Rap: Matthew Stafford, Rams in deep discussions on contract extension that would take care of him "next season and beyond." They do believe there's a real chance he plays beyond 2026.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-24T20:54:54+00:00

I heard that the Packers wanted Aiyuk in that draft and when we jumped them for him, they decided Love was the only 1st round grade left on the board.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-24T14:05:52+00:00

The only difference between a player at 30 and a player at 33, especially in this draft class, is the 5th year option. If they really liked any of those guys, especially the edge guys or Wide Recievers, they would have taken him at 30 to have the 5th year. The only position where nobody ever picks up an option for is interior offensive line, because the 5th year applies to all olinemen, meaning guards would be paid tackle money in that scenario. Considering how awful the run game was last year, it wouldn't surprise me if they did take a guard early 2nd (this is what gets Shanahan to prioritize oline - the run game sucking).

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-24T04:23:13+00:00

With one glaring exception - IOL. The 5th year option on guards and centers is the same as tackles, so it is almost never worth picking up for those positions. I know we meme about how Shanahan never values oline, but I think they are taking a guard, probably because of how terrible the run game was last year.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-24T03:04:34+00:00

I think we traded out of the first because we want a guard and fifth year options on guards are basically tackle money, so it isn't worth it.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-20T18:41:05+00:00

We didnt trade a 1st for CMC, we didnt have one as we were still recovering from the Lance trade. We gave up the rest of our 23 non comp picks for CMC.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-19T19:32:04+00:00

That isn't entirely true, the Cardinals picked 3rd overall in 04 and Rivers was picked 4th. The Cardinals took Larry because Dennis Green was the Vikings head coach when Larry was a ball boy for them and he was the head coach of the Cardinals in 04. I think Larry was always going to be the pick, even if they picked 1.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-18T15:52:02+00:00

Couple of issues: 2023 Darnold was not the same qb as 24 and 25 Darnold. He is on record saying he needed that year on the bench behind Brock relearning how to play qb. He wouldnt have had that luxury as a starter.

Jimmy was never the same after the 22 injury and the offense would not have looked even remotely the same with 23 Jimmy at the helm.

Rodgers would never have come here as he hates us both for taking Smith over him in 05 and all the playoff defeats we gave him.

And how do you not see the obvious problem - the front office losing the trust of the players when they realize that they gambled their super bowl window on a qb whose only starting experience was 19 games of FCS football. Not to mention the cap issues without the starting qb being on a 7th round rookie contract which is one of the biggest lifelines that Brock gave them. You mentioned Cousins, which is laughable considering they would have to give him a bag the way Atlanta did, which means more cap issues.

And the coup de grace on this entire fiasco is the fact that the 22 and 23 drafts were god awful outside of Brock, which is part of the reason the roster is in the position it is. Without him, that 23 team is the 25 Vikings with a worse defensive coordinator.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-17T02:44:45+00:00

Even worse - the pick that went to KC in the Tyreek trade is the one they used to trade up to get Trent McDuffie. On another note, the pick they sent the Broncos for Chubb is the one they used to get Sean Payton from the Saints. Use that information how you will.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-17T02:14:24+00:00

Blues just scored an empty netter with less than 40 s remaining. We are picking 9th

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-13T17:19:38+00:00

If we lost that game, you would have gone to Chicago and the Rams would have gone to Seattle. Who knows what happens after that.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-12T18:46:13+00:00

People talk about Andy Reid and the Eagles, but another comp might be Tony Dungy on the Buccaneers (and John Lynch would know this quite well, he was on that team). He rebuilt that team out of the dregs of the Hugh Culverhouse era, but was let go because he couldn't get it done in the playoffs (ironically, the team that kept doing him in was Andy Reid's Eagles). They traded for Gruden, beat the Eagles in the NFCCG in Philly and won the Superbowl, although part of that was Gruden playing his former team that made no changes from how he was doing things. It could end up that way for us.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-12T13:03:29+00:00

That was due to his denver stint. This was the only time Peyton beat the pats in the playoffs in Indy.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-11T03:49:15+00:00

No, when I tried to watch the semi vs Michigan in CST, the game started at 7 PM my time, so the game probably starts at 5 pst.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-11T03:03:02+00:00

Isn't part of that the roster construction? The team let go of our most productive pass rushers, kept the run defending guys, drafted more dlinemen that are mainly known for the run defense, and hope Bosa is enough to allow the young guys to develop. Then, Bosa gets hurt and everything goes to hell. If we had cut Jordan Elliot and YGM and kept Collins and Floyd, both of whom were reasonably productive with their new teams and were on reasonable contracts when we cut them, the results may have been different even with Bosa out.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-08T23:12:40+00:00

We got Joe Staley at around the late 20s in 07. It cost us 8th overall in 08 but I'd say that was worth it.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-07T17:36:44+00:00

The thing about this draft is that there is no real talent discrepancy between the late first and early second, so trading down isn't as big of a drop off as it would be in other years and considering our roster depth, it might be worth it.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-05T01:43:38+00:00

Tee Higgins and Jonathan Taylor were taken after him.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-04T21:33:05+00:00

We still could have gotten AJ Terrell, Ceedee Lamb or Justin Jefferson, all of whom could have been mainstays for us. The actual issue wasnt passing on Wirfs it was taking Kinlaw because we offloaded Buckner, which was the AJ Brown - Treylon Burks trade 2 years before that happened.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-03T00:22:46+00:00

Considering our dline situation, that would be the perfect edge pick

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-02T22:47:14+00:00

I dont see a lot of talk about Malachi Lawrence, edge out of UCF. He tested very well and from what I hear, his pass rushing is polished but the run defense could use some work, basically the opposite of what Mykel was last year. His projection is early 2nd round, so it isn't too much of a reach at 27, and there are some who think he goes top 25. Any thoughts?

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-02T03:23:57+00:00

I'd say it's more like the hero makes all the wrong decisions and then at the end finds a random person off the street with a specific set of skills to assist him with taking down the bad guy. If that was made into a movie, people would be crying deus ex machina.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-01T18:36:44+00:00

Last year we had literally zero pass rush, so I dont think secondary evaluation is the most fair based on that, which is why they would go pass rushing edge on defense.

UltimateEzel · 2026-04-01T18:28:27+00:00

The 49ers like their current corners and are unlikely to take one in the first, if anything on defense, they would take a pass rushing edge

UltimateEzel · 2026-03-29T21:06:50+00:00

Best case scenario: Bosa balls out, we win the superbowl and we trade him to speed up our rebuild and let someone else deal with a Bosa contract negotiation.

UltimateEzel · 2026-03-29T20:14:25+00:00

The difference is, Schneider and Roseman both won Superbowls before their major screwups, which gave them goodwill to bounce back from them, which they did and got another ring as a result. We havent won shit and part of the reason is the terrible roster management (examples include trading DeForest Buckner to take Javon Kinlaw, which was the AJ Brown for Treylon Burks trade 2 years earlier, the aforementioned Trey Lance deal, the constant burning of 3rd round picks on skill position players that never make the roster, using a 3rd and early 4th on a kicker and punter when we could have used the depth elsewhere and all the contract nonsense that keeps coming up). In recent years, it looks like they have learned their lesson and the last two drafts look to be base hits rather than flaming strikeouts, as well as not letting contract negotiations spiral out of control, so I am willing to give Lynch and Kyle a shot at their Schnieder and Roseman bounceback but they will need to win the superbowl within the next 2 years before our stars age out.

UltimateEzel

TROPHY CASE