NFL Offseason Overview

Hello readers, it has been a while! The National Football League is in the height of the preseason. With opening night of the regular season fast approaching, I feel that there needs to be an offseason column.   Overall, this column will highlight what I feel in my mind has been the biggest highlights of the past offseason. Topics like Tom Brady, the NFL draft, a familiar face in Oakland, and Kirk Cousins.

Tom Brady & Gronk retiring

After losing his 3rd Super Bowl in his career, Tom Brady retiring rumors surfaced over the next few months. Questions like "Will he retire?" "When will he retire?" "Can he retire right now because he is just that good even at age 40?" When Peyton Manning retired in 2016, even he knew that it was time to hang up the cleats and call it a career. Athletes like Tom Brady know when it is time to hang it up, when the body cannot give anymore to the team. If you were to ask me how many years he has left in the tank, I would at least say he has two more seasons left in him. You have to remember he threw for over 500 yards in last season's Super Bowl, grated the Eagles offense put up more points with less passing yardage. If Brady was to retire, he would've already announced it and all 31 teams (Pats fans would be devastated by the news, don't kid me) would be rejoicing over it.

Same story with Rob Gronkowski, he will retire when he knows its time. Granted has hasn't played a full 16 game season since 2011, the guy is a bruiser and plays the game the right way, sadly this right way to play has its drawbacks. As he does get injured a lot. Would it have surprised me to see him retire at a fairly young age? No, the guy is 29 years old and is about to enter his 9th season in the NFL. If he can still put together a couple of more solid seasons where he can stay healthy, he could possibly become a Hall of Famer (oof hot take in July).

Jon Gruden back in Oakland

The last time we saw Jon Gruden was in the Tennessee Titans/Kansas City Chiefs playoff game back in January in the broadcast booth with Sean McDonaugh. After the game he bid farewell to television and is now back to coach his old team, The Oakland Raiders. The rumors of Gruden itching to get back into coaching was always a topic of discussion in the offseason for years. The guy coached the Raiders from 1998 to 2001. He would be traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002. He would win a Super Bowl in Tampa in his first season as head coach, he would hold the position until 2008. Overall, its a good move by the Raiders who have looked good but not quite finish the season on a positive note. Indeed the 2016 Oakland Raiders looked to be a Super Bowl contender until Derek Carr got injured and hampered their championship hopes. In 2017, Oakland looked to get back to where they were the season before until offensive and defensive play dropped resulting in a 6-10 finish. With Gruden in charge, it would be expected for the Raiders to finish at least .500 or better going into the regular season. Gruden signed a 10-year $100 million dollar contract with the team. If you do the math, that's 10 million a season. It would be expected that the results would match the contract, don't you think?

QB Controversy in Baltimore

As long as there has been an NFL, there is usually always a quarterback controversy. Some of the notable controversies as been Joe Montana-Steve Young, Terry Bradshaw-Joe Gilliam Jr., and Brett Favre-Aaron Rodgers. The latest controversy has come to the Baltimore Ravens where the incumbent Joe Flacco is faced with the task of keeping his starting job against challenger Lamar Jackson. Jackson, a 1st round pick out of Louisville, has shown flashes of talent with both his arm and his legs. Will I go as far to say that Flacco will lose his job? No, I'm not that crazy to say that. Flacco's last few seasons in Baltimore have been somewhat lackluster. In 2016, Flacco threw for 4,317 yards with 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Last season, Flacco only threw for 3,141 yards and 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while hampered with injury. If controversies make both players better, then the Ravens could make some noise in the AFC for the upcoming season.

Upcoming writing schedule

With Opening Night coming up on September 6th, I will plan on doing a Week 1 picks column before Thursday Night's game. I am not sure if I will do prediction + picks column all in one or do it separate but I do plan on doing picks again for this season, for sure. See you all after Labor Day!