NFL Postseason Megathread: Playoffs in the Post-Orton Era

[Eddie Teach]

I suffered through the last decade plus.

Nonsense. You clearly enjoy "your" teams losing. 

[Neil]

Could be a Raven soon.

Maybe, but for that to happen Marlon Brown and Kamar Aiken would have to step up.  When you have two great receivers, but they're 33 and 35, you're going to have to worry about speed.  Also, the Ravens are pretty tight against the cap.  If it hadn't gone up so much, they'd really be fucked.

[Valmy]

Only one Bay Area team can be good at a time.  I suffered through the last decade plus.  Are you ready to pay your dues, Kat?

Wait are you implying the Raiders are about to start winning?

[MadBurgerMaker]

Andre Johnson's release:  Sometimes football is a cold business, you know?

Meh, this was coming after last year's hold out and how much money he was owed.  This year they asked him to take a reduced role in the O (supposedly they didn't even discuss contracts), and he got all pissed about it.  Might have been talking about making him #3 WR or something.

[Neil]

Andre Johnson's release:  Sometimes football is a cold business, you know?

Meh, this was coming after last year's hold out and how much money he was owed.  This year they asked him to take a reduced role in the O (supposedly they didn't even discuss contracts), and he got all pissed about it.  Might have been talking about making him #3 WR or something.

I guess.  I don't know, I just feel like he was, up until last year, the face of the team and pretty much the only reliably good player they ever had.  It just seems that it would be the equivalent of cutting Ray Lewis, you know?

[MadBurgerMaker]

Yeah, but if Ray Lewis didn't want to be there anymore and asked to be cut or traded, what can you do?  It sucks to have a dude like that leave, but lets be honest here:  Money aside, at this point Hopkins is the clear #1 go to WR for the Texans.  AJ is at best #2 now, at least on this team. 

If he doesn't want to accept that role, well shit Seattle could make him a #1 right now.  Good luck to him.

[Valmy]

The Texans are one of those organizations that is cursed to always fuck it up, so of course he wants to get a season or two with Indy or New England or whomever.  I can empathize, my franchise is even more so.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, but if Ray Lewis didn't want to be there anymore and asked to be cut or traded, what can you do?  It sucks to have a dude like that leave, but lets be honest here:  Money aside, at this point Hopkins is the clear #1 go to WR for the Texans.  AJ is at best #2 now, at least on this team. 

If he doesn't want to accept that role, well shit Seattle could make him a #1 right now.  Good luck to him.

I think that's it: the Texans realize there's a difference in compensation between a #2 WR and a former #1 WR that's slipping to #2--even if he doesn't think so.

[MadBurgerMaker]

The Texans are one of those organizations that is cursed to always fuck it up, so of course he wants to get a season or two with Indy or New England or whomever.  I can empathize, my franchise is even more so.

The Texans are not fucking this up by not wanting to pay a #2 (again, at best) WR something like $11,000,000 a year.  He's worth more than other #2 WRs, but that's some serious bucks.  They save something like $9 million against the cap by releasing him.

E:  And this is just the financial part.  What I've seen, they hadn't even gotten to that part yet, and had just asked him to take a reduced role in the O.  He declined. 

[Valmy]

Last year I remember distinctly people saying the Texans needed to trade Johnson while they could still get something for him, and they didn't.  So they waited for this year, got no takers (naturally given his contract), and then had to cut him getting them nothing.  Now maybe they still couldn't have unloaded him last year and that is why they didn't but it looks like another front office bungle from an organization that has a history of it.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Last year I remember distinctly people saying the Texans needed to trade Johnson while they could still get something for him, and they didn't.  So they waited for this year, got no takers (naturally given his contract), and then had to cut him getting them nothing.  Now maybe they still couldn't have unloaded him last year and that is why they didn't but it looks like another front office bungle from an organization that has a history of it.

It doesn't look like any sort of bungle at all (e: unless you don't think he should have gotten a contract like this in the first place, which is fair enough).  People can talk about trading a player all they want, but we're talking about a $67,000,000 contract with 3 years left on it last year (and he first started talking about being traded during training camp, IIRC), and then the easy possibility of just picking him up in FA after he gets released this year.

E:  Foster might end up traded or released (probably just let go, unless someone just must have him) after this season as well, btw. 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Interesting move.  It should help the run defense, since the D-line got burned bad up the middle last year.  I hope he is worth the money, though.

I also wonder how this is going to go over with Philbin.  Ross was apparently hot to sign Suh, but Philbin doesn't like player drama.

And it shows the franchise is committed to wining:  something that's been hard to sell (and believe) since #13 retired.

Indeed.  Won't be next season, though.  The team still needs to clean up the last of Ireland's high-priced mistakes.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Seattle just traded Max Unger (and a 1st) for Jimmy Graham (and a 4th). 

[daveracher]

Seattle just traded Max Unger (and a 1st) for Jimmy Graham (and a 4th).

I did not see that one coming...

[Valmy]

Saints desperately need to dump salary, good on them getting a first rounder for him.