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http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/16/nfl-combine-mike-mayock-draft-prospects/
Todd Rosenberg/Sports Illustrated/The MMQB
Welcome to the Combine
A blip on the NFL calendar a decade ago, the annual showcase of prospects has turned into a money-making circus watched by millions. Draft guru Mike Mayock explains the popularity boom and shares five storylines he'll follow in Indianapolis
By Peter King
Sam Bradford’s salary cap number in 2015 is $2.58 million more than Tom Brady’s. According to Spotrac, Bradford’s number is $16.58 million (which the Rams are intent on lowering); Brady, $14 million.
There are 14 quarterbacks with higher scheduled cap numbers in 2015 than Brady.
Saints linebacker Junior Galette ($15.45 million) has a higher cap number in 2015 than Brady. Dwayne Bowe ($14 million) has the same cap number. Galette had 10 sacks for the Saints last year. Bowe had zero touchdown catches, and is on a 17-game touchdown-less streak.
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“Coach [Don] Shula was a hero of mine, and he still is. Coming where I came from, my respect for him overrode anything about that Super Bowl III game. Coach Shula and I have been together many times now, and I never opened my mouth about that game unless he brought it up or somebody else brought it up. I remember when I was first doing some color for TV, I went down to the Dolphins practice, and I took my father with me.
At the time, my dad might have been in his 70s or early 80s. And coach Shula put his arm around my father, and those guys start talking Hungarian. And I tell you what, he made my daddy feel so darn good. It was wonderful. We have never talked about the Super Bowl, and we don’t need to. We both moved on. One of the things I have said to other people and I said to you, too: it is the players on the field, for the most part, that execute.
That team was so highly touted; they had accomplished so much that year in the NFL. They were called the best NFL team ever, the best defense ever, and I think they were overconfident. And if I am wrong—no, I know I am not. They were overconfident. And our guys, our team, our players, with our determination and urgency, outplayed them, and that was that.”
—Joe Namath, to Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB, in Vrentas’ weekly “Talking Football” interview on Friday.
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I am not purposely advocating for Peyton Manning here, but I am going to come down on one side of a question beginning to get some attention in Denver: Should Peyton Manning, who will be 39-and-a-half years old on opening day, take a pay cut from his scheduled $19 million salary in 2015 to stay a Bronco?
Those who would say yes would point to the fact that Manning looked 49-and-a-half down the stretch of the season, when he was plagued by leg injuries. And when you age, you are susceptible to getting hurt more.
Those who would say no, like me, would use this statistic for evidence:
Touchdown pass leaders since 20121. Peyton Manning (131)2. Drew Brees (115)3. Aaron Rodgers (94)4. Tony Romo (93)5. Tom Brady (92)
There is only one quarterback, then, within 35 touchdown passes of Manning since he began playing for the Broncos in 2012.
I think the odds of Peyton Manning returning to the Broncos increased from 65 percent to 85 percent the other day, when Manning met with GM John Elway and, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, told Elway he wants to play in 2015.
I think the Broncos definitely want Manning back for 2015. Take that to the bank. John Elway knows Denver’s best chance to go deep in the playoffs in 2015 is with Manning at quarterback. Elway and the Broncos might quietly rattle some sabers about lowering Manning’s salary in 2015. Now, if they want to lower Manning’s cap number, that would be easy to do—by putting, for example, some of his $19 million salary in a guaranteed bonus.
But to me, Manning making $21.5 million on the Denver cap—15 percent of the Broncos’ 2015 total cap—is not excessive. And if I were Elway, I wouldn’t push very much into 2016 or beyond, knowing this very well could be Manning’s last season in Denver. You don’t want to carry a lot of dead money that will hurt your ability to manage a cap well down the road.
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I think Roger Goodell would be a more popular commissioner—and God knows he needs to work on that this offseason—if he told the league’s compensation committee: “Just pay me $10 million next year.” He earned $44 million in 2012, and tax statements obtained by Sports Business Journal and The New York Times Friday indicate his compensation package for 2013 was $35 million. (The compensation committee determines the commissioner’s compensation package for one year in the following April.)
A man should be able to earn what he is worth in this country; far be it from me to limit what a person can fairly be paid. But to me, Goodell’s earnings package is tone-deaf. Being compensated exactly double what the NFL MVP, Peyton Manning, made in 2013 ($15 million in salary, $2.5 million in pro-rated bonus, $17.5 million total) is just another reason for enmity to rise in those who think Goodell’s done precious little to earn it—whether he has or not.
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I think that was smart of Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, to divest himself of play-calling duties and hand them to Tom Clements. McCarthy still will have his fingerprints all over the offensive game plan, and surely he’ll hang on to the ability to overrule Clements if he doesn’t like a call.
One of the things Jason Garrett found in Dallas last season, in ceding play-calling on offense, was that it gave him more of a chance to be the coach of 53 players, not just the 25 (give or take a few) on offense. McCarthy needs to be more involved on special teams, where the Packers were a disaster last year.
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I think the Vikings appear to be laying out the red carpet (purple carpet?) for Adrian Peterson to return to the team. Co-owner Mark Wilf and COO Kevin Warren both have said they would welcome back Peterson once he finishes his NFL-mandated discipline; Peterson is suspended until at least April 15. But it’s too soon to say Peterson will be back in purple. He’s been open in saying he’s not sure if he wants to return, and if spring comes around and he tells the club he thinks it would be better if they split, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.
As a free agent, Peterson would be in solid demand, I would think. Dallas would be the leader in the clubhouse, if DeMarco Murray is not franchised and his price tag is too high for the cap-strapped Cowboys. But again, that’s if Murray isn’t there, and I still think the Cowboys have a good chance to work out a deal with Murray.
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I think it comes through loud and clear in Jim Harbaugh’s interview with Tim Kawakami that, right or wrong, Harbaugh thinks Jim Tomsula lobbied for the job and/or wasn’t loyal to him before the end of the 2014 season. We’ll see how that fares with Harbaugh loyalists who are left behind, but it bears watching.
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I think for those up in arms about Richie Incognito signing to play football again (in Buffalo, for Rex Ryan), I would say this: Incognito has sat out a year-and-a-half of football. Banned, in effect, for 24 games. (That’s the final eight games of 2013, after the bullying scandal broke in Miami, due to a team suspension; and then all 16 games in 2014, when he went unsigned because he was so radioactive.)
If you wanted Incognito banned for life because of his reprehensible behavior, 24 games won’t be enough for you. It is enough for me. Missing more than 1.5 years for an intense and offensive bullying of another player, to me, would be excessive; 24 borders on the excessive.
*********************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/16/nfl-combine-mike-mayock-draft-prospects/
Todd Rosenberg/Sports Illustrated/The MMQB
Welcome to the Combine
A blip on the NFL calendar a decade ago, the annual showcase of prospects has turned into a money-making circus watched by millions. Draft guru Mike Mayock explains the popularity boom and shares five storylines he'll follow in Indianapolis
By Peter King
Sam Bradford’s salary cap number in 2015 is $2.58 million more than Tom Brady’s. According to Spotrac, Bradford’s number is $16.58 million (which the Rams are intent on lowering); Brady, $14 million.
There are 14 quarterbacks with higher scheduled cap numbers in 2015 than Brady.
Saints linebacker Junior Galette ($15.45 million) has a higher cap number in 2015 than Brady. Dwayne Bowe ($14 million) has the same cap number. Galette had 10 sacks for the Saints last year. Bowe had zero touchdown catches, and is on a 17-game touchdown-less streak.
------------
“Coach [Don] Shula was a hero of mine, and he still is. Coming where I came from, my respect for him overrode anything about that Super Bowl III game. Coach Shula and I have been together many times now, and I never opened my mouth about that game unless he brought it up or somebody else brought it up. I remember when I was first doing some color for TV, I went down to the Dolphins practice, and I took my father with me.
At the time, my dad might have been in his 70s or early 80s. And coach Shula put his arm around my father, and those guys start talking Hungarian. And I tell you what, he made my daddy feel so darn good. It was wonderful. We have never talked about the Super Bowl, and we don’t need to. We both moved on. One of the things I have said to other people and I said to you, too: it is the players on the field, for the most part, that execute.
That team was so highly touted; they had accomplished so much that year in the NFL. They were called the best NFL team ever, the best defense ever, and I think they were overconfident. And if I am wrong—no, I know I am not. They were overconfident. And our guys, our team, our players, with our determination and urgency, outplayed them, and that was that.”
—Joe Namath, to Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB, in Vrentas’ weekly “Talking Football” interview on Friday.
------------
I am not purposely advocating for Peyton Manning here, but I am going to come down on one side of a question beginning to get some attention in Denver: Should Peyton Manning, who will be 39-and-a-half years old on opening day, take a pay cut from his scheduled $19 million salary in 2015 to stay a Bronco?
Those who would say yes would point to the fact that Manning looked 49-and-a-half down the stretch of the season, when he was plagued by leg injuries. And when you age, you are susceptible to getting hurt more.
Those who would say no, like me, would use this statistic for evidence:
Touchdown pass leaders since 20121. Peyton Manning (131)2. Drew Brees (115)3. Aaron Rodgers (94)4. Tony Romo (93)5. Tom Brady (92)
There is only one quarterback, then, within 35 touchdown passes of Manning since he began playing for the Broncos in 2012.
I think the odds of Peyton Manning returning to the Broncos increased from 65 percent to 85 percent the other day, when Manning met with GM John Elway and, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, told Elway he wants to play in 2015.
I think the Broncos definitely want Manning back for 2015. Take that to the bank. John Elway knows Denver’s best chance to go deep in the playoffs in 2015 is with Manning at quarterback. Elway and the Broncos might quietly rattle some sabers about lowering Manning’s salary in 2015. Now, if they want to lower Manning’s cap number, that would be easy to do—by putting, for example, some of his $19 million salary in a guaranteed bonus.
But to me, Manning making $21.5 million on the Denver cap—15 percent of the Broncos’ 2015 total cap—is not excessive. And if I were Elway, I wouldn’t push very much into 2016 or beyond, knowing this very well could be Manning’s last season in Denver. You don’t want to carry a lot of dead money that will hurt your ability to manage a cap well down the road.
-----------
I think Roger Goodell would be a more popular commissioner—and God knows he needs to work on that this offseason—if he told the league’s compensation committee: “Just pay me $10 million next year.” He earned $44 million in 2012, and tax statements obtained by Sports Business Journal and The New York Times Friday indicate his compensation package for 2013 was $35 million. (The compensation committee determines the commissioner’s compensation package for one year in the following April.)
A man should be able to earn what he is worth in this country; far be it from me to limit what a person can fairly be paid. But to me, Goodell’s earnings package is tone-deaf. Being compensated exactly double what the NFL MVP, Peyton Manning, made in 2013 ($15 million in salary, $2.5 million in pro-rated bonus, $17.5 million total) is just another reason for enmity to rise in those who think Goodell’s done precious little to earn it—whether he has or not.
----------
I think that was smart of Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, to divest himself of play-calling duties and hand them to Tom Clements. McCarthy still will have his fingerprints all over the offensive game plan, and surely he’ll hang on to the ability to overrule Clements if he doesn’t like a call.
One of the things Jason Garrett found in Dallas last season, in ceding play-calling on offense, was that it gave him more of a chance to be the coach of 53 players, not just the 25 (give or take a few) on offense. McCarthy needs to be more involved on special teams, where the Packers were a disaster last year.
----------
I think the Vikings appear to be laying out the red carpet (purple carpet?) for Adrian Peterson to return to the team. Co-owner Mark Wilf and COO Kevin Warren both have said they would welcome back Peterson once he finishes his NFL-mandated discipline; Peterson is suspended until at least April 15. But it’s too soon to say Peterson will be back in purple. He’s been open in saying he’s not sure if he wants to return, and if spring comes around and he tells the club he thinks it would be better if they split, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.
As a free agent, Peterson would be in solid demand, I would think. Dallas would be the leader in the clubhouse, if DeMarco Murray is not franchised and his price tag is too high for the cap-strapped Cowboys. But again, that’s if Murray isn’t there, and I still think the Cowboys have a good chance to work out a deal with Murray.
-----------
I think it comes through loud and clear in Jim Harbaugh’s interview with Tim Kawakami that, right or wrong, Harbaugh thinks Jim Tomsula lobbied for the job and/or wasn’t loyal to him before the end of the 2014 season. We’ll see how that fares with Harbaugh loyalists who are left behind, but it bears watching.
---------
I think for those up in arms about Richie Incognito signing to play football again (in Buffalo, for Rex Ryan), I would say this: Incognito has sat out a year-and-a-half of football. Banned, in effect, for 24 games. (That’s the final eight games of 2013, after the bullying scandal broke in Miami, due to a team suspension; and then all 16 games in 2014, when he went unsigned because he was so radioactive.)
If you wanted Incognito banned for life because of his reprehensible behavior, 24 games won’t be enough for you. It is enough for me. Missing more than 1.5 years for an intense and offensive bullying of another player, to me, would be excessive; 24 borders on the excessive.
