So training camp is around the corner. Through the CBA we got away from rookie draft picks staying out of training camp and holding out for contract reasons. Now we have the fiasco of guaranteed contracts for second-round picks. Which team started this mess and will it get worse?
It’s never simple, and I don’t see the point of playing the blame game. Guarantees have been creeping further and further along with second-round picks for years now. Back in 2022, a second-rounder got his third-year salary fully guaranteed for the first time. This year, Houston guaranteed the fourth-year salary for a second-rounder for the first time. He was pick 34. Then Cleveland followed suit with pick 33. But nobody else in the second round has signed since. From what I’ve read, the holdup is with pick 40, Saints QB Tyler Shough, who is looking for his fourth year fully guaranteed because he’s expecting to be New Orleans’ starting QB right away following Derek Carr’s retirement. For comparison’s sake, looking at last year’s second round, fourth-year salaries were guaranteed at 80% from the first pick down to 2.5% for the 11th pick, with no more fourth-year guarantees after that. If Shough gets the full fourth year, picks 35-39 will all (rightfully) demand it, too, and then the sliding scale will likely start after that. Regardless, the shift underway this year is already significant. The recent collusion ruling by an arbitrator has teams treading carefully, too. Either Shough needs to sign, or someone from 35-39 needs to take less than a 100% fourth-year guarantee, for the rest to fall into place.
Maybe when Elgton Jenkins starts snapping I’ll lose that tic in my left eye. In the past couple of years, with prominent centers retiring in Philly and Detroit, the All-Pro door is ajar. When the Packers’ offense powers up to another level, Jenkins could put the spotlight on centers. RBs were pooh-poohed and came back making deals. Is Jenkins’ future contract more in his own hands than he realizes?
Perhaps, but that doesn’t change the fact that the league’s highest-paid center has a contract APY equivalent to the eighth highest-paid guard, and that 21 guards, including Jenkins, have an eight-figure APY ($10M or more), while only seven centers do.
I am amazed at how the value of players goes up and down. Malik Willis was projected as a possible first round pick, got drafted in the third round, traded for a seventh round, and is now projected as a top free agent after this year. Wouldn’t you agree that player evaluation is quite schizophrenic?
Which mirrors player development. There’s no automatic path onto which every player steps.
I recently saw on a national network, NFL journalist ranking the top 10 QBs in the NFL. Jordan Love didn’t make the cut. I’m sure it doesn’t matter to Jordan, but what does he need to do to get some national attention from the so-called experts? In my humble opinion, I think he’s definitely a top 10 quarterback. Your thoughts!
I have better uses for them. Lists don’t make the list.
I just want to say to Kenton from Rochester – Amen! I often wonder how Aaron Rodgers’ last season with us might have ended if the Packers had let Love start a couple of games after the great thumb injury.
I’ve often wondered that, too.
Regarding Davante vs. Reggie: I’m not picking sides because both are great, but I wonder if it says something more about Davante that two of his top five best seasons, statistically, came when he went to the Raiders. I’m sure HOF voters likely won’t weigh that nearly as much as his TD proficiency, but to the normal fan’s eye, Davante always seemed QB-proof, whereas there’s not much evidence of that with Wayne who played almost solely with Manning and Luck.
I’ve felt one of the greatest testaments to Adams’ career, and where he was headed, came in 2017, when he made his first Pro Bowl despite playing half the season with Brett Hundley. In an eight-game stretch during which the Packers went 3-5 with Hundley, Adams caught 46 passes for 543 yards and five TDs, which over a full season translates to 90-plus grabs for 1,000-plus yards and double-digit scores. That said, the Colts slogged through a 2-14 season in 2011 with QBs Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and Kerry Collins sharing those 16 starts, and Wayne still registered 75-960-4, which can’t be knocked. If I may quibble with the credentials, though, all three of Adams’ All-Pro nods are first-team selections, while two of Wayne’s three are second team. I think that differentiates their HOF resumes a bit.