August 18, 2024

Hello readers, O For 4 is back from a little summer vacation.  It was a good time for me to take this hiatus as, aside from the Olympics, it was very much a deadzone in the world of sports.  But now we have football starting in a couple weeks, so let’s get back to it!  In this episode, I am going to talk about the Haason Reddick situation with the New York Jets, I’ll compare and contrast the current and former teams of Kirk Cousins, and I’ll finish up with some parting thoughts on the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.  As always, please leave your comments at the end.

1. The Haason Reddick Situation: Trades Are Evil!

We are seeing a very interesting situation play out in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  The New York Jets acquired linebacker Haason Reddick from the Philadelphia Eagles via trade this past April.  Reddick has one year remaining on the three-year contract he signed in 2022.  The usual protocol when a team is trading for a marquee name like Reddick who only has one year remaining on their contract, and particularly when giving up a high draft pick in the process (in this case a future 3rd round pick that could conditionally become a 2nd), is to agree to terms on a contract extension with the player prior to finalizing the trade.  That is something that did not happen in this case, and I am willing to bet that NYJ general manager Joe Douglas will not make this mistake a second time.

Sources have said that Reddick told the Jets he would show up to their offseason and preseason schedule and that they would work on agreeing to an extension.  Well, Reddick only showed up for one day per reports, to take a physical, and has not been seen at camp since.  With no extension agreed to, he is now requesting to be traded once again.

I am not going to tell any of you what to think about millionaire athletes demanding trades and refusing to play.  You are all entitled to your own opinions on that matter.  And I do not think I need to tell you that this is a pretty bad look for the Jets’ brass; ineptitude and a lack of foresight are on bright display.  It certainly does not help that this is all happening in the New York media market.

What I am going to try to convince you of, if you do not already think it, is that trading players is the worst part of professional sports (unlike college sports where the transfer portal is the worst part, as I discussed in the second-ever issue of O For 4).  Imagine this.  You are a doctor/lawyer/professor working in a hospital/law firm/university in Los Angeles/San Diego/Phoenix.  You have a husband/wife, some kids, a dog, and a house.  You live where you live because you made the choice to live there and you work where you work because you applied for the job and successfully interviewed for it.  Then one day, you come into the hospital/law firm/university to see patients/prepare for a trial/teach a class, and your boss comes in and tells you have been traded to a hospital/law firm/university in Boston/Buffalo/Cleveland.

Yeah, that would never happen.  I do not know the history of professional sports to say how the concept of trading players came into existence.  But if you stop and think about it, it is truly a ridiculous thing.  It never happens in any other profession or any other aspect of the civilized world.  So why do we so readily accept this?  I’d really like to see the next versions of the collective bargaining agreements in our major sports leagues end this practice.  Over the decades, we have seen progress in these agreements to better protect the rights and welfare of the players.  While I know it is not going to happen, at least not anytime soon, it just feels like trading players needs to be another item that becomes a thing of the past.

Back to the Haason Reddick saga, I do hope this ends in a situation that does not involve him sitting out and missing any of the 2024 season.  While he may have indicated a willingness to play for the Jets prior to his trade, that clearly was not an ironclad guarantee, and it seems clear now that he was traded to a situation he did not want to be in.  Hopefully Joe Douglas can solve this issue and get Reddick onto the field, whether that is in a Jets uniform or after a trade so he can play in a new jersey (see what I did there?).  If not, and if the Jets continue to be an uncompetitive team (they have not won more than seven games in the Douglas era), then Douglas may just find himself looking for a new team to work for.

2. Atlanta Falcons Making Moves: Kirk Cousins May Be Smiling Now!

I have made my thoughts known on the Atlanta Falcons drafting of Michael Penix.  While I had very high expectations for Penix’s pro prospects, he very clearly ended up in the worst situation of any of the six quarterbacks selected in the first round.  Being a big fan of Kirk Cousins, thanks to the fact he played his college ball at my alma mater, Michigan State, I was ready to adopt the Atlanta Falcons as my backup team, a distinction the Minnesota Vikings previously held.  So I was quite disturbed when I saw the Falcons draft a quarterback in the first round right after acquiring Cousins in free agency.  There were, unsurprisingly, articles written after the draft detailing Cousins’ displeasure with it as well; they should have selected someone who could make their team better in this season.

Well, maybe the Falcons front office is making it up to him now.  In the past few days, Atlanta has acquired two defensive players who should immediately slot into the starting lineup and be difference-makers.  First, they traded for linebacker Matthew Judon (giving up a future 3rd round pick).  Then they signed safety Justin Simmons.  Along with safety Jessie Bates III, linebacker Kaden Elliss, and nose tackle David Onyemata, the Falcons look like they could have a very formidable defense.

While Atlanta did not do much in the draft to address their offense, other than the aforementioned Penix selection and a pair of skill position players in the sixth round, there still is some talent for new QB Cousins to disperse the ball to.  Tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Drake London, and running back Bijan Robinson are all young valuable pieces for this team.

Most of the sports books around the country have set Atlanta’s over/under win total at 9.5, the highest in the NFC South.  The other 3 teams, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Carolina have win totals of 7.5, 7.5, and 5.5, respectively.  Basically, the overall outlook for the Falcons’ divisional opponents is not a high one.  I do agree with that opinion, and the rest of the Falcons’ schedule is quite favorable, as well.  In fact, Atlanta has the easiest schedule in 2024 based on 2023 opponents’ win percentage (.453).  Certainly, that stat is not the end-all be-all as teams can and often do have massive year-over-year improvements and declines, but at this point in time it is the best measure we have.

Here’s my take.  Kirk Cousins is going to lead the Falcons over 9.5 wins, they will win the division, and they could challenge for the 3rd, and maybe even the 2nd seed, in the NFC.  I think the NFC East teams will cannibalize each other allowing Atlanta to move up among the division winners.  The Falcons are going to be a contender in 2024.  And when they are, it will help Cousins solidify his legacy as a QB.

3. Minnesota Vikings Are In Trouble: The 2024 #1 Pick Could Be In Reach!

Now here is a team trending in the opposite direction.  After a division-winning 13-4 campaign in 2022 (where they were upset in the wildcard round), the Minnesota Vikings were a popular pick to repeat as kings of the NFC North in 2023.  Well, the season got off to a bad start with only one win in their first five games, but they were able to right the ship and climb to 4-4 behind some strong performances from Kirk Cousins, who had 4 games with over 340 yards passing and at least 270 yards in 7 of those games.  Unfortunately for the Vikings, Cousins went down with an achilles injury in the fourth quarter of that week eight victory and was lost for the season.  The Vikings actually won their first two games without Cousins, but they would only win one more game after that and finish with a 7-10 record.  They even made another quarterback switch in an effort to save the season, but that did not prove successful.  They were also hampered by stud WR Justin Jefferson missing two months in the middle of the season.

The offseason was not kind to the Vikings, either.  Predictably, Cousins was allowed to walk in free agency.  They signed Sam Darnold, who was the backup in SF in 2023, and drafted J.J. McCarthy from the University of Michigan in a QB-loaded first round.  In addition to losing their star quarterback, Minnesota also saw their best defensive player, defensive end Danielle Hunter, sign with the Houston Texans.  

Fast forward to the preseason, McCarthy had a strong performance in his first exhibition game, going 11-17 for 188 yards and two scores, along with one interception.  But a few days after that game, it was revealed he had a torn meniscus, and the surgery he had to repair it days later landed him on the injured reserve to end his rookie year.

Now the Vikings are looking at a full season with Sam Darnold as their man under center.  Despite being the 3rd pick in his draft class, Darnold has underperformed in the NFL, with a 21-35 record as a starter.  When he has been his team’s starter, he has regularly had one of the league’s lowest QB ratings.  While he certainly will have the best arsenal of pass catchers in his career, with not just Jefferson but also Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and T.J. Hockenson, this will not eliminate his tendency to make poor decisions, a trait which has led to his 56 career interceptions (in the same number of games started).  I am not even convinced that Darnold holds onto the starting job for the whole season, though the rest of the depth chart does not inspire much more hope with names like Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, and Matt Corral now vying to be the primary backup.

This very much feels like a team with the wheels falling off.  I have not even mentioned the massive contract they gave Jefferson this offseason which, while deserved, was not the right move for this team in its current position of contention.  They are now starting a rebuild and that contract is not in the same timeline.  Fortunately for their G.M., Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the salary cap will (probably) continue to climb, so this deal should not handcuff them too much.  But Jefferson’s prime will not line up with what his team needs to do now.  

If you are a Vikings fan, I do not think you are going to enjoy the 2024 season.  Your division may be one of the best in the league with the Detroit Lions as a strong Super Bowl contender, and with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears coming up ahead of schedule.  I expect a team near the bottom of the league standings.  The sportsbook set their win total over/under at 7.5 wins.  I am going under, way under in fact.  This feels like a team who will win four games and be challenging for the #1 pick in the 2024 draft.  Sorry, Vikes.

4. The Olympics: Way Too Much Inevitability!

I mentioned in my first episode that I would not speak much about the Olympics.  Now I will dive into why that is.  Certainly, the 2024 Paris Summer Games, like every version of the Olympics, had some great stories, not to mention some controversies, and of course some viral and meme-worthy moments (I’m looking at you, Aussie breakdancer).  However, the biggest events are the ones that get attention year round, not just once every four years.  I am referring to the basketball and soccer tournaments.  For a quick recap, the United States won gold in men’s basketball for the 5th consecutive time, women’s basketball for the 8th straight time, and women’s soccer for the 4th time in the last six Games.

I will make this last one short.  When the outcome of a major international competition is as predetermined as these ones, it is tough to get excited about.  The men’s basketball team was in trouble in their semifinal matchup against Serbia, trailing by as much as 17 points and by 13 heading to the fourth quarter (recall that in international basketball, quarters are only 10 minutes, not the 12 that they are in the NBA).  Working from home that day, I tuned in for the fourth quarter, telling myself it was time to watch the comeback.  At no point in that ten minutes of game time did I think that the U.S. was not going to pull it off.  Of course, they had tied the game with over three minutes to go and outlasted the Serbian team in the final possessions.  This is what happens when you have a team with three all-time great NBA players (Steph Curry, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant), not to mention the rest of the NBA all-stars on the roster.  No other nation can claim that level of accumulated talent.  Similarly the U.S. women’s basketball and soccer teams featured the highest percentage of players from the WNBA and NWSL, the premier leagues in their respective sports in the world.

While I am glad the U.S.A. won all those golds (I don’t want to see another nation win), I cannot exactly say that I was excited by any of those outcomes.  The utter lack of suspense eliminated that possibility.  

I want to see the International Olympic Committee revert to former guidelines and return the amateur requirement to all Olympic sports.  Men’s soccer comes close to this, with teams being composed of players under 23 years old, with three exceptions granted.  I want to see the Olympics bar any athlete who is currently under a professional contract from playing.  That would mean college athletes and, I suppose, retired players if they can still hack it.  There is still a chance that a team made up of NCAA basketball players would still win gold against amateur teams from around the world, but it would not be as inevitable.  And then it would be more exciting to watch.