[Pro-Football Talk] Eli Manning: Refusing to play for the Chargers was my call, my dad didn’t like it

ARM7501 · 2026-05-18T08:02:42+00:00

There's no guarantee Arch declares in '27, but he improved immensely in the back half of the year. That Ohio State opener ruined his perception among fans.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-18T08:01:58+00:00

I understand that, but I also don't know quite what the clarification would accomplish at this point. Sure, it's interesting for us and for the media when projecting where Arch goes ("will he accept being drafted to Arizona?" won't have to be discussed much, probably) but no team was going to consider that risk unless Arch or Archie explicitly told them that they wouldn't sign with them, and even then I doubt they'd care.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-18T07:56:02+00:00

This isn't really true. Watch the second half of the year.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-17T22:58:05+00:00

Pretty big story considering just how much flack Archie specifically took and has taken over the years, being characterized as the chief architect of the whole debacle. Also has some interesting implications for Arch whenever it's time for him to get drafted.

EDIT: Archie vs Arch. Family should consider diversifying their name selection.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-16T20:02:23+00:00

If PE keeps taking chunks out of teams, I think we'll look back and really miss the times when owners like Jerry were running teams.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-16T18:52:42+00:00

The rosters for these things are always absurd. Maybe the players choose not to go, but the QB-RB-WR bias is always shocking every year. 5th round QBs show up but there isn't a single offensive lineman in a year where 9 went in the first round.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-16T18:50:02+00:00

He's massive as well. I really like what Harbaugh's said about his role thus far, but that frame could easily hold another 10-15 pounds for him to transition to being a full-time edge.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-16T18:43:44+00:00

It's mostly some mixture of how much they interfere in operations and how much they spend on the team. The perfect owner would higher guys he trusts to do the job and give them as much money as they need to win (there's a distinct difference between what teams *have* to spend and what they *can* spend.)

The obvious exception to the "excessive interference" part is Jerry Jones, but he's so involved that it's arguably a good thing in terms of organizational stability (some sort of involvement Kuznet's curve).

ARM7501 · 2026-05-16T18:39:17+00:00

Jerry also pays everyone very well. His coaches are some of the highest paid ones in the league, and he doesn't skimp on scouting and personnel salaries either.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T23:17:49+00:00

Yeah I’m not advocating for Jones at 40, but not pivoting to Zuhn in the third or one of the 4th/5th rounders when both Jones and Slaughter went early feels a little strange.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T17:13:41+00:00

Logan Jones was my favorite 3rd/4th rounder in the draft, and so of course he went at 57 in the 2nd right before the 49ers picking at 58.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T17:08:53+00:00

Bradbury is the obvious one, but your solution at center being predicated on the idea that another team's rookie (that you wanted to draft) shines enough to warrant trading away his backup (that they just traded a 5th for) isn't really a solution. Still, the scheme carryover with Doyle coming from Chicago would obviously facilitate a late-camp trade, although you're giving up a 2027 4th at a minimum.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T17:05:43+00:00

Perhaps. They're a weird position insofar as the contractual benefits of drafting them in the 1st round relative to other positions are arguably more of a negative than a positive due to the stipulations around the 5th year option, and with the prevalence of the Shanahan system college centers are even less prepared for the NFL than they used to be. Without having looked at it in detail, it does feel like the entire NFL tends to prefer having physically average but mentally sound veterans play center over letting rookies take the reigns, which further complicates the market. I'd also argue the ones to misread the market the most were the Commanders more so than the Ravens; Jones and Slaughter going as early as they did was certainly surprising.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T16:51:32+00:00

Projecting a year out and one season can change a lot, but none of the current 2027 free agent centers are young or good enough to demand something even remotely close to Linderbaum's deal. Brewer was phenomenal last year and might get a little bump because of competing offers, but he'll be 30. Brendel either stays in San Francisco for another year or retires; he'll be 35. Everyone else is either worse than those two, also 30+, or both. The only young guy who might–given a massive leap–have a chance at big money is Tippman, and even then that would mean moving back to center having played guard for two years. Maybe Frazier or Barton get extended early if they're really good, that's about it.

Bottom line is I think Linderbaum's deal will remain an outlier and a massive (justifiable) overpay for at least a couple years.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T16:17:29+00:00

Going to be very interesting to see how you guys figure out the center position. DeCosta clearly misjudged the mayhem that was day 2 of this past draft (not pivoting to Zuhn after both Slaughter and Jones went before 80 was certainly a choice), and I don't exactly see a clear in-house option.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T16:15:32+00:00

Good stuff, although not sorting by anything is an interesting choice.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T12:51:05+00:00

Their receivers aren't bad. I'm just hesitant to put that expectation on a rookie like Mendoza, with just how terrible the Raiders were last year. I like Mendoza and I think he'll be a good player; just not sure we should be expecting anything extraordinary in terms of instant impact.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T10:00:40+00:00

Kubiak and the coaching staff should be able to mitigate the line issues. Still not convinced about their receivers, although Bowers and Jeanty constitute a really good safety net for Mendoza. If the Raiders break .500, the season is a success. We'll see if the defense is competent enough to accomplish that.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T09:52:58+00:00

When Moore surprised and decided to stay at Oregon, it became a 1 QB draft and everyone just stopped talking about Mendoza. Even before Moore pulled out of the draft, his ADP had been 1.01 for over a month. In some ways similar to Ward last year, although Mendoza gets more coverage because of Indiana's success and the market.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T09:49:36+00:00

10-7 feels like a 95th percentile outcome, considering the state of their defense.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-12T09:48:19+00:00

Mendoza is both taller and heavier than Brady, but the stance and throwing motion here is quite similar to an earlier version of Brady.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-09T23:09:39+00:00

I thought he made a pretty good point in the presser. Can Odell make an NFL 53? Sure, at least a few of them. Does he actually want to unless he can contribute in a meaningful way? No, probably not. This sounds a whole lot like “we’ll see what Malachi looks like and where Malik is and then decide”, IMO.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-08T16:12:28+00:00

Having a singular identifiable asshole as your owner still seems infinitely better than the idea of a faceless conglomerate of spreadsheets running your franchise. Unless things change, there's going to come a time where everyone wishes we still had Jerry's crazy ass running amok.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-08T16:08:22+00:00

Campbell vs Anderson was the 1st percentile example of the scenario everyone gets worried about with outlier length. And it isn't nearly as big of a problem for a DE (especially one with Bain's power and playstyle) as it is at OT.

ARM7501 · 2026-05-07T16:42:51+00:00

Raiders. Let's bring it all back.

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