No, I view it this way. Bradford had a freak moment and a re-tear. I don;t view that as the same.

In 2011 he injured the ankle, but then that year was so rough that every single Rams qb got injured. They picked Clemens up on waivers and he was playing a game 11 days later. And then…got injured. So to me 2011 was the situation.

Amendola has shown that every single year he goes out on the field, it will be something else. That was true of 2011, 2012 (with 2 injuries) and 2013.

In 2009 Bradford injured his shoulder in the first game of the season at Oklahoma. He missed three weeks then came back. He then reinjured his shoulder his second game back ending his season.

In 2011 he was injured much of the season even when he played. And he played only 10 games and was not 100% for many of the rest.

In 2013 he tore his ACL in game #7 ending his season.

In 2014 he re-tore his ACL in the third preseason game ending his season.

In the last six seasons Bradford has finished the season only twice finishing the others on IR (or OU’s equivalent)

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by TackleDummy.

InvaderRam wrote:

it only seems fair that they pay him this year. the rehabilitation costs alone have to be through the roof. astronomical i would think. and he got injured on the job. so he should be compensated for that. next year though. i don’t know how that all works.

Bradford will get paid for the 2014 season. He will also be able to use the Rams trainers for his rehab. All of his medical bills for this injury will be paid for by the Rams. As for 2015 he is still under contract with the Rams. He gets no further benefits as a result of the injury. I.E. the Rams could treat him any way they wish. They could play him under that contract, they could extend his contract, or they could cut him.

Mackeyser wrote:

Okay, so I see what you’re saying, TD. All of his salary became guaranteed under the CBA, presuming this rule wasn’t materially different than under the old CBA since Bradford’s contract is under the old CBA. I can see if it’s all guaranteed that the Rams would just keep him on IR. Damn, that’s a lot of money to just sit there all season, though…

It was tweaked a little, if I remember, from the old CBA but in the favor of the players. Once a player signs a NFL contract if he suffers a season ending injury as a result of football activities with the team he is entitled to his full salary for the year. Had the Rams signed a rookie kicker as a camp leg and he got an ACL injury his first day of rookie camp the Rams would have been out his salary for the whole year.

Sam Bradford will get a base salary of $14,015,000. There is also a prorated charge of $3,595,000 against the CAP. This comes to a total of $17,610,000 in cap space for Bradford. But the Rams will not have to come up with that much extra cap space. Rather, their additional cap charge will be for the player who takes Bradford’s place on the roster. For example, if the Rams had planned to carry only two qbs, Bradford and Hill, and they now will carry Hill and Davis then the cap space is changed only by Davis’s cap hit, which is $570,000

Practice squad basics
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/8/31/4677982/nfl-practice-squad-salary-rules-eligibility

Each NFL team can have up to eight ten players on their practice squad.
Practice squad players … practice with the team. They do not play in games.
Not all players are eligible to be signed to NFL practice squads (more on that below).
Practice squad players are paid per week and can be released at any point during the season.
Practice squad players are free to sign with other NFL teams, assuming they are signed to the 53-man active roster. A practice squad player cannot be signed to another practice squad unless he is first released.
A practice squad player can not sign with their team’s upcoming opponent, unless they do so six days before the upcoming game or 10 days if their team is currently on a bye week.
If a practice squad player is signed to the active roster, they will receiver a minimum of three paychecks, even if they are released before spending three weeks with the team.
In order to be signed to a practice squad after being released, a player must first clear through waivers.

Eligibility

Practice squads are considered to be for developmental purposes. Therefore, veterans are not eligible to be signed to the practice squad. In fact, players with more than one year of accrued NFL service are not eligible. Here is a closer look at the eligibility requirements.

A player is eligible if he does not have an accrued season of NFL experience. Players gain an accrued season by being on the active roster for at least six games.
If a player has one accrued season, they can still be practice squad eligible if they were on the 45-man active gameday roster for less than nine regular season games.
A player is deemed to have served a season on the practice squad if he remains on the practice squad for at least three weeks. Players are eligible to be on the practice squad for two seasons.
Players can be eligible for a third practice squad season if their team maintains no less than 53 players on the active/inactive list at all times.

Salary

Practice squad players earn significantly less than players on the active roster, but they still take home a solid weekly paycheck. NFL practice squad players make a minimum of $6,000 per week they are on the practice squad. There is no limit to how much a team can pay a player on the practice squad. Some will offer a higher weekly salary in order to entice better players to sign, although the practice squad contracts do count against the salary cap.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have paid practice squad players significantly more in recent seasons. In 2010, Tampa Bay offered wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe a contract worth equivalent to the minimum salary to entice him to sign to its practice squad.

If a player remains on the practice squad for an entire regular season, he would earn $102,000. A player with less than one accrued season on the active roster would earn a minimum salary of $405,000.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by TackleDummy.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by TackleDummy.

The one team that’s hammered the point home effectively through two weeks of games is St. Louis. The Rams have their defensive backs practicing in pass coverage while holding two tennis balls, to limit the temptation to hold receivers’ jerseys and to grab their arms beyond the five-yard bump zone. In two games the Rams have zero defensive pass interference penalties, zero illegal-contact penalties, and two defensive holding penalties on defensive backs—both by rookie nickel back LaMarcus Joyner.

The Rams have had 24 penalties in two games, which is slightly above average. If the Rams have had only two penalties at most that are in the “points of interest” that means they are committing a lot of penalties that were already illegal. That needs to be cut down.

I am guessing that someone from every NFL team has watched this video. I would also guess that while every NFL team does some of this that all can pick up hints from the video.

I really find it so interesting how some people can judge a player with such accuracy after two preseason games.

Winnbrad wrote:

It seems like the league is trying to make something out of nothing. I still think the best option is to get rid of it. It slows the game down for no reason.

IMO, give teams 7 points for a TD, or let’em opt out and go for 2 from the 2 yard line.

It’s bad enough having so many games decided by a bad snap/bad hold/gust of wind, etc. Kicking a 33yd extra point just makes it harder for outdoor teams to consistently make extra points.

I am one who doesn’t like the extra point kick at the 15 or 20 or 25 or 50 yard line. I would like to leave it alone or eliminate the extra point kick. But I would eliminate it by having teams go for two every time after each TD. But I see no movement for eliminating the extra point kick. So just leave it alone.

Snead starts at about the 8:50 mark.

Winnbrad wrote:

This rule change is silly. It’s a solution looking for a problem. Either keep the conversion kick where it is or get rid of it.

I have proposed that the NFL get rid of the kicked extra point for a long time now. Go for two every time. A long extra point kick (i.e. from the 15 or the 20) simply adds an element of chance into the game. Going for two is much more of a football play.

BTW: The NFL is also trying to eliminate or reduce the kickoff return. What I would do is change the rule to have no kick runbacks. Rather the first team to recover the kick would get possession of the ball on their 20 (or 25) yard line. The kickoff would end at the time of possession. This would turn every kickoff into an onside try. Much more exciting.

This year is significantly different from past years. This year there is no position for which the Rams do not have a competent player for that position. That just was not the case in the past few years. So drafting for a specific position is probably the wrong question. And the question of “who would you draft” has a lot of “ifs” to be answered. Do you mean at the top part of the draft? Or at the bottom portion of the draft? Are you looking for a starter or a solid backup? With that in mind I looked at this years draft and picked three drafting positions from which the Rams could choose, in addition to what the Rams already have. I am not at all taking into account how these players are currently doing.

Scenario One: Rams pick 6th. The next five players available are
1. Jake Matthews, OL
2. Mike Evans, WR
3. Justin Gilbert, CB
4. Anthony Barr, OLB
5. Eric Ebron, TE

Matthews could compete with Barksdale for the starting RT position. Would eventually team with Robinson to make quite a pair of bookends.
Evans would make an excellent big WR. Would compete for touches with Britt and Quick
Gilbert would likely play nickel CB in his first year.
Barr would start at the third linebacker position. He would play about 40% of the time.
Ebron would become the second TE.

Of this group I would pick Matthews.

Scenario Two. The Rams pick 16th. The next 6 players drafted are
1. Zack Martin, OL
2. CJ Mosley, ILB
3. Calvin Pryor, FS
4. Ja’Wuan James, OL
5. Brandin Cooks, WR
6. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, FS

Martin could compete with Barksdale for RT or Robinson could be moved to RT and Martin could be LG.
Mosley would be Laurinaitis’ backup and might eventually become the Rams MLB.
Pryor or Clinton-Dix would likely start and FS.
Cooks is too much like some of the current WRs.
James would be a poor mans Martin.

From this group I would pick Martin with either Pryor or Clinton-Dix being a close second.

Scenario Three. The Rams pick 26th. The next six players drafted were
1. Marcus Smith, OLB
2. Deone Bucannon, SS
3. Kelvin Benjamin, WR
4. Dominique Easley, DT
5. Jimmie Ward, SS
6. Bradley Roby, CB

Smith would compete to start over Dunbar and Armstrong.
Bucannon and Ward would compete at safety. Either would probably start.
Benjamine would go into the WR mix.
Easley might even have problems making the 53 man roster. Nothing against him but …
Roby would compete for the nickel back position.

Of this group I would pick either Bucannon or Ward.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by TackleDummy.

zn wrote:

I know it’s early but it looks like maybe Fisher is smarter than I am about football players.

Duh, you think 🙂

Armstrong might well have a breakout season if he can beat out Dunbar to be a starter. Bailey on the other hand has a much tougher road with his suspension. That may well hold him back until next season for a truly breakout year.