Well, 30 of 32 teams are already in offseason mode, and rather than hijacking another playoff round thread I decided to start the offseason thread now. Jerry Jones said today that he's going "all in" in 2024 and I wonder what the heck that could possibly mean. Are we getting Maverick Jerry back? Are we eating Dak's 60 million cap hit and have him play in a contract year like McCarthy? Will he go crazy in free agency and the draft? Are we getting 2000s Maverick Jerry or the 2010s version that is more moderate? This could be fun...or completely miserable and there's no middle point. Two coaching vacancies remain. Ben Johnson just said he's coming back with the Lions, Bellichick still doesn't have a job. It will be an interesting 6 months. Let the fun begin.
Seahawks are hiring Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike McDonald as their new head coach. He should be glad he won't have more valiant defensive efforts wasted by Lamar Jackson. The Washington team is the last one to have a coaching vacancy...unless the 49ers fire Kyle Shanahan for falling short yet again and (possibly) choking away yet another super bowl. Unlikely but not 100% impossible.
Washington is hiring Dan Quinn as their next head coach...thank you very much!! Quinn is yet another coach who never adjusts no matter if the world is falling apart. Remember that 28-3 debacle in the Super bowl? It was him (with a little help from Kyle Shanahan). In all our playoff losses with him teams were just running all over our defense who was on dime and nickel the whole time. He never adjusted...I'm starting to wonder if he never noticed. So now we have two former coordinators in the division. This could be a dream come true...or a nightmare. We shall see. I wonder if Bellichick would be willing to be Defensive Coordinator and Coach in waiting. Maybe not, but couldn't hurt to ask...
Damn...last year the Commanders had the 32nd ranked defense by yards, points, and EPA. Hey, here's an idea!! Let's bring their former coach to be our new defensive coordinator!!! - Jerry Jones...probably...going all in (rolleyes).
The Eagles will open next season on a Friday night in Brazil. Opponent is not announced yet. After how bad they were screwed on the schedule last year there is no doubt that this will count as one of their home games. I dislike it being on opening weekend because these international games feel gimmicky. It won't feel like true football to me.
I thought you only gave up home games the years you have 9, since the schedule moved to an unbalanced, ugly 17 game season. Mexico City games were cancelled or postponed due to Azteca Stadium going through renovations to host the World Cup in 2026. Tickets are impossible to get, anyway, so who gives a f**k...
Ahh there it is. Soon there will be enough international games that every team that has 9 home games will give up one. That way everybody will only have 8 home games. It's only fair...
After how unfair the Eagles schedule was last year, the least they could have done was let them have 9 true home games. I guess they were so bad at the end of last season though that they don't even want them in the country.
After interviewing Rex Ryan (God help me), the Cowboys have hired Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator. He was DC before taking the Vikings head coaching job with overall good results, but I expected something else after the "going all-in" comments by Jerry. Oh, well...at least they didn't hire Ryan, I guess...
Speaking of international games, a game in Madrid has been confirmed for 2025 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of another one of my teams: Real Madrid. The team has spent a fortune rebuilding the stadium, making a state of the art facility with a retractable roof and all that... So now we have England, Germany, Mexico (at least after the 2026 world cup), Brazil and now Spain, with China, Australia and France showing interest. I expect every team to have an international game by the 2030s.
Eagles have give permission to Hassan Reddick to seek a trade. Just wonderful. I can’t imagine how few sacks they will have without him. Pay the man.
You can't build a championship team when you're paying your QB 50+ million per year. Unless you're the Chiefs and that QB is Mahomes, of course...
49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks because something has to take the fall for the Super Bowl loss and it damn sure won't be Kyle Shanahan. Incredibly late in the hiring cycle...maybe Zim and McCarthy can have a talk with him...
The salary cap for 2024 has been announced: 255 million per team, a record 30 million increase relative to last year. The Cowboys are now 3 million over the cap instead of the projected 15. That's nice and gives more room to make moves. The Eagles are 32 million under the cap now. Impressive, given Hurts' contract. Of course none of it matters because I just remembered the salary cap is not real.
So Jimmy Johnson is now part of some "advisory board" that Jerry Jones set up in the Cowboys front office. I just think it would be hilarious if the Cowboys finally get over the hump this year. It will prove that after 30 years of trying, Jerry Jones cannot win a Super Bowl without Jimmy Johnson. And a lot of people (me included) will make sure he never forgets that.
It's tuesday, which usually means I read Peter King's column (formerly MMQB, nowadays FMIA) and he announced his retirement this week. I just realized I have been reading him ever since I discovered the internet a couple of decades ago...23 years if I'm not mistaken. Tuesdays will never be the same. What am I supposed to read now?
On friday Stephen Jones said that he had no doubt in his mind that future HOF and free agent to be Tyron Smith will be back with the Cowboys this season as he's a leader and an integral part of the offense. On saturday it was reported that Smith is expected to hit free agency because both sides are so far apart. What a way to make business by these guys. How the heck did Jerry become a billionaire in the first place?
