Rivera gets fired, replaced with whatever their Jeff Saturday equivalent is, then they hire McVay for the comeback tour.
Must have realized they could recreate a running back from free agents and an offensive line
It definitely sucka for a lot of RBs to have their position become a rental, but it's a business. Though I can't say much since the Bears haven't had an offensive line since before I was born.
It sounds counter-productive, but as a RB I would not want to be drafted. Especially if you had a good college career. If I am gonna last about 3 years, I don't want it to be under a Rookie contract. Give me 3, 1 year deals. Those last 2 years might be better off
I've seen people talk about how the 2011 CBA really fucked over RBs. Sam Bradford limited what rookies can make, hurting RBs earning potential in their prime years. They all sign 4 year contracts with a 5th year option, locking them down 5 years. Then they can get tagged twice for an additional 2 years. After 7 years, they wasted their prime years while missing out on larger contracts of other positions and either take backup roles or they are out of the league.
Most RB's prime years are the first 3 in the league. After that they are done. But yeah, getting tied down for 4-5 years on those rookie deals sucks for them. Then adding to the fact they can be franchise tagged for an additional 2 years if they have any good years left really hurts. Especially since that Franchise tag works as the average salary at your position so that number is pretty low.
Pretty much. The salary cap is a zero-sum game. QB and WR salaries go up, others gotta come down.
You still do need a competent running game though. Its just not anything you break the bank for. Unless its your O-line but that is something different than paying a RB who is going to be cut in a year
I think Sean McVay deserves some of this blame too. They gave Gurley a big contract then that season his knees fell apart on their superbowl run. Since then, he's had a large rb back room of nobodies that get close enough production.
Saquon's Nike deal alone is around $6.25m a year. I'm sure Henry makes a ton off sponsorships and endorsements too.
Which makes me wonder why they put so much effort into getting as big an NFL deal as they can instead of just getting on the team and selling themselves in deals like this.
Professional athletes aren't the smartest people in the world.
The other option is a dual threat QB who can run from time to time. Speaking of...
Until he gets a big head and demands a huge contract before being injured all of December, January, and February
It's soft tissue injury season.
A while back, I was unfortunate to be watching a vikings game with a bunch of vikings fans but they told a funny story. One of their kids worked at a local grocery store and said that Randy Moss use to come into the store every week to buy just an entire cart full of junk food. And I can bet he wasn't the only one. Most likely these NFL players have terrible diets but lift weights basically every day and run through practices throughout the week that just burn off everything. So during the offseason, they just keep eating and don't workout enough
