You can get yourself into trouble in this league if you take people at face value. Especially at this time of year.
We’re in the height of pre-draft season, every word is carefully chosen and analyzed at multiple levels, and secrecy, subterfuge, and smoke screens are all the rage. Especially when it comes to the men who occupy the most important position in professional sports. quarterback. You may have heard of them, as they are all the rage in this league and we’ve seen more trades, transactions (unretirement?) and contract renewals involving them in the last few weeks than it seems ever before.
They keep this league going and we are on the cusp of another fruitful time for QBs on the NFL calendar, with the draft just around the corner and very likely four of them being selected in the first round alone, not to mention other trades involving established quarterbacks that are yet to emerge (Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo, for starters).
You have to be careful when decision makers talk about quarterbacks these days. All is not what it seems, or certainly not everything that is going on is revealed by those who speak about it. There are tricky situations and unique circumstances that surround several young passers in this league, and there are levers that can potentially be won or lost depending on how teams handle some of those matters. Words matter, and often what is left unsaid resonates louder than what is actually said.
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Nobody wants to shake hands with him in a way that might give away more money than necessary or nullify a potential deal and/or give others a glimpse of the club’s actual intent on the draft. People in this league work long and hard to do the exact opposite. Which brings me to three of the more interesting interactions between NFL decision makers and the media regarding quarterbacks over the past week.
And I’m here as a public service to decipher and interpret what’s really going on here. Think of me as a kind of translator. I’m going to say what these guys can’t say openly and shed some light on it. I’ll detail where they would prefer to largely attribute the less is more philosophy for obvious reasons. And feel free to play along at home (or at work, or wherever you are reading this):
Lions coach Dan Campbell, who holds second pick overall, on the need for a star quarterback in the modern NFL: “No, I don’t think you need that. I think guys like that are obviously special. And they can certainly give you a better chance. But no, I don’t think you need to have one of these guys to have lasting success.
What he means: Hey, I’m the same guy who told you we were going to eat kneecaps, and you didn’t take that literally, did you? We took on a brutal contract with a borderline quarterback just a year ago in exchange for getting as much draft pick value as possible. Follow what we do, not what we say. I might stay with Jared Goff for another year and even if we call up a boy at 2 he probably isn’t ready to play right away. So I need to tap-dance a bit (maybe a lot) here.
And since this draft doesn’t have the same QB appeal as some recent drafts, what do I gain by gushing about Malik Willis or Kenny Pickett or anyone else? Why throw flowers this way? Chances are nobody will trade up to 2 to get them, but if we make it seem like we’re not in the QB market, maybe someone trades to land a tackle or pass rusher and we get any more draft capital and still get our QB there? What is it you say I’m a dreamer? Yeah, well, I’m not the only one. But don’t be shocked if we grab a QB somewhere in the first round.
Packers President Mark Murphy on the future of youngest first-round pick Jordan Love in Green Bay: “We think he can be a good player, but we haven’t seen enough yet. So I think this pre-season will be good for him.”
What he says: It will be good for us if we get something for him in a trade even remotely close to what we gave up to rank up and outperform him in the first place. Yeah, with any luck, this is going to be a huge preseason for him… he’s trying to land a starting job in Seattle or Carolina or Atlanta or whatever. By the way, do you think the Panthers and Falcons will definitely get a top 10 QB?
OK anyway, I assume you saw the one regular season game he started right? Do you think there’s a way we could treat this feature film? And if I talk enough about our rich history of developing quarterbacks and how we managed to go from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers and how our backup is often better than your starter, then a GM could actually get into this game and give us a 2 for this kid? Because we all know he’s not going to be cool if he sits out his whole rookie deal to support our crazy starter. Dude, we gave Rodgers $102 million over two years; He may fantasize about being kung fu, walking the earth and solving problems, but he doesn’t walk away from that money. That will last at least until 2024. Which first-round pick sits for four years? So, yes, about this feature film…
Ravens coach John Harbaugh on the team’s ability to secure a long-term contract with Lamar Jackson while exercising his fifth-year option: “He’s a unique guy. People have probably racked their brains trying to figure out Lamar for a long time, you know, since he was a kid. And he has his way of doing things. But that’s what you love about him, that’s what I love about him. Bring him in here and ask him. Maybe he’ll tell you.”
What he means: I want nothing more than to win a Super Bowl with Lamar. Heck, we changed our entire identity on the fly to try to put him and us in the best position to do that asap. But this is above my pay grade. Deshaun Watson could be suspended for half the year and he just got a $230 million five-year full guarantee. Jimmy Haslam puts $180 million in escrow just to throw Watson enough money to finally convince him to go to Cleveland.
Now Derek Carr makes over $40 million a year. Kirk Cousins got another $70 million fully guaranteed. So what is Lamar worth – $240 million with a full guarantee? $250 million? Do you think I have that much money? This is all about Steve Bisciotti. I do a lot here and everyone knows how I feel about Lamar and how badly I want him here for as long as possible, but I’m not the type to have to swipe this check. And if Lamar doesn’t want an agent and is focused on being the best QB he can be rather than negotiating a new contract and he’s willing to keep betting on himself, it’s not my job to get him convince otherwise. It’s my job to win as many football games with him as possible and we’ve done a lot of those together. I’ve got a draft and a season to prepare for, and the only way I’m going to get through this conference is through an excellent QB game. Lamar gives us that. But I don’t negotiate the contracts. And the guys who do it seem to have their work cut out for them in this case.