your team better. Have we seen ANY player, play better now that Mayfield is here? The answer is "NO". In fact, we've seen players (see the interior OLine and RB's), be static or get worse. I'm by no means blaming Mayfield for that. I'm simply pointing out that he isn't making anyone better, by his play. There's nothing wrong with that, many QB's don't. That's my point though about paying a lot of money.
In that post, I used Dak Prescott as an example. Who on Dallas is better BECAUSE of Dak Prescott? No one. He uses the talent that's there and they win games. Good for them. That's my point... anyone who's competent, can win games if your overall team is good. You just don't want a guy who makes you worse. Why are they paying him $60M AAV? Because "Well, who are they going to get?" Well, they could've gotten Baker Mayfield. They could've gotten Gardner Minshew (who's last 15/16 games... whatever, aren't much different than Mayfield's). Baker is making $35M AAV, Minshew $12.5M AAV. Dallas is stupid for paying Dak $25M AAV more than we are for Baker. We're stupid for paying Baker $22.5M AAV more than the Raiders are paying for Minshew.
That is money that can be spent on upgrading other positions. Rachaad White doesn't look to be getting better and neither does our OLine. Those are clearly individual talent problems. So, let's address those. Let's say we paid Minshew $12.5M AAV and Derrek Henry $8M AAV over the next 2 years instead of Mayfield $25M AAV. Are we better off? The answer is yes. Why? Because not only did we save $5M that we can use to get a better OLman (like Bredesen or Mauch), we also can use the pick we used on Irving, to get another player at a position... like OL to help that need.
The list of "Franchise QB's" is extremely small. Right now it's Mahomes, and an argument could be made that Stroud is on his way, but really, that's it. Everyone else ranges from a "good" to "bad" QB who only helps your team when they're cheap... because you can pay other good players, more money. The smart thing to do for teams is to give a 5 year extension to a young QB after Y3, instead of picking up the 5th year option. Stroud, for example, offer him a 5 year $250M contract. Now, the first instinct is to say, "Aren't you paying him $50M AAV"? The answer is "NO", I'm paying the $250M over 7 years, because he has 2 years left on his deal... Y's 4 & 5, bringing that down to $35M. I now have 7 years to spread out any bonus money without have to include voidable years. I also back load the deal in base salary so that as the cap goes up, his percentage goes down. The problem is, teams always wait until Y4 to do that deal. You lose your leverage because that QB already made his $2M Y4 salary. A player is significantly more likely to take less long term money for "now" money. If I'm a QB and I have to wait 2 years to become a free agent and make only $25M over that time frame, I'd rather sign a 5 YR extension for less overall money if I'm going to get a $40 to $50M signing bonus today. It guarantees me twice as much more now, and I will still make my money later. If I get hurt in the next year... maybe two, I'm only going to get my 5th year option money and may have to sign a prove-it deal once or even twice. Yeah, I'll take the money now, thanks.
Let's go with that.
