NFL: News and transactions

cromulence

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I've always thought this is the worst stadium to sponsor, simply because it's synonymous with being a terrible field. Feels like people saying stuff like "Heinz is the worst" isn't great for business.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
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I've always thought this is the worst stadium to sponsor, simply because it's synonymous with being a terrible field. Feels like people saying stuff like "Heinz is the worst" isn't great for business.
What’s wrong with it? It’s a tough place to kick long field goals, but otherwise I’d be hard pressed to name any distinguishing characteristic of the stadium.
 

Ale Xander

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What’s wrong with it? It’s a tough place to kick long field goals, but otherwise I’d be hard pressed to name any distinguishing characteristic of the stadium.
It’s filled with Steelers fans, for starters.

but it’s mostly the poor field
 
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Rudy's Curve

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What’s wrong with it? It’s a tough place to kick long field goals, but otherwise I’d be hard pressed to name any distinguishing characteristic of the stadium.
It's just not a very good field, especially on days after Pitt games. This is from 11 years ago, but it was voted the worst by the PA.
 

cromulence

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I just recall there being a lot of talk over the years about how bad the field is (the actual turf/grass). I'm very sure I could find more, but a quick Google brought up:

This from 2005: https://www.patriots.com/news/steelers-again-replacing-heinz-field-turf-89076
This video from 2007 (which looks ancient from the video quality): Link
And this is behind a paywall, but the title is "A new chapter in Heinz Field's quest for not-terrible turf": https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/sean-gentille/2017/08/04/heinz-field-turf-problems-steelers-2017-new-scoreboard-daktronics/stories/201708040149
 

Saints Rest

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About as good as the Pats naming rights deals that fell through before Gillette got it
Weren't there two? I remember Monster.com (which would have been great -- "going to the Monster" -- plus Wally could have had a companion monster).
But I seem to recall another briefly held name back in the Dot-com bust of the early aughts.

And it's predecessor: Schaefer to Sullivan to Foxboro. More and more dilapidated, even in its name.
 

Ale Xander

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Weren't there two? I remember Monster.com (which would have been great -- "going to the Monster" -- plus Wally could have had a companion monster).
But I seem to recall another briefly held name back in the Dot-com bust of the early aughts.

And it's predecessor: Schaefer to Sullivan to Foxboro. More and more dilapidated, even in its name.
CMGI?
 

Old Fart Tree

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Lol they went bankrupt roughly fourteen minutes after signing that deal.

edit: I take that back. They never actually filed but their stock went to pennies. I guess I was thinking of the ravens stadium first naming deal.
 

Kliq

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IIRC it WAS called CMGI Field briefly and the Revs even played there, but it was changed by the time Week 1 started.
 

NortheasternPJ

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IIRC it WAS called CMGI Field briefly and the Revs even played there, but it was changed by the time Week 1 started.
I was working at Gillette at the time and did some IT work for the executives. From what I know, Gillette and the Krafts hammered that deal out extremely quickly and no one knows what the cost was. Funny enough, based on this deal and that relationship was how I got tickets to the Pats/Eagles Super Bowl by the guy who worked the naming deal out and the Wednesday before the game called me to his office and told me if I Could get tickets by noon for me and my dad, we could get the tickets. One of my dad's favorite life experiences.
 

mwonow

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It certainly beats the shit out of the dreadful, cookie-cutter dump that was Three Rivers Stadium.
Does it? Both "featured" Pittsburgh fans. And I associate Three Rivers with an entertaining if drugged-out baseball team wearing funny uniforms
 

kenneycb

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I was sitting on the opposite end zone at the game (humblebrag) and am always amazed he got there. Felt like he ran 50 yards to get there.
 

Harry Hooper

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If you're Yee and JimmyG, would you rather him just get released at this point to be a complete free agent, or do you want to cling to the existing contract with a new team?
 

EvilEmpire

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I don't think the 49ers would lose sleep over it, but I'm sure they appreciate Seattle having as bad a QB situation as possible. But maybe Seattle will make an offer big enough over what other teams do. I'm not sure what that would look like, but you never know.
 

Bowhemian

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nattysez

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If you're Yee and JimmyG, would you rather him just get released at this point to be a complete free agent, or do you want to cling to the existing contract with a new team?
It'd be lovely to get paid $24m rather than whatever a backup fetches these days. But I assume Yee won't be able to find anyone who is going to trade for a guy on the precipice of bring released and they'll cut Jimmy loose in a week.

I suspect the Niners are dreading the possibility of him going to the Seahawks, but that feels borderline inevitable at this point. If the Browns were going to trade for him, they'd have done it already.
 
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wibi

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I don't think the 49ers would lose sleep over it, but I'm sure they appreciate Seattle having as bad a QB situation as possible. But maybe Seattle will make an offer big enough over what other teams do. I'm not sure what that would look like, but you never know.
I mean compared to Drew Lock and Geno is Jimmy G not a likely upgrade? I’m down to see what Drew can do but getting Jimmy makes camp a lot more interesting
 

EvilEmpire

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I mean compared to Drew Lock and Geno is Jimmy G not a likely upgrade? I’m down to see what Drew can do but getting Jimmy makes camp a lot more interesting
Yeah, maybe my post wasn't clear, but I do think Jimmy G is an upgrade and that SF is happy not doing a deal to improve a division rival. But I don't think Jimmy G is enough of an upgrade for SF to lose sleep over it if Seattle is willing to pay a premium over what other teams are willing to offer.

How much of a premium is the question.
 

DanoooME

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Seattle is NOT trading for Jimmy G. If he gets released and wants to sign a low cost deal in Seattle, then he'll go there. But they aren't giving up draft capital for a rental.
 

wibi

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Seattle is NOT trading for Jimmy G. If he gets released and wants to sign a low cost deal in Seattle, then he'll go there. But they aren't giving up draft capital for a rental.
I should have clarified. What I meant by trade was a conditional 7th at best
 

Jungleland

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People are going to shit on this given the collapse and that he’s clearly not the top 2 quarterback he’s being paid like, but I look at stretches like the first half of last year and I don’t see why he can’t be someone who wins a Super Bowl as the primary reason his team wins it. I think you pretty much always have to pay someone of that caliber if you believe it.
 

Kliq

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The "highest paid" QB is always going to be whatever Pro Bowl QB whose contract came up most recently was. If you are Arizona, who basically has never had a good QB this century outside of a few Kurt Warner years and one Carson Palmer year, you obviously do what you have to do to retain Murray.
 

Sandwich Pick

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Is there a "Murray is exciting = Murray is great" trap that people are falling into?

Honestly asking, as I haven't watched a full game of his outside of the Rams playoff game and the shootout with the Bills.
 

Dogman

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That is a hell of a lot of money for a guy who, as reported, doesn't watch any film. Raw talent gets you to this point but working at everything gets you championships.
 

nattysez

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People are going to shit on this given the collapse and that he’s clearly not the top 2 quarterback he’s being paid like, but I look at stretches like the first half of last year and I don’t see why he can’t be someone who wins a Super Bowl as the primary reason his team wins it. I think you pretty much always have to pay someone of that caliber if you believe it.
I'd be curious to see what he looks like with a better coach.

I think he did the right thing playing football rather than baseball:

View: https://twitter.com/ActionNetworkHQ/status/1550165517998096385
 

AlNipper49

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The good news is that Lamar Jackson is probably the next up and he is not going to take one penny less than Murray got
 

BaseballJones

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Maybe if Mac just stays boringly efficient and effective that he will never have one of those top of the market contracts.
 

GB5

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Aug 26, 2013
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I like MaC alot, but I don’t see him as a top 10 qb. Top 15 ish, maybe. The AFC QB room is stacked. He would be fortunate to be top 10 in AFC:

in no particular order:
1. Mahomes
2. Allen
3. Hebert
4. Russ
5. Joe Cool
6. Lamar
7. Carr
8. Watson
9. Ryan
10. Mac?
11. Lawrence
12. Tannehill
 

snowmanny

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He was better than a couple of those guys last year and likely will finish the year between 8-10 on that list. Add in the five quarterbacks who currently play in the NFC (Rodgers, Stafford, Brady, Prescott, Murray - am I missing someone?) and I’d be very surprised if he was top 10. Top 15 would be really good though.
 

BuellMiller

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Mar 25, 2015
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I think one way of thinking/hoping is that he follows the path of that Tom Brady fellow in his second year, where the offense goes through him a bit more. Moving away slightly from a running offense to one geared more towards Mac's strengths as a passer (although if Harris, Stevenson, et al can keep running at a ~4.5 y/a clip, this isn't as necessary of a shift, as it was when Antowain Smith started to fall of the cliff), Obviously, the question is how much increased quantity affects quality. (Looking back at the 2002 season, Brady threw about 50% more passes in that season, and his AY/A dropped slightly 6.4 to 6.1, but ANY/A rose slightly due to decreasing his sack rate by almost 50%). Whether that type of progression gets him into the top 10, I'm not sure, but if the running game continues to do well, it might not matter.
 

gattman

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Jul 15, 2005
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The good news is that Lamar Jackson is probably the next up and he is not going to take one penny less than Murray got
I can say that, living in the general Balt area there is an odd feeling about this. They don’t want to lose Lamar but they‘re not convinced that Lamar is the guy to lead them to a SB. And quite honestly, looking at the QBs in the AFC it’s hard to see how he leads them to a SB. But what alternative does Balt have? Kinda like Ariz w Murray. You gotta pay him b/c you’ve got no other option.

In other words, I think Balt is kinda fucked