adam

Steve Wilks, Panthers DC

We play the AFC East and NFC West, while drawing the NYG and TB in the remaining games. GB gets WAS and ATL, DET gets DAL and CAR, and MIN gets PHI and NO. Otherwise we have common opponents. Based on home/away, we get NE, SEA, and LAR at home, and our toughest opponent away (out of division) is BUF. 2018 schedule: HOME MIN (13-3)* W DET (9-7) W GB (7-9) W LAR (11-5)* L SEA (9-7) L NE (13-3)* L NYJ (5-11) W TB (5-11) W AWAY MIN (13-3)* L DET (9-7) L GB (7-9) L ARZ (8-8) W SF (6-10) L BUF (9-7)* L MIA (6-10) W NYG (3-13) W *Playoff Teams I am hoping we can split the division (3-3), beat the Jets and Bucs at home, Dolphins and Giants away, and split ARZ/SF for an 8-8 record. If we can somehow beat NE/SEA/LAR at home (or go 4-2 in the division), then we could reach 9-7.

1. Browns - Yes 2. Giants - Yes (but depends on how they view Eli, may not use with this pick) 3. Colts - No 4. Browns - No (assuming they took one at #1) 5. Broncos - Yes (but may be in the Cousins sweepstakes, or they like Osweiler) 6. Jets - Yes 7. Bucs - No 8. Bears So there is a good chance 3x QBs and Barkley go before we pick. That gives us the 4th best positional player (outside of QB/RB).

I guess we would have to rank order the top 10-15 prospects in order of who we would want and whatever guy is the top available when we pick is our guy. With how the OLine played and the injuries, it is hard for me to see Pace not upgrading with McGlinchey or Williams. However, with how bad our WR Corps is, I could see him going WR, but if he does, I would not be surprised if it was Courtland Sutton, out of SMU. That seems more of his MO, his entire 2016 draft was like that (Trubisky 13 starts, Shaheen, Cohen-small school, Jackson-injury). There seems like we will have multiple options at #8 to fill a huge need area. The same can be said for our 2nd rounder at #39.

1. Browns 0-16 2. Giants 3-13 3. Colts 4-12 4. Texans 4-12 *to Browns ------------------ 5. Broncos 5-11 6. Jets 5-11 7. Bucs 5-11 (SOS .555) 8. Bears 5-11 (SOS .559) So we end up with the 8th pick. The only saving grace is we swap spots with the other 5-11 teams every round, so our 2nd rounder will be 7th (#39) and our 4th rounder will be 5th in the round after the 3rd round comp picks (currently #69).

After last week, we still had a better SOS than them and we played MIN (13-3) and they played NO (11-5), so we lost some ground there. So it looks like there is no way for TB to pass us in SOS, so we draft 8th.

*Updated order after early games* 1. Browns 0-16 2. Giants 3-13 3. Colts 4-12 4. Texans 4-12 *to Browns ------------------ 5. Broncos 5-11 6. Jets 5-11 7. Bucs 5-11 (SOS .555) 8. Bears 5-11 (SOS .559) So we end up with the 8th pick. The only saving grace is we swap spots with the other 5-11 teams every round, so our 2nd rounder will be 7th (#39) and our 4th rounder will be 5th in the round after the 3rd round comp picks (currently #69).

For a comp pick, that depends on how many FAs you bring in vs how many you lose. Based on our signings, I don't think we would qualify. As in trade value, you never know but I doubt it.

Bears had 11 plays inside the Vikings 10 and scored 0 pts. Loggains play calling was on full display. What an embarrassment. The last two times the Bears waited until tomorrow to fire Trestman and Lovie, I hope they fire the staff today.

We lead the league in rushing attempts for negative yards. A 2nd 3 and out. This is gonna be ugly.

We start out like a team ready for the offseason. We have a 3 and out and they march down and score easily on their first drive. 7-0.

In other related GB news, it looks like they want to lock Rodgers up longer, and some are expecting a cap hit in excess of $30mil. I am sure he will get that, at least for 2-3 years, but he is an injury risk at his age. I think we are going to see GB fading into the sunset. This was the first year of their decline.

I agree, I don't know what the penalty is, but they clearing violated the rule.

Massie has been horrible of late and his ankle got rolled pretty bad, so I don't expect him to play. Compton is fine and Sowell actually played well against Cleveland.

Correct, the assumption with the Rams was they expected the home teams (3 and 4) would win. You' re right though, if 6 wins, Rams at 4 would play the Vikings.

Papa John's for everyone.

I am fine with Sanchez as the backup or #3. With Trubisky still learning, we need backup who is willing to help with development. Sanchez can still play if need be. If there are better options out there, let's get them.

For 2018, that's $60mil tied up in Rodgers, Adams, Cobb, and Nelson alone. There is talk about cutting Nelson or Cobb, which would put them back in their same cap situation but to me it just seems like a lot of money. On Adams, he had two concussions this year and only seems a hit away from missing a lot of time.

I thought this was kinda high for a guy who has never eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in a season. With Rodgers deal, they have a lot tied up in QB and WR.

There is the Ernie Accorsi connection too. Also, Gettleman was on the Giants staff with Fox from 1997-2001 (which included a SB appearance). So there is familiarity there from multiple angles.

The Rams cannot get the #2 seed, and the only way for Minnesota to lose the #2 seed is if the Bears, 49ers, Bucs, and Panthers all win this weekend (which would give the #2 seed to the Panthers). They can only be the #3 or #4 seed, but that is dependent on their game, the NO/TB game, and the ATL/CAR game. I saw an article that said the Rams actually prefer the #4 seed since regardless of first game at home, the 2nd game would be away. The #4 seed would play the #1 seed (which is Wentz-less Philly), which is the easiest path to the NFCC. The winner of the #3/#6 seed game goes to Minnesota. On the AFC side, JAX and KC both locked into #3 and #4 seeds, so losses are likely. The late games are going to be action packed with so many scenarios coming to a head at the same time. Here is the best scenario breakdown I have seen (sorry for big images):

Yeah I agree on Sitton, I just think he is solely a health based decision. If healthy, he stays, if not, I think they move on. Massie? He is arguably the worst RT in the league. He has accounted for more sacks than any other OL on the team. A tackling dummy is harder to get around.

Dude, this is just the lighter side of things. Sanchez has played a pretty big role in the development of Trubisky. There are a ton of articles all year on how Sanchez is always there helping Trubisky. Here is one from November where Sanchez helped Trubisky and then Inman after he got signed: https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/mark_sa..._chicago_bears/ I think Sanchez gets a bad rap. He was a really good young QB and got stuck on some bad teams. At this point, he is not here to play. He is here to mentor Trubisky, and there are not many 30-something QBs with a winning record available as a backup. He also has deep playoff experience (2x AFCC's) where he was pretty solid (4-2 record, 94.3 Passer Rating, 9-3 TD/INT, and only 4 sacks). I have no problem with re-signing him. The clip was just showing what he is reiterating to Trubisky before going onto the field. He just did it as Gruden, which lightens things up. I have no problem with it and thought it was pretty funny.

2018 Cap Space $47.8 Cap Savings cuts $11.5 Glennon (no point paying him this much for a coin toss) $8 Sitton (depends on health, but I think $8 mil in cap space will be spent better elsewhere) $7 McPhee (injuries limit him too much) $5.6 Sims (I know some like him, but he is not worth over $5mil as a blocking TE) $5.6 Massie (can't imagine paying Massie to whiff on anymore DE's) $5 Wheaton (basically a million per reception) $4.5 Cooper (a FA bust, I had high hopes, but he was horrible and that TD blunder was icing on the cake) $3.2 Demps (with the emergence of the dynamic duo, I would only keep him for his veteran presence, cap hit is not too big) $50.4 Potential to have $98.2 after cuts Can't see why we would not lock up Fuller and guys like Wright and Acho. We have a ton a space to make some huge FA acquisitions.

Looking at moving to the #7 pick, that adds 150 pts to our draft value compared to #9 (equivalent to a late 3rd round pick). Trades would look like more this: #7 = #13 + 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th rounder - deal w/ Cards #7 + 6th rounder = #14 + 2nd rounder - deal w/ Redskins #7 = #17 + 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th rounder - deal w/ Bills OR #7 = #25 + 2nd Rounder and 1st Rounder in 2019 - deal w/ Bills #7 = #29 + 2nd, 3rd , 4th rounder and 1st and 3rd Rounder in 2019 - deal w/ Steelers To me, the Steelers deal is too rich for them. So I think they are out. The Bills look like the most likely to move up since they have KC's first rounder which is currently projected at #25. So they could move up to #7 (to get in front of Denver) to get their QB, give up #17, but then trade out of #25 to recoup picks they lose to move up. A second option is for them to keep #17, but give us #25, their 2nd rounder this year, and their first rounder in 2019. I think they would be better off going with their first option.