NFL News

[Futureshock]

Screaming fans in a stadium is just an awful idea. I would say it's like these people don't learn at all but it's more that they don't care.

Having a minor in History, one thing that has always amazed me was the human capacity to continually make the same mistakes. Over and over.

[Futureshock]

Tom Brady: “Let’s stay unified and demand answers from the NFL”

Posted by Mike Florio on July 22, 2020, 8:30 PM EDT

AP

Better late than never. Or perhaps, in this case, better never than late.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady didn’t participate in Sunday’s orchestrated tweetstorm from NFL players who pressured the league to do what needs to be done to allow the game to proceed safely. On Wednesday night, after several gains have been made but while negotiations on other issues (including financial) continue, Brady has spoken out.

“There are more questions than answers, but we must have faith in our @NFLPA leaders, both players and staff, to get the game and the business of football in the right place,” Brady said on Twitter. “Let’s stay unified & demand necessary answers from the @NFL as partners. We’re all in this together.”

Despite Brady’s current words, his behavior in recent weeks has undermined NFLPA leadership. He repeatedly defied a recommendation to refrain from group workouts prior to training camp, making it easier for the NFL to take a hard line under the assumption that, if push comes to shove, the players will accept whatever safety rules the NFL offers because the players want to play football and aren’t worried about the virus.

At a minimum, then, NFLPA leadership may not do backflips over Brady’s belated show of solidarity, given his recent efforts to cut against the union’s messages to its players.

[edindetroit]

Washington NFL team to officially call itself ‘Washington Football Team’ pending new name, ESPN says

https://www.clickondetroit.com/sport...PymvCwMjgri9dU

[chemiclord]

Washington NFL team to officially call itself ‘Washington Football Team’ pending new name, ESPN says

https://www.clickondetroit.com/sport...PymvCwMjgri9dU

So... basically like every athletic club outside of North America?

[Cody_Russell]

It's a good move for Washington to take their time with the decision. Don't want to rush it and end up with a generic custom Madden team as their new logo/ name.

[Futureshock]

It's a good move for Washington to take their time with the decision. Don't want to rush it and end up with a generic custom Madden team as their new logo/ name.

Like the Lions?

[Futureshock]

Salary Cap Issue May Delay Training Camps?


July 23rd, 2020 at 1:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Most NFL teams are set to report to training camp July 28. Some teams’ rookies already have. Though no practice work can be done until players twice test negative for the coronavirus — in two separate tests over a four-day span — players are returning to cities in which their respective teams are located.

The NFL and NFLPA have largely agreed to safety protocols, but the financial issue the they have grappled over continues to be a sticking point. And if the sides cannot come to an agreement by Sunday night, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports training camps could continue the offseason’s virtual format.

While the NFLPA wants to spread the pandemic-induced salary cap hit through 2030, some owners are seeking to not only lower next year’s cap but to reduce the 2020 cap, Pelissero notes. This would be a staggering adjustment for teams and players, and it will be difficult for the NFL to convince the NFLPA to agree to it. Even a $10MM reduction would be too much “at this stage,” one GM said, via Pelissero.

The union balked at the league’s escrow proposal, pointing to a scenario that would feature players losing jobs and money as an unlikely one to come to pass. The NFL already proposed a $40MM slash off the 2020 cap, which sits at $198MM. As expected, that did not gain traction with the union. Players’ 2020 salaries are locked in as soon as one game is played this season.

No deadline is in place regarding these talks, but Pelissero adds that owners want this resolved by the time the Chiefs and Texans rookies begin strength and conditioning work — scheduled for Sunday. Should the NFL and NFLPA fail to agree on a financial solution — one they have been discussing for months — the league could table training camps and return to virtual work. In a year featuring no preseason games, this would deal another blow to teams’ development and player safety while potentially putting Week 1 in peril.

[Cody_Russell]

Like the Lions?

Lions 1970 to 2002 logo was great. Hopefully they go back to it someday. Get rid of the stripes on the Lion!

[Futureshock]

Bubbles?

[Futureshock]

He REALLY wants out. He isn't wrong though...


Jamal Adams: Adam Gase isn’t right leader for Jets

Posted by Josh Alper on July 24, 2020, 7:37 AM EDT

Getty Images

Safety Jamal Adams wants a trade away from the Jets and he’s airing some of his grievances with the club ahead of training camp.

Adams is eligible for a contract extension and the Jets have talked about their desire to keep him, but the safety told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News that the team never made an offer to him this offseason. He said he would have respected the team’s approach more if they said “we’re not going to look to pay you this year, we want to keep adding players.”

Whatever the case on the contract front, respect for head coach Adam Gase may be a bit more difficult to come by for Adams. He said that he hasn’t spoken to Gase since the end of the season and that there wasn’t much of a relationship during the season.

“I don’t feel like he’s the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land,” Adams said. “As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building. At the end of the day, he doesn’t address the team. If there’s a problem in the locker room, he lets another coach address the team. If we’re playing s—-y and we’re losing, he doesn’t address the entire team as a group at halftime. He’ll walk out of the locker room and let another coach handle it.”

Adams told Mehta that he will be “showing up for my teammates” when training camp opens next week, but wants to be “with an organization that wants to win and do things the right way.” There’s little sign that he feels the Jets will fulfill the second half of that desire.

[Futureshock]

Juan Soto’s positive COVID-19 test demonstrates loophole that could shut down football

Posted by Mike Florio on July 23, 2020, 3:48 PM EDT

Getty Images

When the Washington Baseball Club hosts the New York American League Baseball Club on Thursday night, Juan Soto won’t be playing for the home team.

Soto will be absent because he has tested positive for COVID-19. But here’s the twist that should have the NFL’s 32 owners rushing for the Roll-Aids: Soto played in a game after giving the sample that tested positive.

Specifically, Soto submitted to the test on Tuesday, played in a Tuesday night exhibition against the Orioles, worked out at Nationals Park on Wednesday, and then learned of his positive Tuesday sample today.

This means that Soto exposed Nationals teammates and Orioles opponents to the virus. Which Yankees players will now have to factor in to their preparations for tonight’s season-opening game.

Of course, baseball players will rarely be in close proximity on rarely. Even then, it won’t happen on a sustained basis. If/when this happens to a football team, the player will be on the practice field or potentially in a game before the result of a positive test is known.

The NFL will have a 24-hour turnaround for COVID-19 tests, which means that a Saturday test determined to be negative followed by a Sunday test determined to be positive will mean that a player played in a Sunday game, alongside teammates and against opponents. And if the NFL’s calculated roll of the dice that transmission primarily happens in confined spaces comes up craps in a bad way, the seeds of an outbreak will be planted.

[Futureshock]

NFL wants to finalize deal by Sunday or virtual work could continue indefinitely

Posted by Charean Williams on July 23, 2020, 3:37 PM EDT

Getty Images

The NFL’s original schedule is now off schedule.

Teams already are pushing back reporting dates as the NFL and the NFLPA continue to negotiate how to handle the inevitable revenue losses from this season.

Most veteran players were scheduled to report to training camp next Tuesday, but Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that a failure to reach a deal by the end of the weekend could prompt virtual work to continue indefinitely.

The Chiefs and Texans, who will play the first game of the season, are scheduled to begin strength and conditioning work Sunday.

The current CBA contains a no strike/lockout/suit clause, and the NFL sets reporting dates.

“The league is management. They have the exclusive right, just like somebody who owns a plant, when does it open, when does it close, what our hours are,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said Friday on a Pro Football Writers of America call. “The CBA dictates wages, hours, working conditions, and generally and explicitly in this case we’ve made provisions about being in a position to approve the infectious disease response plans for the teams.

“Therefore, the role of the union is to hold them accountable on whether it is safe and to what extent it is safe to open training camp now.”

The union continues to push for the projected multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall spread over the length of the 11-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. The league has proposed taking the hit in 2020 and 2021, which could lead to a rash of veteran cuts.

“Even a $10 million reduction in the 2020 salary cap would be ‘too much’ at this stage,” a G.M. told Pelissero, who added that “rosters are largely set. Many teams would be scrambling to free up money somewhere.”

[Futureshock]

What will lack of preseason do to potential expansion of replay assistant’s responsibilities?

Posted by Mike Florio on July 23, 2020, 3:28 PM EDT

Getty Images

The NFL’s officials will have a harder time getting ready for the 2020 season, given that they won’t have the benefit of a preseason or the ability to work at training camps. When the regular season begins, they also likely won’t have the benefit of help from the replay assistant.

In late May, the NFL’s owners approved expanded duties for the replay assistant during the preseason, with the understanding that, before the start of the regular season, some or all of the expanded duties would be used in the regular season. So with no preseason at all, what happens to the expanded duties of the replay assistant?

At this point, it’s unknown; the NFL did not respond to an email from PFT seeking information on this point.

As crafted by the owners, the replay assistant would have been able during the preseason to assist the officiating crew in six areas, when the process is initiated by the referee: (1) game administration; (2) complete, incomplete, or intercepted pass; (3) touching of a loose ball, boundary line, goal line, or end line; (4) location of the ball in relation to a boundary line, the line of scrimmage, the line to gain, or the goal line; (5) down by contact, if the rule was not ruled down by contact on the field; and (6) status of the game clock subject to the limitations in Rule 15, Section 3, Article 9 (Item 1) regarding when time on the game clock can be restored.

With much bigger challenges facing the league as it prepares to try to play 256 regular-season games, this replay-assistant experiment becomes a luxury on which the NFL quite possibly can’t afford to pay attention. Given the inability to get officials ready for the season, accurate calls also may be a luxury on which the NFL can’t afford to pay attention.

That said, 256 games rife with officiating mistakes is a lot better than zero games with none.

[Futureshock]

Report: Expectation is face shields will be recommended, not required

Posted by Josh Alper on July 23, 2020, 2:06 PM EDT

Getty Images

One of the outstanding issues regarding the start of training camp and the 2020 season is whether players will be required to wear face shields on their helmets.

Oakley developed the shields, which cover the area over the nose and mouth and have holes to allow for breathing, as a way to limit the spread of droplets that could contain COVID-19. The league wanted them to be mandatory, but it does not appear that’s how things will play out after talks with the NFLPA.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the expectation is that use of the shields will be recommended, but that they will not be required once players get on the field. All 32 teams will have the shields on hand for players to use or test out once they report to training camp.

The prospect of wearing the shields have drawn a variety of responses around the league. Texans defensive end J.J. Watt suggested he wouldn’t play if they were required, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett questioned their effectiveness and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been working out with one so he could get used to it.

Wilson was doing that to be ready if they were required additions to helmets this season, but it looks like he won’t have to continue that effort.

[Futureshock]

It just amazes me that people are being paid good money to do a job they don't do.

One thing that would be easy to implement is the widening of the sidelines. That would give them more room and hopefully distance different player groups (offense/deffense/ST) so that a whole team would be less susceptible to contracting COVID. Not rocket science really.

And masks should be mandatory. If a player doesn't want to wear safety equipment, he loses his salary and an accrued year.

You put the helmet and mask on while you are on the field and take it off on the sideline and social distance.

Again, not rocket science.