NFL season starts
No there are not games this weekend, but the 2017-18 season started Thursday.
Moves can be officially made for free agents at 4 p.m. today and roster decisions can become legitimate. In a lot of ways, this is comparable to signing day for college football.
Coaches have wish lists and are making their pitches to get the players they want. Also, each has a large amount of cash having in the balance - allegedly. There are some interesting developments, for sure, but it's fair to remember that the teams that are year-in, year-out the consistent class of the league, do not roll the dice in this search.
Look at the Seahawks or the Patriots or the Packers or the Steelers. Who was the last big free agent those teams signed that was not retaining some of the talent in house?
Sure, any of those teams may add a piece here or there, and they almost always do it on the cheap because veteran players want a chance to win and those franchises provide that by the truckload.
Still, there are teams hoping to hit the lottery and find the next Reggie White-level acquisition or the next Peyton Manning-type late-career surge that could help lead to a title. Here are the five most intriguing free agent stories out there in our view:
49ers sign Brian Hoyer. The journeyman quarterback got a two-year, $12 million contract - a monster raise from last year's one-year, $2 million deal he signed with the Bears - and appears to be step one in the San Francisco QB chase. But the intrigue for one of the most intriguing storylines of the offseason still lingers. The 49ers were rumored to be a top choice for Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has more leverage than any single NFL player in recent memory, but a deal was not worked out. Is Hoyer a place-holder as the 49ers want to groom a Deshaun Watson or a Mitch Trubisky? Maybe. Is Hoyer a place-holder until Cousins can become available by trade next offseason, which would mean that new coach Kyle Shanahan, who worked with Cousins in Washington before going to Atlanta before coming to the 49ers, could get his long-term starter without giving up the No. 2 overall pick?
Giants getting a big receiver. New York lured Brandon Marshall across town, and that deal makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways. First, Marshall is a big-bodied target that complements speedy, play-maker Odell Beckham Jr. very nicely. Secondly, the Giants led the NFL in three-wide-receiver sets, and now imagine a place where Marshall is wide left with ODB Jr. next to him in the slot. In today's pick-play passing game, that combination of quickness and size certainly has to make Eli Manning smile this morning.
Bucs following suit. The Tampa Bay Bucs already had the big wide out, so they looked to add the speed component in their receiving arsenal. So Tampa Bay has agreed to a deal with DeSean Jackson, who averaged almost 20 yards a catch last year, to go with monster target Mike Evans on the perimeter. Somewhere, Jamies Winston is also smiling this morning.
Baltimore does the safety dance. Last year, the Ravens made a splash by luring pro bowl playmaking safety Eric Weddle to Baltimore. Now, the Ravens have added another safety stud. Baltimore reportedly has agreed to terms with Tony Jefferson, a guy who emerged as a star with Arizona. That gives Baltimore arguably the best safety tandem in the AFC - Seattle clearly has a better one - and in today's NFL which is about match-ups in the passing game, play-making safeties are certainly in demand.
The quarterback plays are not done. Tony Romo almost assuredly will be released today. Tyrod Taylor is restructuring his deal to stay in Buffalo. (If he had not redone that contract, he was going to be owed $27.5 million by the end of the weekend, and that was going to be a crippling cap hit.) It looks like Cousins will be staying in D.C., which means the Redskins have to figure out a way to sign him longterm or risk losing him for nothing this time next year. (Yes, they could franchise him for a third consecutive season, but that reportedly would pay him in the neighborhood of $33 million for 2018 - and yes, that's a nice neighborhood - or place a transition tag on him. The transition tag, though can be circumvented by a team offering a deal that promises him a front-loaded bonus that would be cap-crippling for the Redskins, meaning he could easily walk with the Redskins getting nothing in 12 months.) There's Mike Glennon noise, and the report that the Bucs are looking at making him the highest paid back-up in league history. (The numbers of a proposed $15-million annual deal also has some of the other league starters looking at their own deals and saying, "Hey, big guys, where's the coin?")
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) goes up for a layup as New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, left, watches from the floor in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, March 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) NBA numbers that matter
Is the West turning?
Let's review.
Golden State imploded last night with a 12-point fourth quarter that led to a home loss to a pretty good Boston team. Roughly an hour earlier, San Antonio rallied from a 28-point hole to beat Sacramento 114-104.
Yes, Golden State fell on hard times as Kevin Durant watched with an injured knee.
San Antonio dug itself a monster early hole, but managed to deliver in the final quarter with stars Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge taking the night off. That win came two days after the Spurs rallied from a 16-point hole to beat a Houston team that many think can challenge the Warriors as well. And now comes the interesting part.
Golden State lead the Western Conference standings at 52-12. San Antonio is a 1.5 back at 50-13. (Side note: Last night was the 18th consecutive season Gregg Popovic and the Spurs have won 50 or more. The next closest team to that amazing run is the Showtime Lakers, who did it 12 consecutive seasons.)
Yes, the race for home-court advantage is important, of course. But in the West, being the one-seed means more than getting four home games out of seven this year. Being the one-seed among Golden State and San Antonio means avoiding a date with Houston in the conference semifinals.
Houston, which is theoretically out of the race for the top seed, is 8.5 games out of the top spot at 44-21 with 17 games left. Now look at the trends of the top two in the West:
Golden State is 2-2 since losing Durant, and actually lost the game he was injured in, so the Warriors are 2-3 in their last five. San Antonio is 9-1 in its last 10.
Game on.
Barcelona's Sergi Roberto celebrates after scoring the sixth goal during the Champions League round of 16, second leg soccer match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday March 8, 2017. Barcelona won 6-1. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) The year of the comeback continues
Before Wednesday, there were a lot of choices on what was the greatest comeback in the last year.
You had the Cleveland Cavaliers coming back from a 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals to deliver the city's first title in more than 50 years and cement LeBron's place in the hearts of the fans of his hometown team.
There was the Chicago Cubs coming back from a 3-1 hole in the World Series to snap the longest drought in professional sports.
You had the career comebacks of Roger Federer and Serena Williams, each of who notched major championships at the Aussie Open despite being well into their 30s.
You had the Super Bowl, and the well out of respect for our fellow Falcons fans, I think we all remember what happened there, right?
Now it's happened in soccer. Again. Remember, last year Leicester City winning some prominent kick-ball tournament last year after starting out as a 5,000-to-1 underdog. The in-moment odds of what happened Wednesday may have been greater.
Barcelona was facing PSG in the Champions League tournament. PSG had won the first leg against Barcelona 4-0, so Barcelona need to win the second leg by at leas a 4-0 margin to advance to the quarterfinals. Barcelona was firmly in control with a 3-1 lead with about 20 minutes left, but that was going to be more than enough for the French side of PSG to advance. Then lightning struck. And again. And again.
Barcelona scored three goals in the final seven minutes, a blitzkrieg of Hail Marys, and led to utter joy for the winners and heartbreak for the losers.
Here's how CBSsports.com described the final scenes: "Neymar scored in the 88th minute on a free kick and in the 91st on a penalty kick before Sergi Roberto grabbed a goal in the 95th to produce one of the most magical nights in Barcelona history."
How magical you may ask? Well, here's how longtime Barcelona star Gerard Pique put it: "Hospitals should hire more nurses in 9 months because there's going to be so much love tonight."
Comeback indeed.
This and that
- Lots of SEC tournament intel in today's pages of the TFP. You've got area college hoops expert and TFP ace sports columnist Mark Widener dropping knowledge on how a Vols' run could go. You also get TFP UT ace Downtown Patrick Brown's look at Robert Hubbs heading into his final SEC tournament dance and his story on Georgia possibly getting big lift before its game with the Vols today at 1 p.m. Good times.
- Speaking of the SEC tournament, Bruce Pearl and Auburn had certainly made some strides this year. A lot of that positive momentum will be washed under the absolute disaster that was Auburn's ugly loss to a dreadful Missouri team Wednesday in the first round. This Auburn team would have a hard time guarding a parking meter and routinely gives up scores of scores. Auburn led by six with 16 seconds left before losing on a buzzer-beater in overtime.
- This is awful. A 42-year-old Australian man posing as Justin Bieber online has been charged with more than 900 child sex offenses. Horrifying. Do they still castrate in Down Under. (Well, that sentence came together nicely.)
- Legendary boxing corner man Lou Duva died Wednesday. He was 94. He was in boxing for seven decades and worked with some all-time names such as Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Lennox Lewis, Meldrick Taylor and Mark Ireland. Man, is there one sport that has fallen off more in the last quarter-century than boxing?
- Nick Saban defended his guy Reuben Foster at Alabama's pro day on Wednesday. We've said since the combine incident that led to Foster being asked to leave, that a lot of teams may even be more attracted to an intense middle linebacker who is in a hurry to get places and arrives with a bad attitude. As long as he didn't punch a female nurse - and even then who knows, ask Joe Mixon - or steal some PEDs we'd be shocked if Foster is not a top-15 pick late next month.
- Remember friends, the Times Free Press morning sports briefing, which will include the 5-at-10 shipped right to your device or computer is free. Sign-up here and enjoy the sporty goodness.
Today's question
Mailbag. You see the connection?
Biggie Smalls - the Notorious B.I.G. - died 20 years ago today. Pour one for the homies.
We have a question first before we get to the Rushmores. OK, we mentioned earlier that Mike Glennon getting a reported $15 million a year on the free agent market with his limited experience has opened the stars' eyes. Here's Aaron Rodgers saying that a deal like would have to cause him to look at the value of his deal, accordingly.
In a hard salary-cap sport like football, or even a semi-stringent cap like the NBA, is a player looking for his true value being a bad teammate? Because when guys like Tim Duncan or Tom Brady have signed for less than market value in recent years, they have been praised for their sacrifice and for being a good teammate.
Thoughts?
As for a Rushmore, Bobby Fischer, world chess champ, would have been 73 today. Because we don't know a lot of chess players, if you asked someone who was the best class player ever, we believe the answer is either Fischer or "I don't know" 99 percent of the time. In that view, who makes the Rushmore of most universally accepted folks in their craft?
Also, Emmanuel Lewis is 46 today. Who makes the Rushmore of little people?
Go, and remember the mailbag and to sign up for the TFP sports morning update.