Andrew Luck signed thru 2021

[Fountain City Blues]

Flacco hopes Ravens use cap savings to solidify the offensive line

Flacco want's offensive line help in exchange for freeing up cap space... who would have thunk it.

As with most of these situations- this was done under duress as much, if not much more, as it was charity. The Ravens' cap situation was anything but good. Flacco gets more gtd cash, so that's good on his end financially.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

Flacco hopes Ravens use cap savings to solidify the offensive line

Flacco want's offensive line help in exchange for freeing up cap space... who would have thunk it.

That's tough.. that team has whiffed quite a bit lately in FA and the draft. Has nothing really to do with Flacco's contract but that's where the heads all turn.

 

[Manster7588]

That's tough.. that team has whiffed quite a bit lately in FA and the draft. Has nothing really to do with Flacco's contract but that's where the heads all turn.

How could that be, for years I was told Ozzie is the greatest GM in the game.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

That's tough.. that team has whiffed quite a bit lately in FA and the draft. Has nothing really to do with Flacco's contract but that's where the heads all turn.

To me, if they were that insistent on loading up on said FA's to inevitably lead to a double dip situation with Flacco- that's kind of their own self fulfilling contract clause.

 

[TP76]

They weren't going to have him count $28M this year and $31M next year against the cap... they had no choice but to extend him and reduce that horrendous cap hit. Flacco's pleas for OL help when the aging defense also needs some much needed attention is... predictable.

I have a feeling Joey just may want to work on his footwork and dodging free pass rushers.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

How could that be, for years I was told Ozzie is the greatest GM in the game.

Yup, and for years so was Jerry way back when... Guys hit a stride and win a lot and get considered the best for what they built. If in a few years Osweiler is a top 10 QB and Denver is struggling to play .500 football as their defense slowly slips away, Elway who many consider the best GM recently falls off that top spot.

Mosley is pretty good. Not great yet but could be a great LB. If you don't consider him, who's the last great they drafted? Flacco? It's tough to be good when you can't draft talent. Even if you hit in FA (which they aren't doing all the time), you need those guys on rookie deals to play.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

To me, if they were that insistent on loading up on said FA's to inevitably lead to a double dip situation with Flacco- that's kind of their own self fulfilling contract clause.

Well they've spent a LOT of picks on defense lately. And have seen their vets when they leave/retire not getting replaced. Cody, Kindle, Upshaw, Elam, Kruger, Webb, Brown, Williams, Jernigan, Brooks, Carl Davis... All these picks early on defense and that D is really falling apart. This is the 4th year in a row they've spent two picks in the top 4 rounds on defensive linemen.

Then they built the O-line around Oher, Osemele, Reid, and Monroe to solve the tackle position. Oher/Reid both struggled and they parted ways, Monroe was a bad signing for his health, Osemele has worked out but they lost him.

It's been a streak of rough moves and picks. It shows how tough it is to make those calls when a guy who was doing it better than anyone slips for so long.

 

[Manster7588]

Yup, and for years so was Jerry way back when... Guys hit a stride and win a lot and get considered the best for what they built. If in a few years Osweiler is a top 10 QB and Denver is struggling to play .500 football as their defense slowly slips away, Elway who many consider the best GM recently falls off that top spot.

Mosley is pretty good. Not great yet but could be a great LB. If you don't consider him, who's the last great they drafted? Flacco? It's tough to be good when you can't draft talent. Even if you hit in FA (which they aren't doing all the time), you need those guys on rookie deals to play.

I liken being a good GM is similar to a hot roll on the craps table.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

I liken being a good GM is similar to a hot roll on the craps table.

I think some are better than others in different ways.. but I really think that's true there. It sucks because every thing you can say "This player didn't work out because of X" the next player works out despite X. You say "we don't want a QB with a partying rep, fine, you skip over Manziel, but you pass on Brett Favre too, or then comes David Carr and him being a family man is the reason he was always first out of practice.

I think you are right, some build a bit better, some maintain a bit better, some draft a bit better.. Even Belichick who probably is the only guy you could call consistent, can't draft a receiver since he got Branch/Givens, and we will see in the next few years how he moves on from being with Brady.

And that's why I think there's very little long term faith for GM's. And why they don't get paid as well as the players they manage. They are better than us, sure, but it's a lot of luck.

 

[flyerhawk]

I liken being a good GM is similar to a hot roll on the craps table.

To a degree. But, IMO, a lot depends on the GM and head coach being on the same page. There is a reason why certain teams seem to consistently get good talent.

You aren't always going to get home run drafts. But the good GMs tend to get a lot of singles and doubles.

 

[flyerhawk]

And that's why I think there's very little long term faith for GM's. And why they don't get paid as well as the players they manage. They are better than us, sure, but it's a lot of luck.

I think that, like the players, there are some bad GMs that really aren't good at their job at this level and some extremely good ones. But most of them are in the middle and hoping to get a little lucky.

Jerry Reese somehow still has a job because of one good draft 10 years ago. Tim Ruskell somehow kept a job for 5 years based off of one good draft.

 

[Manster7588]

I think that, like the players, there are some bad GMs that really aren't good at their job at this level and some extremely good ones. But most of them are in the middle and hoping to get a little lucky.

Jerry Reese somehow still has a job because of one good draft 10 years ago. Tim Ruskell somehow kept a job for 5 years based off of one good draft.

Not saying all GMs are the same there's some very bad (Matt Millen), and some very good, Ozzie is a very good GM but for a few years there everything he touched turned to gold, there was a lot of luck during that stretch.

 

[flyerhawk]

Not saying all GMs are the same there's some very bad (Matt Millen), and some very good, Ozzie is a very good GM but for a few years there everything he touched turned to gold, there was a lot of luck during that stretch.

Oh no question. Good GMs go through good and bad spells as well. They just tend to have more good than bad.

I don't think Matt Millen ever had a good spell.

 

[Money]

That's tough.. that team has whiffed quite a bit lately in FA and the draft. Has nothing really to do with Flacco's contract but that's where the heads all turn.

100% correct.

 

[Money]

They weren't going to have him count $28M this year and $31M next year against the cap... they had no choice but to extend him and reduce that horrendous cap hit. Flacco's pleas for OL help when the aging defense also needs some much needed attention is... predictable.

I have a feeling Joey just may want to work on his footwork and dodging free pass rushers.

You should probably stick to just talking about the Patriots. I'm assuming you know at least a little about them.

 

[cdumler7]

Yup, and for years so was Jerry way back when... Guys hit a stride and win a lot and get considered the best for what they built. If in a few years Osweiler is a top 10 QB and Denver is struggling to play .500 football as their defense slowly slips away, Elway who many consider the best GM recently falls off that top spot.

Mosley is pretty good. Not great yet but could be a great LB. If you don't consider him, who's the last great they drafted? Flacco? It's tough to be good when you can't draft talent. Even if you hit in FA (which they aren't doing all the time), you need those guys on rookie deals to play.

Good point. It really is hard to stay ahead as that innovator. If your team starts drafting well then the guys on your staff get picked apart and soon every team is trying to look at players exactly the same so those guys you were getting say in the 5th round are now going 3rd round to another team making it that much harder to find the diamond in the rough. And then when you factor in the luck side of things. I mean who would have thought Tom Brady would be even half the player he is right now? I have to laugh that the old Colts GM said they had a 1st round grade on Tom Brady. I'm sorry but you don't let a guy like that make it to the 6th round and not draft him. Yes I know they had Peyton Manning but with the QB position being so important teams double up all the time. QB's are the easiest commodity to trade or get at least decent value on in this league.

And you are right if Osweiler becomes a top-10 QB Elway is going to have a tough time living it down that they let him get away. Missing on the QB position is the quickest way to go from top dog to bottom feeder in this league. Again though this is why we love the NFL. Teams come and go all the time. If you team is a bottom feeder well they can quickly rise to the tops of the ranks. Broncos is 2010 went 4-12. In 3 seasons they were in the Super Bowl and in 5 seasons won the Super Bowl after being the 2nd worst team in the league only ahead of the Carolina Panthers who were also in the Super Bowl. So the 2 worst teams in football 5 years ago were the top teams in the league this past year.

 

[SonnyCID]

Good coaching and QB play can carry a GM for years and years.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

Good point. It really is hard to stay ahead as that innovator. If your team starts drafting well then the guys on your staff get picked apart and soon every team is trying to look at players exactly the same so those guys you were getting say in the 5th round are now going 3rd round to another team making it that much harder to find the diamond in the rough. And then when you factor in the luck side of things. I mean who would have thought Tom Brady would be even half the player he is right now? I have to laugh that the old Colts GM said they had a 1st round grade on Tom Brady. I'm sorry but you don't let a guy like that make it to the 6th round and not draft him. Yes I know they had Peyton Manning but with the QB position being so important teams double up all the time. QB's are the easiest commodity to trade or get at least decent value on in this league.

And you are right if Osweiler becomes a top-10 QB Elway is going to have a tough time living it down that they let him get away. Missing on the QB position is the quickest way to go from top dog to bottom feeder in this league. Again though this is why we love the NFL. Teams come and go all the time. If you team is a bottom feeder well they can quickly rise to the tops of the ranks. Broncos is 2010 went 4-12. In 3 seasons they were in the Super Bowl and in 5 seasons won the Super Bowl after being the 2nd worst team in the league only ahead of the Carolina Panthers who were also in the Super Bowl. So the 2 worst teams in football 5 years ago were the top teams in the league this past year.

Yeah, it is odd hearing both the Colts and Pats saying they had that really high grade on Brady. Granted both had QB's with similar based abilities (more about their minds than their physical talents) and neither took him anywhere near the top of the draft. Could be some revisionist history there. NE did work really hard to make sure they kept a roster spot for Brady though that rookie year of his.

And that QB really does make a huge impact. Look at Cleveland. Sure they've had some pretty big misfires like all teams (trent Richardson really stands out, but I think they got a good year from him and a good return on him). But they haven't been bad in the draft overall. Some good hits, they put together a good O-line and secondary recently, put together some solid offensive weapons, etc. But just have never been able to get the QB position.

 

[Southieinnc]

How could that be, for years I was told Ozzie is the greatest GM in the game.

He was very good for years. Now he is just @Oldschool739

 

[Oldschool739]

He was very good for years. Now he is just @Oldschool739

He hasn't quite reached that level yet now, let's not get crazy....But I'd say his record speaks for itself, he and BB are considered the top 2 GM's in the league, but like Flyer said; you can't get every pick right...
Just think, if BB didn't take Tom in the 6th round, would anyone else he's picked after really matter ???
And he evidently didn't see the talent or he would have picked him 1st round....
Plus Ozzie did it without cheating.....Just for the record !!!!