The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V3

GAA players hoping for NFL contracts:

IRISH TRIO RORY Beggan, Mark Jackson and Charlie Smyth were in action at the NFL International Combine in Indianapolis last night. The inter-county goalkeepers competed as kickers as NFL scouts watched on at Lucas Oil Stadium, with former Connacht full-back Darragh Leader partaking in a series of punting drills today.

https://www.thejournal.ie/nfl-combine-irish-2-6316583-Mar2024/

Jason kelce has officially retired from the NFL. What a player he was for the eagles, and imo it’s not a case of if, but when he will be in canton.

Kelce is the best center I ever seen. Jeff Saturday was a great one but he didn't get upfield and block very often.

Gotta go and see how much the Broncos get caught capwise for Wilson. They'll have to go draft a QB, no way than can afford a free agent.

He'll go to the Bucs, Vikes, Falcons or even back to Seattle on a one year deal now and light it up. It's always the way when you burn money like that.

What's with Sean Payton and his teams having crippling cap situations? Been an utter shitshow for the Broncos so far.

It's getting little or no talk here but three GAA players took part in The Combine as kickers on Sunday.

They were part of the International Player Pathway.

Now I know the Irish media hype up any Irish guy who even plays on a college team,( I've read reports of guys potentially making the NFL only to read further down the page that they are going to some FCS Division 3 school) but these guys have better chances, they were at least doing drills in front of teams in Indy.

They have now gone back to their camp in Florida awaiting contact from teams.

According to the guy who was coaching them and runs a kicker academy there was interest from teams who wanted to find out more after seeing them in Indy, but he would say that, wouldn't he.

Not sure if anything will come of it, kickers are a dime a dozen and there are plenty of college kickers out there who have played in real game situation, so why hire a guy from a completely different sport.

By the way the guys are Rory Beggan from Monaghan, Mark Jackson from Wicklow and Charlie Smyth from Down.

Beggan would be by far the most high profile in GAA, one of the most high profile goalkeepers in the game.

Oh yeah you're right about that I think, my apologies, but it still holds true that if a team signs them they don't take up a spot on the practice squad, you're allowed have one extra player if he's international like that.

I thought Steelers got rights over Ireland?

How did rees zammit get on?

Eagles signing Barkley, Cousins off to Atlanta

I can't believe the contract they gave Cousins. A 35 year old QB coming off a bad injury gets four years and €45 million per year. It's insane but Blank is an idiot so I suppose it's not that surprising.

2 year deal realistically. Nearly all the guaranteed money is front loaded. Cousins again seems to get nice years for these deals with no other big QB signings.

Arent these guys among the 16 that are already signed to the IPP for 2024 - along with that Welsh rugby player.

They get a 2 year PS squad contract as an extra player on the PS, but are not allowed to be activated to the full roster while in the 2 year program (but can drop out and take their chances as a regular player if they want).

After 2 yrs in the IPP they are on their own. I think the NFL wants every team to have an IPP PS squad player - hence 16 being signed per annum from 2024 onwards.

It's a very weak division and adding Cousins makes them favourites. They had nothing at QB last year and went 7-10. I'm not convinced Cousins gets you anywhere in the playoffs, but, in that division, he probably gets you there.

A lot of bears fans very disappointed with the cousins signing because they were hoping to get decent picks in exchange for fields from Atlanta. I think we are starting to see that his real value in the league is lower than they might have hoped. Especially as he is entering his fourth year, I think they'll be very lucky if they get a third for him at this point, and wouldn't be shocked if they kept him for the year and also drafted Williams. In fact this would be ideal if bears fans could have patience and let Williams be a back up for a year, and see if fields can grow. But the first sign of any trouble and they'd clamor for Williams, and they'd get him too because our HC knows he's on the chopping block.

Yeah the raiders might be a good spot for him, and as you say, they're nearly the only spot for him, so you can probably get him for a third or fourth. It's nearly a guarantee we are taking Williams with that first pick, so we don't have much leverage at all.

I can see the sense in all that except for the claim that we have a decent team. I think we have a decent defense but our oline and receivers (except Moore) are not up to scratch and have been a big part of why Fields hasn't developed (along with his own limitations obviously).

I wouldn't be surprised if they hold on to fields and hope to trade him in season when a starter elsewhere gets injured, and they can negotiate from a position of strength. Right now they are kind of in no man's land with him.

Except Cousins is known for upping his game in contract years.

There's no guarantee that we can get an elite QB in this draft. All if them have questions to answer. Caleb Williams hasn't played well against a good defense, Maye went backwards last year and there's big questions over whether Daniels will be successful in the NFL with his tools.

Absolutely, and there's a reason there's no right or wrong answer. My point is you can spend your drafts picking up tackles and linemen all you want, that builds a "good" team, but usually comes up short when you're palying Allen/Mahomes/Brees/Lamar etc. At some point you have to take a shot at these QB's and take the shot

Well with my team there's a lot of holes, especially on offense. We are very poor at wide receiver and there's a superstar that is likely there at 3. If you get him you don't need an elite QB, just a solid one as he'll bail you out and he opens up the field when double teamed.

We also need to fix a pathetic offensive line.

There is no use drafting a QB when your offensive line is crap and you don't have a good set of receivers. Your QB will lose confidence and develop bad habits.

Mac Jones never had a chance after a decent rookie season. He was on the run a lot. He did okay in '22 with Jakobi Meyers to throw to but he has nothing last season. The offensive line was horrendous for the last two years. I was very annoyed that he was traded. I felt he should get a chance if they fixed things with a rookie let develop on the bench.

Anyway I don't think it matters much. I was happy with Mayo getting the head coaching job when Belichick went but I'm losing belief quickly in him.