suspension

All posts tagged suspension

THIS CAN STILL WORK

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/03/26
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, playoffs, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

 

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THE indictment of DE Michael Bennett is something the Eagles need to deal with. If he were still on his Seattle contract, then I’d say this is all on him. I’d say he was owed nothing, since he’s done nothing for the team, nor his new teammates, nor the fans in the community.

However, when he got here, he quickly re-did his deal to free up cap space for the Eagles. Where I come from (Philadelphia), when someone does you a solid, you do them one back. (Maybe even two.) So it’s on the Eagles organization to not distance themselves from this (fucking mess), once Bennett turns himself in.

If the NFL is going to suspend Bennett for violation of Personal Conduct Policy, then the NFL should say so as soon as possible. That way Bennett can start serving it as soon as possible. There is no upside to fighting a suspension here. Even if Bennett is found ‘Not Guilty’, the public will demand a pound of flesh from him. Get it over and done with, so that football can be the focus again.

While he’s out however, poses an interesting question about how his base salary and amortized bonus is paid out. (By the way, this is the only place you’re going to even see this subject brought up. If you hear someone talking about it next week, you’ll know where they got it from.)

With a base salary of 1.65M$, Bennett’s base game-check is 103K. His 5M$ roster bonus (if broken up and distributed through each game-check), is 312,500$. That’s a weekly payout of 415,500$. Over six games, that’s 2,493,000$. That much money can have significant bearing on the salary cap for 2018.

Look, the 5M$ roster bonus is guaranteed to Bennett. The only question is how and when it gets to him. That being said, there is no reason that this incident (which the Eagles and the NFL are trusting wasn’t hidden for a year by Seattle), should negatively impact the Eagles.

The only fair move here, is for the NFL to grant the Eagles 2.5M$ in cap space from Bennett’s 2018 contract, if they suspend him. Of course, we’d still be without his expertise for 6 weeks or so, but there may be a solution on the horizon for that DE spot.

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Last year, DE/OLB Connor Barwin played for the Rams for a base salary of 2M and a roster bonus of 1.5M, total hit 3.5M$. Barwin doesn’t fit as an every down 4-3 DE, but he can play that spot in a rotation. He also has some experience as a LB in coverage, so he offers a little (though very little) scheme versatility.

The question is, would Barwin come back to Philly for a shot at a ring, and to play in a scheme that doesn’t wear him down, but instead keeps him fresh? The answer is that according to a GQ article  from March 5th, the Barwins were leaving Malibu California, to wait out free agency in here in Philadelphia. The entire world to choose from, and they come here.

There’s your answer.

In true Philly style, the idea isn’t to avoid a mess, but to make the best of one. To see the opportunity in the middle of a crisis. Not to create a mess, but to expertly manage one. As we’ve been doing since the days of the Lenape and the Swedes. We can MAKE this work.

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WHY ‘ZEKE REALLY GOT SIX GAMES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/08/12
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Fans, NFL, Players, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
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Photo courtesy of Getty Images

EZEKIEL Elliott’s six game suspension is bullshit. Let’s get that part out of the way first and foremost. There have been NFL players and coaches (Tom Brady, Bill Belichik) who’ve done worse to the sport itself, and gotten little to no time for their transgressions. There have been players (Greg Hardy) given stiff sentences (10 games), that were reduced to less time (4 games) for admitting far worse than Elliott is accused of. So then, why the stiff sentence for ‘zeke? Why would the NFL want to make an example of Elliott?

The answer dear friends, is marketing. Yes. Marketing.

While advertising is the act of trying to sell a product, marketing is the act of trying to sell an image, or an idea. It’s an attempt to influence, or control thoughts and/or perceptions. Right now the NFL is trying to sell the idea that they are putting their foot down. But to whom is the NFL marketing this idea?

In the last decade, the NFL has made pointed overtures at female customers in the form of products for women, Breast Cancer Awareness, Team Camps for female fans, trying out female referees, and dozens of other small gestures to boot. Given that the U.S. has a larger female population than male, it only makes economic sense to play to the larger crowd.

That said, over the decades the NFL has repeatedly dropped the ball on issues regarding violence against women, and it’s treatment of the perpetrators. Generally those issues were greeted with shrugs from many players, coaches and even owners. Realizing that they’ve been slighting such a large market segment, the NFL is now at least trying to look as if it gives a damn. It is because of that, that Elliott got shutdown for almost half the year.

Despite the Cowboys boast of being “America’s Team” the reality is, there are 31 other fan bases out there, and all of them have female fans. The NFL was willing to piss off female Cowboys fans, in order to score points with female fans of the other 31 teams. Makes perfect mathematical sense.

Also it mattered who the NFL hit with this. Greg Hardy was a mid-level NFL star, already years into his career, who embraced, even cultivated his “bad-boy” image. A suspension to him just added to his “cred”. Elliott however, is a young, top level star. He’s young enough to have this and any other suspension, affect his next contract, and so he’ll have to stay on the straight and narrow. So this suspension now, will in a few years, look like the NFL hit him with some “act right”.

Again, this is marketing the idea to female fans, that the NFL can and now will, force even a star player to behave himself. Due to wanting to not hurt his next deal, Elliott has to walk a careful line, and so is now a built-in success story for Commissioner Roger Goodell’s idea of discipline.

There is a nagging question in the back of my mind however. Would this sentence have been for as many games were it against a non-Cowboys player? Given the Cowboys past (let’s call it) reluctance, to discipline their players, perhaps the NFL was sending the message that if it gets to the Big Desk, it will generate a bigger penalty. This seems like Goodell’s way of telling owner Jerry Jones, to mind his shop better.

How the Cowboys handle the next infraction will determine whether Goodell has made his point to Elliott, the Cowboys, and female fans across the NFL.

NEEDING THIS MEANINGLESS PUNISHMENT

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/12
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

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EVERYBODY knew the week before the Super Bowl that the Patriots had cheated in the AFC Championship game against the Colts. The NFL was “investigating it”, but the world already knew that game balls which had been inspected by NFL officials, were tampered with after that inspection. That part was clear, so everyone KNEW there was tampering. Still the Patriots were allowed to play in the Super Bowl. Now, four months after the Super Bowl confetti has been swept up, we find out the price for cheating in a playoff game is one player suspended for four games, plus a first and fourth round draft pick (not even in the same Draft year). It’s a meaningless punishment.

It would have been better if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell just looked into the camera, said “Fuck you” to the fans, then went back to loudly slurping Bob Kraft (the Patriots team owner). It would at least have been more honest. It’s what most of us felt was happening anyway, when the Patriots weren’t disqualified or ordered to play game over at least. So much for teaching kids about sportsmanship Roger! Good job!

The set-up to this joke of a penalty is that it’s being appealed. Not just the 4 game suspension, but the loss of draft picks too. Despite the sweetheart deal Goodell handed these chumps, Tom Brady and Kraft are whining that the punishment is too much. You could impregnate all of China with balls that big!

The punchline to this joke of a penalty is that the NFL needs it to be upheld. Some would argue that reducing meaningless punishments is no big deal, since they started out without merit anyway. Here’s why that’s the wrong way to look at it. Everyone (not wearing a Patriots jersey) can plainly see that these were high crimes in the world of sports, and that some high price had to be paid for it. So it was bad enough that such meaningless punishments were handed down to begin with. However if they get further reduced just because the perpetrators of the crime don’t like the sentence, then it brings into question everything regarding player discipline in the NFL.

Using Performance Enhancing Drugs (Lane Johnson) or blowing herb (Josh Gordon) can get you suspended for four games (or more). Beating your son (Adrian Peterson) can cost you a season. So can a bounty scandal (Sean Payton). Beating your wife (Ray Rice) can get you just about blackballed. Yet all of these things occurred off the field. If the NFL loses the ability to discipline NFL employees for on the field issues, they lose the leverage and moral high-ground for doing so with off the field issues. There are far reaching issues at stake here.

The meaningless punishment (bullshit as it is), has to be upheld now or the whole damned thing starts to come apart on the day those sentences get commuted.

FALLOUT FROM LANE JOHNSON’S SUSPENSION

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/06
Posted in: NFL, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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BOTH the NFL and the Eagles going stone silent for the last 4 days on Lane Johnson facing a 4 game suspension for use of PED’s is unsettling. It makes you wonder if the NFL isn’t looking a little harder at all of our players, and maybe stepping up the number of requested tests for this team.

You’d think for a first offender (like Johnson), with no reported history dating back to college, that a pat suspension would be a fairly easy call to make. But so far we’ve heard nothing, and that has me somewhat worried. How much fallout will there be from this? Doesn’t matter. We don’t need any distraction during Training Camp. Least of all the NFL rooting through our team, in what would be a second investigation in one off-season. Possible fallout is what worries me.

However, what I’m not worried about is the Offensive Line; specifically the RT position. The fact is, we have a pretty good back-up in Allen Barbre. During last year’s preseason he more than held his own as he switched off between LT and LG. During the actual season when he had to step in at LT for Jason Peters in the Green Bay game, he didn’t get Nick Foles killed (though Clay Matthews was sidelined for that game).

To be truthful with you, I don’t recall that GB game very well, so I can’t say whether or not a TE was rolled over to help him much. As a former LT, what I can say is that typically the LT does not receive TE help, hence the left is generally the weakside of the formation. If Barbre did play most of those snaps with no help (“uncovered”), then RT should be a breeze for him.

At RT Barbre will generally be on the strongside because he’ll have a TE to his right. On passing downs, that TE can help out with a chip block as he releases into his pattern. A chip block slows down passrushers and generally allows the RT a chance to get his hands on that passrusher. So again, if Barbre could manage that at LT with no help, then RT should be a day down the shore, for him. And if he looks really good out there, he could end up taking over for Todd Herremans when Johnson gets back. (We talked about that one earlier, remember?)

Like I said before, I’m not worried about the O-line, but until the NFL says clearly that it’s just a suspension, and that it goes no further than the individual player; I’m still going to be a bit nervous. After all, we have no idea what goes into those smoothies Chip Kelly recommends so highly. 

IN SUNSHINE AND IN SHADOW.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/06/30
Posted in: Fans, Players. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

SUNSHINE AND SHADOW

LANE Johnson may have made a stupid mistake, but it’s no reason to throw him under the bus. If asked about him this morning most fans would have gushed  over his performance and all of his potential.  Now many are quick to throw him to the wolves. 

Anyone can be a fan when things are good, but can you still manage it when things are low? Can you put the arm of of one of these hulking giants across your shoulders and say to him “I got you, buddy” when he’s down? 

You see THAT is the difference between devotion and bandwagon, between all-weather and fair-weather, between tough and fluff. I don’t know you well enough to label you and I wouldn’t want to if I did. You already have a mirror. It’s on you to live with whatever looks back at you.

As for me- If you want to know where I’LL be, you can look for me under Lane Johnson’s busted wing. Doing what I do better than most. 

BTW: I am aware of the lyric, but I wanted my point as stark as possible.