TJ and Bud

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Originally Posted by teegre

The Larry Bird Exception :nod:

After being with a team for 4 seasons, a player who is re-signed for $10 million/season would only count $7.5 million against the cap. I would also want to see a longevity clause, so that that discount percentage goes from 25% to 30% if a player has been with the team for 8 seasons.

Since we are on the topic of the cap...

Don’t quote me on this, but the NFL owners receive the majority of their money from the TV deals (not from ticket sales). No one in the stands should not affect the cap... unless, you know, the owners are simply using the pandemic as a reason to lower the cap (something they’ve been trying to do for a decade). SMFH

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Yep, why penalize a team for having successful drafts and picking up 5th year options. It doesn’t effect the Browns or Jets because the draft “busts” but it sucks for teams successful in draft having to send guys packing after developing them for 4 years.

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Originally Posted by cubanstogie

Yep, why penalize a team for having successful drafts and picking up 5th year options. It doesn’t effect the Browns or Jets because the draft “busts” but it sucks for teams successful in draft having to send guys packing after developing them for 4 years.

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It would even be an improvement if they did something like they did in basketball where a player could get more money with his current team than if he becomes a free agent. Then allow teams to carry that much more cap room because of that rule.

he current system still works because the better organizations just do it better than everyone else. That's why the same teams win consistently over time. However, it would be nice if there was even more incentive and greater reward for doing things well.

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

And that is exactly why I think everyone who cares about the NFL should be talking about this. The owners are lowering the cap because it is what they have always wanted to do. Not because they really really have to. Sure they lost billions in revenue...but they still made billions. And now they are going to worry about hundreds of millions?

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I truly don’t think that the human mind readily understands how significantly bigger a billion is than a million.

A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

All 3 are just oddly measurable athletes. What Dupree does at 270 is bonkers, but Watt is no slouch and Highsmith measures out better than I realized:

https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/bud-dupree
https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/tj-watt
https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/alex-highsmith

Of effective current OLB players that Highsmith's testing numbers come out near -- he is a lighter Z Smith from Green Bay: https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/zadarius-smith

The stuff on how advanced Highsmith is as a pass rusher is good to hear. What I "worry" about is not the pass rush, but the run defense. Highsmith is about 35 pounds lighter, not as muscled up, and not as quick. Dupree flying after RBs on the backside is a staple of the Steelers defense. Not to mention, despite what many others say, Dupree plays really good run defense to his side as well.

Hopefully, Highsmith can grow into that.

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That is a valid concern (because, even Bud was a “bust” people didn’t argue that he could play the run very well).

After the Dallas game, someone (Baldinger?) did a breakdown of a run play made by Highsmith. What stood out for the analyst was that Highsmith used his hands (his strength) to get around the OT, move the TE aside, and make the TFL on the RB.

Now, if a pulling guard comes at him, he’s not going to be able to “hold his ground” like Dupree does. But, I’m confident that Highsmith will use his strengths (hands, spin move) to avoid being enveloped by the guard... and make the tackle.

SUMMATION:
Yes, Highsmith definitely has some big shoes to fill.