Tag: Randy Moss

Are the Patriots in on Stefon Diggs? Should They Be?

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So Mattes and I were discussing the merits of a potential Stefon Diggs trade, which is the biggest ongoing rumor since Danny Ainge was destined to trade for Anthony Davis. Until he didn’t. It just seems like one of those things where there’s smoke there’s fire. It’s dangerous to read into social media posts with zero context, but Diggs has been subtweeting the hell out of the Vikings for months now.

I’ll admit, I’ve tweeted the eyes emoji at or about Stefon Diggs several times in the last few months.

The Patriots are in desperate need of an upgrade at Wide Receiver so there’s definitely a need for the player, but does it make sense for the team? First off they should definitely consider the move, but I can’t see the Pats trading away draft capital and then paying his huge salary. Diggs has four years left on his deal too and you don’t see guys with that many years left getting dealt too often.

What would it take to get a guy like Diggs? Well with that many years and his level of production (165 catches, 2,151 yards, and 15 TDs the last two years) it would seem like a 1st rounder would have to be included. With the Patriots having their highest pick of their own in years it’s hard to see them dealing that away to chase yet another veteran receiver that may or may not pan out. If Diggs really pisses in the Cheerios in Minnesota and forces his way out then maybe the Pats can swing in with a lowball offer, but they’re not going to pay premium prices only to then have to pay Diggs top dollar on top of that.

In other big receiver trades of yesteryear, New England traded a 4th rounder for Randy Moss and just 2nd and 7th rounders for Wes Welker.

The Patriots did however trade a 1st for Brandin Cooks and a 4th, but they only had to pay him $1.5M, and then subsequently flipped him to the Rams for a 1st. That’s value.

Diggs is set to have cap hits of $14.5M, $15M, $15M, and $12M before becoming a free agent in 2024. I find it extremely hard to believe the Patriots would be willing to roster that kind of contract at the receiver position, especially with their highest paid WR in Julian Edelman at $7M next season.

And thats before we even get to the purple cow in the room that is one Thomas Edward Patrick Brady. The Patriots have a potentially gigantic problem looming with his contract and dead money. Basically if Brady re-signs before free agency begins on March 18th his dead cap hit of $13.5M would be split up over the next two seasons. However Brady seems pretty intent on testing free agency. So if he stays with the Patriots, but re-signs after March 18th, that massive cap hit stays on top of whatever New England pays him in 2020. Even if Brady leaves to sign with another team, the Patriots are still stuck with that $13.5M in dead money.

Yikes.

So thats kind of a problem. If he stays in Foxborough, it’s even more money eating into the team cap, which I am more than OK with, but the reality is the team will be utilizing a much larger percentage of their cap to roster Brady than they probably are used to.

So would I love to see Stefon Diggs running fly routes for TB12? One hundred percent, but I just don’t think it’s realistic unless it’s an AJ Wright level discount or Diggs is willing to significantly restructure his contract. Never say never with Bill Belichick though.

McNabb and T.O. Continue to Feud 15 Years Later While the Patriots March On

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Yahoo – Old grudges die hard. In 2005, Terrell Owens engaged in one of the most public holdouts in NFL history…his feud with teammates and repeated jabs at quarterback Donovan McNabb led to locker-room discord. The Eagles devolved that season from NFC champions to 6-10 and last place in the NFC East.

For that, McNabb is still agitated. He recounted the experience in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Master Tes released on Wednesday and blames Owens for breaking up a contender.

“I thought that was the major distraction for us,” McNabb said. “He’s doing sit-ups, he’s doing push-ups, he’s playing basketball, he’s ordering pizza for the people out there, and we’re sitting there in training camp just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ …

“This is like ‘Days Of Our Lives.’ It’s unbelievable. But that was something that kind of broke us up.”

And this is why the Patriots are the Patriots and every other team in the NFL is forever chasing their own tails. Fifteen fucking years later, T.O. and Donovan McNabb are still sniping at each other in the media. McNabb even says in the interview with Bleacher Report that T.O. is what broke up the Eagles, which is the softest shit I’ve ever heard. Was T.O. an all-time asshole diva receiver? Yup, you bet. But, T.O. is also the reason the Eagles were ever that good. In 2004 McNabb threw 31 touchdowns, 14 of which went to Owens. It was also the first, and only, time McNabb threw more than 25 touchdowns.

But, I’m not here to bash McNabb because he was also one of the godfathers, well more like a distant uncle I guess, of the mobile QB revolution we see today. The guy was fun as all hell to watch so if he wants to bitch about T.O. in 2020 go for it.

My point is this is exactly why no team has ever replicated the Patriots’ run of dominance. The Pats literally had the biggest asshole in the league on the team this year in Antonio Brown. A guy who forced his way out of Pittsburgh, torpedoed his short stint with the Raiders, and then got cut by the Pats after a whole bunch of (alleged) dirtbag behavior came out. So the Pats dropped him like a bad habit and his name was never uttered again like he was Beetlejuice.

The Patriots are just experts in PR and damage control. AB is a legitimate disaster waiting to happen and currently has a warrant out for his arrest, but the team never let it become a distraction. This is the same team that, albeit disappointingly briefly, rostered Tim Tebow without any distraction, gave new life to perceived diva Randy Moss, and even had a convicted murderer on the team in Aaron Hernandez without it breaking up the team.
So my point is, T.O. did not ruin the Eagles and cause them to go from playing in the Super Bowl to finishing last in the NFC East the next year. The Eagles did that to themselves.

Tulane Pulled Out the Old Fake Kneel Play to Beat Houston

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LOVE IT! Give me all the trick plays. Tulane pulled the old fake kneel out of their playbook in a tie game with 18 seconds to go. Naturally they immediately followed this up with a 60 yard hail mary TD to win the game in walkoff fashion.

I am an absolute schill for trick plays. I still remember the fake spike Brady connected with Randy Moss on for on a TD against the Washington R-Words in 2007.

Or what about the Ravens pulling out the fake punt direct snap running play against the goddamn Dolphins?

I’ll never forget the double pass the Patriots pulled off against the Ravens in the playoffs in 2014 with Edelman launching a bomb to Danny Amendola for a TD.

Hell in that same game the Patriots were confusing the shit out of the Ravens with their ineligible/eligible lineman formations. So much so that the league immediately changed the rule to prevent this.

Give me all the trick plays, hook and ladders, reverses, you name it; if you have some trickery in your playbook dump em out.

I completely forgot the Patriots also ran this fake kneel play in the Falcons Super Bowl trying to pop a walk off TD at the end of regulation.

When they finally started including trick plays in Madden is when things got real fun. I would bust out a HB toss to a downfield pass at least 5 times a game because if you connect on even one it would cause your buddy to spike his PS4 clicker. Not to mention the fake punt pass play, its just too bad every punter not named Adam Vinatieri has a worse arm than Johnny Damon.

TLDR; major props to Tulane for busting out a ridiculous fake play to help them steal a win. Need more of that in sports.

Are the Giants Finally Souring on Odell Beckham Jr? Sign Me Up!

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ESPN – New York Giants co-owner John Mara is not ruling out the possibility of trading receiver Odell Beckham Jr., or withholding a contract extension, in the wake of a viral social media video that was posted earlier this month. Mara, speaking Sunday to reporters at the NFL owners meeting, said there is a “possibility” that the Giants will let Beckham play in 2018 on the final year of his rookie contract. Asked if it was possible that Beckham could be on another team’s roster when the season begins, Mara said: “I can’t answer that one way or the other. We’re certainly not shopping him. Again, when you’re coming off a season when you’re 3-13 and played as poorly as we played, I wouldn’t say that anyone is untouchable.”

Hilarious. After years of enabling, coddling, and placating Odell Beckham the Giants have finally had enough of his shit.

“I think too often he allows himself to be put in bad situations and needs to use better judgment,” Mara said in a stern public rebuke.”As I’ve said before,” Mara said, “I’m tired of answering questions about Odell’s behavior and what the latest incident is. I think he knows what we expect of him, and now it’s up to him.”

The pretending to be a dog pissing on the field:

The infamous boat picture:

Add in the most recent incident; a video of ODB and friends lining up “powdery white substances” and John Mara has finally snapped like the principal in Billy Madison.

ODB is a nutcase, he’s immature, he’s volatile, and he’s downright unpredictable. And I will take him on my team TOMORROW.

Absolute game changer of a talent. Despite his off field issues, its not like he’s ever done anything *that* bad. Just some excessive partying, maybe a little (alleged) recreational drug use, and some histrionics on the sidelines. I’ll accept that if it gets me ODB. Granted this dude probably has a shelf life similar to the one Randy Moss seemingly had everywhere he went. No matter how talented the guy was, after a few years every team eventually had had enough of him.

I finally got around to watching the last episode of Tom vs Time last night and like most of the Boston media has said about the finale; it didn’t make me feel great. Theres a lot of talk from Brady  questioning his own motivation and commitment and the trade off between football and being a father. Questions that quite honestly weren’t being asked so loudly by our 40-year-old QB even just a few weeks ago.

Whether its a leverage play or a money play or whatever it ultimately is, it reminds me and every Patriots fan in New England that this thing is just about over. The bar is closing. The bouncers may not be escorting you out the front door just yet, but the lights are on, and the last song of the night is playing. As we all come out of our stupor of having drank 8 Bud Lights (Super Bowls) over the past several hours (2001-2018) the question becomes abundantly clear. Where are we going next?

And with that long drunken analogy laid out, my point is the Patriots have painted themselves into a corner where they are unabashedly in Win Now mode. By trading your backup and potential franchise QB this is exactly what you signed off on. Now is not the time to carefully plan for the next 10 years. Now is the time to maximize your HOF quarterback and get any piece you can to help win that 6th Super Bowl. Bring me anyone and everyone that can help Tom Brady get a ring for his incredibly lonely left hand. Quite simply, no more half measures.

I wanted Aqib Talib. I did not get him. I wanted Richard Sherman. I did not get him. I wanted the Honey Badger. I did not get him. What I want does not matter because I don’t run the Patriots, but the Patriots are going to have to pull off a couple of big moves if they want to solidify themselves as the team to beat for one or two more runs at this thing.

Bringing in ODB would be exactly that kind of move.

I Sense Much Fear in You, Patriots Fans

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Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.

A lot of my friends are still pretty pissed off at Bill Belichick for decisions made that may or may not have lost the Patriots a Super Bowl (i.e. benching Malcolm Butler). With all the negative publicity surrounding the Patriots recently fans are seemingly wavering in their confidence. There are a ton of dominoes that will need to fall one way or another before next season, which is what Patriots fans fear most.

Rob Gronkowski could be jumping ship to go hit people with steel chairs.

That would have sounded insane just a couple of months ago, but the longer we go the larger the possibility is that Gronk will walk away from the NFL to join the WWE and chase Hollywood. On the outside looking in that is preposterous because he’s arguably the greatest TE to ever play the game, only 28 years old, playing for an elite team with an elite QB, and coming off one of his healthiest seasons. But he’s also already made tens of millions of dollars and despite his relative health this season, another concussion notwithstanding, Gronk may be starting to think about his mortality. Is it worth it to play a few more years and possibly blow out my knee again, break my arm again, break my back again? People forget just how banged up this guy has been. With the recent run of NFL players retiring young these days it wouldn’t surprise me. It would borderline tragic as a Patriots fan to see Gronk step away, but I wouldn’t fault him.

The Patriots leading rusher Dion Lewis could be gone

Lewis sounded like a guy reserved to a fate of playing in Indianapolis or Tampa Bay next year in a recent podcast with Adam Schefter.

“I love it here…Hopefully it will work out, but at the same time, you can’t really think that way. You have to take care of yourself and your family…At the same time, I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket,” he said. “I know how the team likes to handle their business, and as a running back, you have to make the most of your opportunity…My main thing is just making sure I’m valued. That’s my biggest thing — to make sure I’m valued the way I value myself.”

Similar to many players that excel with the Patriots, Lewis bounced around the league for years before putting it all together and breaking out in New England. It would be a shame to see him leave as the Patriots are nearly undefeated with a healthy Dion Lewis on the field. Thats the key word there though; healthy. While another team may be willing to roll the dice on Lewis’ knees and pay big bucks to sign the RB, I don’t see Belichick doing the same.

Malcolm Butler is gone.

This one’s not even a question. I think Belichick could have burned Butler’s house down and we’d have a better shot at him coming back than we do after Bill benching Malcolm for the entire goddamn Super Bowl. Butler resigning with the Patriots would shock me more than him not playing in the Super Bowl.

Nate Solder is a free agent

He could return to protect Brady’s blind side, which might be the single most important job in all of New England, but he’s also dealing with some very serious real life issues as his young son continues to battle cancer. At some point the commitment it takes to play in the NFL may be more than Solder is willing to sacrifice at this point. I wouldn’t blame him if he walks away to spend more time with his family.

Danny Amendola is a free agent

After taking pay cuts each of the last 3 years, Amendola’s original 5-year contract is up. So while Amendola has clearly demonstrated he is a company man, does he want to play for less than market value yet again? He has carved out a folk hero-esque role here and seems to be BFFs with Tom Brady, so maybe he does, but if someone knocks down his door with a big money offer does that make  him think twice?

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Okay, thoroughly depressed now? Time for some SILVER LININGS!

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Tom Brady is the reigning MVP

Whether you believe Alex Guerrero is the next coming of Christ or if you think the TB12 Method is a total crock of shit, you can’t deny whatever Brady’s doing is working. He’s the goddamn MVP at 40 years old and just threw for 500 fucking yards in the Super Bowl. As always with an older player, I fear the end of the road, but Brady has been so damn good its hard to know if thats coming next year or if he’ll be collecting Social Security checks while under center. Either way, life is good.

Julian Edelman will be back

He has been posting workout videos almost daily and while I cringe watching him sprint, jump, and cut on his surgically repaired ACL, I gotta say he looks great. All that while not even rocking a shirt, impressive stuff.

Dont’a Hightower will be back

The Patriots missed him in a bad, bad way this past season. Relying on the likes of 40-year old James Harrison and signing guys like David Harris (who just retired) to fill in for the likes of All-Pros like Kyle Van Noy. So Hightower will be back next year. Until he gets hurt again. But he will be back!

Brandin Cooks will have a full offseason to work with Tom Brady

Who knows, he may even get invited out to the TB12 Neverland Ranch in Montana to work out with the rest of the receiving corp! A lot of the Boston media was pretty down on Cooks, which I just do not get. Was he 2007 Randy Moss? Of course not, but he was one of the most immediately successful wide receivers Belichick has ever picked up behind only Moss and Wes Welker. Usually these receivers come into Foxborough and are a disaster because they just don’t have it anymore, they can’t figure out the system, or they fall out of Brady’s circle of trust. Joey Galloway, Ocho Cinco, and Brandon Lloyd. In his lone season playing with Brady, Cooks had 65 catches for 1,082 yards and 7 TDs. Not too shabby, now give him 6 months to study the playbook and work with Brady and Belichick.

Fear not, young padawan. The city of Boston is not falling into a sinkhole. The Patriots are still elite and while there are some holes to fill and some air needs to be cleared, they will still be one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LIII. That’ll do, pig.

 

Dexter Manley Rips Tom Brady, Says Joe Montana is the Goat. Wait, WHO?

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NESN – Dexter Manley won a pair of Super Bowls in his day, and when asked a question about the best quarterback he ever played against (mind you his playing career stretched from 1981-1991), he used it as an opportunity to really rip into the New England Patriots quarterback. “People give Tom Brady too much credit,” Manley said, via WEEI.com. “It is a team effort. No. 1, he gets the ball out of his hand quick. He has good mechanics, but he’s no Joe Montana. My daughter could out-run Tom Brady. Joe Montana is the best of all-time. He’s the best passer — him and Dan Marino. That guy don’t fit in those categories. I don’t care what they say.”

So former Washington R-Words defensive end Dexter Manley was on TV discussing who he thinks is the greatest QB of all time.

Dexter scoffed at the idea that Tom Brady is the best to ever do it. Why?  He gets the ball out quick, he has good mechanics, he has 5 Super Bowl rings, but he can’t run fast so I gotta give the nod to Joe Montana here.

Ya know what Tom Brady doesn’t have?


Oh and Dan Marino is better too? The guy with as many Super Bowl rings as me. Makes sense, Dexter.

Sure Brady has had great players around him too. Take for instance Randy Moss, who he played with for parts of 3 seasons (not including the year Brady missed to a knee injury) and never won a SB with. He also has Gronk of course, who is a first ballot HOFer no doubt, but Brady has won 4 Super Bowls without him. Brady’s had 5-star recruits and household names like the 7th round QB out of Kent State he turned into one of the best receivers in the NFL in Julian Edelman. Or the time the undrafted WR out of Texas Tech came out of nowhere and Brady molded him into the most reliable hands on the Patriots. TWICE. Danny Amendola and Wes Welker of course. I could go on and on.

Meanwhile Joe Montana had by all accounts the greatest receiver to ever play the game IN HIS PRIME. The NFL’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns played with Joe Montana for 6 seasons, winning 3 Super Bowls together.

All that and Tom Brady still has him beat by the numbers. Tom Brady has a better career Completion Percentage, TD Percentage, INT Percentage, Passer Rating, more 4th Quarter Comebacks, more Game Winning Drives, and Brady has over 26,000 more career passing yards, and over 200 more Touchdowns than Dexter Manley’s lord and savior Joe Montana.

What about the fact that Brady “gets the ball out quickly” and just dumps it off as Dexter Manley put it? Well Tom Brady and Joe Montana actually have the same exact average Yards per Attempt at 7.5.

Oh and Tom Brady also has more Pro Bowls, wins, division titles, Conference Championships, Super Bowl rings, Super Bowl MVPs, and NFL League MVP awards.

Hey Dexter?

After Odell Beckham’s “Dog Taking a Leak” This Adam Carolla Classic Celebration Can’t Be Far Behind

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The NFL softened its stance on touchdown celebrations this season after years of being dubbed the No Fun League. Most of them are just fun dances (or punting the ball into the stands if you’re Stefon Diggs), but Odell Beckham is not like most cats. No, rather than salsa dance, backflip, or fake moon the crowd

ODB decided to get on all fours, crawl around, and pretend to piss like a dog?

Weird move, but I feel like free speech has been a particularly hot topic the past few days, so do your thing ODB. I guess. The NY Post missed a huge opportunity though to print the single greatest headline ever: GIANTS PISS AWAY GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY IN LOSS. But I digress.

After seeing the dog taking a leak TD dance, it reminded me of an old classic from The Man Show. Adam Carolla’s trademark celebration of reading the newspaper while taking a dump. After seeing ODB, this one cannot be far behind:

Donte Stallworth Talking About How Tom Brady and Randy Moss Ran Improvised Plays in 2007 is Patriots Porn

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In case you missed it, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t bring this Donte Stallworth story about the 2007 Patriots team to your attention. The 2007 Patriots are the greatest, most dominant team I’ve ever seen and were the most fun I’ve ever had watching football. They were straight up dismantling the league, blowing everyone out as a response to the NFL hosing them with the overblown and hypocritical Spygate scandal.

This was also the first year Tom Brady had real weapons around him like Wes Welker, Stallworth and of course Randy Moss.  This season finally helped put to rest the Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning argument. Yes, when TB12 has Hall of Famers catching his passes he can put up 50 TDs too. Some of the plays these guys made were just outrageous though and it turns out some of them were legitimate accidents. Just Brady and Moss out there improvising and freestyling like only two first ballot Hall of Famers can.

PS – If you want to watch every single one of Tom Brady’s 50 TD passes, @fearthe_beard11 is doing Gods work on twitter and tweeted each one out.

New England Patriots Were Nearly the Bay State Patriots Which Reminds Me of AJ Wright

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ESPN – Forty-six years ago today, the Boston Patriots officially became the New England Patriots. Not a bad day for a history lesson of sorts. Initially, the Bay State Patriots was the choice of some involved in the process. But according to McDonough, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle didn’t like that name, and felt if there was going to be a change, the name should be reflective of the entire New England region.“It was mixed. Some people thought it was a good deal, and then others thought we were the Boston Patriots and that should be it,” recalled Gino Cappelletti, who played for the franchise from 1960-70 and is in the team’s Hall of Fame.

With yesterday marking 46 years since the Boston Patriots were renamed the New England Patriots, it only made sense to discuss what could have been. Apparently the Bay State Patriots was a favorite, according to Mike Reiss’ article. I’m pretty sure the only organizations that refer to themselves as the Bay State anything are high school sports leagues so its probably for the best the Pats went in another direction.

But man that would be some choice throwback/irrelevant swag. Makes me miss the good old days of AJ Wright, may she rest in peace. If you aren’t familiar with AJ Wright, its basically Marshalls and TJ Maxx on steroids. Along with that came some of the most outrageous purchases of my life. Some Starbury’s for $10 bucks, an $8 Randy Moss jersey and of course the greatest one of them all…Larry Legend with the stache:

Fashions fade, style is eternal.

 

 

Adrian Peterson to the Patriots? This Move Would Be More Albert Haynesworth Than Corey Dillon

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A move like this just screams Joey Galloway, Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ocho Cinco more than it does Corey Dillon or Randy Moss. A guy who at one point was one of if not the premier player at his position who now is a bit older and admittedly has some baggage. We’re not even gonna get into the details of whether or not AP is a good guy, because beating the shit out of your kids does not a good person make you. As a pure football fit, I just don’t see it. The guy looked toast last year and *then* he blew out his knee. So running backs on the wrong side of 30 with multiple knee injuries don’t really do it for me.

Plus its not like AP is gonna take the veteran’s minimum to play alongside Tom Brady. He just does not seem like that kind of guy. I’d rather the Pats stick with what they have, maybe sign some other decently talented (and younger) running back like oh idk KARLOS WILLIAMS. Rather than bring in this guy and try and force a square peg into a round hole. Would it be nice to have the Adrian Peterson from 2012? Of course, but this guy is not that guy. He’ll be 32 when next season starts and he has taken a *beating* over the past 10 years with over 2,400 carries. The next guys on that list who are either still active or just recently retired? Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch and Chris Johnson. Not great company.

oldrunningback

Plus the Pats did just fine if I recall correctly, winning a Super Bowl with LeGarrette Blount carrying the ball primarily. A guy that Felger and Mazz ripped on and complained about how terrible he was from Day 1, despite rushing for 18 TD’s and almost 1,200 yards. I think TB12 and the Pats can make due without Adrian Peterson.

PS – Never forget the most frightening NFL commercial of all-time with AP just angrily running towards the camera in slow motion.