Best Division in Football: NFC Beast & Owners Who GM’d
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Best Division in Football: The NFC Beast
The #1 Division in Football. The reigning super bowl champs and the most super bowls by any division ever with 14. Also the only division to have all 4 teams win the super bowl. We have not had a division winner repeat since 2003-04 when Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb did it. Go find me a better division in football.. I don’t wanna hear about no fluke ass NFC north, 3 teams in the playoffs last year, guess what, ZERO wins. Anyways, let’s get to teams in the best division in football.
We’ll start in Landover, Maryland.
Deebo To DC. He made it clear he was done in SF and wanted out. SF was also looking to clear up some cap space, you would’ve thought they might’ve been able to command more, but all they got back was a 5th rounder.
As much as I don’t like the Niners, great organization, they know what they’re doing, they cleared up cap space and they believe we’ve seen the best of Deebo. For the Commanders, low risk move sending a 5th rounder to pick up another weapon. They will have to pay Deebo’s $17.5M salary but they began the offseason with the 3rd most cap space, so they are chilling.
My take on Deebo is he’s a big name, but he’s overrated. He averaged 3 YPC last season, he’s on the injury report every single week, he only had one big season in 6 years in an explosive offense in SF. He wants more touches, but if he couldn’t stay healthy with his SF workload, I’m not sure how much more you can give him. He has the 14th highest WR salary going into this season.. To me his production does not match his salary. Please do take that with a grain of salt from a salty Cowboys fan who watched us give up a 4th rounder for Jonathan “Potential is a dangerous word” Mingo.
Regardless, this team is dangerous. Rookie phenom Jayden Daniels is the truth. He’s gonna have these guys as division contenders for the next decade. Former Cowboys DC Dan Quin has done an excellent job in his first year there taking the Commanders to the NFC championship games. They will look to continue to add pieces and go all in while they have Jayden on the rookie deal
Washington Key UFA’s:
4 key contributors on D: Bobby Wagz, Dante Fowler, Jeremy Chinn, Benjamin St Jude
On O: Zach Ertz who was a great safety blanket for the rookie last year,
Cap Space, according to over the cap is around $65M after making Deebo their 5th highest paid player. They franchise tagged Daron Payne last year for $19M, doesn’t look like they will be using it on anyone this year.
Next year’s cap is set at $279M. Each team's caps will change as they work their magic to restructure contracts, toss in fake years to stretch bonuses and push payments all while betting the cap continues to rise to save their butts down the road.
Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles cut 34 year old Big Play Slay loose.. Man, they played it perfectly, won the lombari with him, had him mentor their two rookie corners, Mitchel and Dejean, and now they cut him loose, saving $4M in cap space, as they look to re-sign some other veterans. Early rumours are that Slay wants to finish his career in Detroit.. We’ll see if they can make a deal for him.
They return just about everyone for their #1 rushing offense in the league. Howie Roseman is a magician who seems to absolutely crush the draft each year. They will be strong again next year and will look to repeat as champs.
Eagles Key UFA’s:
Several key defenders: DPOY candidate Zach Baun, Edge Rushers Josh Sweat & Brandon Graham, DT Milton Wiliams & Corner James Bradberry
The only notable name on O is OL Mekhi Becton
Cap Space: Around $20M - They’ve not traditionally used the franchise tag, so I doubt they will change that this year.
New York G-Men
We’ll head up to East Rutherford, where there are alot of QB rumours surrounding the G-men. They are looking to package up the 3rd overall pick and move into the one spot to select Miami QB Cam Ward. That would not cost them what a number one pick has cost in year’s past, as there is no clear shot number one overall player in this year’s draft. Most mocks are rotating between Cam Ward, Penn State Edge Abdul Carter and Travis “Two Way Show Me The Money” Hunter who is looking to play both WR and Corner.
As a Cowboys fan, I hope they sit their at 3 then pull early on Shedeur Sanders. I think Cam Ward is the definite #1 QB in this class. Shedeur seems pro ready but I think his ceiling caps as a solid starter, whereas Ward has a higher ceiling, some comparison between Cam and Big Ben.
The G-Men have a lot of holes to fill on that roster. They have a couple rookie pieces on O to build around, Malik Nabers is a certified baller and Tyrone Tracy Jr looks like he can handle the load at running back.
New York Key UFA’s:
On D, Edge Azeez Ojulari looks to cash in on a solid contract year, LB Isaiah Simmons, corner Adoree Jackson and WR Darius slayton
Cap Space: Around $50M
Dallas Cowboys
If I had to sum up the Cowboys in one word: Lost and losing ground fast in a stacked division. I hope I’m wrong with this take but to me, Schotty is another puppet who Jerry will push around. The guys been a coordinator for 24 years for a reason.. he’s not going to change the culture. The culture won’t change while Jerry is still there. Jerry only hires coaches who allow him to walk all over them. I think he is senile. No coaches want to come to Big D anymore. The hottest coaching name this offseason was Ben Johnson, he publicly stated he wasn’t interested in coaching in Dallas because of Jerry’s control on the team.
As for the actual team, Dak balled out in his contract year in ‘23, they waited till the 11th hour to back up the brinks truck and now we are stuck with a $60M QB who is not playing like it. They fumbled around with him and CD all offseason and could’ve cleared up cap space to make other signings last offseason but never did, even after Jerry publicly stated we were going “All In” last offseason. Jerry knows how to sell tickets and get fans to buy in, and that’s exactly what he did because we didn’t sign nobody last year.
This year they gotta address the elephant in the room.. making Parsons the highest paid non QB in football history. Cut the cheque.. let’s ride.. he’s a certified baller, DPOY runner up twice in his first 4 years, 52.5 career sacks in 63 games, absolute game wrecker.
We got holes to fill all over the depth chart. I would like to see us go best player available at 12, ideally DL, LB or OL. I don’t believe Jeanty gets past Chicago at 10. The RB class is deep and we can grab one in the middle rounds.
Dallas Key UFAs:
Longest tenured Cowboys Demarcus Lawrence, Osa Odigizuwa, Rico Dowdle, Eric Kendricks, Brandin Cooks, Jourdan Lewis, both backup QB’s Rush and Lance
Cap Space: Around $3M
Cash flow is looking tight Mr Jones. NFL Free Agency opens up on Monday, March 10th.
Owners Who Also Serve As GM’s
We’ll start in Texas with the oilman, Mr. Jerry Jones. An amazing businessman, bought the Dallas Cowboys in ‘89 for $140 million and turned them into the highest-valued team in all of sports, now worth over $10B. He’s served as both owner and general manager ever since, leading the team to Super Bowl wins in 1992, 1993, and 1995, largely thanks to the Herschel Walker trade that netted a slew of key draft picks. Unfortunately, that early success—and his business acumen—might be the only things he’s gotten right in the past 30 years, as the Cowboys haven’t returned to an NFC Championship Game since.
The Raiders
Al Davis bought the Raiders in 1972 and served both roles until he passed in 2011. Like Jerry, he had success early winning super bowls in ‘76, ‘80 and ‘83. He never won another one after that. They lost in 2002 to that legendary Bucs D. My dad is a lifelong Raiders fan and he actually took me to a game in Oakland in 2002. Gannon, Rice, Brown, Woodson, electric atmosphere and an experience I will never forget.
Cincinnati Bengals
Then you got Mike Brown, who inherited the Bengals from his father, Paul Brown. He’s been holding down both roles for the majority of his time since 1991. Unlike Al and Jerry though, he’s never won a super bowl. They were close with Joey B, literally if Aaron Donald didn’t hit Joey as he threw that last ball the bengals would’ve won that superbowl after Jamar absolutely roasted Ramsey.
Cleveland Browns
Paul Brown was successful in Cleveland running both roles from 1946-1962, winning 3 NFL Championships around Otto Graham, but I think that’s safe to say that was many moons ago and both the game and business have changed drastically.
The key pattern here, it’s rare. It’s even more rare to sustain success. The Bengals have never had success, though they have an absolute stud franchise QB who could bring the postseason success, but we saw last year they cheaped up on D and that cost them. Jerry and Al proved early success is possible winning 3 super bowls a piece in their first 6 and 11 years respectively, but almost impossible to sustain as we witnessed both of them fail to adapt and make questionable decision after decision.
I have been cheering for the Cowboys since 1996 when my dad had a super bowl party. I’m going on 30 years of suffering. I’m finally coming to terms that we will not make a run while Jerry is at the helm, and he ain’t giving that up while he walks this planet.
That’s all for today. Who you got winning the NFC East next year? What are the G Men gonna do in the draft? Hope you have a wonderful week.
