Free agent matchmaking and a beer bracket
Plus, why in the hell is Mike Glennon still working?
On Wednesday, we highlighted some of the best and worst signings of the early free agency window. Just two days later, many of the other top available players have agreed to new contracts, including Trent Williams, Curtis Samuel, NVP Mitchell Trubisky, and Will Fuller. Despite that, there are still several big names who haven’t found the right spot (or right money) quite yet.
If they asked us (which they would not do), here’s our advice on where a select few of them should go.
Kenny Golladay, Ravens
There hasn’t been much news on Golladay this week, even though he’s a top 10 free agent in this year’s class. But the Ravens, who reportedly missed out on JuJu Smith-Schuster, are interested, and the match would make a lot of sense:
The Ravens have needed wide receiver help since Lamar Jackson took over as the starting quarterback. Golladay could be a true No. 1 who’d fit in well next to Hollywood Brown and would give Jackson another reliable weapon. He can block too, which is a big bonus with a loaded backfield that includes Jackson, J.K. Dobbins, and Gus Edwards. — SH
Any other high-profile WR, Packers
Green Bay was rumored to be considering sending a Day 2 pick to Houston for Will Fuller. And yet, despite a limited market that forced Fuller to sign for a one-year deal in Miami:
The Packers’ biggest WR move in free agency is … re-signing Devin Funchess to a re-structured deal after he’d opted out of the 2020 season. And hey, I love Allen Lazard more than most, but after losing Corey Linsley to free agency, why not get yourself a premier interior blocker early in the draft AND get a top-notch wideout in the same offseason? — CD
Olivier Vernon, Ravens
Baltimore ranked 24th in PFF’s pass rush rankings last season, then lost Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue in free agency. Bringing in Vernon would give the team another veteran option and while he wouldn’t be a perfect fit in the Ravens’ 3-4 defense, he could still make a difference. Vernon bounced back with nine sacks and 16 quarterback hits last year, giving the Browns an important counterpunch to Myles Garrett’s edge attack. Though he’s likely to miss time due to injury (he hasn’t played a 16 game season since 2016), he’s still a viable rotational presence capable of standing out in reduced snaps.
Washington Football Team star Ryan Kerrigan could be a fit as well, though his 2020 suggests he may have exhausted his string of above-average seasons. If he can even get back to his 2019 form he’d be valuable. Plus, he’d get to stay fairly local while playing with a Maryland-based team that isn’t a complete diaper fire. — CD
Richard Sherman, Raiders
The Raiders have addressed a few positions so far in free agency (and for some reason, have blown up their offensive line), but they have yet to strengthen their secondary. Sherman has dealt with injuries in recent seasons, but when healthy, he’s proven his All-Pro form is still there. Not only would Sherman fill a need for the Raiders, but he’s also the kind of grizzled veteran that Jon Gruden loooooves. Plus, Sherman’s spent his entire football career on the West Coast, and Las Vegas is a relatively short trip from his hometown of Compton. — SH
Malik Hooker, Falcons
The Falcons were already in desperation mode at safety, even before they let Keanu Neal hit free agency. Without much salary cap room, they need to find a cheap free agent who can slide right into the starting lineup. Enter Hooker. The 24-year-old has first-round pedigree but also a lengthy injury history. Hooker never played a full 16-game season with the Colts and appeared in just two games last year after tearing his Achilles.
He’ll most likely be looking at a prove-it deal, and if he can stay healthy, he could be a steal. In 36 NFL games, Hooker has recorded seven picks and forced two fumbles. He can be the exact type of ballhawk the Atlanta defense needs. — SH
James White, Buccaneers
The Patriots appear content to move on from the guy who *should* have been Super Bowl 51 MVP and have reportedly been flirting with available running backs like Chris Carson and Leonard Fournette in the middle of their offseason spending spree. Why not return White to the quarterback who knows how to use him best — and who threw him 90 playoff passes from 2015 to 2019? Keep the dream of the 2018 Pats alive in Tampa. — CD
Eric Fisher, Colts
The best left tackle on the free agent market is taken after Trent Williams signed a megadeal with the 49ers. Fisher could be a nice consolation prize, though. The former No. 1 pick was a steady presence for the Chiefs before they released him:
The Colts need a left tackle after Anthony Castonzo retired, and Fisher’s experience would be a godsend for Carson Wentz, who clearly didn’t trust the Eagles’ beat-up offensive line last year. — SH
Mike Glennon has a job for life
Quarterback Mike Glennon, he of the long neck, joined his sixth team in five years this week. Continuing his path as an NFL-approved backup quarterback, he agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Giants. As far as NFL contracts go, it’s nothing —one year at $1.35 million with $425,000 guaranteed.
I don’t really care about the money. My issue is why in the hell to teams keep signing Mike Glennon to do anything?
The point of a backup quarterback is that it’s someone to hold the line. To keep things suspended in mostly neutral state, while hopefully getting some elevated play from the rest of the team, hopefully, elevates it play a bit to make winning still within the realm of the possible. There are exceptions, most notable for actual smart teams who have a young starter waiting in the wings or a Fitzpatrick-like veteran on a short-term coequal footing with a heralded rookie.
Mike Glennon gives a team neither of those things. He is not a handy veteran to support an up-and-coming passer — and Daniel Jones is definitely not one of those; more on that later — nor is he a viable option to plug in for a handful of games in November to keep the team afloat while the usual starter recuperates from a high-ankle sprain or something like that.
In five starts with the Jaguars last season, Glennon threw seven touchdowns and five interceptions. His adjusted yards per pass attempted was a stunning 5.5 yards. The Jaguars were winless in five starts with the Jaguars last season, but you can’t infer much about Glennon from that. The Jaguars were floundering under head coach Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell (who actually did once build a decent Jaguars team that quickly fell apart, something to remember before you get excited about the Jaguars again). Glennon just looked like another spare part.
Prior to last season, his most meaningful work was four games as the Bears’ starter in 2017. He had four touchdowns, five interceptions, and an impressively bad 4.9 adjusted yards per attempt to show for his work. Seriously, he was bad enough that when then-rookie Mitchell Trubisky finally took over, the Bears kinda looked smart for drafting him.
Backup quarterbacks don’t have to be aggressively bad players. Andy Dalton is actually a decent backup. Chase Daniel too. Sam Darnold could make a fine second fiddle too. But for some reason, Glennon is like the NFL’s version of a saw you rent from the big box retailer, with a dull blade and god-knows-what stuck on the handle … except worse, because at least those can, mostly, get the job done.
I would expect no less from the Giants, a team still committed to making future backup Daniel Jones their starter for another year, a team that seems to have very little interest in winning games. As the NFL keeps making the Maras richer and richer, winning’s not really a requirement.
When the season ends, Mike Glennon will probably have made at least a month’s worth of starts for the Giants. And after 2021 has been written off as another lost year at MetLife Stadium, Mike Glennon will move on, sign another one-year deal with another team (my bet is now on the Jets or maybe the Lions) committed to no more than playing out the string of a season while its owner collects a billion-plus dollars from desperate broadcasters. From there, the wheel will just keep turning, until, gradually, a new crop of washed out starters in their mid-20s replace the Mike Glennons of the world. The circle of meh. —RVB
Introducing the 2021 Beer Bracket, Part I
First, let me say that basing your NCAA bracket on local breweries is a bad idea.
This year's beer bracket — in which winners are determined by the strength of their local brews — absolutely hates the chalk this March. Only one of the tournament's top 19 seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Entering this lineup into any sort of pool would be considered purely an act of charity.
But hell, if you like upsets DO WE HAVE THE BRACKET FOR YOU.
The premise of the tournament is simple; instead of picking games based on something meaningful like talent, experience, or coaching, my winners hinge on which college has the superior local brewery. Every university is represented by the highest-rated beermaker in their hometowns If there’s more than one school in a given city, the top seed will get the top-rated brewery and the lower seeded school will get the second-best. If the college doesn’t have a brewery within its city limits, it gets assigned the closest one.
With our breweries in order, matchups will be determined by a lineup of a company’s highest-rated beers — with a minimum of five reviews each — ensuring 2021’s winner is the brewer with the most complete lineup of brews and not just a one-hit wonder. Teams will use their top-ranked beer in their first round, next best in round two, and so forth. In some cases, breweries without enough rated beers were swapped out with other, more popular breweries to keep things balanced. Some cities only had one brewery with few reviews, so I used Untappd as a supplement when necessary.
Another disclaimer: these rankings have been dominated by heavy beers in the past — barrel-aged stouts and double IPAs that clock in at 8%+ ABV typically ruled the roost among reviewers at Beer Advocate. But this year’s reviews weren’t immune to recent beermaking trends; lots of sours, goses, wild ales, and barleywines forced their way into top fives across the country, throwing more traditional styles to the wayside.
In short, if your local brewery makes a banger of a lager or porter or marzen, it didn't matter. It was probably getting beaten out by an OK beer that spent a couple months in a Black Velvet cask or was brewed and aged in the open air somewhere behind the brewery itself. (Also, figs factored into entirely too many top five beers. FIGS.) Tough break, for sure, but now we understand the system. Get yourself a sour barleywine aged three months in a bourbon barrel and beer nerds will declare you King of Beer Advocate.
Sound a little biased and a lot stupid? Probably! But it’s my bracket, so let’s talk about the beers and teams who survived the first two rounds.
West Region
Sweet Sixteen teams:
Norfolk State (Benchtop Brewing)
Ohio (Little Fish Brewing)
Wichita State (Central Standard)
VCU (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
We come out hot with a classic #67 over #1 upset. Gonzaga’s downfall is that Spokane’s beer scene is apparently not so great — and since there aren’t any major breweries in Cheney, Eastern Washington gets to feel the pain from that as well. Big Grove Brewing would have been a Sweet 16 team in most regions, but hoooo boy does Richmond’s Hardywood Park Craft Brewery look like a juggernaut through two rounds.
South Region
Sweet Sixteen teams:
Hartford (New Park Brewing)
North Texas (Armadillo Ale Works)
Colgate (Good Nature Farm Brewery & Tap Room)
Florida (Swamp Head Brewery)
New England breweries always do well in this bracket. I think it’s because the region is a locus of the craft beer movement. Northeastern beer snobs feel like they invented this shit, so they go above and beyond to wave their own flags and prove to the world they’ve tasted all the best beers (and all the best beers happen to be within driving distance).
At any rate, it’s another disappointing showing for Wisconsin and my local favorite, Karben4. I assure you, Karben4 is extremely good.
Midwest Region
Sweet Sixteen teams:
Loyola Chicago (Revolution Brewing)
Oregon State (Block 15 Brewing Co.)
San Diego State (Ballast Point)
Houston (Saint Arnold Brewing Company)
Where the other regions are dominated by breweries with limited distribution, the Midwest offers up a bunch you can find across the contiguous 48 (not you, Block 15). Revolution, Ballast Point, and Saint Arnold are all solid, if expensive, six packs. I have no complaints about this region, even if Sweetwater earned a rough draw and a pumpkin beer was responsible for a victory.
East Region
Sweet Sixteen teams:
Texas Southern (Karbach Brewing Co.)
Colorado (Avery Brewing Company)
Michigan State (Ellison Brewery & Spirits)
UConn (Willimantic Brewing Co.)
Ah, Colorado; the west’s answer to New England’s beer snobbery. I’m very excited about a potential CO-CT showdown in the Elite Eight, but Avery has to get through another stellar showing from a Houston brewery (see Saint Arnold above) to get there. After two high-major programs (three if you want to count the University of Houston) hit the Sweet 16, the East added three more. At the very least, this feels a bit more reasonable from an actual basketball standpoint.
So there you have it; the first weekend of the 2021 NCAA Tournament laid at our feet. Both Norfolk State and Texas Southern will be Sweet 16 teams and Colgate is gonna be a problem for someone.
What about the next round? Don’t worry, we’ll get to that next week. Have you had any of these beers? Any of these breweries? Hit me up in the comments, I want to know.
Love,
Christian