BigbadB

Yeah, I just don't know what you would expect Hoyer to do differently here. Boras has no mystery teams. His leverage is at an all time low. He's exchanged numbers with Hoyer and there is no other team willing to go that high, but he still needs to get the best value for his client as he possibly can. I'm sure he's turning over rocks, but very few teams have a couple hundred mill sitting around collecting dust and a big hole in CF to fill. So it's Cubs or something even worse. Boras isn't ready to tell his client he isn't getting anymore blood from that turnip, so he might as well sign. His only ounce of leverage is the pressure of time. Hoyer doesn't seem bothered by the time issue, as he still feels Boras is being unreasonable with his demands. Sometime before or during Spring Training, they will find a common ground so that Boras can look better to his client and call it a "win" and the Cubs can be happy the got the best deal they could to bring Bellinger back. I was hoping to see Chapman signed, too, but there's been absolutely no fire there. Does he even have a market anywhere? Are other teams just doing the Hoyer "wait and see" approach, is there genuinely no one showing any interest in Chapman? I don't read the tabloids, just the headlines. It's probably already too painful for Jed to try to work with Boras on Bellinger, why stick yourself in the other eye with a sharp object? Probably because you need a good team to compete in this league.

Boras could still lose in this battle for Bellinger. But, if he's going to lose, it will be a day/days before Spring Training. He's got a reputation of winning to uphold, and he will make it painful for anyone he loses to.

I was only sorta half paying attention once the Lions got the ball back since they could just take a knee and end the game. I was pretty surprised when I read the article about Bowles just letting the time run out when Detroit allowed them an opportunity to get the ball back. You gotta call time out there. Missed field goal and a PI on Kindle Vildor on a Mike Evans deep pass is too likely to pass up. Not sure how they could have some sort of coach agreement to end that game from opposite sides of the field. I wouldn't consider Bowles taking the time out there to be any worse taking advantage of a situation any more than hiking the ball while defensemen are still running off the field or some other sort of take advantage of the rules type swindle. This is a playoff game. Win or go home. Detroit left a door open and Bowles closed it with a slam rather than taking a peak to see what was on the other side. The TB fan base should be livid. His response to why he didn't doesn't sit well, either. My guess is they just assumed the game was over and weren't paying close attention to the fact Detroit was taking the snap way sooner than they should. I think they just thought the same as me and thought the game was over. And by all intents and purposes, it should have been.

Maybe it's Fields intel. If by some weird chance they hire Getsy, you can eliminate the Raiders as a Fields landing spot. No way that combo works together again.

Would have been cool to be a fly on the wall on how they approached these discussions with experienced OC's. How do you approach the feelings of an experienced OC with Fields getting ready to go onto his third OC with the same team vs. drafting possibly the top QB in the draft, and then absorb that info and then compare answers to get your new OC? If Waldron was the best/second best OC candidate out there, surely there are better OC jobs with better QB's to work your scheme than Fields. Eberflus wasn't sure he was keeping his own job this offseason. Seems from everything I'm reading this morning, Fields or Williams are both still options with this signing. I

The Bears didn't have an NFL starting caliber player manning the Center position. You had injury/personal reason missed time from both starting interior linemen along with patchy play with such a weak Center playing between them. Getting Davis and Jenkins healthy and bringing in a couple of new Centers will improve the line play. Seemed to me that most of the pass rush/blitzes were right up the gut.

Torrey Craig. He's been the 7th/8th man off the bench this season.

You just explained the history of ML bullpens everywhere. The names being tossed around as replacement relievers were not even people anyone knew 3 years ago, minus a few guys who somehow make a living as a late inning reliever like Hader. 3 years from now, the entire Cubs bullpen will likely be other guys who A)we never heard of 3 years prior B) failed in their attempt to win a gig in the starting rotation C) retreads that they probably would have been better off using minor leaguers instead of hoping for lightning in a bottle. Outside of Meriweather, the guys they brought in from outside to be relievers last year was not something to write home about. Might be better off finding the bullpen help you need from within, while also hoping for improvement from the guys you already have. Leiter was looking solid until he became the main guy to bring in for every sign of trouble. With bullpen help, you just don't know what you are going to get.

Entirely without Ball. Mostly without LaVine. Partially without Vuc and Craig.

We must be reading Carr's contract details differently. I don't see Carr as even being remotely tradeable, especially as a backup consideration.

We all know that no one knows a QB better than a WR's coach's brother.

Pretty sure Poles is happy with his Tackles. Jenkins injury history, Davis and his missed time and ineffectiveness when he was in there makes it very necessary to have better depth at the G position. Center is the glaring need. I'd go so far as to say they need two Centers. Patrick needs to be shot to the moon, Whitehair cut, Feeney was a turnstyle and Kramer wasn't good enough to beat out Feeney. I think the whole line will look better with a QB that can keep defenses more honest. More weapons won't hurt, either.

Goony has just the meme for such nonsense. He will be along shortly.

I'm assuming something halfway decent, although it may not be that much given the demand may be quite low.

Looking at the WR free agents, it's rather barren. I doubt any of the top tier WR's will be options. They either won't want to share catches with Moore, won't want anything to do with Fields if he is retained or is at risk of being retained. There aren't many second tier WR's that look all that exciting. If I had to focus on someone, it would probably be Tyler Boyd. He may end up staying in Cincy when Higgins signs elsewhere. There is still hope for cap casualties to improve the WR availables. Another reason to be mad about trading for Claypool. Maybe we get Jacobi Meyers last offseason if we don't have Claypool. I'd probably be ok with a Fields/Meyers swap of some sort. He's a really solid possession receiver.

Chiefs will have a tough time adding weapons as Mahomes' contract will jump another 20m this year.

My thought was always that trading Fields could offset the haul they won't get if they draft at #1. At the very least, it would be nice to pick up a second or an extra third rounder this year. They probably still have the resources via Free Agency and the draft to fill most of the holes, but one more pick would be nice. I don't see them trading the #9 pick since the desperation for a WR will be significant if they draft QB first.

That list makes things look pretty bleak. With that list, I only see maybe 3 teams that might trade for Fields, and there are at least 3 free agents that could be equal or better value that won't cost draft capital. It's obviously not this black and white, but I could see a scenario where Poles decides to draft QB and doesn't have a suitor for Fields. Wouldn't be the worst scenario by any means, but I would hope for a second or third round pick in the draft over a Fields/Rookie QB battle in camp. Atl, LV and Denver seem like the best options to trade for Fields, and if any of them come calling, Poles should be all ears.

Dodgers still have a few available years to defer money on future contracts.

They need another TE desperately. However, it can be a later round developmental/fringe TE or a free agent pickup that's better than Tonyan. I don't think you have to fear one of Odunze or Nabers not being there at #9. The combine will have new guys skyrocketing to the upper tier of the first round with crazy numbers. There's also Keon Coleman from Florida St. He's 6'4" and might pair nicely with DJ. There is another dude named Xavier Leggette from South Carolina that will be creeping up draft boards. He's 6'3" and ran a 4.29 40. Not sure how good he is at running routes or catching balls, but he is getting talked about. I'm sure one of Nabers or Odunze will be there, though. What I want to know is how willing Ryan Pace will be willing to cough up a haul to get Justin Fields. He's sitting in a place in the draft where he will miss out on at least the top 3 QB's. Probably more realistic he's learned his lesson and will go after Cousins, Wilson or the like. But, Fields is from there and it is Pace's guy.

I'm in a pick 'em league where we pick every game based on the spread. I finished in 2nd place after being in first place every week since about week 4, and my record was only 19 wins better than my losses for an average ratio of one more win than loss each week of the season. This is why I don't gamble. Hell, I spent a bit more time looking at the games for the final week of the regular season because my lead evaporated to just one game going into the final week. I went 7-9 on my picks. Meanwhile, a friend went 13-3 to pass the field and beat me by two games. It's only a $10 buy in and only 9 of our fantasy team managers play, so you'd be winning $80 bucks (minus the buy in) if you get first place, but that's all I need to know that I'm not winning horsefeathers if I tried to make it more of a passion.

Laughable seems a bit harsh. A lot of people don't live in areas where streaming works in their house. I get spotty at best live streaming. I get fuzzy, pixelized and buffering screens during live broadcasts. There are a lot more rural areas that struggle with this more than you might think. Personally, I spend enough on NFL each year, and I'm not the slightest bit interested in signing up for new apps to watch games. I also believe NFL and NBC is alienating the very same fanbase they've been attempting to build up all of these years with decisions like this. But, everything is going to pay tv sooner rather than later, so this is just one more step to get closer to that goal, I suppose.

Where do Belichick and McDaniels team up next?

While I do like the early starts, 8 am for me here, it's the only redeeming quality of games on foreign soil.

I can't really get a feel of what keeping Flus means to the future. I have to imagine that any decent incoming new OC will want a new QB. Flus manages his defense and let's an experienced OC shape the offense. What decent and experienced OC will want to come to Chicago and work for a HC with amazing poor success rate and try to fix a QB others have not been able to fix? At the very least, you need an OC who you would value as an interim/replacement HC if poop hits the fan so that maybe, just maybe you don't have to create a whole new cycle. I'd really be shocked if Fields stays. I would think the only way Fields stayed was if Getsy stayed.