-I’m going to try and be consistent with this. As consistent as Peter King is at writing the huge Monday Morning QB that he’s known for, starting from his SI days to now, at NBC. In this morning’s version he talks about “Corn Dog” the play that won the Chiefs the Superbowl. You know those jet motions that had the Eagles corners biting so hard that by the time they realized what happened Kadarius Toney and Sky Moore were walking into the end zone (Toney with 11.2 yards of separation and Moore 13.1 yards of separation via Next Gen stats). In the article Peter writes Andy Reid was trying to call timeout because all-world TE Travis Kelce was lined up wrong. But this is where Patrick Mahomes greatness comes through.
“Right there,” Nagy told me, “You could see the calm Pat had. In these moments, one of the biggest moments of the entire season, Andy trusted Pat in that moment to make the right decision. Sometimes throughout the year, your quarterback is gonna make the wrong decision on a play like that. I’m telling you, Pat just doesn’t make wrong decisions there. It would have been easy with the play clock running down and the formation messed up for Pat to turn around, start walking to the sidelines and signal for time. When he didn’t, I just figured, ‘He’s got something.’”
That’s what makes the decision by the Giants whether to sign Daniel Jones such an important decision not only for the next 2-4 years but for the Daboll/Schoen group. They have to be absolutely sure that they get this decision right because in today’s day and age, they may be hitching their futures to the right arm and legs of Daniel Jones, the same guy who when they took the job and watched the film decided that they wouldn’t guarantee him a fifth year.
Now after a surprise trip to the postseason the Giants are contemplating giving him $35M+ a year for x amount of years. The fanbase is legitemately split about what to do. Most want to see Jones get a new contract and rewarded for his play this past season. They view last year as the first time Jones had good coaching and saw the fruits born from the Daboll/Kafka/Jones partnership. One that will atleast have one more year as Kafka was passed up for HC positions during this hiring cycle.
Continuity is very important for any QB. Eli Manning had the same OC/Coach for nine seasons (Kevin Gilbride started as QB coach from 2004-2006 and then took over playcalling duties from 2006-2013). But Daniel Jones has opted for change in the middle of trying to secure a big money extension. He’s changing his agents in a curious move which will have some impact on negotiations. How much? That’s a good question and that cant be answered until a resolution happens.
Prior to the offseason beginning much of the talk surrounding the free agencies of both Saquon and Daniel Jones was that both could be retained with Saquon being tagged and the Giants focusing on Jones and a long term extension. But now it seems that perhaps Saquon may be the safer bet to be retained via a long term extension.
Paul Schwartz believes Jones will be the guy the Giants ink to a long term extension but that was before the reporting of Jones switching agents. As Art Stapleton of the Record in Jersey tweeted “I’ve seen players change representation because they felt new agents would push for more $, and I’ve seen players change reps because they wanted a deal and existing reps were not settling. So, I won’t assume either way without more info.” Xavier McKinney also switched representation from CAA to Athletes First like Jones. Mike Florio of PFT says that per a source this is Jones way of wanting more $$. Florio says that Jones wants $45M+ in any extension.
Good luck. My take is that the Giants should opt for a 4-5 year deal in the $38M a year range with escalator bonuses for awards, postseason play, snaps. I don’t want the cap tied up in him or Saquon that wouldn’t allow the Giants to build on what was no doubt a successful debut season for Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen.
-The NBA All star weekend was a dud. They need to do away with the dunk contest since none of the NBA’s best compete in it. Keep the 3pt contest and the skills competition. Also have a one on one competition and make it be among the All Stars selected. Adam Silver HAS to create some kind of intrigue and that would drive so much discussion around the NBA and give the guys who were selected that fans had a problem with, an opportunity to prove themselves. That’s my take.
Speaking of, listen to this from Bomani Jones on the NBA’s ridiculous decision to reintroduce Karl Malone to the world because the All Star Game was in Utah.
Not only is Malone so problematic his running mate, John Stockton is a certified conspiracy theorist who’s daughter runs amok on Fox’s conservative streaming site peddling the same foolishness. Think about it, when you can’t get the white man because of how crazy he is, you bring out the black dude who impregnated a minor in college as the shining beacon of Utah basketball culture. Malone was living in the woods completely disassociated from society. Rolling Stone had a piece about the problematic star who was front and center of Utah’s All Star festivities.
Shaq said he never ordered more room service in his life. Sounds about white.
-Baseball has a spending problem.
MLB has formed an economic reform committee as a result of the Bally networks potentially folding due to their inability to pay rights fees and Steve Cohen’s spending per Evan Drellich of the Athletic. Ken Rosenthal writes that tension over MLB salary arbitration rulings could come back during the next CBA negotiations.
The intention is clear. Baseballs owners want a salary cap. One that will make owners in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and others look decent in the face of a huge cavern separating Steve Cohen’s willingness to spend to keep a contender together, and the Brewers nickel and diming their ace in salary arbitration. It sucks, as a Mets fan especially, that an owner like Steve Cohen is being punished for doing whatever he can to win. Baseball’s revenue sharing has allowed the smaller market teams to receive a nice healthy check to help absorb their costs but now they are being publicly embarrassed by Cohen’s spending.
You can’t create a whole tax bracket intended to stop a guy like Steve Cohen without understanding that this is like throwing red meat at a lion and asking him not to eat. What did you think he would do? Cohen has also publicly stated that his intended goal is to get below the luxury tax once his farm system is in a place where he can churn out stars through a top of the line player development process similar to what the Dodgers have.
The Dodgers shaved $100M off their payroll including their starting SS, 3B and and are still going to be considered one of the best teams in baseball. The Mets want to get there and with Cohen’s wallet they can but in the first few years Cohen has said he would carry some of the most expensive rosters in baseball because he also wants to win a world series in the first 3-5 years.
But baseball’s small market owners are carrying the movement. I’m confused as to what real time changes they can make prior to the next CBA so they will have to stomach the next 2-3 years until they can get back in the boardroom with the players but I doubt they will achieve what they want.
In the previous CBA offer the owners suggested a salary floor forcing teams to spend $100M but they also lowered the tax threshold to $180M. This analysis done showed that this move would’ve provided nearly a billion dollars worth of savings in contracts. CRAZY!
The ploy was quickly sniffed out by the players as an artificial cap and the players showed zero hesitation in rescinding that offer while Manfred cried on behalf of billionaires. Just this past offseason owners have been confronted about their lack of spending causing some testy exchanges like the one Dan Connolly had with John Angelos of the Orioles. Those arguments have created a tightening of the neck tie in instances that may have created this economic committee which is a joke. Here’s Connolly on Angelos’ latest comments. Reds President Phil Castellini said the Reds operate like a non-profit and called baseball “an industry in crisis. John Henry of the Red Sox only agreed to respond to written questions from the Athletic signaling he had no intention of meeting with the media when he arrived to camp to meet with the team on Monday.
My take is simple as, not just a Mets fan, but as a fan of baseball: leave the salary cap alone. If owners want to create a more equitable situation MLB should consider having owners who will spend to compete. Its ludicrous that billionaires would cry poor and think fans would somehow back them. Between forcing municipalities to pay for stadiums, and then arguing that not enough fans are stifling spending its crazy to me how these owners could be this tone deaf especially going into a recession where the fans will be deeply impacted. Sorry but I won’t be feeling sorry for the Nuttings and the Castellinis or the Fishers of the world who love to take back the revenue sharing money, put zero back into the team and then complain about teams that pay into revenue sharing.
The team/owner they should be taking out their frustrations is Peter Seidler of the Padres. He plays in the 27th media market by size and yet has a top 5 payroll. They made competitive offers to every free agent and have put them in the same stratosphere as the best teams in baseball because they not only spend their own money they use the money acquired from revenue sharing to build a winner that attracts fans and helped them reach gate numbers not seen since their first season in Petco. That’s how you get fans to support- you spend it to make it. Now if only the other owners would agree.
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