You watching the AAF?

It’s been pretty entertaining. Last night some dude threw a no-look, behind his head pass that actually resulted in a completion:

They're throwing no-look passes in the AAF 😳

(via @CBSSports) pic.twitter.com/WhEzfWzlPO

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 18, 2019

Problem with the AAF is that the league is already struggling financially, just two weeks into the season.

According to David Glenn at The Athletic, the league was dangerously close to not being able to pay its players:

…The league was running short on cash, and quickly. Without new investors, there was a good chance it was going to miss payroll last Friday.

On Tuesday, multiple sources told The Athletic, the AAF will announce that Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon, a self-made billionaire from Dallas, has become that nine-figure investor. Dundon will be introduced as the league’s new chairman after last week’s commitment of $250 million enabled the AAF to meet its obligations.

That’s a lot of money. A quarter of a billion dollars for a fledgling football league that might not even have long-term viability? Dundon is going to remain in his role with the Hurricanes but is now the de facto AAF king as well.

Continue Reading

Mel Kiper Jr. – great hair, pretty good draft analysis.

Mel’s mock draft 2.0 came out this morning, and he has the Eagles taking a cornerback????… with the 25th overall pick.

The blurb:

Trayvon Mullen, CB, Clemson

Injuries in the secondary really hurt the Eagles in 2018, as the defense couldn’t match the play that led it a Super Bowl LII victory. And with Ronald Darby possibly leaving in free agency, cornerback is a spot to target here or with one of their two second-round picks. Mullen had an inconsistent 2018 season, but he has some excellent 2017 tape. And at 6-foot-2, 186 pounds, he’s a big corner. He should test well in Indianapolis.

I find this somewhat interesting. Sure, defensive back looked like a huge area of need midway through the season, when guys were dropping like flies, but the Eagles rebounded nicely and we saw some positive things from the likes of Cre’Von LeBlanc, Avonte Maddox, and Rasul Douglas.

In addition to those three at corner, the rest of your secondary looks like this:

• safety: Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod (on restructured deal), Deiondre’ Hall, Tre Sullivan
• corner: Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, Josh Hawkins, Elie Bouka

So that’s a reasonable CB group of LeBlanc, Maddox, Douglas, Mills, and Jones.

If ask me what I think the Eagles need most, it’s going to be help on the defensive line. You’ve got the departure of Brandon Graham in free agency, Derrick Barnett is returning from injury, and there are a lot of depth and contract question marks across the unit.

Continue Reading

Stunner on a Friday afternoon!

Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, who had filed a collusion lawsuit against the NFL, reached a settlement out of court.

A joint statement was released today, reading as such:

pic.twitter.com/5sdcGSuwvW

— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) February 15, 2019

That’s from Kaepernick’s lawyer. The NFL shared the same statement on the official league website.

Couple of things to consider here:

1. settling makes Eric Reid look like a hypocrite, considering that he called Malcolm Jenkins a “sellout” for accepting league money a while back, causing a divide in the Players Coalition
2. Kaepernick also looks like a sellout for not riding this thing out to the end (assuming he just took a huge amount of hush money here).
3. Reid just signed a 22 million dollar deal with the Panthers, so his case is weakened.
4. If the NFL was willing to settle out of court, then there was probably enough evidence to hurt their chances in court
5. Kaepernick said repeatedly that his protest wasn’t an affront to the military or United States veterans. He began taking a knee SPECIFICALLY out of respect to veterans. He was originally sitting on the bench during the anthem.
6. I’m glad this thing is finally over.

The NFL Players Association also shared a statement, after the jump:

Continue Reading

Mike Francesa, who retired for something like 10 minutes before returning to WFAN, is giving the Joe Flacco trade the seal of approval.

I personally did not really “get” it, since Flacco is 34 years old and coming off a hip injury. His numbers have declined over the last three seasons, but the Broncos are giving a shot, sending Baltimore a 4th round pick for the former Super Bowl winner.

Said Mike:

Mike Francesa LOVES the move John Elway made in acquiring Joe Flacco. Why does he love it? Because when Elway picks a quarterback, you should pay attention!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I keep telling you guys that Mike doesn't watch sports anymore. pic.twitter.com/fvKYlLQGBI

— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) February 14, 2019

Transcription after the jump:

Continue Reading

…then Nick Foles is worth at least a third.

Yes?

No?

The Bronco are trading for the Ravens’ 34-year-old Super Bowl winning quarterback, a guy who injured his hip and lost his starting job to Lamar Jackson nine games into this past season.

Denver hasn’t had much luck with quarterbacks since the departure of Peyton Manning, and a quick scan of social media and instant-reaction articles seems to suggest that people don’t think this is a great move for the Broncos. Flacco is in his mid-thirties and hasn’t exactly put up stellar numbers over the last three seasons.

But Eagles fans don’t care about that. This is more about setting the quarterback trade market, and if a 34-year-old former Super Bowl winner is good enough for a 4th round pick, then surely a 30-year-old former Super Bowl winner is worth at least a third. That’s the approximate value the Eagles would expect to get back by putting the franchise tag on Foles and trading him.

That brings me to this:

Broncos did kick tires on Foles, but Flacco was deemed better fit. Why? One, Flacco has played considerably under center. Scanagrello offense will have QB under center plenty. Foles more shotgun-spread QB in Philly. And if Foles gets $25M+, Flacco better value at $18.5M. #9sports

— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) February 13, 2019

Huh? Alright.

This does, of course, eliminate the Broncos as a landing spot for Foles, but it also narrows the veteran QB options that are out there for a team like Jacksonville. Maybe they’d part with a third for Nick’s services.

Continue Reading

SHOULD THE EAGLES GO GET HIM?!

Sorry, I already did that joke today.

The Steelers wide receiver shared this today:

Thank you SteelerNation for a big 9 years…time to move on and forward……….✌🏽 #NewDemands pic.twitter.com/fbIoFNdqK4

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) February 12, 2019

Huh? Is he gone? Released? Traded?

Schefter clarifies, after the jawn:

Continue Reading