I love your positivity in this but these are different times. I would completely agree with you.......................if these kids didn't begin making money in college. ALL these kids today it's about the "brand." The NY Jets are not just a bad "brand" move but a colossally bad brand move. It makes a difference.
Is it just the Jets or there are several other teams too? I did hear this narrative from some ESPN guy too who has a podcast with McShea. Would your buddy's son he would rather go to the Raiders without OL or Browns or the Titans over the Jets? I mean good teams don't usually pick high. Is the Jets situation considered worse somehow? At least we have OL to protect the guy.
I thought the same thing about Trevor Lawrence when it looked like we would get pick #1. I thought the NFL should step in instead of allowing NYJ to ruin young QB's--You know the Mannings would not tolerate it--many others shouldn't--this franchise is worse than worst--its evil.
That’s fair but I already said I can definitely see guys going back to school for the solid NIL bag. I can’t see them going back specifically to avoid any team at the top of the draft. You realize college players (specifically QB’s) have been getting bags whether it was legal or not, right? Namath wrote about the envelopes that showed up in his dorm room at Alabama in his biography.
Now it is a much bigger bag though, millions. Still, if you are at the top of the draft, it is MUCH more lucrative to declare. NIL I think helps the guys who would otherwise be end of 1st or out of 1st. Sellers is a perfect example. His NIL valuation is about 4 mil. Maybe next year even more. And he might not even be 1st round pick next year, which means if he declares he is 10-15 mil total 4 year contract range. And if he goes bottom second, it's 4 years 7 mil. If like Sanders he slides a bit more, even less money. Staying in school with NIL just makes so much sense for him. Without NIL even 7 mil 4 year contract doesn't sound so bad. But with NIL, stay if you get 4mil and don't think you are going top of 1st. Then if he can become solid top of the 1st round next year, he will declare for 2027 draft. What that really means is that QBs, who are pushed up anyway, will be even harder to hit beyond the 1st round. It already is almost impossible. Hopefully what that also means is that Moore and Simpson declare as well giving us more options, though in Moore's case it makes the most sense, since he is likely top 2 pick. Simpson might be questionable, a lot will depend whether he thinks he can go top half of the 1st, which I think he will. From the value perspective he reminds me of Nix: probably will go in 10-15 range, or like a Penix, where he slides into top 10, even close to top 5.
I'm guessing we are getting pretty damn close to adding Lamar Jackson to the top that trade candidate list. Harbaugh is obviously going to say the right things on the surface, but there is just way too much sudden smoke coming out of the Baltimore media and digging in on the "questions about Lamar's maturity and commitment" narrative points to not be legit FO leaks with a purpose behind them imo. Which I'll also be the first the say is another absolutely terrible idea like Aaron Rodgers that will get wayyyyyy to much initial support traction just based on name value alone. A likely to be in decline Lamar (in both ability and sustained health), and who would starting fresh with a new OC/team, is probably even a worse overall success rate bet here then Aaron Rodgers was.
