Giants and Jets Beef Up O-Lines in First Round

The Giants and Jets had two of the worst offensive lines in football last season. Both clubs addressed the issue in Round 1 of the 2020 Virtual NFL Draft.

From glimpses of every coach and GM's war rooms (Guys, check to make sure your wife didn't leave you for Kliff Kingsbury's pad), to Roger Goodell awkwardly announcing draft picks behind a collage of fans booing him on zoom, there was a lot to chew on from Day 1 of the NFL Draft. It was weird, unusual, interesting, and entertaining all wrapped into one.

For the Giants they took Georgia's Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick. Thomas is a bruising 6-5, 320 pound left tackle that the Giants desperately needed. Heck, the Giants needed a left tackle years ago.  The Giants needed blind side protection for quarterback Daniel Jones. They needed someone to clear a path for Saquon Barkley, and they believe they found that in the former First Team All American and two-time First Team All SEC tackle, who can play both left and right tackle. His versatility and reputation as a leader in college will be a huge boon for Big Blue.

Thomas' pick surprised some who believed that Alabama Jedrick Wills would be the first tackle taken by the Giants at four. No matter, Thomas is as solid a pick as they come, and fills a need.

As for the Jets, they rolled the dice a little bit with the number 11 pick. Gang Green selected Mekhi Becton a left tackle out of Louisville. Becton stands at an intimidating 6-7, and weights 370 pounds. Imagine that size running at a 5.1 40? Well, it's true, that's Becton's speed; the guy is fleet of foot for a big man. There is even video of him pushing a SUV down the street! Yes, impressive. Physically he has the attributes one would look for in a left tackle.

The question however has been Becton's passion for the game, specifically his ability to control his weight, and a drug issue that the Jets had to do a deep dive on before committing to him. He will be a player to watch this season for both the right and wrong reasons. This is a huge pick for first year General Manager Joe Douglas, being it is his first official pick he has ever made as Jets GM. The Jets have built a reputation of poor drafting, and Douglas needs this pick to work out.

Hell, Sam Darnold needs this pick to work out since Becton will be protecting his blindside. The Jets have not had a dominant left tackle since D'Brickshaw Ferguson maned left tackle from 2006-2015. The Jets can only hope that Becton puts the past behind him and becomes as good of a player that Ferguson was in his day.

Gronk Coming Back to Play with Brady and Bucs

 All it took was Tom Brady to go to Tampa Bay for Rob Gronkowski to come out of retirement.

The Patriots agreed to trade the All Pro tight end to the Buccaneers Tuesday for a fourth round pick, reuniting him with Brady, his teammate of nearly 10 years in New England.

According to reports, through Gronk's agent Drew Rosenhaus, Gronkowski "feels fantastic" and is back up to his playing weight of 260 pounds. The question is how much football does Gronk have left?

He retired after the 2018-19 season concluded in a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53, citing physical pain as a main reason why he retired at the ripe age of 29. Over the past 14 months, Gronkowski has spent much of his time on television as both a guest host, and unofficial comedic relief.  He will be 31 on Opening Day this year. What will he have left? And where does he fall into a tight end rotation that already includes O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate?

Regardless, at least for right now, the Bucs are becoming the destination everyone wants to be at right now. They have the GOAT at quarterback and his number one sidekick, the goofball that is Gronkowski. The Bucs are now must see TV.

Reaction to Jamal Adams Trade Rumors

Check out the latest from the Open Mike Podcast, as Michael Cohen discusses the possibilities that exist for the New York Jets to either keep or trade All Pro Safety Jamal Adams.

Is Jamal Adams Pushing Himself out of Town?

The New York Jets and safety Jamal Adams appear to be at a crossroads yet again.

The two-time Pro Bowler is upset at Gang Green for not presenting him with a new contract extension, and is planning to skip the teams' voluntary virtual offseason program that begins next week, April 27. Adams anger stems from his belief that he is not the highest paid safety in the NFL, and the fact that the Carolina Panthers gave running back Christian McCaffery a new four-year, $64 million extension.

While they play two totally different positions, McCaffery was taken a few picks after Adams in the 2017 NFL draft.

Adams has one year remaining on his deal at $3.5 million. The Jets can strap franchise tags on him in 2021 and 2022 if they so choose, which is usually a messy proposition to begin with, but one that everyone seems to do anyway.

The question is how much longer will Adams remain a Jet? It has been the topic of conversation since last November when the Jets dangled Adams in trade talks with the Dallas Cowboys, angering the safety, who went on a public blitzkrieg bashing head coach Adam Gase and General Manager Joe Douglas.

The facts are the ball is squarely in Douglas's court. He has stated in the past that he wants to keep Adams as a "Jet for life," but there is no reason to jump up and sign him to a long term deal now. The Jets have time, and leverage. Adams does not. Safeties do not make the biggest bucks in the NFL; it's not considered a premium position like quarterback or wide receiver.

Currently Bears safety Eddie Jackson is the NFL's highest paid safety at $14.6 million per season. Clearly Adams is a better player, but what will he command? $19 or even $20 million a year? That might be too steep for the Jets, a franchise that will be looking to lock up Sam Darnold to a long term deal in the next couple of seasons.

The other option that sits on the table for Douglas is to trade Adams. The Jets wanted multiple first round picks for Adams when the negotiations with the Cowboys failed last year. There is no reason not to think that Douglas won't pick up  the phone again, if he hasn't already, and try to work out a deal if it gets Gang Green multiple first and second round picks. This team has plenty of needs, and Adams could bring in a haul.

So while Adams is upset, and he is clearly the Jets best defensive player, he is not playing a premium position, and has another year on his deal.  If he is willing to be patient, he'll get paid. If not, the  Jets have no choice but to move on.

Yankees Co-Owner Hank Steinbrenner Dead Per Report

Yankees Co-Owner Hank Steinbrenner has died, he was 63-years according to a report by the New York Post. 

The Post reports that Steinbrenner was battling a long illness and his death was not related to the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19.

Hank and his younger brother Hal have run the Yankees since the passing of their legendary father George Steinbrenner in 2010.

The Yankees have not issued a press release as of 11 a.m., but this is a sad and painful loss for the Yankee family.

Could the Mets and Yankees Open 2020 in Arizona?

2020 was supposed to be the year that professional baseball would return to Iowa, to the Field of Dreams where the classic Kevin Costner baseball movie was filmed in 1989. It was supposed to be the summer we would get the Yankees and Chicago White Sox at that same field to commemorate the film, and its importance to the game. Instead a "Field of Dreams" for baseball's players, its fans might be in Arizona this year.

That's right Arizona. Chase Field in fact, and the 10 spring training facilities located in the Phoenix area might become the home to all 30 major league clubs should a federally approved plan go into effect.

According to Jeff Passan, ESPN's Baseball Insider who broke the story on SportsCenter early Tuesday morning, Major League Baseball and the players are looking to start the season in May in Arizona, and they have support of "high ranking federal public health officials," Passan writes.

All 30 teams and league personnel, umpires, for example, would play a make-up Spring Training and regular season games in the Desert all while being sequestered at local hotels. Travel will be limited to the stadium and the hotel. That's it. 

One major stumbling block according to ESPN is the availability of Coronavirus testing and a quick turn around on results. Another issue, of course, is logistics -- such as a full buy-in from all the players. Passan estimates that all 30 teams would be sequestered in Arizona for 4-1/2 months. So if the season starts in May, we wouldn't see the Mets or Yankees return to New York until September, maybe even October if either is so fortunate enough to qualify for the playoffs. And of course if the City is no longer a Coronavirus hot-zone.

Additionally, Passan reports that MLB and the MLBPA will discuss economics of the plan in which the league will "forego gate receipts that account for the largest proportion of its annual revenue that exceeds $10 billion."

How many games will be played is still a question. There has been discussion of seven-inning double headers in order to assure a 162 game season. In addition, there is talk of placing the players in the stands six-feet apart from each other, rather than in the dugout. Of course, roster expansion is going to be apart of this discussion.

In other words there will be no fans in the building at all this season.

This plan sounds very similar to an idea that has been kicked around by the NBA where basketball would finish its regular season and play the postseason in Las Vegas. Of course that is speculation at this point, since the NBA announced Monday it will not make a decision on whether it will finish the season or not until May at the earliest.

The NHL has also been willing to re-start the season in the summer and name a Stanley Cup Champion in August, while also affecting the start date of the 2020-21 season. However ESPN has reported that it's looking less and less likely by the day. So who knows at that this point if the NHL will resume at all.

Meanwhile the NFL is mandating that teams hold their drafts virtually this month, even though it will not postpone the rookie draft which takes place April 23-25. There is no indication if the season will be delayed. Even President Trump has been pushing the NFL to keep to schedule. The NFL Schedule reslease, which takes place in mid-April might get delayed til May.

Anyway, back to baseball.

So forget seeing the Mets and Yankees playing in New York at all this year. And considering the situation that the Tri-State area finds itself, as the epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic, it wouldn't be practical for Major League Baseball to allow its teams to travel to this area as the pandemic continues. Putting all 30 teams in one isolated location is the most practical move to make until a solution to stop the virus is made.

Of course perhaps the best move of all would be ... dare I say ... to have no season at all, and cancel the 2020 baseball season altogether and regroup for 2021, when a vaccine for the virus hopefully will be available.

We'll see, but it sounds we will have baseball in some form this summer.