Bill O’Brien, Houston Texans. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

The post Is it time to fire Bill O’Brien as the Texans’ head coach? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The Carolina Panthers have signed former New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year deal worth roughly $20 million annually. He is expected to be their starter in 2020, as the Panthers have put Cam Newton on the trading block. Carolina is clearly rebuilding under new head coach Matt Rhule, but did the Panthers make the right decision here?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman assessed the Bridgewater deal to the Panthers and try to understand what Carolina is trying to do here. Do they believe Bridgewater is a long-term solution at the quarterback position or is he just an expensive stop-gap starter on a multi-year deal (19:14)?

Carman likes the deal because Bridgewater has been a good quarterback in this league when he’s healthy, winning five games backing up Drew Brees last year in New Orleans and during his initial run with the Minnesota Vikings before his gruesome knee injury a week before the start of the 2016 NFL season. $20 million annually for a mature guy who brings in stability isn’t a bad move.

Verderame views Bridgewater in the vein of an Alex Smith. He’s a good quarterback, but you’re always wanting more than what the guy can provide from the position. If Bridgewater ends up becoming the guy in Carolina, the Panthers have their new franchise quarterback. Should Carolina struggle next season, the Panthers will be in position to take a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Overall, Carolina projects as the fourth-place team in the NFC South again behind the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in some order. Bridgewater is the fourth-best quarterback in the division firmly behind Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and newcomer Tom Brady. He’s fine, but he’s not a Hall of Famer like the three others in the division.

Ultimately, Bridgewater is the perfect bridge quarterback to move off Newton and draft someone at the top of the first round next season. Trevor Lawrence of the Clemson Tigers and Justin Fields of the Ohio State Buckeyes would be outstanding quarterbacks for the Panthers to draft in 2021. For now, we have to like the Bridgewater deal for what it is, especially after Newton is traded.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Tom Brady leaves New England Patriots (0:45)
• Coronavirus talk (21:35)
• What are the Dallas Cowboys doing? (32:20)
• Kirk Cousins screwed by the Minnesota Vikings? (38:25)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Is Teddy Bridgewater to the Carolina Panthers the right move? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The Washington Redskins had a dreadful 2019 season. They were the first team to fire their head coach last season. While they remained inherently dysfunctional throughout the year, Washington did make a phenomenal hire in landing former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera as Jay Gruden‘s successor in the nation’s capital. Does he made the Redskins notably better?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, project the immediate impact Rivera will have on the Washington professional football franchise. We expect the Redskins to be better, but will they be exponentially better during Rivera’s first season in the nation’s capital (44:33)?

Verderame is very much in on the Rivera hire. Though he doesn’t think Washington will be a playoff team in 2020, he anticipates the Redskins to be noticeably better and hover around .500. He says playing in a bad division and inheriting a fourth-place schedule should give Washington a few more wins this year than they would have otherwise. Rivera will be a difference-maker.

Schwartz, who played for Rivera on the 2011 Panthers, thinks Washington will be significantly better than what they were a year ago. Even though he feels Washington is only a six or seven-win team at best, that’s markedly better than they were last season. With Washington expected to draft Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young No. 2 overall, you have to be excited.

Are the Redskins a candidate to go worst-to-first in the NFC East? It’s possible, given how lackluster the division was a year ago. Though mutually exclusive entities, it was strange to not see a team go worst-to-first in the NFL last year, as it almost always happens. Then again, a third-place team in the San Francisco 49ers went all the way to the Super Bowl, so there’s that.

Overall, Washington has competency at head coach and a solid defense. The owner is dysfunctional, but Daniel Snyder isn’t cheap and will spend the big bucks to theoretically improve his team. As long as quarterback Dwayne Haskins improves in his second season in the league, Washington will not be an easy out in 2020. Rivera will not allow that to happen. They’ll be alright.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph–Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Will the Redskins be notably better under Ron Rivera in 2020? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

After spending a year out of football, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell joined a new AFC team in the New York Jets a season ago. While in the Steel City, Bell was one of the best running backs in football, but after one lackluster year in the Big Apple, could Bell be one-and-done with Gang Green? What are the chances he’ll even be on the Jets next season?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, lagoon with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, look at the changes that have been made to the Jets as an organization since Bell was signed by New York and decide if he’ll even get a second season with the team (41:53).

Schwartz believes Bell will be back with the Jets because New York will want to surround their young quarterback Sam Darnold with as many weapons as possible. Even though Bell was signed by a previous front office, one would think head coach Adam Gase and general manager Joe Douglas will want to keep him around so they can get the most out of the team’s investment.

Verderame is in on Bell returning to the Jets as well. He cites Bell being a largely unmovable asset as the biggest reason he will return. If they cut him, it would be devastating to the cap. He’s an expensive, aging running back approaching his 30s. Who in their right mind would be willing to trade anything for the guy? Bell will be back in New York, regardless of how the Jets feel about it.

Though Bell is likely to never be the player he was in Pittsburgh, he can still have a productive stint playing for the Jets. Gase is a solid offensive-minded coach. Darnold provides promise to the quarterback position New York hasn’t had since before Mark Sanchez Butt Fumbled. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Jets contend for a playoff berth in 2020. They’re not that far off.

Ultimately, you can see why former Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan was let go. Nobody else was willing to pay Bell top dollar as a free agent after sitting out the entire 2018 NFL season. The Jets have to make do with an ill-advised decision that has inevitably cost them. However, it would be foolish to cut bait with him at this time for financial reasons. Bell is back with the Jets.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph-Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Will Le’Veon Bell be on the Jets next year? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The Minnesota Vikings have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. Though they haven’t won a Super Bowl in franchise history, Minnesota has been a championship contender for much of Mike Zimmer’s tenure in Minneapolis. However, they could be moving on from two of their stars this offseason in wide receiver Stefon Diggs and cornerback Xavier Rhodes. Should they do this?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former Vikings offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, look at the high-priced veterans and see if Minnesota is willing to cut bait with them this offseason (40:09).

“I think they move on from Rhodes for sure,” said Schwartz. “Diggs I don’t quite know. Ideally, I think you want to keep as many weapons around as you can around [Kirk] Cousins. Obviously, the package you get back for Diggs would be important in this conversation. I think Rhodes is definitely gone. Diggs, I don’t know.”

“Rhodes is going to be gone,” said Verderame. “He has not played well since signing his new deal. They need cap space in the worse way. In fact, I think they’re over the projected cap by $10 million.  They’ll need to get under that cap number, so he’ll be gone. Diggs has been tweeting out all these cryptic things…obviously, earlier in the year, he wanted to get traded…”

Rhodes is under contract through 2022 and would be a $12.9 million cap hit this spring. Diggs is under contract through 2023 and would be a $14.5 million cap hit this year. So you can understand why the Vikings will want to dump some salary to free up some precious cap space. It seems as though Rhodes is good as gone, but if Diggs will be back remains to be seen.

Verderame mentioned how Vikings general manager Rick Spielman may have had enough of Diggs’ shenanigans. This is arguably the deepest wide receiver draft in NFL history. If the Vikings do garner a big return for Diggs on the trading block, then they might deal one of their better offensive playmakers this offseason after all. Let’s keep an eye on what the Vikings do here.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph–Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Will the Vikings move on from Stefon Diggs and Xavier Rhodes? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Philip Rivers spent his first 16 NFL seasons with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers. He put together a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Bolts, but after a bad season with them in 2019, they opted to part ways with their franchise signal-caller. Rivers still wants to play in his late 30s. Could a team like the Indianapolis Colts make sense in his impending free agency?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, assess Rivers’ potential free-agent market and decide if a reunion with his former Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich is a good fit for him in Indianapolis (28:21).

Verderame believes Rivers could make the Colts a contender to win the AFC South, but not for the Super Bowl. He likes the Colts’ roster and loves how much available cap space general manager Chris Ballard has to work with this spring. It will be weird to see Rivers play for another team, but if he does opt to play in 2020, then maybe the Colts are the destination for him?

Schwartz, however, believes Rivers shouldn’t play football any more. He thinks Rivers should retire because the age of the immobile quarterback is no more. Schwartz would like to see Ballard continue to build up the Colts’ roster and draft someone like Justin Herbert in the first round. If the Colts need to wait until 2021 to get a franchise quarterback, then so be it.

As is, the Colts can still convince themselves they can contend for the division title with Jacoby Brissett under center. Though Deshaun Watson is the best quarterback in the AFC South, the Houston Texans are often at a coaching disadvantage with Bill O’Brien on the sidelines. The potential pairing of Rivers with Reich at least for the time being makes the Colts interesting.

Ultimately, this has recipe for disaster written all over it. Rivers was not a good football player last year. He’s not getting any younger and the game is quickly moving away from his depleting skill set. Playing in a controlled climate for a coach he’s very familiar with could get the most out of him going forward, but there’s not enough left in his tank for this to be a good fit.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph–Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post 2020 NFL free agency: Does Philip Rivers go to the Colts? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Patrick Mahomes is the greatest thing to happen to Kansas City since barbecue. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has already won NFL MVP and led the team to a Super Bowl LIV victory before the age of 25. With the greatest arm of his generation and a personality everybody loves, he is the new face of the NFL. But when does the dude get paid?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, project when the Chiefs’ star quarterback becomes the first $40 million quarterback in professional football history. It’s not a matter of if this is happening, only a matter of when (22:17).

“They are going to pay him, both sides want to get a deal done this offseason, probably in the spring when the CBA is done and everybody has an idea of what the future landscape looks like,” said Verderame. “I think the reality is if Mahomes wants to go for $40 million per year, he’s going to get it. The Chiefs aren’t going to nickel and dime Patrick Mahomes. That’s just bad business.”

“If I were Mahomes’ representatives, I would wait until the new CBA is done,” said Schwartz. “I know you think there’s a rush to get some money now, but he was a first-round draft pick, so he got paid. He also has plenty of endorsements. He’s getting easily seven figures for all the endorsements he is doing. …If I were him, I would wait another year.”

Both bring up great points, as it serves Mahomes to wait a tad longer for the new CBA to kick in. That way, he’ll really cash in. Verderame brought up how the Chiefs are prioritizing the effort to sign pending free agent defensive lineman Chris Jones to a long-term deal. Once that situation is resolved in some capacity, then Kansas City will look at extending Mahomes, but the Chiefs won’t be skipping steps here.

Ultimately, Mahomes can ask for the moon with the Chiefs and he’ll get it. With every passing second, his leverage increases. He’s the best player on the defending Super Bowl champions. Mahomes isn’t going anywhere and everybody knows it. Everybody also knows Kansas City will paid him handsomely.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph–Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Kansas City Chiefs: When does Patrick Mahomes get paid? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The Dallas Cowboys are in the midst of one of their most important offseasons ever. They finally moved on from their former head coach Jason Garrett, opting to bring in former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy to help make this underachieving team a Super Bowl contender. Dallas also has a ton of issues to address in the upcoming NFL free agency period.

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, discuss what Dallas’ plans will be regarding their top pending free agent in quarterback Dak Prescott (16:51).

“Look, I can’t imagine a scenario where Dak [Prescott] gets out of Dallas,” said Verderame. “I mean, they’re just not going to let him hit free agency. So worst case scenario, they tag him. But I gotta tell you, I think this gets uglier before it gets rosy…They’ve dropped the ball significantly on Dak Prescott’s contract. They should have signed him to an extension before [Carson] Wentz got paid.”

Schwartz believes Dallas is likely to tag Prescott, possibly more than once, and then letting him walk. He feels the Cowboys aren’t in love with the guy and will give him the same sort of respect the Washington Redskins did with their former starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. While Prescott will get paid by the Cowboys, Schwartz doesn’t believe he’s a long-term solution in Dallas.

Tagging Prescott means Dallas will end up paying at least $10 million premium in excess for his talent. Prescott will ask for $35 million annually, as Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs is expected to be the first $40 million quarterback in football. With a new head coach in town in McCarthy, Dallas may want to go year-to-year with Prescott before fully committing to him.

However, tagging the starting quarterback when his fellow draft classmate running back Ezekiel Elliott skipped in line to get paid despite having multiple off-the-field issues cannot sit well with those in Prescott’s camp. He will get paid by the Cowboys, but tagging him will end up being a terrible tone-setter for the early McCarthy years in Dallas. Will the Cowboys do the right thing?

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Schwartz walks us through an Andy Reid play call (33:10)
• Have we heard last of Mason Rudolph–Myles Garrett feud (34:40)
• What to watch for at NFL Combine? (47:15)
• Schwartz talks stretching, yoga in his old age (50:30)

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Mark Carman on Twitter.

The post Dallas Cowboys: What do they do in free agency with Dak Prescott? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The post Is Gardner Minshew running away with Rookie of the Year? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, NFL analyst and former 11-year veteran in the league Nate Burleson spoke with FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz on a bunch of topics. From CBD to Jennifer Lopez to what the Jacksonville Jaguars should do with their disgruntled star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, Burleson certainly covered a lot.

Burleson was a former third-round pick out of Nevada by the Minnesota Vikings in 2003. He spent three years in Minnesota, followed by four years with the Seattle Seahawks, four more with the Detroit Lions before spending the 2014 NFL offseason as a member of the Cleveland Browns before retiring.

Today, you can find Burleson all over the place in his many roles as an NFL football analyst. He is one of the four co-hosts on the NFL Network’s Good Morning, Football, alongside Kay Adams, Kyle Brandt and Peter Schrager. On Sunday’s Burleson works for CBS’ The NFL Today alongside James Brown, Bill Cowher, Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms.

So it’s pretty easy to see that Burleson is a very busy guy. This past week, he had the opportunity to interview Jennifer Lopez, who will be performing alongside Shakira at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show at Hard Rock Stadium down in Miami Gardens, Florida. He’s also working with cbdMD and is passionate about helping athletes find better recovery methods.

“cbdMD reached out to me and I said, ‘I’ll try it,” said Burleson. “I didn’t smoke pot, I wasn’t a big weed guy in the league. So I started to try it and it made a difference…It just relaxes me. It puts me in a space where I don’t feel like I’m wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders. And that’s just the mental space I’m in, not to mention the 10-plus procedures I’ve had on my body.”

Burleson believes that the NFL will one day be more lenient to CBD. He went on to share an alarming story about how he managed pain during his playing career, well before CBD was looked at as an acceptable alternative healing method.

“I had one of many surgeries,” said Burleson. “I had one of my many serious procedures done. The nurse came back from drawing my blood…and she says to me in a very concerning voice, ‘I’m concerned about you.’ ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘the toxicity level of what’s in your blood is alarmingly high.’”

“And I tried to explain to her jokingly, ‘haha, you don’t get it. I play football…’ And she looks at me and says, ‘I don’t care what you do for a living, this is alarming. I’ve been doing this for 20-plus years and I’ve never seen anybody with these type of results.’”

“And it was like a heavy moment for me. At one point in my life, I felt comfortable in my life going under…and then she’s telling me, ‘I’m concerned for you.’ And at that point, I thought how much longer and I going to play this game and then how much longer and I going to lean on the traditional practices of managing my pain.”

That’s some scary stuff, but it does seem that Burleson has found something that works for him. While he understands the point and purpose of traditional medicine, Burleson has seen the benefits of CBD in his eyes.

“And I tried to explain to her jokingly, ‘haha, you don’t get it. I play football…’ And she looks at me and says, ‘I don’t care what you do for a living, this is alarming. I’ve been doing this for 20-plus years and I’ve never seen anybody with these type of results.’”

When asked what it was like to interview J-Lo and if he was nervous, Burleson would say, “Yeah, I was nervous with J-Lo. I gotta keep it real with y’all.” The guys laughed collectively. Burleson said it was pretty intimidating, given her status as a cultural icon, not to mention her fiancé in former superstar baseball player Alex Rodriguez was standing just off-camera.

Verderame would later go on to ask Burleson about what Jacksonville should do with Ramsey. The star Jaguars cornerback wants to be traded. He has voiced his frustrations since Week’s road loss to the Houston Texans. While he played on Thursday Night Football in Week 3 versus the Tennessee Titans, Ramsey didn’t suit up for Jacksonville in Week 4 versus the Denver Broncos.

“I hope Jalen Ramsey gets over it and stays with Jacksonville,” said Burleson. “I get it. Sometimes you’re in your feeling so deep that you can’t get above water. And I think that’s where Jalen’s at.”

Burleson would go on to add, “I feel like if he can make it work if they can make it work, this is a relationship that needs to exist…The reason I say that you can go somewhere else and the grass might not always be greener.”

Burleson would talk about his NFL career spending three-to-four years at all three stops, citing that while a change in scenery might be good, it’s not always the case, for the team of the player.

“If Jalen Ramsey sticks with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he will go down as a legend and possibly as a hall of famer.”

“The reason I want Jalen Ramsey to stay in Jacksonville is how often do you get drafted into an organization and have a chance to go down as one of the legends? That’s hard to do. This is a business where the turnover rate is moving rapidly.”

“The moment you put your jersey down is the moment they forget about you. But what makes it hard to forget about you is if you stick with the same organization, regardless of the circumstance.”

He would cite Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals as a prime example of the benefits of sticking with one team. Burleson feels that Fitzgerald will be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer when he does hang up the spikes.

To have had all of his accomplishments happen on the Cardinals organization speaks volumes and Burleson hopes for the same things with Ramsey in Jacksonville. “If Jalen Ramsey sticks with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he will go down as a legend and possibly as a hall of famer.”

Jacksonville is only in its 25th season as an NFL franchise. Ramsey is already approaching Mt. Rushmore status down in Duval County with guys like Tony Boselli, Mark Brunell, Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor ahead of him. Ramsey can be held in as high of regard as his idol Deion Sanders is with his first team in the Atlanta Falcons. Just don’t go leaving like Primetime now.

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Geoff Schwartz, Matt Verderame and Josh Hill on Twitter.

Nate Burleson spoke with FanSided’s Matt Verderame on Stacking the Box with Geoff Schwartz on behalf of cbdMD.

The post Nate Burleson hopes Jalen Ramsey ‘gets over it’ and stays in Jacksonville appeared first on Bet Sunday.