HoosierCat

Wright is fine but predicated on moving Jonah, which seems more fantasy than reality right now. Better choices available in that event. Stevenson is meh, again better choices available. Kuntz is a developmental prospect in round 3 - no. Gray is slow Mixon.

My guess: Perine signing in Denver eliminated any chance Mixon would be cut. Taylor’s strong pushback on the Zeke rumor and the “we like our team” comment were imho aimed squarely at quashing any remaining thoughts that they’d let Mixon go. I expect they will draft a back in the first four rounds with the hope of moving on from Mixon next year (cap hit $13m vs. dead money $3m).

Chad Reuter goes four rounds deep and oh my gawd is it awful. https://www.nfl.com/news/four-round-2023-nfl-mock-draft-1-0-qbs-go-1-2-3-after-colts-trade-up If this was their draft, I’d be screaming. And not in excitement.

A vet backup would be ideal, but it appears it won't be Zeke. Apparently the whole report was BS.

So now the NFL's competition committee has released its own proposed changes to the rules. They didn't endorse any of the proposals made by various teams covered in the OP. Instead they proposed these: The punt thing, fine, standardize it at the 25 like kickoffs. The fair catch thing...y'know at this point I'd just say just eliminate kickoffs and returns and put the ball at the 25. It's what they clearly want to do, so quit picking around the edges. Owners will give thumbs up/down to these and all the team proposals next week.

So the Lamar circus has spun out another clown car in the form of a memo from the NFL to teams instructing them not to negotiate with one of his business partners, Ken Francis. Full story here. Following the report, Francis denied negotiating on Lamar's behalf and Jackson tweeted a denial as well. To which I can only say: LOL.

I still think Fournette would be a better fit but fine.

Jalin Hyatt?

Interesting. Bengals tried to sign Cooper Rush. https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/report-bengals-came-close-to-adding-cowboys-quarterback-cooper-rush-in-free-agency

To my mind WR is something of a sleeper possibility at 28. It’s not a great class but holding on to Higgins is going to be difficult and I wouldn’t put the odds at better than 50/50. I’ve seen a few mocks where Zay Flowers slips. That seems unlikely in reality but if it happened I would have got think about it. Also TJ’s rant would be epic.

Based on FA, I think it was always a likely choice, if not the most likely choice, barring a run on the top guys earlier in the round. If they really wanted a vet TE they could have had their pick. Tough break for Moreau. Best of luck to him in his fight.

Yeah, swapping picks is an option as well and I like it better than a late round scrub too. Lots of options. As for Jonah being disgruntled, I mean, clearly he is. How that impacts his play, I dunno. Yes, you would think he’d ball out to maximize his value in 2024, and if he stays I’m hoping that’s the case. But we won’t know until September.

Flowers reportedly visited with Atlanta yesterday.

I highly doubt the Bengals would be willing to take on any salary. $12 million for a starting tackle is cheap and if a team wants to lower his cap hit, all they have to do is give him a new deal. If the trade is for picks, I wouldn’t expect anything better than a 5th this year. Maaaybe a late 4th/comp pick 4th if the team has one. Bengals have no real leverage here. Either they move Jonah for whatever they can get, or keep a disgruntled guy with a $12 million cap hit for one year, after which he leaves and they get nothing. If they are willing to trade him for future picks they might be able to improve things by a round, so maybe a 4th with a possibility it could improve to a 3rd if he plays 80% of snaps, makes the pro bowl, grows a third arm, etc. Hopefully they get a first for him and make me look dumb but that’s how I see it.

Jonah trade rumors pot bubbling, allegedly “several” interested clubs, still nothing concrete. https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-trade-talks-involving-jonah-134156107.html

Well, maybe. Or maybe — just maybe, mind you — Mikey (who last time I saw was said to be worth just under a billion) & Co. are…how to put this…somewhat exaggerating the size of the void in that piggybank. As to the issue of cap space it’s important to remember that Joe already counts more than $11 million against this year’s cap and $29.5 million against 2024’s. So while squeezing in his monster contract won’t be easy, they’ve got $40 million in space to work with before they need to find new room.

Who knows, but imo too many people are entitled whackjobs who take sports (and movies and other stuff, all fandoms seems to be becoming ever more toxic) way too seriously. Remember the infamous trash dumped on Carson’s lawn? For all we know some jackass is out there looking for trouble because Mixon cost him in his fantasy league last year. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a public figure today. Crazies are everywhere.

***damn rookie pool! That bastard!

So…if the reports of Lamar wanting a fully guaranteed deal were ever true, they apparently are not any more. From CBS: Also, a (checks calendar) week after FA opened, Lamar has decided it’s time to begin: Fast off the mark, I see. Also also, it’s not Lamar himself reaching out but a “representative.” So he doesn’t have an agent except maybe he sort of does now? The pft story linked says he’s now repped by someone “not certified by the NFLPA.” Also that the $200m number may be his guarantee demand, with more unguaranteed coin beyond. Anyhow, maybe we will see some movement here, our maybe not, who knows. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/lamar-jackson-representative-reaches-out-to-teams-tells-them-qb-is-ready-to-move-on-from-ravens-per-report/

The TE market is utterly dead (I mean Schultz ended up taking a one year deal with Houston, I believe) so I’m sure that’s part of the problem.

Yeah, I give zero shits about run blocking at TE. Pass protection, yes, and it appears he is fine there. I just want someone signed before the draft so they have options.

That’s because he was a massive bust. Here’s a recap of his time in Buffalo. He makes Carmen look like a good choice.

Prisco nets us Kincaid in his first mock. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/priscos-2023-nfl-mock-draft-1-0-qbs-fly-off-board-as-four-go-in-top-5-cowboys-replace-ezekiel-elliott/

Moreau is just 25, is crazy athletic, has four years of nfl experience and played with Joe at LSU in 2018. It just makes way too much sense.

Mel goes with Darnell Washington in his third mock. Mayer and Kincaid go earlier. Steelers take a corner (Banks) and Baltimore gets Zay Flowers. https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2023/insider/story/_/id/35898637/2023-nfl-mock-draft-mel-kiper-post-free-agency-first-round-predictions-31-picks-third-version