2016 Previews: NFC West

The NFC West has been one of the best divisions in pro football these last few years. In 2013, Arizona finished third in the division with a 10-6 record, and the division as a whole went 44-22. There’s not so much depth now, but there are still two potential Super Bowl contenders here.

Arizona Cardinals

2015 record: 13-3, right up there with Carolina in how they were playing…until Carolina took them apart in the NFC Championship, anyway.

What’s To Love? So, so much about this team. Safety/corner hybrid Tyrann Mathieu could’ve been a good shout for Defensive Player of the Year had he stayed healthy. Either way, he’s a groundbreaking player who’s establishing a new position, a new way to play in the secondary and a whole new way to think about the secondary, and coverage in general. Arizona have five wide receivers who’d be starters on some other teams. They had a fantastic defense even before trading for Chandler Jones, who was one of the best in the league last year. Bruce Arians has a fantastic record as a head coach, David Johnson is right up there with Todd Gurley in the best running backs to come through the draft in the last couple of years…I could go on.

What’s Not To Love? There’s just a bit of an “and yet…” with the Cardinals. They were fairly poor in beating Green Bay in the playoffs before losing to Carolina, quarterback Carson Palmer in particular having a big dip in quality. Mathieu is a revelation but has had so many serious injuries at such an early point in his career, how can you rely on him? They have Patrick Peterson at cornerback who is a stud, but beyond him,it’s rookies and unproven special teamers. And outside of Jones and 3-4 end Calais Campbell, the front seven is only “fairly good”. So there are a few things, and if Arizona don’t win the Super Bowl this season, these may well be reasons.

What’ll 2016 Be Like Then? That’s the key, isn’t it? “If Arizona don’t win the Super Bowl”. Arizona might well have the best roster of all the Super Bowl contenders, and deserve to be talked about as having a good chance. Their undoing may end up being stuck in the same division as the near-equally excellent Seahawks. Both are contenders, but whoever has the worse record will have the tougher task to get to the Super Bowl. That said, I think Arizona will go 13-3 and that could give them the #1 seed in the NFC they may need to get there.

Seattle Seahawks

2015 record: 10-6, despite starting 2-4. At no point, then, did Seattle look like a 10-6 team. They started up looking like a 6-10 team, and finished up looking like a 14-2 one.

What’s To Love? So, so much about this team. Russell Wilson might be irritating as a person but he became one of the top few quarterbacks in the NFL last year. Doug Baldwin started looking like a #1 receiver, and Tyler Lockett might be the best one from last year’s draft. Thomas Rawls emerged as a star running back. And that’s not even mentioning the defense! Michael Bennett, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Cliff Avril, Kam Chancellor. Just generally be afraid; be very afraid.

What’s Not To Love? If ever a team was built to cope with a shoddy offensive line, it’s Seattle, with a mobile quarterback and running backs adept at making the best of a bad situation. But make no mistake, Seattle’s line is bad. It says a lot when they lose a semi-liability like J.R. Sweezy in free agency, and somehow get worse. I’m not sure there’s a single starting-calibre player on this line, and way too much is hoped for from first-round draft pick Germain Ifedi.

What’ll 2016 Be Like Then? Well, Seattle will probably continue to bait ProFootballFocus by winning lots of games with an awful offensive line. It may cost them a game or two, and it’ll be a bit of a disaster if it leads to Russell Wilson getting injured, but so far so good. The offense is improving to come close to the defense, but it’ll never match it, and Bennett, Thomas and co will continue to get sacks, interceptions, fumbles and every good defensive stat. I think Seattle to match Arizona with 13-3.

St Louis Los Angeles Rams

2015 record: 7-9. Jeff Fisher coached a team to a 7-9 record. I know, I know.

What’s To Love? Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley, basically. Donald is the best defensive lineman not named JJ Watt, is quicker off the mark than pretty much anyone in the trenches on either side of the ball in the NFL. He will get sacks, pressures, you name it. He’s the main reason teams don’t score many points against the Rams. Conversely, Todd Gurley is probably the only reason the Rams will score points this season. A generational talent at running back, he can create something from nothing, can turn 5 yard gains into 30 yard gains, is decent in the passing game too. The only thing is he doesn’t have much of an offensive line to work with.

What’s Not To Love? This is a singularly unloveable franchise outside of those too. They gave up every draft pick ever basically to get Jared Goff, who is now reported to look like the sum of his flaws, not his talents. He doesn’t have any good wide receivers or tight ends to pass to, even if he does play. The defense looks a notch weaker, as the secondary will feel the loss of Janoris Jenkins, you suspect. This is a team out of time that only looks to have what it takes to compete in the NFL on one side of the ball.

What’ll 2016 Be Like Then? You may have seen the clip from Hard Knocks of Jeff Fisher profanely promising to not go 7-9 again. The good news is, the Rams won’t go 7-9! The bad news is, their first season in Los Angeles will be worse than that. I reckon 5-11 is a fair number to predict, with four wins being down to the defense and one to Todd Gurley. This team has been assembled poorly, and coached worse than that.

San Francisco 49ers

2015 record: 5-11, which was considered to be better than expected. That’s how bad things are in San Francisco.

What’s To Love? Er, DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead might make some nicely terrifying 3-4 defensive end bookends? Wait, do the 49ers even play 3-4 defense?

What’s Not To Love? This just makes me so sad. Jim Harbaugh might have been a bigger arsehole than the size of the universe in No Man’s Sky (tortured metaphor klaxon sounds), but this team has just been torn apart since midway through that 2014 season. They have a worse situation at quarterback than anyone else – Gabbert and Kaepernick should not be starting in the 2016 NFL. Their only good wide receiver can draw pass interference flags and do little else. The 49ers still haven’t recovered from most of their defense retiring, and with Navarro Bowman not looking back to his old self last season, there’s still some way to go. I honestly cannot find a silver lining for this team. At least Cleveland seem to have a rebuilding plan in place.

What’ll 2016 Be Like Then? If Cleveland don’t ‘win’ the first overall pick next year, don’t be surprised if San Francisco do. I look at this roster and I just can’t see how they’re going to win any games. There is just no talent here. Unless Chip Kelly somehow morphs into a good NFL coach (unlike, say, what he was in Philadelphia last year), the 49ers will be lucky to go 3-13.

Draft Tipper: NFC and AFC West

The West divisions had the Super Bowl winners, arguably the best team not to make the Super Bowl last year, and two other teams that won a playoff game. They also, thanks to a somewhat lopsided trade, have the team picking first overall.

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals

They pick: 29th overall
They need: 3-4 Defensive End, Center, Offensive Tackle, 3-4 Inside Linebacker

Who might they go for in the first round? Robert Nkemdiche would be a very Arizona pick here, and Jarran Reed may still be on the board at defensive end. At center, Ryan Kelly may be available, as may an offensive tackle like Taylor Decker and Germain Ifedi. This may not be the perfect spot for a linebacker either. Don’t be surprised if Arizona take a best player available here, as they have a fairly well-stacked roster at the moment.

In the second round? Austin Johnson, Jonathan Bullard, Adolphus Washington and Jihad Ward are possible options at defensive end, and Nick Martin is an option at center. Arizona need a right tackle, so Le’Raven Clark and Shon Coleman are possible options. At linebacker, Scooby Wright, Su’a Cravens and Beniquez Brown are options, and this is another team that could get the idea to draft Jaylon Smith while he recovers from injury.

Los Angeles Rams

They pick: 1st overall (no 2nd round pick)
They need: Quarterback, Wide Receiver, Tight End, Center

Who might they go for in the first round? They’re going to be picking either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff. Why else would you give up two first-round picks, two second-round picks and two third-round picks? It is lucky that the three biggest positions of need for LA are either traditional mid-or-late-round targets (tight end and center) or a position well-known for producing late-round gems (wide receiver).

San Francisco 49ers

They pick: 7th overall
They need: Quarterback, Wide Receiver, 3-4 Outside Linebacker, 3-4 Inside Linebacker

Who might they go for in the first round? In truth San Francisco have way more needs than that, but let’s keep it simple. We can be fairly certain now that Carson Wentz and Jared Goff will go in the first two overall picks, so the only possible quarterback for San Francisco is Paxton Lynch. There aren’t any highly-rated wide receivers you’d pick here. If Joey Bosa slips to this pick, he’d be a good pick here, as would Myles Jack. Really though, San Francisco could pick almost any position and it wouldn’t be a bad pick, so wide-ranging are their needs.

In the second round? Connor Cook may still be on the board at quarterback here. There should be plenty of wide receivers too – a slot weapon or generic big target would be the logical pick, so Corey Coleman, Michael Thomas and Tyler Boyd would all make sense. A pass-rushing linebacker like Kamalei Correa or Yannick Ngakoue would be a decent option, as may Noah Spence and Shilique Calhoun. At inside linebacker, look at Scooby Wright and Beniquez Brown.

Seattle Seahawks

They pick: 26th overall
They need: Offensive Tackle, Offensive Guard, Center, 4-3 Linebacker

Who might they go for in the first round? This is a pointless exercise with Seattle even moreso than other teams. Seattle go their own way, do weird things that baffle everyone, and they generally work out. So I can say “Seattle need to stop dicking around and sort out their offensive line” and they will devote all their picks to defense and flick V’s at me while they’re at it. Nonetheless, if they want to sort out their O-Line, then Taylor Decker, Germain Ifedi, Jason Spriggs, Cody Whitehair and Ryan Kelly slot in at various points along the line. I refuse to consider a linebacker because SORT THAT GOD DAMN OFFENSIVE LINE OUT GUYS SERIOUSLY.

In the second round? Plenty of ‘projects’ here. Le’Raven Clark and Shon Coleman are good bets at tackle. Joshua Garnett and Vadal Alexander are options at guard. Nick Martin would fill the hole at center left when Max Unger was traded. This is decent range for a 4-3 linebacker, however, so Deion Jones, Kyler Fackrell and even Scooby Wright are options here.
AFC West

Denver Broncos

They pick: 31st overall
They need: Quarterback, Offensive Guard, 3-4 Defensive End, 3-4 Inside Linebacker

Who might they go for in the first round? It’s so weird that the Super Bowl winners need a quarterback, but here we are. Connor Cook is a prime candidate for a draft day slide and may well be available here if Denver want him. I’d say it’s a bit rich for Cody Whitehair at guard, though like Seattle, Denver have a strong need here. A tackle like Germain Ifedi may be a candidate to be converted to guard in the short term, at least. At defensive end, Robert Nkemdiche has potential but also non-specific ‘personality issues’ so may be available here. Austin Johnson, Jonathan Bullard and Chris Jones may be options, too. There isn’t really a linebacker in range here unless Reggie Ragland slides. It’s a bit of a quandary for Denver, all told.

In the second round? A quarterback ‘project’ like Cardale Jones, Dak Prescott or Christian Hackenberg is a possible pick here, though none of those are anywhere near ready to start immediately. At guard, Cody Whitehair and Joshua Garnett are options, as well as a tackle to be converted like Le’Raven Clark. At defensive end, Adolphus Washington, Jihad Ward and Bronson Kaufusi are options. At linebacker, look out for Beniquez Brown and Scooby Wright.

Kansas City Chiefs

They pick: 28th overall
They need: Wide receiver, 3-4 Defensive End, 3-4 Inside Linebacker, Safety

Who might they go for in the first round? There’ll likely be a wide receiver to put alongside Jeremy Maclin around, like Corey Coleman, Will Fuller or Michael Thomas. Big defensive ends like Chris Jones and Jonathan Bullard are options. At inside linebacker, they’ll have to hope Reggie Ragland slides if they want him. Kansas City will have their pick of safeties to replace Hussain Abdullah – Karl Joseph, Vonn Bell and Keanu Neal may all be on the board.

In the second round? Wide receivers at the back end of the second round may include Sterling Shepard and Pharoh Cooper, both of whom look like nifty slot receivers. I don’t think they’ll go for Braxton Miller, mind you. See the Denver entry for defensive ends (Washington, Ward, Kaufusi) and linebacker (Brown, Wright), though also keep an eye out for Jaylon Smith, but safeties like Su’a Cravens, TJ Green and Darian Thompson may be under consideration.

Oakland Raiders

They pick: 14th overall
They need: Defensive Tackle, Defensive End, Inside Linebacker, Safety

Who might they go for in the first round? Oakland have built well over the last few years, and aren’t so hamstrung by their needs as to have to pass up on better talents. There are a heck of a lot of good defensive tackles around though, so if Oakland want a Sheldon Rankins or A’Shawn Robinson, they should fill their boots. I’ve put defensive end as a need, so Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah are in play, but if Bruce Irvin is going to play there full-time (as opposed to at linebacker) that’s less of a need. Linebacker remains a need though, so keep an eye out for Reggie Ragland. I wonder if Oakland might not pick somewhere that’s as much of a need in this first round though – keep an eye out for Ezekiel Elliott to go to Oakland if he’s still on the board.

In the second round? There are tons of defensive tackles, like Vernon Butler, Andrew Billings, Kenny Clark, Adolphus Washington, I could go on. Plenty of defensive ends, too: Noah Spence, Kevin Dodd, Shilique Calhoun, Carl Nassib. Linebackers? Again, Beniquez Brown and Scooby Wright are the realistic choices, though safety may end up being a better option if one of Keanu Neal, Vonn Bell or Karl Joseph is still on the board.

San Diego Chargers

They pick: 3rd overall
They need: Offensive tackle, 3-4 Defensive End, 3-4 Outside Linebacker, Safety

Who might they go for in the first round? The best player in the draft. If they think that’s Laremy Tunsil (tackle), Jalen Ramsey (safety), DeForest Buckner (end) or Joey Bosa (would probably play outside linebacker), all would fit. I think Tunsil and Ramsey are the most likely, but there’s no denying the two teams trading up for quarterbacks has worked out utterly perfectly for San Diego.

In the second round? As well as a tackle like Germain Ifedi or Jason Spriggs, 3-4 ends like Austin Johnson, Jonathan Bullard and co will be around, as will some pass-rushers like Kamalei Correa and Noah Spence. Most of the top safeties (Neal, Bell, Joseph) will still be available too. But, even though their record was terrible last year, I can see San Diego filling a position of slightly lesser need with one of the best players still available.

The Checkdown: Blockbuster Trades

Welcome to this week’s Checkdown! You might have heard a few things about trades for draft picks this week…you didn’t? Understandable, they kind of drifted under the radar. It’s less than a week til the draft now, so don’t be surprised that this is all that’s happening.

Looking At That Rams-Titans Trade

The LA Rams traded with Tennessee to gain the first overall pick of the 2016 draft last week, with MMQB revealing how an arbitrary pairing of Rams and Titans brass at the combine culminated in the “transaction’s consummation in the cab of a pickup truck”. SB Nation’s Dan Kadar says the Titans have gained numerous top 76 picks to support the development of Mariota and co, whilst “for the Rams, this is a monumental risk” as they try to pair their second year star running back Todd Gurley with a franchise QB. If the new QB doesn’t deliver, it will “likely mean the end of head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead’s time with the franchise”. Kadar’s colleague Thomas George says the choice between Goff and Wentz will come down to who can help “the Rams to get over the top and become significant” sooner, which points to Goff.

As NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling comments, the Rams had no choice. “The goal of every NFL team is to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, not flirt with the .500 threshold for an entire generation”, and with the QB more important then ever, it is “increasingly difficult to find a franchise quarterback outside the draft’s top few picks”. The riskier move would have been to leave an otherwise talented roster with a sub-par QB.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell is less enthusiastic for “a team with a subpar offensive line, major question marks at receiver, and holes in the secondary”, but concedes it’s defensible for LA. It is however, “a stunning haul for Tennessee”, gaining a huge amount of draft capital. Other big beneficiaries are other teams with high picks who already have their QBs – San Diego, Jacksonville and Baltimore all look set to have a bigger pool of non-QBs to choose from.

Wait, The Eagles Got The Second Pick Too?

This situation only improved for these teams when Philadelphia traded with Cleveland for the second pick. USA Today’s Jarrett Bell approves of the terms for the Browns, forecasting that neither Goff nor Wentz will be elite level in the league. Barnwell agrees, as the Browns will have an enormous amount of draft picks this year and next – whilst “the Eagles did something that would charitably qualify as aggressive and could very well go down as foolish”, seeing as they don’t even know who’ll be there at 2. It also leave current QB Sam Bradford as a “lame-duck”, with millions of dollars tied up in guarantees to him. Rodger Sherman agrees, claiming the Eagles aren’t really sure what they’re doing, “going all in on the guy another NFL team is turning down”, and this is just the latest in Philadelphia’s chaotic QB choices of the last 2 years. Mind you, as SI’s Chris Burke says, this draft is crazy town, and “Philadelphia could trade back down if it doesn’t want the QB left at 2”.

Josh Norman, Non-Panther

The Panthers cut ties with star cornerback Josh Norman, releasing him from his franchise tag. Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport says Norman’s age and wage demands were just too big to swallow, and one stellar campaign doesn’t command the same that “the resume that a Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman does”. Black and Blue Review’s Bill Voth concurs – Norman may well have been a distraction to the squad as he sat out, and the Panthers had a lower limit than Norman would like, as “Gettleman builds from the inside out, so cornerbacks aren’t as valuable as big linemen and pass rushers.” Washington and San Francisco are believed to be front runners, with the former having already offered a contract.

Finally, this was a great read regarding the QB draft of 1971, when the analytics and scouting processes were…. a bit less refined.

The Checkdown: Who’s a Good QB Then?

This week in the Checkdown, our plans for a nice leisurely look at a few issues were blasted out the water by the Tennessee-Los Angeles trade on Thursday. We’ll look in a bit more depth at that next week, because this week we also want to talk about the draft’s QBs, the latest in the Josh Gordon reinstatement saga, and look at fifth-year options for 2013 1st round picks.

Titans Trade Out of #1 Pick, Rams Give Up The House

Thursday was blockbuster trade time in the NFL, as the LA Rams gave up a bucketload of picks to the Titans for the honour of picking 1st overall in this year’s draft. This came in a bit late for our weekly roundup, so we’ll cover it more next week, but despite what the Rams are saying, they will have one player in particular in mind for that number 1 pick, and it’s probably a Quarterback, either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff. We’ll have a look at what this means for everyone next week.

1st round QBs

SB Nation’s Dan Kadar believes Jared Goff “is the better quarterback right now”. Before Thursday’s trade, he thought that one of the consensus top two QBs will go to Cleveland and the other to the 49ers at pick 7 with Paxton Lynch to the Bills at 19. With LA trading up, the main uncertainty is whether Cleveland will take a QB at 2.

When Wentz has “a clean pocket and room to work, he can really show it off” says Robert Mays, but he relies on scheme to get that space, and “struggled when he had less space”, whereas Goff is “adept at controlling safeties with his eyes” and “navigates the entire pocket”. Jason La Canfora at CBS says the Browns agree, and that “the fact that Wentz did not face the caliber of competition you would prefer and is a late-bloomer has them concerned”.

One of Goff’s strengths is his deep passing, notes ESPN’s Sharon Katz, completing “45.6 percent of his passes longer than 20 yards in 2015” (compared to 24.2 from Wentz), but “took more than 99 percent of his snaps from the shotgun or pistol in his career”. Wentz has the size and athleticism of “a prototypical NFL quarterback” but struggles under pressure – “when under duress in 2015, Wentz completed 28.9 percent of his passes and converted a first down 15 percent of the time”.

However, Pat McManamon states “Wentz has become the favourite of the analysts, mainly because of his potential”, although does note that “Goff is the best passer in the draft”, and Hue Jackson admires his “poise under pressure”. Mel Kiper believes Wentz will be first off the board, despite not being “the top QB on my board”. Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski agrees, saying “he appears destined to be the first quarterback selected”, and the potential outweighs the drawbacks, particularly as this QB class has no standout.
Further down the draft are a QBs such as Lynch and Connor Cook, projected as second round talent by ESPN, but who may be picked sooner due to the importance placed in a signal caller – “it’s a quarterback-starved league” says Steve Muench. Lynch has the physical tools and “can be somebody’s quarterback in the next few years”, but lacks experience and hasn’t displayed ideal intangibles, whilst Cook has “good starting experience and success in a pro-style offense”, but displays sloppy footwork alongside leadership concerns.

Essentially – do you believe in Goff’s intangibles? Or do you trust your coaches to get Wentz up to speed and get his athleticism on top? Or double down on the latter theory, and take Lynch later on? There is no consensus at the moment, but with LA trading up on Thursday, it looks like one of these QBs will go first pick.

Josh Gordon

The Cleveland Browns’ exceptionally talented but suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon has reportedly had his request for reinstatement denied, following a failed drug test containing marijuana and dilute.

Mike Tanier of Bleacher Report thinks Gordon’s getting a raw deal from the NFL – “he is like many NFL players, in that he has no privacy when it comes to drug testing”. The timing of the leak seems to be related to increasing calls on the NFL for a decision on Gordon’s reinstatement, indicating that these “leaks are becoming more strategic, calculated”.

SI’s Doug Farrar believes it’s time for a change in policy regarding marijuana anyway – especially as marijuana has been shown to “help people in two areas of common concern to every NFL player—pain management and the effects of head trauma”. The drug is now legal in many states in the US, but the NFL remains steadfast it its policy, resulting in many players (such as NE’s Chandler Jones and Seattle’s Derrick Coleman) turning to potentially more dangerous synthetic equivalents in the belief that they “will pass through drug tests where regular marijuana will not”. The prospect of change is slim for the time being, as “expecting Goodell and his current medical cronies to switch their view on this may be a fool’s errand.”

For a wider look at performance-enhancing and recreational drug testing in the NFL, give our piece from February a read.

Fifth-Year Options

The first fifth-year option pickups are starting to trickle in, with Tyler Eifert  and probably Star Lotulelei joining Kenny Vaccaro. For those not in the know, under the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, all first-round picks have a fifth-year option inserted into their rookie contract, which a team can pick up after three years. It essentially means those players are under contract for two years, giving everyone plenty of notice and incentive to get to work on longer term contracts, or to give players one last chance to prove they’re long-term contract worthy. Contracts are worth an average of what good players at that position earn. For example, Kenny Vaccaro was the 15th pick in the 2013 draft, and will earn an average of what the 3rd through 25th best paid safeties in 2017 earn.

Teams have until early May to pick up fifth-year options. These are only fully guaranteed in case of injury, so a fit player who has a bad 2016 can be released in 2017 at no cost to the club and no security to the player.

As far as who’s likely to get their options picked up goes, Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson already has his big extension so there’s no option left to pick up, while at the other end of the scale Indianapolis cut Björn Werner, leaving no contract for there to be a fifth-year option on.  Expect players like Desmond Trufant, DeAndre Hopkins, Sheldon Richardson and Sharrif Floyd to get their options picked up, while players like Matt Elam, Dee Milliner and Barkevious Mingo will probably go without. It’s a good indicator, three years into their career, which of the first-rounders are looking like good players in future, and which are seen as busts.

They’re Talking London NFL Team Again

So, the ink is barely dry on the contract sealing the Rams move to Los Angeles, and already the NFL’s found another city for teams to use as a threat to move to as a means to pry more money from local taxpayers.

And, because of course it is, that city is London. The city I live in, as of writing.

Yesterday, the BBC reported NFL executive Mark Waller saying that the NFL ‘fundamentally believes’ there’ll be an NFL franchise in London by 2022. This shouldn’t really be of surprise to anybody, there have been enough mutterings, suggestions and insinuations that at this point it’d be more amazing if a team never moved to London. The International Series has been selling out Wembley year on year, even for miserable games like 49ers-Jaguars and Lions-Chiefs, which I went to, paid for, enjoyed and feel like I got my money’s worth even though they were utter dross.

If London got an NFL franchise, ceteris paribus I would love it. If I live in London at the time, I’ll get a season ticket – if not, I’ll make three or four pilgrimages a year. Hard to say if I’d root for the team – I’ll still be a Saints fan – but I’d certainly go there and cheer for them. I’d certainly read far too much about their draft choices, and have arguments with myself over whether they should switch to 4-3 or stick with 3-4. I’d engage with the team, I’d feel good about them getting a thousand-yard rusher, or getting a player in ProFootballFocus’ team of the year. Whether or not they’d be my first team, I’d be positive about them.

But…is it the right thing to do? Is any of this the right thing to do.

When I was getting into NFL, the kind of ‘forced equality’ driven by the salary cap and the draft, among other things, really helped to sell it to me. It appealed to the authoritarian lefty buried not-that-deeply-really inside of me, as well as making the whole thing more thrilling, unpredictable, fluid. All the sort of things that I no longer saw in round football, and why if you ask me who Sheffield Wednesday are playing this weekend now, I can only shrug my shoulders. But despite all that, it’d be lunacy to pretend it isn’t an incredibly money driven product. As much as it’s fascinating that the sport has managed to find this kind of fun way of combining strong capitalism and strong socialism, the end goal of it is to make as much money as possible. This should always been seen as its driving motivation, as such a goal is with, well, most private sector anythings. No judgement is cast on that.

Yet, it’s the outcomes of that which trouble me. American sports is littered with stories of local taxpayers being strongarmed into stumping up big cash to help teams build their own stadiums – teams owned by men much wealthier than said taxpayers. I let out a big cheer when the citizens of Miami won their game of brinkmanship with the Dolphins over their vague threats regarding necessary stadium upgrades. And it’s something which is alien to us. I mean, imagine the people of Newham having to stump up hundreds of millions of pounds so Gollivan could move West Ham United somewhere. As if.

Of course, being able to strongarm taxpayers is easy where there’s a credible threat that your team could skip town. The Dolphins were probably in a slightly weaker position because yeah right, like the Dolphins are going to leave Miami. But while there was no team in Los Angeles and its huge metropolitan area, it was always going to be tempting to owners, seeing the potential to make vast sums of money, and if you’re Rams owner Stan Kroenke, stuck with your team in a city you think is beneath you and your bad hair, the threat to move is a realistic one. Use it to get more money out of your city for a new stadium that you don’t have to pay for.

Let’s be fair, “from each according to their means, to each according to their needs” is in no danger of permeating the American consciousness, whether or not it’s the way the NFL divvies up players.

So, now there is a team, and potentially teams, in Los Angeles. Is there a credible place to move an NFL team to, if your city won’t pay for your stadium that you could afford to pay for more than they can? San Antonio’s a big place, but your team’s going to be second to the Cowboys there. Portland, Oregon? Seahawks fans, and it’s not that big anyway. Oklahoma City? Also Cowboys fans. And so it happened that some bright spark had an idea: why not London? Big population, loads of money. But it’s not credible to move a team there without knowing how big they are on NFL. And so, the International Series came to London year in year out, and it’s a great sport so I’m glad we bought in big time. But now owners are going to threaten to move to London, where exists a great infrastructure and plenty of suitable stadia, and so it’s going to be a credible threat. And teams are going to say to cities: “build us a new stadium or we’re outta here”.

I feel really, really, bad about that. All the crap we have MK Dons when they left south London, we’re now going to be the ones causing either cities to go bankrupt, or people to lose their childhood team, for it to move to somewhere they really can’t get to games at. It’s not going to be our fault as much as Goodell and Co’s, but we should feel bad about it.

There are whole heaps of other issues with moving to London, like competitiveness, jet lag, environmental concerns (this is a big one!). And of course the case of which team would actually go through with it? I can’t imagine the London Raiders, somehow. And there was a time when the Jaguars looked nailed on to move. But, I guess Shad Khan spending all that money upgrading their home stadium betrayed how his experience of owning a sport team in England had basically been Fulham and spending £11million and only getting Ross Sodding McCormack.

I don’t really have any answers. Like I said, I’d buy into a team and go to games. I’d feel bad about it, but I’d enjoy it. That’s basically “being politically left wing”, I guess, where short of stabbing yourself in the face repeatedly, most actions you take in this society are going to feel ideologically horrific. I just wish there was a better way, where American Football could still be as thrilling, as much at a sort of physical pinnacle that it seems to be, as much of a polished product as it is, without screwing around with, well, everyone. I don’t think it can, and I guess I’m just going to keep with the double-think and cheering for the Saints on a Sunday. And it looks like I’m fine with that. We’re funny things, aren’t we, us people?