NFL Franchise Tags (and Lack Thereof)

Just typed in the old domain out of habit. Lol. Anyway, in honor of the new domain that took the “nfl” part out, I’m going to start out talking about the NFL. Today was the deadline for teams to use their annual franchise tag, so here are the players who were franchise tagged, and some players who weren’t franchise tagged who maybe should have been:

Players With Franchise Tag

• Le’Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers– This was an easy decision for the Steelers to make. Bell is the top RB in the NFL and many have claimed that he has created a new running style. He does everything asked of an NFL RB: runs, catches passes, blocks, etc. I also think it was smart not to give him a long-term deal YET because he has had a couple of substance-related suspensions. The tag is telling him, “Hey! You are an AMAZING RB, but you’ve got to take the right path.”
• Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington Redskins– I was disappointed to see this as a New York Giants fan because Kirk Cousins is an above average NFL QB. The Washington Redskins eventually have to cave and just give Kirk Cousins his long-term deal. He has yet to perform in the clutch, but Kirk Cousins is a capable starting NFL QB, and that’s hard to come by in the NFL.
• Melvin Ingram, LB, Los Angeles Chargers– Between Melvin Ingram and DE Joey Bosa, the Los Angeles Chargers have a scary young pass rushing duo. Great decision, and I think Melvin Ingram will get his long-term payday once QB Philip Rivers decides to retire (which will free up cap space for the Los Angeles Chargers).
• Trumaine Johnson, CB, Los Angeles Rams– The Los Angeles Rams are lost. Trumaine Johnson is good and young, which is why the Los Angeles Rams felt compelled to tag him. From that Los Angeles Rams perspective, I understand the decision. After all, they don’t have too many good players to pay.
• Chandler Jones, LB, Arizona Cardinals– This was a decent decision. Chandler Jones is a very good player, and he’s still on the right side of 30 (27 years old). Chandler Jones gives the Arizona Cardinals a quality pass rush. I look forward to seeing Chandler Jones team up with a healthy (hopefully) DE Robert Nkemdiche (who was oft-injured this season) next season. That will be another scary, young pass rush duo.
• Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, New York Giants– I was thrilled when I read about this one. JPP was the reason that the Big Blue defense worked last season. His excellent pass rush ensured that the secondary wouldn’t get out of position due to opposing QBs having too much time. It’s just too bad the G-men decided to give DE Olivier Vernon a MASSIVE deal last offseason because that will make it more difficult to give a similar deal to JPP, who deserves it more.
• Kawann Short, DT, Carolina Panthers– Kawann Short is the second most important player on the Carolina Panthers defense behind MLB Luke Kuechly. Kawann Short is the run-stuffer in the middle of the d-line, which is very important. Of course, with the Carolina Panthers lackluster secondary, opposing teams can afford to be forced to pass.

Key Players Without Franchise Tag

• Stephon Gilmore, CB, Buffalo Bills– OK, WHERE IS THE BUFFALO BILLS MONEY GOING?! Stephon Gilmore may not be the best CB in the NFL, but he is still a great CB. Seeing as the Buffalo Bills refuse to pay QB Tyrod Taylor, I don’t know why they wouldn’t ensure that Stephon Gilmore doesn’t go anywhere else (which they should’ve been able to afford to do).
• Dont’a Hightower, LB, New England Patriots– I get it…the New England Patriots are paying A LOT of players to get them to the Super Bowl on a consistent basis. That said, Dont’a Hightower is the heart and soul of the New England Patriots Super Bowl-caliber defense, and his play inspired the Pats comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. Also, Dont’a Hightower is one of the best pass-rushing inside LBs in the NFL. Of course, Bill Belichick could play LB himself for the New England Patriots and he’d still be the best LB ever because that’s just how the system always seems to work…:(
• Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears– The Chicago Bears need to focus on paying a QB to be able to get the ball to receivers like Alshon Jeffery. Plus, Alshon Jeffery has missed something like 11 games in the last two seasons. With the MANY areas of need that the Chicago Bears have, they can’t afford to pay a player who misses that much time.
• Dontari Poe, DT, Kansas City Chiefs– Dontari Poe was outperformed by rookie DT Chris Jones. Great move by the Kansas City Chiefs to choose the younger and less expensive player in Chris Jones. I’m sure Dontari Poe is also thrilled because he’s one of the best DTs available in free agency this offseason, so he should make bank.
• Terrelle Pryor, WR, Cleveland Browns– The Cleveland Browns are in a similar situation to the Chicago Bears with WR Alshon Jeffery: they need to focus on paying a quality QB who can get the ball in the vicinity of talented WRs such as Terrelle Pryor. Here’s the difference: Terrelle Pryor used to play QB, and he’s probably better than the current Cleveland Browns QBs. The Cleveland Browns should have payed Terrelle Pryor WR money to move back to QB!
• Brandon Williams, DT, Baltimore Ravens– I’m really not sure why the Baltimore Ravens opted not to tag Brandon Williams, who is a great player on the right side of 30 (28 years old). Who else are they paying? FS Eric Weddle…MLB CJ Mosley…Is there anybody else that I’m missing?

That’s all for TheHaysWay today, make sure to leave a comment on the players who were franchise tagged and/or on the players who were not franchise tagged and/or on whatever else is on your mind, along with a much-appreciated like. If you are not yet a follower, become a follower of the newly-renamed thehaysway.wordpress.com. 🙂 Have a pleasant tomorrow.

Serge Ibaka Trade, Kevin Love Injury, Charles Oakley Ban…

It’s been too long since I’ve gotten into some sports talk, so that’s where I’m headed today:

The Toronto Raptors made news today by making a deal for Orlando Magic PF Serge Ibaka. The move was reportedly made in an effort to improve the Raptors defense. After all, the Raptors don’t need too much help on offense with a backcourt of PG Kyle Lowry and SG DeMar DeRozan. Ibaka has been a good defender for the majority of his NBA career, though he has gotten a little worse with age. He will join C Jonas Valanciunas in guarding the paint. The Orlando Magic received SF Terrence Ross and a 2017 1st round pick in return.

Staying in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be without PF Kevin Love for the next 6 weeks, as Love had surgery on his left knee. Even without Love on Valentine’s Day, the Cavs came away with a 116-108 victory on the road, against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, Happy Valentine’s Day! If you’re like me, however, Happy Singles Awareness Day! As a side note, Valentine’s Day was way more fun back in Elementary School when I got a bunch of candy from everyone.

Back to the NBA, the New York Knicks have lifted the ban on legend Charles Oakley. Of course, Oakley stated that he refuses to return to Madison Square Garden until he (and the fans) are issued a formal apology from Knicks owner James Dolan. Can’t people just let bygones be bygones, anymore?

Staying in basketball, but moving to women’s college basketball, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team won their 100th straight game yesterday in a 66-55 victory over the 6th-ranked University of South Carolina. 59 games of the 100 were decided by 40+ points. Only 2 were decided by single digits. Congrats to head coach Geno Auriemma and the lady Huskies!

Moving to the NFL, ex-San Diego Chargers and ex-New Orleans Saints WR Robert Meachem was jailed today for owing $400,000 in child support. Another one of the NFL’s supreme role models.

Also in the NFL, the New York Giants announced the releases of WR Victor Cruz and RB Rashad Jennings, yesterday. Cruz will forever be remembered by the Giants for his breakout to lead the team to a Super Bowl XLVI victory. (And for his salsa dancing, of course.) Jennings on the other hand, leaves no legacy behind in New York, and I was jumping for joy when I saw that he had been released. RB Paul Perkins controls the backfield until the Giants draft a RB in May. Cutting those two players saves the team $10 million in cap room, which will likely go toward paying DE Jason Pierre-Paul, who the team is, reportedly, emphasizing re-signing before he hits free agency in March.

“Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.” -Nicholas Sparks, Author

In honor of Valentine’s Day or National Singles Day. I don’t have a lot of experience (six months maximum, if that’s what you would call it) with romance. I will say this: it’s weird to think that last year on this day I thought I had found my Valentine, while this year I have no doubt in my mind that it’s National Singles Day to me. However, clearly this quote carries some validity to it. I’m still thinking about my former “significant other” when I should be focused on ANYTHING else, even if Valentine’s Day/National Singles Day is mostly responsible for the subject coming up. Also, last year at this time I was thinking about basing my college decision on my Valentine at the time. That, likely, could’ve been the worst decision of my life! Even though I still feel that my college decision wasn’t totally mine, I feel that I ended up with the right college decision by not following my then-Valentine. They say love is blind, but maybe it just makes YOU blind to everything else. Anyway, I hope you all find romance on this day, and on many days to come. I’m told it’s a wonderful feeling.

That’s all for TheHaysWay today, make sure to leave a comment on the Serge Ibaka trade and/or on the Kevin Love injury and/or on Valentine’s Day and/or on National Singles Day and/or on New York Knicks vs Charles Oakley and/or on the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and/or on Robert Meachem and/or on the New York Giants releases and/or on whatever is on your mind, along with a much-appreciated like. If you are not yet a follower, become a follower because I won’t ban you like Dolan banned Oakley. 🙂 Have a pleasant tomorrow.

Days in Review: July 15-16, 2015

You know what goes great with football? Well…yes Peyton…Tapenade does go great with football (

)…but I was thinking bacon. But, bacon goes well with anything because as Jim Gaffigan will tell you, it is the fairy dust of food (

) Anyway, grab some bacon to make this news session even better, because this one is the longest in a while:

1. Yesterday was the deadline for teams to reach long-term deals with their franchise-tagged players before shelving talks until next offseason. Of the 5 tagged players, 4 of them signed long-term deals. I will talk about all 5 players in 3…2…1…

1.a. WR Dez Bryant signed a five-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys. The deal is worth $70 million with a $20 million signing bonus, $23 million guaranteed with the signing, and $45 million guaranteed come next March. This officially means that Dez will not skip training camp or any games. This deal bummed me out the most of the five because now my Giants have to play Dez twice a year for the next five seasons. Thats TEN TIMES! With the big deal, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shows that he is willing to spend to make it all the way again. Of course, good luck getting through the Giants, ‘Boys.

1.b. WR Demaryius Thomas signed a five-year deal with the Denver Broncos. The deal is very comparable to Bryant’s with $35 million guaranteed and a $17.5 million signing bonus. Demaryius should start showing up at offseason team activities again, meaning Peyton can stop throwing Tapenade at him in anger, and begin throwing him the football again, restoring the balance of the universe.

1.c. OLB Justin Houston signed a six-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. The deal is worth $101 million with a $20.5 million signing bonus and $32.5 million guaranteed. The deal is the richest in Chiefs’ history and as a result, the Chiefs will continue to be in the conversation for second best defense in the NFL behind The Legion of Booom in Seattle.

1.d. K Stephen Gostkowski signed a four-year deal with the New England Patriots. The deal is worth $17.2 million with a $6 million signing bonus, and officially makes Gostkowski the highest-paid kicker in the league. The signing ensures that the Pats will make the new, long extra points for the next four seasons.

1.e. DE Jason Pierre-Paul signed an officially ticket to free agency next offseason. I’m just kidding of course, but the fireworks accident that he was involved in eliminated his chances of getting a long-term deal this offseason, and likely, ever. I’m glad the Giants aren’t wasting more money on him, but I really wish they revoked the franchise tag they placed on him because he is starting to turn into dead weight.

2. Moving away from the franchise tags, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed DE Cameron Heyward to a six-year, $59.25 million deal. Heyward has spent all of his 4 NFL seasons with the Steelers.

3. OL Dan Connolly has decided to retire from the NFL. He retires as a free agent but spent all of the past nine seasons with the New England Patriots.

4. Shout-out to my boy WR Odell Beckham Jr of the New York Giants for winning the ESPY for Best Play with “The Catch”. It was really funny that they actually came up with other nominees for the award like it was a competition.

That’s all for TheHaysWay today, enjoy your tapenade and bacon, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Happy July: Random Review

Happy July everybody! I’m back here a week after the 4th of July and I hope everybody had a great fireworks show. Speaking of fireworks…

1. There are actually two different firework stories in the NFL, but I’ll start with the headline one. New York Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul was in a firework related accident on the 4th of July, and this story spirals out of control so grab some popcorn. The injury occurred in his hometown in South Florida and he was admitted to the hospital shortly after the incident. When the story was first reported, the severity of the injury was unknown, so the Giants organization sent a team trainer down to visit JPP. JPP and his agent decided to refuse access to the trainer-who could have had him brought to the Giants’ elite hospital connections in New York-and the Giants decided to revoke the $60 million long term deal they had previously offered to him. On Wednesday, JPP had his right index finger amputated, and it was discovered that his thumb is broken. The Giants still have the franchise tag on Pierre-Paul, but he has yet to sign it, which means he is not under contract for the team and the team is not required to pay him. Now for analysis. I was reading an article on NFL.com yesterday that drew a player comparison for Pierre-Paul since entering the league in 2010. The comparison? Oakland Raiders DE Justin Tuck who played with JPP in New York for a few seasons. The Giants let Tuck walk away in free agency because his stats had dipped, but were about to give JPP $60 million for having the same stat line. Why? The 2011 season and the end of last season. In 2011, JPP was one of the top d-linemen in the league. At the end of last season, JPP looked like he was returning to form, but he was playing against teams that allowed a lot of sacks, and the Giants were already out of the playoff picture, meaning that he played well against inferior competition when it didn’t matter. In my opinion, the Giants should let JPP walk because his immaturity is not needed in the Giant spotlight that is the media circus of New York. That’s right, I’m calling for the Giants to rescind the franchise tag.

2. The second fireworks story is also in Florida, where Tampa Bay Buccaneers CB C.J. Wilson also hurt his hand. Unlike JPP, Wilson has been in contact with the Bucs organization, however because Wilson is a player fighting for a roster spot, his incident will likely prevent him from getting a roster spot.

3. Moving on to another one of the NFL’s not-so-gems, Dallas Cowboys DE Greg Hardy has had his suspension for domestic violence reduced from 10 games to 4 games. This was a stupid move by the NFL, and not just because I’m a Giants fan and am not looking forward to my teaming playing against Hardy. Let me remind everyone that RB Ray Rice also committed an act of domestic violence, and he was booted from the league for the incident. The difference between the two cases? Video evidence. Ray Rice was caught on camera, and Hardy was not. Hardy was lucky to get a 10 game suspension because he probably should’ve gotten a season long suspension at the least. In my opinion, if you want to know why the league reduced Hardy’s suspension, ask Jerry Jones. I’m guessing Jones pulled some strings with this deal because he is dying to get his star acquisition on the field. Watch out NFL, if you still think Dallas is “America’s Team” and treat them better, you could end up taking a lot of heat. That goes for you too Jerry.

4. Now for a truly sad story, former Oakland Raiders QB Ken “The Snake” Stabler passed away on Thursday at the age of 69 due to colon cancer. He was a four-time Pro Bowler in the NFL, won Super Bowl XI, won two National Championships at the University of Alabama, and led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season too. He was one of the best left-handed passers in league history and I agree with John Madden when he says that he belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

5. The Top 100 Players of 2015 finished up the list this week with the top 10 players. Here is the list with my opinions. Keep in mind that the list says “of 2015”, so I’m focusing on performance over the past season alone. 10) Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots- Can’t argue with this one. Not only did he stay healthy, but he and Brady led the Pats to a Super Bowl victory. If anything, he should be ranked higher. 9) Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seattle Seahawks- This ranking is spot on. His electrifying running brought the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowls and while he isn’t the best, he’s one of the best and VERY consistent. 8) Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers- Antonio Brown was the best WR in the NFL this year. He and Le’Veon Bell took the Steelers to the playoffs this season. 7) Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts- This ranking is too low. He is top 5 in the league because he took the Colts from worst in the league, to getting further in the playoffs every season with a trip to the AFC championship this season. 6) Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions- Based on this season ALONE, this is WAY too high. Megatron was still great, but had some injury issues and, unlike the other top ten players, he didn’t lead his team to their success this season. He should not be in the top 25 and if it were up to me, Le’Veon Bell would be here. 5) Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos- This is too high. Broncos management has stacked the team to get a Super Bowl ring, and Peyton is unable to get there. He shouldn’t be top 10 for THIS season. 4) DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (was Dallas Cowboys)- He led the league in rushing yards. This is a perfect spot. 3) Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots- This is just slightly too high. He led his team to a Super Bowl victory, but I can’t stop thinking about the Kansas City game and ‘Deflategate’, so he slips down but still in the top 10. 2) Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers- He is the best QB statistically which means usually he would be #1 but… 1) JJ Watt- Watt showed that not only is he ELITE at his position, but he is capable at other positions too, including offense. Watt deserved to beat Rodgers to #1 because of his versatility. The QBs aren’t always king.

That’s all for TheHaysWay today, have a pleasant tomorrow.