That's what I said too, but the more I look at it the more it seems like "well, I didn't have any good options for a wife so I guess I'll marry this 60 year old homeless bag lady I found passed out in an alley with syringes in her arms."

There was really no one else you possibly could have gotten that was better than that?

I don't necessarily mean among fans, although it is common there. You'll hear it in sports media, broadcasts, or from former players. Not 100% of the time, but it's not uncommon to hear him referred to that way.

I'm not sure why you think it matters?

I have never heard anyone outside of Packers fans refer to Rodgers as "A Rod."  Probably because in sports media when you say "A Rod" pretty much everyone is going to think "Alex Rodriquez."  I just think it's funny how some Packers fans keep trying to make "A Rod" mean "Aaron Rodgers" and it's never going to happen.  I mean they might as well start calling Aaron Jones "Refrigerator" and Davante Adams "Megatron" while they're at it.

Now that I think about, even some Packers fans here were talking about how dumb it is.

I saw a clip about it that had Nate "I use to play football" Burleson in the thumbnail.  It started playing and I thought to myself "even on a topic like this I bet he finds a way to shoehorn in that he use to play football in the first 10 seconds."

Sure enough, about 5 seconds into it: "...and being a Seattle Seahawk I just feel ..."

I don't think anyone is trying to do anything. I've never been to a "packers fans only" meeting let alone one where we've hatched a scheme to get people to say some nick name, lol. Some people just say it.

It never fails man. If the betting sites ever put odds on it they'll lose their ass.

David Culley to TX.......WHO?

What? You’ve never heard of a 65 year old who has never been a HC at any level and has not even been a coordinator at any level outside of two years in the 80’s at a small college?

What makes it even more hilarious is some people think he is a great hire with the Watson situation in mind.

Texans: okay, Deshaun, we know you’re upset, but we just hired a coach we think you’ll really like.

Watson: who?

Texans: David Culley

Watson: again, who?

Texans: he has over 40 years of coaching experience.

Watson: what NFL teams was he the HC of?

Texans: um.... none.

Watson: what colleges was he the HC of?

Texans: um.... none.

Watson: what NFL teams was he a coordinator for?

Texans: um.... none.

Watson: what college teams was he a coordinator for?

Texans: he was the OC for Texas El Paso for two years in the 1980’s.

Watson: well what was he doing before this?

Texans: he was the WR coach and “passing game coach” for the Ravens.

Watson: weren’t they dead last in the NFL in passing this season?

Texans: ...

Talk about putting it in perspective...

Attached File

Deshaun Watson officially has requested a trade from the Houston Texans, per league sources. He actually did it weeks ago. Their new head-coaching hire, David Culley, has not and will not alter Watson’s thinking.

Adam Schefter  (@AdamSchefter) January 28, 2021

Just yesterday:

WRs who earned 80+ PFF grade under new Texans HC David Culley:
\uD83D\uDD39 Eagles 2006-2012: 0
\uD83D\uDD39 Chiefs 2013-2016: 0
\uD83D\uDD39 Ravens 2019-2020: 0 pic.twitter.com/AEAotOMNwK

PFF  (@PFF) January 28, 2021

David Culley is 65, the WR and passing game coach of the team that passed for the fewest yards in the NFL, before that was the QB coach for Josh Allen’s CFL like rookie season, has never been a OC or HC and ... just got hired by the Texans... to be... their ... head coach?

Football Perspective  (@fbgchase) January 28, 2021

You forgot that he was the wide receivers coach for the Chiefs when they went literally an entire season without a single touchdown for their wide receivers.

But hey who’s counting. https://t.co/4bdn1r7pnF

Brett Kollmann  (@BrettKollmann) January 28, 2021

In 25 years as an NFL WR coach he has had a grand total of 7 receivers break 1,000 yards:
Charles Johnson: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996 - 1008 yards and 3 TDs
Yancey Thigpen: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1997 - 1398 yards and 7 TDs
Terrell Owens: Philadelphia Eagles, 2004 - 1200 yards and 14 TDs
Kevin Curtis: Philadelphia Eagles, 2007 - 1100 yards and 6 TDs
DeSean Jackson: Philadelphia Eagles, 2009 - 1156 yards and 9 TDs
DeSean Jackson: Philadelphia Eagles, 2010 - 1056 yards and 6 TDs
Jeremy Marlin: Kansas City Chiefs, 2015 - 1088 yards and 8 TDs

Deshaun Watson officially has requested a trade from the Houston Texans, per league sources. He actually did it weeks ago. Their new head-coaching hire, David Culley, has not and will not alter Watson’s thinking.

Adam Schefter  (@AdamSchefter) January 28, 2021

The #Texans say privately they’re not trading him but DeShaun Watson has officially begun calling their bluff. https://t.co/vsgT1AwbKM

Mike Garafolo  (@MikeGarafolo) January 28, 2021

Deshaun Watson hasn’t spoken to new Texans general manager Nick Caserio nor executive Jack Easterby. Watson is moving on and waiting to see where his NFL future takes him. https://t.co/heLvCjpEXu

Adam Schefter  (@AdamSchefter) January 28, 2021

Here's Houston's leverage, if used:

*Can fine Deshaun Watson $95,877 for missing minicamp.

*Can fine him $50,000 per day for each day of training camp missed, plus one week salary -- $620,000 -- for each preseason game missed.

*If he retires, Texans can collect $21.6 million.

Adam Schefter  (@AdamSchefter) January 28, 2021

i guess they could've thrown some Gruden type money at another HC, but from what i heard they interviewed all the leading candidates and this is who they landed.

basgasm had a good tweet earlier that expanded on this, he was peterman's QB coach in buffalo when he was the worst QB ever, he was in charge the WRs in B'more when they were a run first offense.

this has got to be the most inept offensive coaching hire of an offensive head coach we have ever seen.

i'm sure he'll eventually get a HC gig, but does anyone think teams passed on Bieniemy b/c they didn't want to give the chiefs two extra third round picks?

No. I think it is a two parter of the fact he has gone to the AFCCG and two straight Super Bowls so he isn't available for interviews or to start hiring/working until too late combined with the fact he has (allegedly) not interviewed great.

It's weird to say, but if the Chiefs didn't make the playoffs, or got knocked out early, he might have had a job.

He could have passed on job offers. Would you have gone to the Texans or Philly if you were in his position?

The Texans' message board is a hilarious combination of people leaving posts that read like suicide notes, people who are in complete denial, and the two sides fighting with each other.

The #Texans’ options with Deshaun Watson:

1. Trade him, carry a $21.6 million dead cap hit in 2021 and find a new QB.

2. Do nothing for now, then start fining him and pursue bonus money if he doesn’t show up.

No reason to rush, other than bad press. The offers will come.

Tom Pelissero  (@TomPelissero) January 28, 2021

but he did interview with several teams, i read somewhere he even interviewed twice with a couple teams.

Seems the hiring of the new HC was a big FU to Watson...I wonder how much more inept Texan's management can get at this point.

very true, we talked earlier how his OC gig at the chiefs could be much better than a HC job at a shitty franchise.

i just wonder if giving the chiefs extra picks gave some teams some pause. we discussed that as a possibility earlier in the thread.

It seems a lot of people are acting like Watson is a victim in all this who was caught completely off guard by the Texans sucking.  I guess they forgot that it was only about 4 months ago when Watson signed his mega $150M+ deal AFTER the Hopkins trade (not to mention EVERYTHING that came before that).

It's like catching your fiance cheating on you a dozen different times since the engagement, you marry her anyway, and then when you catch her cheating yet again you act shocked and demand a divorce.

With the #Texans having already paid out his $27M signing bonus, and with three years, $82.5M guaranteed remaining, Deshaun Watson is now essentially a $27.5M per year QB for his next team, a veritable steal for contenders looking to upgrade the most important position in sports.

Spotrac  (@spotrac) January 28, 2021

It’s hard to feel sorry for guys after they sign multi million dollar contracts.

Did the numbers for another site, so posting them up here for shits and giggles.

Defensive PPG Post Season (Career):
Rodgers - 26.3 ppg
Peyton - 21.4 ppg
Brady - 20.8 ppg

Defensive PPG Post Season (during Rodgers career):
Brady - 21.6 ppg

Defensive PPG Regular Season (Career):
Rodgers - 21.9 ppg
Peyton - 21.4 (Colts), 20.9 (Broncos) ppg
Brady - 18.4 ppg

Defensive PPG Regular Season (during Rodgers career):
Brady - 21.4 ppg

Offensive PPG Post Season (Career):
Rodgers - 28.8 ppg
Peyton - 22.2 ppg
Brady - 27.2 ppg

Offensive PPG Post Season (during Rodgers career):
Brady - 28.8 ppg

Offensive PPG Regular Season (Career):
Rodgers - 27.2 ppg
Peyton - 27.1 ppg
Brady - 28.1 ppg

Offensive PPG Regular Season (during Rodgers career):
Brady - 29.4 ppg

Alright, now that the wall of numbers are done, what does it say?

Over the course of Brady's entire career his regular season and post season defenses were better than Rodgers. Over the course of RODGERS career, his regular season defense has been nearly identical (0.5 ppg difference) but his defense has played better in the post season by 4.7 points.

Over the course of Brady's entire career his regular season offenses were better than Rodgers both before his arrival, and since he started. His post season offense over his entire career is 1.5 points worse than Rodgers, but over the course of RODGERS career they are exactly identical (0.0 ppg difference).

So, what can you walk away from this with? Brady and Rodgers have offensively been near identical to each other when averaged out over their entire careers, both regular and post season. Their regular season defenses have been nearly identical their entire careers as well. However Rodgers post season defense has under performed to the tune of more than a field goal, but less than a TD per game (just under 5 points).

But we also do know, as we did ad nauseam already, that Rodgers NFCCG numbers are much lower than his career average. Which of course means his other playoff games were slightly above average to make up the difference.

My take on that is that Rodgers and Brady have performed much the same, but Rodgers has not been able to perform to the norm for him or Brady during the games that matter most. Meanwhile Brady's defenses weren't better than Rodgers (based on regular season), but they at least continued their same level of play into the post season while the Packers defense gets to the playoffs and becomes a little worse than they normally are.

Also, this shows Manning defenders who said he never had a defense before Denver are obviously full of shit.

I use to think it was just incompetence.

However, after the hiring of David Culley (whose resume is one massive red flag after another) I'm convinced that this whole ordeal has been orchestrated by a once bored puppet master who is now laughing his ass off at trolling millions of people.  No one can be THIS incompetent on accident.

He did a couple of Zoom calls limited to 2 or 3 hours. Texans put in late and had to wait another week before they could do theirs. Unable to do any in-person interviews which typically go 6+ hours long.

Edit: Example of the difference. Leslie Frazier was a finalist along with Culley. Frazier, had done a Zoom call interview, but then after the Bills lost to the Chiefs he was able to fly down and have a longer in person interview that made him the finalist along with Culley. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that if the Chiefs had lost, Bienemy would have been doing that interview.

There are exceptions though. Romo, for example.  I could write a dissertation on the subject, but I'll just say I don't think any big name athlete in the history of modern American sports has been treated more unfairly harshly than Tony Romo.

Which makes his off the charts level of success in broadcasting even more satisfying to see.

Last season, the Texans went 10-6, won their division, and won a playoff game.

The Hopkins trade was an undeniable disaster, but one WR shouldn't take a franchise from a mid-tier playoff team to a 4-12 dumpster fire. Watson signed his contract with what should have still been a competitive team.

Anybody who says they saw the Texans 2020 season playing out this way is full of it.

In cash yes, but doesn't his cap hit include the prorated signing bonus?

in other QB news, chatter has grown on the rams parting from Goff.

i'm sure bassgasm could explain it better, but from what i understand whatever the texans paid goes against their cap. that remaining $27ish per year will be paid by his new team and go against the new teams cap.

If you keep him for the next 3 seasons, which gets you to his opt out/bail out year, then it averages to about 33 million a season cap hit, mostly back loaded, only 16 million next year which is SUPER important with the reduced cap due to Covid. Once you're past the opt out the cap hit actually reduces annually but still averages in the mid 30s.

It's actually a really pro-team weighted contract as they moved a nice portion of the cap hit to the 2020/2021 seasons before the official 4 years of the contract kick in.

That speculation started 2-3 days ago with comments that Les Snead made, but there's been enough other stuff going on in the league to prevent that from becoming a top story.

The catch is how they can get away from Goff with the contract he has. I don't think there's a good way out.

THIS bad? No.  But anyone who didn't see at least something like this happening to the Texans organization as a whole at the time Watson signed his contract wasn't paying very close attention.  All the fuck ups Bill O'Brien made and they gave him a promotion? At that point it became obvious to me.

And now they have a GM that comes from an organization that hasn't drafted a Pro Bowler in 7 years and a 65 year old HC in his first gig after only having been a coordinator for two years in the 80's for a small college hired away from his job as the "passing game coach" of the worst passing team in the NFL.

Yeah, I don't see any team that is going to want to take over Goff's contract.

And that's not even looking at how he's not very good at this point.  His ceiling has been reached, IMO, and it certainly isn't anywhere near his pay.

Okay, that makes sense. The cap stuff is all Greek to me.

On the Sirius NFL channel this morning I caught the end of discussion regarding trading Stafford to the Saints.

I missed most of the conversation but does anyone think that this is remotely possible given the cap hell and low draft position of the Saints?

Sending Mr Gadget up north would clear up some cap space I suppose.

It's certainly possible.

Brees is actually set to make about $3M more next season than Stafford is so for the 2021 cap that would actually help them if Brees were to retire.  The question is would they be willing to part with the draft capital it would take to get Stafford.

I don't think the Saints have a prayer of being competitive this year unless they happen to strike gold with a late round QB pick. The amount of cutting, trading, and restructuring they're going to have to do just to have a legal roster is a nightmare. They certainly can't take on an 8 figure QB contract.

There were always going to be questions about the power structure in the Texans front office. The assumption was that O'Brien was seizing more power. It's only been in the last month or so that we've learned about Jack Easterby. Either a coup just happened or it was him the whole time.

The Caserio hire was the turning point. If McNair hires any of the GM candidates proposed to him by the firm he hired, Easterby most likely gets pushed out. Instead, Easterby talked McNair into hiring Caserio, and Easterby is safe because of it.

Speaking of which, top 5 currently highest paid QBs next season:

1. Roethlisberger $41.25M

2. Ryan $40.91M

3. Rodgers $37.57M

4. Brees $36.15M

5. Wentz $34.63M

I think the Saints are going to move forward with Winston. It is super cap friendly, everyone knows he can produce, the hope is he has gotten smarter/better at protecting the ball behind Brees this season.

The Rams might be in a position where a cap dump trade might make sense. By that, I mean the sort of trade where the player gets packaged with draft capital to a team that has space.

We're looking for a team with a hole at QB, lots of cap space, and no top 5 picks. The standouts for 2021 are probably the Colts, Patriots, and WTF assuming none of these teams can land a guy like Stafford or Watson.

Not "pay" but cap hit. Posted 2 pages back.



Every single QB on that list has the potential to be gone/moved to another team. In the end I think Ben stays, Ryan stays, Rodgers stays, Wentz stays because they simply can't move him and can't cut him. Brees will be retired. Goff and Stafford get moved.

Due to super limited availability, Super Bowl ticket prices this morning ranged from $7,000 at the lowest, up to $59,000 for HOF Club seating.

The Saints MUST blow it up. They don't have a choice.

I'm not sure exactly when the official cap number for the 2021 league year will be published, but the new league year comes quickly:


FEBURARY

Feb. 23: First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

MARCH

March 9: Prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 17: The new league year and free agency period begin at 4:00 p.m., New York time.

APRIL

Apr. 5: Clubs that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2020 regular season, like the Chargers, may begin offseason workout programs.

Apr. 19: Clubs with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.

Apr. 23: Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets.

Apr. 28: Last day for clubs to match offer sheets for restricted free agents.

Apr. 29 – May 1: 2021 NFL Draft (Cleveland, Ohio)

Between now and then, the Saints have to make $100M+ in salary cap space clear up. There's only one way:

Between the Saints, Falcons, and Panthers, if Brady were to retire suddenly the NFC South is looking like one of the worst divisions in the NFL one season removed from having two playoff teams win 4 (or 5) total playoff games.