Philly Front Office

Black Monday is always a fun day in the NFL. Well, it won’t be very fun for all the coaches and GMs who either get canned or are the subject of tepid press-releases-of-confidence that are negated simply by being written. It also won’t be fun for the players getting replaced in the first official mock drafts now that the non-playoff draft order is set. It also isn’t fun for the Miami Dolphins. So, I guess I mean it is specifically fun for me. Yay!

Black Monday Part 2: Draft Needs

Black Monday Part 3: Over the Tyreek Hill

It started months ago in New York and Chicago, but Black Monday officially kicked off about 20 minutes after the Patriots inexplicably beat the Buffalo Bills yesterday with the firing of Jerod Mayo. Think of it like Black Friday sales coming in the summer but really starting on Thanksgiving night. Heads are rolling while I am writing this.

ALREADY DEAD

• Patriots fire Mayo: We all think we know what happened here, but it’s much darker than that. Jarod Mayo had been with the Patriots organization for 17 years and was quickly hired to replace team scion Bill Belichick last year. Awesome. Who didn’t like the idea of the Patriots going in house like that with one of the disciples? He was fired almost immediately after winning yesterday’s game and thus losing the #1 pick in the draft. Not awesome. It is purely speculative that this was the reason, but why else would they have done a career-long Patriot so dirty? Mayo was likely put in the impossible position of listening to his boss and losing the respect of his players while keeping his job (doing what he could to lose that game) or doing just the opposite. I get it, coaches are employees and if you don’t listen to your boss you should be fired. The difference here is that Mayo wasn’t just a failed college athlete or in and out of the league, he had a career and made about $42m. He has the financial security to keep his honor and the respect of those who did what he did. Good for him. BTW, he will get paid every last dollar of his coaching contract. For anyone last year who even thought of retiring his or her FUCK THE PATRIOTS credo, shame on you.
• Jags fire Pederson, keep Baalke: I think we all love Doug. Hell, I own a #14 Pederson Eagles jersey. Jacksonville is poison though. The mustachioed owner in charge even looks like a 50’s super villain. Doug has been a dead man walking this whole season. The real crazy part is that they are keeping Baalke. Famous for single handedly ruining the wide receiver market, Baalke somehow gets to keep his job despite having no discernable plan or skill. He completely botched the #1 pick in Travon Walker and is in the process of ruining their other #1 pick, Trevor Lawrence. Do you know how many offensive linemen he has drafted in the first 3 rounds of his 5 drafts with the Jags? Two. That’s Cincinatti-level misconduct. Doug wasn’t good, but keeping Baalke is crazy.

LIFE SUPPORT

• Zac Taylor, Bengals: Don’t let Joe Burrow fool you, this is a bad organization. Taylor doesn’t seem like a bad coach, but this team has serious fundamental flaws on the offensive line and defense. Who is responsible for that? A guy named Duke Tobin. Who??? He has been making decisions for the Bengals since 1999 and is terrible at his job. Burrow was the unanimous selection at QB in 2020. He doesn’t get credit for that. Drafting Burrow’s friend Jamar Chase instead of Penei Sewell the following year? That’s not a win buddy. If he hasn’t been fired over the last 25 years, he will never be fired. What a mess.
• Mike McCarthy, Cowboys: Rumors lately are that McCarthy will be back. But how is he coming back when his contract ends after this season? McCarthy is by no means good, but because he isn’t under contract, to bring him back will necessarily mean an extension. Is that what Cowboys fans want? I know I want it, but come on!!! You have to love that Jerry Jones keeps putting himself in these terrible positions. Speaking of which, Jones is the GM. He is NEVER firing himself. After McCarthy, next up on his bungle list is the Micah Parsons extension.

STAY OF EXECUTION

• Everyone in Indianapolis: I think we all kind of like Shane Steichen because we believe Jalen was at his best under his watch. That being said, Indy stinks and they are boring. Anthony Richardson is incredibly athletic and can do things you wouldn’t think are physically possible, but he is not a starting QB right now or even close. He needs to go to QB school. Who drafted him? Chris Ballard. What’s that, you remember hearing that name somewhere? Right you are. He was the genius who traded with the Eagles for Carson Wentz (and directly lead to getting AJ Brown and indirectly DeVonta Smith). He has been making mediocre to bad decisions ever since. Both guys are sticking around. They are dead in the water next year.
• THE NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: Oh you have to love it! Earlier today Giants ownership announced that both Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen will be back next year. WONDERFUL NEWS!!! That they are bad at their jobs goes without saying (though I plan to say much on this in the future), but the mental gymnastics in keeping them are staggering. What do they do from here? The Giants are picking 3rd in the draft and desperately need a QB. Do they draft one? They may need to trade with Cleveland to do so or get a second tier QB later. Either way, they will pair that rookie signal caller with Daboll, the team will be bad, and Daboll will finally be fired a year too late. Instability at the top ALWAYS helps young QBs, right? Ok then, let’s say they don’t draft a QB and decide to throw money at a free agent QB like Darnold or Russell Wilson. The team should show some improvement with competence but not greatness at QB thus taking them out of the Arch Manning sweepstakes next year. Great plan guys!!! They are better off trading down, rolling with Daboll and Drew Lock, and punting away next season too. They probably won’t.

How can we tie this to the Eagles? Our coordinators will be hot commodities as per usual. I don’t believe Vic Fangio is going anywhere, but Kellen Moore might. I just want to have some stability for once with Jalen. I hope he passes. Teams will also look to poach our front office. Howie Roseman should die an Eagle, but that means everyone under him will have to look elsewhere for a promotion. We will keep an eye on this.