If any one NFL team could
tell you about change this off-season then it would most certainly be the San
Francisco 49ers. The pace of change in
this organisation is quite frankly frightening, and I feel certain that even
the most ardent of 49ers would struggle to convince you that we are talking
about change for the better.
This team has seen a new
stadium, new head coach, and a playing Roster that as of right now is almost
unrecognisable from the one that just lost the Super Bowl just a few seasons
ago. In fact you could almost semi
seriously suggest that the next change should be to change the team name to the
Santa Clara Revolution. If it were
possible all those Busts in the Hall of Fame of 49ers greats must be spinning
at what is happening.
And yet despite all evidence
to the contrary, I just don’t seem able to completely write them off just
yet. They may well finish at the bottom
of the West this season, but I have a strong sense that this team will not be
the train wreck that many are pointing too.
I believe that Jim Tomsula is a players coach, and what we will see this
year is a strong case of a team exceeding the sum of its parts.
Other change blowing through
the NFL right now is the looming presence of the City of Angels. With every passing story it seems ever more
likely that Los Angeles will be the home city of at least one franchise come
the 2016 season. Of the teams involved,
San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St Louis Rams, the commitment of the
current home city would suggest that it (in NFL parlance) is more probable than
not, that it will come down to the Chargers and Raiders. If this is the case then f course there are
still repercussions for the NFC West.
The League do not allow two teams sharing the same stadium to play
within the same division, so if Chargers and Raiders do take possession of the
Carson area stadium, divisions are going to be redrawn, with the most likely
outcome of the Rams moving to the AFC and one of the Chargers / Raiders moving
to the NFC, my gut tells me that the NFL would prefer the Raiders move over in
this eventually. Time will tell, another
Owners meeting has been scheduled for August to specifically review the LA
position, so maybe more news will come then.
In the meantime, we are now
deeply entrenched in the Pay The Man
calendar spot. The latest big name to
sign a multi million $ deal is Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton. Newton of course does have significant skills
but so far has only managed one playoff win in his career. In the meantime the NFL awaits potential new
contracts for Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson.
There are already rumours of Wilson’s deal being fully guaranteed,
something Seattle have tried to deny, but for a QB coming off two Super Bowl
appearances this will be a large payday.
However, this begs the
question, when do these large QB mega contracts start to actually hurt the
team. In all those years in Indianapolis
Peyton Manning for example was given every possible resource for his Offence to
succeed, often at the expense of the defence.
Would a more balanced approach have seen the Colts win more than the one
Lombardi Trophy Manning did deliver. The
salary cap may be expanding these last few years, but each year there will be a
cap figure, the more you pay a QB, the less you can the other players. If Russell Wilson suddenly moves from the
$1.5million his initial contract allowed to closer to $20million (which would
be Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger type money) how many Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy
Graham, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas can you keep? I guess if Seattle get back to the Super Bowl
as many predict then it would be a great problem to have.
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