CBA Vote

I don't think that anything can be done with Tom Brady's contract until the league knows the status of the proposed CBA. It will have a huge impact on every team if they go forward with it.

Nobody really knows what might happen when the players vote on it.

Get Paid In This Era

As long as I'm a fan of the NFL, I will always say that players don't get paid enough to play such a violent game and have a short career. A small amount of players make a big portion of the money. They bring the glory to the game and the viewers.

How do you really divide up the revenue?

Scouting Combine 2020

The 2020 NFL Scouting Combine began today. The same thing happens every year where invited players don't get drafted and ones who stay at home end up hearing their name called.

Some teams will place a great emphasis on the results of the various tests and measurements. It can often impact on when a player gets drafted. Many dollars are at stake for each player. A bad day can be very costly.

Ten Years Too Long

It's hard to get a good pulse on the status of the NFL new CBA to cover the next ten years. There are so many issues which could sink this. The duration seems too long in this day and age.

The average career is less than three years. Player compensation and post-career benefits are huge factor.

Are players making a big deal over the maximum paycheck for Game 17 is limited to $250,000? It seems like that could have been negotiated better.

I would understand if the players reject this proposal, but what is the alternative? It took all this time to get to this point.

Time To Resolve

You wonder how much of a chance there is to make a deal between the players and owners before the end of the league year.

The NFL needs to resolve this. Fans would like to see a new CBA in place for the sake of the game.

Will that happen?

Media 2020

There does not seem to be a guarantee of a successful NFL agreement with the NFLPA and the future revenue of the league.

It must be so difficult to negotiate a long term contract with all the money involved.

That CBA

NFL owners had a great offer to the players in terms of a new CBA.

There is so much money to split up.

Players should get more.

Tom Will Hold Court

Fans are grasping for every nugget about Tom Brady and his upcoming free agency. The latest news is that he will have teams come to him, instead of going on a road trip.

Everyone needs to realize the Pats have a bottom line with every player. I don't know how they can dedicate that much salary cap to him. It doesn't make any sense.

This whole process has been one big hype by the media to create a story during a slow time of the year.

To Approve or Not

NFL owners have voted to approve the new CBA proposal. It will now be up to the player representatives to vote whether to send it to all the players for their approval.

The biggest points will be another playoff team and only one bye in each conference and a 17 game regular season.

Owners would love to have this in place when free agency starts on March 18th. There are numerous salary cap implications which will effect players and teams.

Annual House Cleaning

The Pats will be like most teams when free agency begins on March 18th. Players with big salary cap hits will have their deals renegotiated or get released.

Fans will be shocked over some of the names, but it happens every year. Some players find another team while others are suddenly on the outside with no way to get back in.

Many careers end because of economic reasons. It's always cheaper to draft and develop players, especially from the middle rounds.

Brees In

It was good to hear from Drew Brees concerning his plans to play for a 20th season. The team can now move forward with other personnel decisions.

Brees and Tom Brady go back and forth on several career passing records. They will add more to their totals this year.

Future of Rivers

Fans of the San Diego Chargers deserved more than their team ending up with a crazy stadium agreement in Los Angeles with the Rams.

The Chargers have been irrelevant the last few years. They parted ways with their great QB Phillip Rivers after being together since 2004.

Rivers deserved a better ending to his career with the Chargers. We won't know what happened as he was no longer under contract.

He will always be one of those players with questionable Hall of Fame numbers. He finished 6th in career TD's and total yards, 9th best completion percentage and the 10th best passer rating. He also had 235 consecutive starts, with eight Pro Bowls. His one AFC Championship game was that epic loss to the Pats in early 2008.

Will he ever play again?

Two More In London

The NFL wants to grow the European market, but the challenges are immense. The time difference makes it impractical to have one team based there.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been more than willing to play some home games there annually.

They will do something different this year when they play back to back games in London.

While this helps stimulate the interest in Great Britain, it's two less home games for the devoted fans of the Jaguars.

On The Brady Watch 2020

Tom Brady has a great opportunity to make a lot of money as a free agent. You can't blame him for leaving the Pats if it happens.

There is a short list of teams who could handle his contract demands and have enough salary cap space.

It's hard for the Pats to commit for a long term in light of the expiring CBA. His salary cap number is very big.

Another Moment For Patrick

The NFL is trying to anoint Patrick Mahomes as the savior and future of the NFL. That is so wrong to place a burden on a player to perform to some assumed level.

He did what he did in the Super Bowl and can enjoy that for the rest of his life no matter what happens.

It is so wrong to project him as a star for another 10-15 years in the NFL. That is just an assumption by the media.

Good luck to them.

XFL Week 2

This weekend will be a big test for the XFL and its long term viability.

Television ratings were good last week, but now the novelty has worn off. Will fans continue to tune in?

OakVegas

It doesn't sound like the Pats will give Tom Brady another contract because of the salary cap implications. It makes no sense to commit that much money for one player at this point.

I hope he ends up with the Raiders in Las Vegas. They need him so much help at this point to establish a solid group of fans.

That Vegas Connection

I can never figure out how Las Vegas gives odds on XFL games. How does that work?

Betting needs to keep the XFL relevant.

Decent Ratings

The XFL drew almost 4 million television viewers for their games at peak. Their announced attendance of 17,000 bodies in the seats seems to be a stretch.

Can the league survive its ten week season and get to the playoffs? The key if where will the ratings be at the end of March.

XFL Week One

How long can the XFL really last? The stands are not filled. It needs television to survive.

I think it's a big illusion that the value of a XFL franchise can grow real fast.

Can this league make it to the end of the season?

XFL 2020

The XFL made its debut today with two games and the same on Sunday. Will this league survive in three years?

The stadiums were pretty empty from what I saw in the few minutes I caught from each game.

Fox and CBS did a great job with their coverage,.

Did anyone watch? Is there enough revenue for this league to survive in the long term?

More Chances To Bowl

Attendance at college bowl games leaves a lot to be desired. Participating schools often have problems selling their allocated tickets. Television networks like them because they fill a programming gap around the holiday season and draw viewers.

Fans will be pleased to hear that there will be three more next season, bringing the total to 42. More than half of the 130 Division 1 schools will be playing in games at partially filled stadiums.

Rhule Rules Money

The NFL is full of coaches who get fired before the end of their contract. Some teams reach out to the hottest college coach at the time as their choice.

The Carolina Panthers did that with Matt Rhule of Baylor. He was originally the first choice of the Giants, but the Panthers billionaire owner wanted him badly.

He gave Rhule a seven year, $60 million contract and made him the fifth highest paid coach in the league.

Two questions remain. Will he lead them to winning seasons or will he get fired before the end of his tenure?

Taking Care of Each other

NFL head coaches get fired every year, but many of them resurface with another team in some capacity. It's like one big fraternity where they network, join the same staff, get fired and eventually hook up together again.

Ron Rivera got terminated early from the Panthers and took a job with the Redskins. Jason Garrett, Pat Shurmer and Jay Gruden all got coordinator jobs.

Freddie Kitchens who had never been a coordinator got a job on the Giants with Joe Judge who served with him on the staff at Mississippi State in 2005.

In the end, it's one gigantic tree with so many connections.

Not Jimmy G's Fault

The worst thing about Super Bowl LIV was listening to the sports talk show comments about 49er's QB Jimmy Garropolo and how he helped blow the game.

When the Pats traded him to 49er's, many fans thought Coach Belichick made the worst move of his career. How could he do that?

When the playoffs came, they complained he didn't pass much. The 49er's ran the ball and paved their way to the Super Bowl.

The loss will be blamed on him for a long time, although it was a team effort.

Super Bowl LIV

It's a little more than three hours until the kickoff of Super Bowl LIV between the Chiefs and the 49er's. It's a pretty even game with the Chiefs favored by one point and the over/under of 54 1/2.

I like both teams for different reasons. The 49er's have such a rich history in the game going back to their great years in the 80's and 90's.

The Chiefs have not won in fifty years since Coach Hank Stram was wearing a mic in Super Bowl IV. That moment has always been a great feature for NFL Films.

No matter what happens, every player will have this day for the rest of their life. It will even be mentioned in their obituary.

Where Will McCourty Hold Court?

After ten years in the league and all with the Pats, safety Devin McCourty will most likely test the free agency market according to reports.

You can't blame him for trying to get one more big pay day at the age of 32. There might be more than one team out there willing to throw a bundle of money at him.

If that's the case, the Pats probably won't try to match the offer. They have a bottom line with every player and are not afraid to walk away.