How to Spend to Receive

Going into Free Agency it was thought next to QB’s, the cost to protect them (Offensive Tackles, especially on the blind side) or defeat them (edge rushers) were the most expensive NFL acquisitions. This Free agency period may be proving that wrong…

Christian Kirk, by all expectations a “B” or “B+” receiver, signed a 4 year, 72M contract with Jacksonville. Davante Adams received 28M per year from the Raiders. Tyreek Hill was traded to Miami per their willingness to sign him to what appears a 4 year contract worth 120M (72M+ guaranteed).

Eagles Lesson: These numbers will dramatically affect the draft, where top tier & 2^nd tier receiver talent will almost imperceptibly bubble up draft boards. It will be quite surprising if the Eagles do not acquire a receiver in rounds or 2 of this ’22 draft to lock in another rookie salary for a key receiver for 4 or 5 years.

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Derek Stingley Jr.

First round draft prospect Derek Stingley Jr. is a paradox. The LSU cornerback had an incredible freshman season, a clear top of the 1 st round talent even that young. But since… not so much. A combination of injuries and COVID have forced his stock down in this year’s NFL draft. Injuries have limited him to 10 games over 2 seasons since the 15 he played his freshman year. And based upon past performance, opposing offenses have shied away from attacking him, thus yielding less tape to evaluate: The Good (from his freshman tape): He had speed, quickness and recovery speed. He had great coverage technique in breaking with opposing receivers. He brought physicality and proper hand use in coverage. He was a playmaker… He had 6 interceptions. He was an All America cornerback in both 2019 and 2020 He’s the 2 nd highest ranked corner in this draft. A good performance in his pro day on 4/6 could vault him to #1. The Bad: While he c...

When to Overpay

Managing a football team is about allocation of resources, AND timing. All teams can look at some of their current players and say ” Yes, we overspent to acquire him. ” The next sentence is the critical one. Is it “ Boy, am I glad we did ” or is it “ We need to avoid those kinds of mistakes moving forward? ” Currently, DK Metcalf is entering the final year of a rookie contract that will pay him 4M. The 2019 2 nd rounder is 358-3170-29 (Catches-Yards-TDs) in 3 seasons on 358 targets (60% catch%). Seattle, in rebuilding mode, will listen to offers. “Sticker shock,” given recent critical free agent or post-trade wide receiver signings will have the Seattle brain trust consider an asking price for Metcalf (Otherwise, they’ll need to deal with the reality that Davante Adams and Tyrone Hill got near 30M/Year as 2 of a very short list of “best” NFL receivers, while Christian Kirk’s new 20M/Year contract is for a guy actually a tier below Metc...

Birds had to fly high to beat Motor City Roar, 38-35

Game 1 thoughts… If anyone thinks the HBO show “Hard Knocks” has run its course after 20+ seasons, reference a raucous sold-out home crowd in the Motor City’s game 1 Eagle affair after being dead last in attendance last year! The show was a credit to what the Lions are doing in building what will eventually be a winner, and it showed! The defense had 4 consecutive series that went- 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, Interception returned for TD. Aside from those series, the defense was horrible, both before and after. A combination of poor game planning, sloppy tackling, scheme deficiencies and poor coaching were to blame. Poor game planning: The strength of the Lions offense is their offensive line , and, commensurate with that, they indicated confidence in their terrific starting running back (D’Andre Swift). Gannon’s defense played an attacking 4 man front that took the Eagles good quality defensive linemen out of position against the equally tal...

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