Random Commanders Thoughts

[tshile]

Unpopular opinion probably…
If Jayden played out the year playing at this level… starting next year the team needs to start drafting a QB in the 3-6th rounds every year and try to find someone that can be ready by the time Jayden’s rookie contract expires.

The record breaking contracts are debilitating to building and maintaining a team …

Maybe he’ll do a team friendly deal. But if he won’t… that’s going to be a hard contract to absorb.

 

[Boone]

If he’s who he appears to be, there is almost zero chance they won’t sign him to a 2nd contract. A QB like this is so difficult to find . They should be drafting a QB just about every year regardless - but no way he’s a 1 contract QB and cost is almost irrelevant.

 

[tshile]

I guess it depends on what the goal is, juxtaposed to the details (which who knows what they will be at this point.) If it’s winning games, the % of your cap one player takes up isn’t irrelevant.

Maybe he’s good enough it won’t matter. That’s… quite a high bar.

Brady took a pay cut and did other things to stretch out the payment terms to lower the annual hit to the cap so that the team could afford more talent on the roster. With Brady gone the team didn’t miss a beat. They’re still paying him though (I believe). He was also in the twilight of his career.

If Daniels wants top dollar cause that’s the market… signing him is good for revenue, ratings, and merchandise. Not necessarily good for winning.

idk. To me the goal is to win. The better play is to have a backup plan in the event he’s only interested in top dollar deals. if you can find a way to keel him - great. If not… you have to decide whether this one player can make up for the cap hit…

For reference here’s a link to the 2024 qb’s ranked by % of cap hit:

Highest-paid NFL QBs by salary cap percentage: Top 2024 bargains, long-term steals, most expensive starters

A look into which deals might actually be cost-prohibitive (or not)

www.cbssports.com

Right now (snap shot - things change week to week…) it’s the falcons and lions that appear to be in the best shape out of that group. With the caveat we have yet to see how KC works out with the new deal they just gave

 

[Boone]

You can't win without a difference making QB. We of all fanbases should know that. Yes - paying one and maintaining a degree of excellence around him is a challenge. But this season's start should show that a QB like JD is a unicorn, he is making a marginally talented team around him look like gangbusters. I would hope if we have tremendous success that JD wants to stay with the team that drafted him and a city that adores him.

We'll see. It's pretty early to be worrying about it.

 

[tshile]

Other contract considerations (sorry - on some level these are silly conversations or at best ones that are too early to have, so I’m putting them here instead of derailing specific threads about the people…)

Kliff Kingsburry’s contract from AZ for HC runs through the 2027 season. I believe he gets to collect on the guaranteed money so long as he isn’t a HC, at which point he’d only collect the difference if the AZ contract was higher. Hard to imagine the AZ contract would be higher given the trend of ever increasing contracts.

If money is his #1 or even strong #2 motivator - it may be in his best financial interest to stay as our OC until either the AZ contract expires (2028 season) or it gets close to expiring (2026 or 2027 seasons)

Meaning - from a purely financial aspect Kingsbury may find his best option is to stay with us (assuming this trend of awesomeness continues) until one of those dates. Which means we should get at least 2 more, and maybe even 3 more seasons out of him. (Assuming he wants to go back to being a HC, which I would expect from him but it’s possible he doesn’t…)

 

[Boone]

You also have to wonder if he pines to be a HC again. He actually did a damn good job as Arizona HC. He made Kyler Murray effective for God's sake. They got better every season but that last one, including an 11 win season and playoff appearance. In 2022, Murray got a big $$ contract extension and tore his ACL. Firing Kingsbury looks pretty stupid. The Cardinals have won 6 total games in the 2 seasons since letting Kliff go.

That's the kind of experience that makes a great OC wonder if being a HC is worth it.

 

[tshile]

I definitely agree.

The wild card of course is the level of competitiveness one must have to make it to the pros.

Have to imagine that’s hard to set aside in such a situation. Don’t necessarily want to risk it, but that competitiveness is fundamental to that type of person so not reaching for the next level would be hard to swallow.

 

[Bulldog]

If this season has shown us anything it’s that teams are week to week.

Both Baltimore and Washington have played very good games but also ones where you thought they were lucky to get wins.

We didn’t play very well against the Giants and the Ravens were fortunate to beat Dallas and Cincy.

 

[Chris]

There is no coaches salary cap so…

A lot has been written about KK not liking being a HC in college because he hates recruiting and how he didn’t like being a HC in the NFL because the didn’t like all of the responsibilities inherent in the position.

 

[MikefromOH]

I think Daniels has "it". I do.

But, I also think we've only played one good team so far and we got destroyed.

I still have rg me PTSD, but I'm getting there. I think we need to beat a few good teams before I get to where I feel comfortable or call us good.

 

[tomwvr]

The game against the ravens will show us if this team has a chance to make the playoffs or if this is just good play against bad teams

 

[DixieFlatline]

The game against the ravens will show us if this team has a chance to make the playoffs or if this is just good play against bad teams

It might be only great play against bad teams, but if so I'll still take it. We haven't been able to do that over the years.

 

[DixieFlatline]

 

[Enforcer]

Ahhhh, how refreshing. Quality linebacker play.

 

[burgold]

It's funny. I always thought defenses came together faster. The old story was that at the start of the season the defenses were ahead of the offense and it took some time for the O to gel. It looks (knocks on wood) like it is playing out the opposite this year for us. I wonder how much of it was unwinding old habits.

This defense was impossibly bad the first two games. In the third game, they stunk most of the game, but managed to make a play at the end. Over the first two games, they were Del Rio at his worst bad. Maybe three games. Then, somewhere in Game Four it was almost like a light got switched on. Part of me thinks it was more about "Want to" than it was about X's and O's or communication. Did the D think with a rookie QB this was a throwaway year and so played soft? Then realized as things got better that they had something, but for it to be realized that sometimes they would need to pull their own weight?

 

[Riggotoni]

The Ravens game is really going to be the determining factor for me as to whether I believe in the team this year. There is no bigger rushing challenge for our defense, and JD will need to come up big against a top tier team. I am too jaded by previous hot starts that come crashing down to earth to be all in yet.

 

[Boone]

Man - he is so right!

 

[burgold]

As of today, Washington is the number one scoring offense in the NFL

 

[Om]

The Ravens game is really going to be the determining factor for me as to whether I believe in the team this year. There is no bigger rushing challenge for our defense, and JD will need to come up big against a top tier team. I am too jaded by previous hot starts that come crashing down to earth to be all in yet.

It's funny--part of me feels the same. That goes to expectations, which this team has made very much a thing in just five weeks. I do keep reminding myself, though, that it IS just five weeks into The Big Reset this franchise is undergoing. These guys are still learning one another on the field and off, and the schemes on both sides of the ball are still very much works in progress. The team taking the field Sunday in Baltimore for a big test against one of the NFL elite teams is not close to being a finished product. They could have a bad outing and get smacked down, and should that happen I would resist the temptation to read too much into that long-term.

It's the proverbial "measuring stick" game, yes, but it's early in this team's first season.

 

[Boone]

I am not going to fall into the trap of judging the organization’s progress by the latest Sunday’s result.

The Ravens are a step up in class to be sure but as we see every weekend, every match up is unique and the result of any individual game doesn’t mean much in and of itself. Ask the Raiders - who beat the Ravens in their own house a few weeks ago.

I’m just going to enjoy every moment of this rebuild, including ups and downs, with this young QB and new team and staff and resist the urge to saddle the new regime with 30 years of my angst and disappointment.