My Bottom 5 Madden 21 Choices

by adelfish | 5 years ago | 1 Comments

Madden 21 - The Five Worst Teams to Choose

From the Desk of Commish Adel

The cycle is almost over, and it really is for 30 of us. Let's be honest, for some of you it was over when Season 53 kicked off...

With the team draft scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 PM EST, it is time for me to deep dive into the five teams that I think are the worst selections going into next year. I'll do this with no bias...otherwise I'd just list the NFC North minus my beloved purple and call it a day.

Let's get started....

Some honorable mentions with a quick hitter....

Green Bay Packers - Getting handcuffed to a rookie QB with an elite starting QB is a Madden conundrum as old as time. Do you start Love right away? Do you trade him? Do you trade Rodgers?

Tennessee Titans - Ryan Tannehill is making a lot of money. Henry needs to be re-signed. Adam Humphires is making $10 million a year. Did I mention Ryan Tannehill is making a lot of money?

Atlanta Falcons - They currently have the least amount of cap in the league, and it doesn't get better for a long time. They are paying a ton of money to players over the age of 29. 

#5 - Chicago Bears

Still one of the greatest plays in history. The doube doink....anyways.

Let's start with the easy stuff. First of all, the Bears are paying a combined $15 million to the quarterback room of Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles. The trade for Foles' terrible contract will haunt the owner of the Bears, especially in Seasons 62 and 63. His cap number will be around $10 million per season (which isn't bad), but the dead cap numbers are between $21 million to $15 million. He will likely be on the roster, while the Bears owner needs to figure out what to do with Trubisky, who is expiring in Season 62.

Tarik Cohen is the best player on the Bears offense besides Allen Robinson, and both of their contracts are expiring. This may be one of the worst skill position groups in the league. Anthony Miller....Cordarrelle Patterson....Ted Ginn.....yikes.

The Bears are also paying terrible Jimmy Graham $16 million over two years, so you get that contract, along with a mediocre offensive line that has two starters making almost $10 million per year. The offense is a major problem, and will take more than one offseason to fix.

On defense, you have Khalil Mack which is a major plus - but the downside to this is that the Bears haven't had a first round pick for two years. You have no young talent to groom, and Mack is making $20 million per year for the next 5 years. You are locked into it, but you probably want to pay him that.

Roquan Smith, Robert Quinn, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson...all really solid to great players. There is no doubt this defense is talented, but with the issues on offense, and a real lack of strong young players, this Bears roster screams mediocre. It will be a deceivingly tough rebuild. 

#4 - New England Patriots

One of these two quarterbacks pictured above is no longer with the Patriots, the other is your projected starter. The Jarrett Stidham situation isn't even the reason why I'm low on the Pats going into Madden 21.

The amount of players expiring after Season 62 is very high, as the Pats are expected to free up to $70 million in space if all players walk. Some of these players are huge contributors to the current squad, like Dont'a Hightower, James White, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, and the entire defensive line...seriously.

Yes, taking a team full of cap space is fun, but you'll have to suffer through what will likely be a season of failure, only to have to start the rebuild. There are holes everywhere, especially on offense. Mohamed Sanu is another player expected to leave, and with Julian Edelman aging, the offense is trending down. 

You'll have to hit on the quarterback early, and start rebuilding the weapons around him. The defense luckily is loaded in the secondary, but will still need help in the front seven. Selling on veterans in Season 62 and loading up on picks seems to be the right move. 

#3 - New York Jets

Ok so we have Sam. And......?

Give the Jets credit for trying to fix their offensive line issues this year, but really - George Fant? Are we excited about Connor McGovern? Alex Lewis???

The Jets have one of the worst supporting casts in football, despite having Le'Veon Bell on the roster. Robby Anderson left for Carolina, leaving behind Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman, and rookie Denzel Mims (who figures to be pretty good). And, are we sure Sam is good? Two more years left to decide his fate in green, but my guess is Donny Moore won't do him any favors.

The defense is...okay? They have some pieces like C.J. Mosley, Blake Cashman, Quinnen Williams, but then the looming Jamal Adams trade talks continue. If you take the Jets on Saturday, don't be mad when you get the notification on your phone that Adams was shipped off. If he leaves, it is disastrous for the future of the franchise.

#2 - Los Angeles Rams

The next two are easy. 

The Rame are one of the most financially mis-managed teams in recent memory. Giving horrific contracts to Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks in one year, and then parting ways with two of them the following year.

Goff is under contract for five more years averaging $30 million. The Rams carry $17 million in dead cap from Gurley. Tyler Higbee is making $7.5 million per year for some reason, and Aaron Donald (deservedly so) is making $25 million per year.

Not only that, they do not have a first round pick in last year and next year's draft due to the Jalen Ramsey trade. Of course you're going to pay Ramsey, he is the best corner in the game - but it will cost you. With a ton of bad contracts on this roster, paying Ramsey 15-20 per year, without a first in the first draft of the cycle, is a really tough pill to swallow.

The reason these guys aren't #1? Because they actually have some really good pieces on both sides of the ball. Cooper Kupp, Samson Ebukam, obviously Donald and Ramsey.

#1 - Houston Texans

Petition to change 'Worst GM Award' to the 'Bill O'Brien Trophy'?

Let's start with Hopkins. The Texans traded away the best wide receiver in the league to the Arizona Cardinals for a second round pick and David Johnson's terrible contract. Let me emphasize how terrible it truly is.

He is making $12 million per year until 2022 (which will be Season 64). Tons of dead cap if cut, and isn't even that good of a player. You will have to make a decision early on what to do with him, and cutting him is very likely. The Texans mismanaged this situation so poorly.

Houston traded two years of first round picks away (and seconds) to the Dolphins for offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who then signed a 3 year deal with Houston. Yes, Tunsil is really good - but the Texans do not have a first or a second in the first draft of the cycle, and are paying Tunsil $15 million per year.

They also gave awful contracts to Randall Cobb (3 Years, $27 million), Bradley Roby (3 Years, $36 million) and Eric Murray (3 Years, $18 million) along with taking on the contract of Johnson.

They weren't done, THEN, they traded for Brandin Cooks, to add him to a core of Cobb, Will Fuller, and Kenny Stills. For 4 more years, you will be paying Brandin Cooks $12.5 million per year, along with the $10.5 to Fuller, and the $8.5 to Cobb.

Yes J.J. Watt is there, and obviously Watson. But the terrible decisions of the Texans front office have eliminated almost all positive assets from this roster, and have stripped them of all future assets. With no first or second in next year's draft, and little cap relief coming, this is a brutal situation for anyone who enjoys team building.

 

I hope you enjoyed my bottom five! Hope to see more stuff like this from everyone, can't wait for Saturday!!