OFFICIAL NFL Discussion Thread: 2015-16 Season - Congrats to the Denver Broncos and their fans! SB 5

[Hahahaha]

They said Von wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league. Everyone knew he was gonna get the tag.

 

[polosanddunks]

They said Von wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league. Everyone knew he was gonna get the tag.

Not me. The way Elway is able to get things done and what he has on his plate. I guess all the pieces didnt fall how he wanted on people restructuring contracts (Clady and Ware). So he had to tag.

 

[rolaholic]

Mario Williams was released

Woah...

Anyone but the Fins...

 

[Chester McFloppy]

@ESPNNFL
Kirk Cousins will earn $19.95 million this season playing under the franchise tag

:x

 

[stillin729]

Did you ever imagine that the Deadskins would be franchising Cousins and cutting RG3?

 

[rolaholic]

Shanahan won the war

 

[dragicon]

It's interesting that Norman, cousins, and Miller are all getting the franchise. They must have all been asking for crazy contracts. The teams are basically saying, we believe your last season is an outlier, and you won't be as good next year.

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Raiders are on the rise

The Ol' Gunslinger > the

Eric berry or Eric Weddle.

Berry is 27 but will cost more
Weddle gonna be 31 be a lot cheaper.

Either is an upgrade over Nate Allen

 

[youngthundercat]

 

@ESPNNFL
Kirk Cousins will earn $19.95 million this season playing under the franchise tag

0-26 gets you 20 milli a year. 

 

[sb]

Come back, Peyton. The Broncos need you.

y u do dis.

Come to Oakland, Malik.

you dont have to do this.

 

[rolaholic]

Damn so we've got Broncos fans who are also sick of #18?

 

[HNL HI]

its obvious he's not the same player.

 

[Chester McFloppy]

Peyton looked like **** last year, can you blame them?

He never 'snapped out of it' - that's just where his level of play is at right now

 

[nick.]

It's interesting that Norman, cousins, and Miller are all getting the franchise. They must have all been asking for crazy contracts. The teams are basically saying, we believe your last season is an outlier, and you won't be as good next year.

one of those names is not like the others

 

[buc em]

Von Miller absolutely should be a top 3 paid defensive player in the league. Especially after that Super Bowl performance.

 

[rolaholic]

Should be #1...no one's winning anything with JJ or Donkey Kong Suh

Different situations I know but his impact is arguably unparalleled right now

 

[illoquent aka dsk]

@FieldYates
If Kirk Cousins plays on the franchise tag this season, he’ll have the highest base salary for any QB in the NFL in 2016: $19.953M. 

Get ya money, pleighboi. 

I don't 'eem see it as a bad move by the 'Skins. Clearly overpaying in the short term, but it's better than tying up a bunch of guaranteed money for X amount of years on a guy the jury is still out on. 

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Peyton need to just go ahead and retire. Nothing to think.


He's one of the goats but father time has been banging on his door. That time is coming for Brady and Brees pretty soon. It might be that time for Romo.

 

[Chester McFloppy]

@FieldYates

If Kirk Cousins plays on the franchise tag this season, he’ll have the highest base salary for any QB in the NFL in 2016: $19.953M. 

Get ya money, pleighboi. 

I don't 'eem see it as a bad move by the 'Skins. Clearly overpaying in the short term, but it's better than tying up a bunch of guaranteed money for X amount of years on a guy the jury is still out on. 

Up to Kirk now to prove his worth.

Can you imagine if they get rid of RGIII and Kirk ends up falling flat on his face this year? Skins would be starting back at square one.

 

[rolaholic]

Breezus still had it before getting hurt last year

 

[stillin729]

I can't wait for RG3 vs. Cousins the first time Dallas plays Washington

 

[jpzx]

Top 8 Free Agent Edge Defenders

via Pro Football Focus

Last season saw a bumper crop of free agent edge defenders (4-3 defensive ends, 3-4 outside linebackers), and though half of our top 10 re-signed with their current team, there was still plenty of impact from the likes of Pernell McPhee (87.6) and Jabaal Sheard (88.6), who did change teams.

This season, we once again have genuine top-tier, game-changing pass-rushers set to hit the open market, with teams eager to tie up their own players, leaving other teams to find impact players ready to emerge from the second tier of free agency.

(Editor’s note: This list was updated on March 1, 2016, upon news that the Broncos and Dolphins had tagged Von Miller and Olivier Vernon, respectively.)

1. Jason Pierre-Paul
2015 team: New York Giants

2015 grade: 81.1

2015 snaps: 511

A Fourth of July fireworks accident robbed Pierre-Paul of half of his season under the franchise tag, and while he only registered one sack after his return, he was still a productive pass rusher over the second half of the year. Racking up 14 pressures in his first two games of the season against Tampa Bay (two hits, four hurries) and New England (one hit, seven hurries), Pierre-Paul set the stage for a productive second half, collecting 41 pressures from his Week 9 return, bettered by only four 4-3 defensive ends in that time period. Pierre-Paul was in search of a long term deal last year, as well, and both the accident and his low sack count upon his return will surely count against him earning the kind of deal he was originally seeking. He has proven that his loss of digits has not inhibited his ability as an edge defender to pressure the quarterback, but ultimately, the name of the game for a pass rusher comes down to sacking the quarterback, and if Pierre-Paul is limited by his injuries, then his value will be diminished.

4. Robert Ayers
2015 team: New York Giants

2015 grade: 88.5

2015 snaps: 581

In spite of proving to be an extremely productive pass rusher since struggling in his first two years with the Broncos, Ayers hasn’t managed to parlay that into a more expanded role in the Giants’ defense, as he now heads north of 30 years of age. Ayers career-high in snaps came back in 2011, and tacking on his age, a lucrative multi-year deal may well be out of his reach. However, what Ayers does bring is relentless pass-rush when he is on the field, and that should be attractive to plenty of suitors if a big deal is off the table. In his two years with the Giants, Ayers has racked up 94 pressures (15 sacks, 25 hits, and 54 hurries) on 602 pass rushes—one of the most productive 4-3 defensive ends on a per snap basis over that spell. The Giants would be well served to retain Ayers’ services.

5. William Hayes
2015 team: St. Louis Rams

2015 grade: 85.8

2015 snaps: 597

There are only so many headlines to go around for any football team, let alone a defensive line as talented as the Rams’, but their most consistent performer over the last four years has been William Hayes. After hinting at his ability in Tennessee with up and down seasons, Hayes has been a consistent performer in a backup role for the Rams, topping 20 pressures every season and topping 40 pressures for the first time this season. Hayes has flourished in an expanded role in the last two seasons (554 snaps in 2014, 597 snaps in 2015) and will now seek the full-time starting role that has thus far eluded him in his career.

6. Derrick Shelby
2015 team: Miami Dolphins

2015 grade: 82.9

2015 snaps: 861

Olivier Vernon wasn’t the only player to capitalize on Cameron Wake’s absence due to injury over the second half of the season in Miami. Shelby almost matched his playing time from the last two seasons combined, while setting career-highs in sacks, hits, hurries, batted passes, and stops in the process. Crucially for Shelby, he proved himself to be more than just a stout run defender with a series of productive performances as a pass rusher over the second half of the season, earning multiple pressures in seven of his nine starts. This opportunity was perfectly timed for Shelby, who, with attention likely to be on Vernon in Miami, could well hit the open market.

7. Greg Hardy
2015 team: Dallas Cowboys

2015 grade: 81.9

2015 snaps: 610

Just as with a year ago, this is a balancing act for teams to measure Hardy’s on-field impact against his well-documented off-field baggage. Productive when he played this year, Hardy proved why teams are willing to bend for talented pass rushers. But even with Hardy’s remarkable pass-rushing skills, few teams seemed willing to entertain Hardy’s price tag a year ago, and he may not have any leverage to get anything more than another incentive-laden deal for 2016.

8. Nick Perry
2015 team: Green Bay Packers

2015 grade: 73.2

2015 snaps: 411

Perry has failed to live up to his billing as a first-round pick in Green Bay. He has never even played 500 snaps in a single season, and he has only topped 20 pressures twice in his four-year career. The one thing he does have in his favor is a knack for sacking the quarterback when he does generate pressure. Of his 78 career pressures, 20 have been sacks, and that conversion rate was even better this season, with eight of his 21 pressures converted into sacks. Capable of multi-pressure games in isolation, his lack of consistency from game to game should be a red flag for any team seeking a starter.

9. Jason Jones
2015 team: Detroit Lions

2015 grade: 76.6

2015 snaps: 556

Jones has never re-discovered the form he showed early in his career that peaked with a stellar 2010 season with the Titans, but he was productive over the last two seasons in Detroit, racking up 82 pressures (12 sacks, 17 hits, 53 hurries) on 748 pass rushes after seeing his 2013 season cut short (just 87 snaps). Jones’ run defense has never been up to the standards you might expect of a defensive end his size, and that may limit his value on the open market. A steady performer, Jones would benefit from being in a rotational role to maximize his effectiveness, rather than expecting him to be consistently productive in a full-time starters’ role.

10. Jeremy Mincey
2015 team: Dallas Cowboys

2015 grade: 72.9

2015 snaps: 386

Mincey was marginalized in Dallas this season with the arrival of Greg Hardy and DeMarcus Lawrence’s emergence, but his form in the previous five seasons—and isolated performances this season—would suggest that there is still some value for teams to get out of Mincey on a short-term deal. Mincey’s highest-graded season as a pass rusher came in 2014 for the Cowboys when he racked up 58 pressures as the unheralded leader of the Dallas pass rush as they clinched the NFC East crown. Don’t expect a heated battle for Mincey’s signature, but a shrewd team looking for production on a short-term deal will get good value from the former sixth-round pick.

Wild cards
Aldon Smith (OAK) and Junior Galette (WAS)

Both players have either off-field or injury headaches (both in Galette’s case), but in a quarterback driven league, teams need players that can get after the passer. Multiple teams have shown that they will do everything they can to accommodate talented, but troubled, pass rushers. Expect these two to get incentive-laden deals similar to the structure of Greg Hardy’s 2015 deal in Dallas that allows the player to earn their worth, but leaving the teams off the hook for longer term deals with more guaranteed money.

 

[polosanddunks]

It's interesting that Norman, cousins, and Miller are all getting the franchise. They must have all been asking for crazy contracts. The teams are basically saying, we believe your last season is an outlier, and you won't be as good next year.

Def for Kirk. Did he even beat a team over .500?

 

[spacedoodoo]

 

[polosanddunks]

Should be #1...no one's winning anything with JJ or Donkey Kong Suh

Different situations I know but his impact is arguably unparalleled right now

at donky kong Suh. I thought JJ should be #1 but after he left the game like a *** cuz they were getting blown out I smh