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Saturday
1:35 L.A. Rams (11-6, NFC 6 seed) at Green Bay (13-3, NFC 1 seed), Lambeau Field. TV: FOX. Line: Packers by 6.5. The Rams’ hopes might lay in the middle of prospective Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald’s ribcage. He was limited to 30 snaps in Seattle because of the mid-game rib injury, and who knows how effective he’ll be Saturday in Wisconsin. “Never bet against A.D.,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. Donald had two sacks against the Packers in his most recent duel against Aaron Rodgers, in L.A. in 2018. It was 82 degrees that day. It’ll be 22 late Saturday afternoon at Lambeau.
5:15 p.m.: Baltimore (12-5, AFC 5 seed) at Buffalo (14-3, AFC 2 seed), Orchard Park, N.Y. TV: NBC. Line: Bills by 2.5. See below.
Sunday
12:05 p.m.: Cleveland (12-5, AFC 6 seed) at Kansas City (14-2, AFC 1 seed), Arrowhead Stadium. TV: CBS. Line: KC by 8. Cinderella time? Can the Browns keep the miracle alive? It’ll be tough to beat the rested Super Bowl champs, obviously. But I’m not a big fan of resting healthy players for three weeks before the playoffs, which is what Kansas City did with Patrick Mahomes. By game time, it will have been 20 days between games for Mahomes, and his last game was a 55-percent, 17-point shaky win over the 4-12 Falcons at home. Hard not to like the defending champs, but it’s also hard to love them unconditionally entering their Super Bowl playoff defense. Gambling Note of the Week: KC’s an eight-point favorite. The Chiefs have not won a game by eight points or more since Nov. 1.
3:40 p.m.: Tampa Bay (12-5, NFC 5 seed) at New Orleans (13-4, NFC 2 seed), Superdome. TV: FOX. Line: Saints by 4. All week, you’re sure to hear that the first two games this year—Saints, 34-23 and 38-3—don’t matter now. I don’t buy it for a second. The second game, when Brady threw three picks and looked very 43, is the worrisome one. It happened Nov. 8 in Tampa, and was the worst day by far this year for Brady, and gave people sincere doubts about Brady’s resurgence. He’s continued to show he can still play at a high level, but that Saints D was frightening Sunday in the beatdown of Chicago. Second plotline is the likely last meeting of the two most statistically prolific passers of all time, which Brees will be feeling this week. “The minute he signed with the Bucs and came to the division,” Brees said Sunday, “you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with, that was going to be a team that had playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us. So I guess this was inevitable.” Should be memorable, as the last game of the divisional weekend.
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| Nick Friedell |
| @NickFriedell |
Getting a player like Beal, who at 27 will be operating at his peak level for the next few seasons, would maximize the Warriors’ window now. That should mean the Warriors could reasonably expect a decent shot at the NBA Finals while Curry, Green, and Thompson are still able to play at a high level. So the temptation is there.
However, the Harden trade has set a high bar. Not only did the Nets give up the entire farm of draft picks and young players, but the Rockets were also reportedly weighing an offer from Philadelphia including Ben Simmons, other young players and potentially picks. That means the chances the Warriors could get their hands on Beal, or any other star player, without including Wiseman look lower today than they did yesterday. At the same time, they’ll surely have to give up a treasure trove of draft picks as well.
Between Wiseman and the Minnesota pick the Warriors have two real shots at two future superstars. To give up both, and mortgage their future, is a price not worth paying unless the move puts them in an unassailable position.
Put simply, there’s no move out there for the Warriors worth the price that’s been set by the Brooklyn Nets’ trade for James Harden. The Warriors’ eggs now need to be firmly placed in the draft basket.
| Adam Schefter |
| @AdamSchefter |
Lions expected to hire Los Angeles Rams' director of college scouting Brad Holmes as their new general manager, per source. They are finalizing a multi-year deal. 1/14/21, 8:26 AM
| Ian Rapoport |
| @RapSheet |
— The #Jaguars are expected to hire Urban Meyer as their new coach.
— The #Lions lock in their GM, agreeing to terms with Brad Holmes.
— The #Falcons zero in on Terry Fontenot as their new GM, though it may not be official until New Orleans is done. 1/14/21, 8:34 AM
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This comes up now because the Giants will have more money to spend next offseason than they ever have. As a reminder, here’s what their obligations are for future seasons:
2022 — approx. $29 million
2023 — approx. $15 million
2024 — approx. $15 million
Austin Slater and Alex Dickerson will both be arbitration-eligible again, and there will be some scattered relievers due for a raise, too, but that’s it. It’s easy to picture Farhan Zaidi at a mahogany desk, sitting in front of a stack of pre-signed checks. There are five — five! — All-Star shortstops who might reach free agency next year, and it happens to be a year in which the Giants are likely to be looking for a shortstop. Are you a Carlos Correa fan, or are you partial to Trevor Story? What about Francisco Lindor or Javier Báez? Taking Corey Seager away from the Dodgers would serve two purposes.
It seems like the Giants could sign any one of those premium players, and they just might. And it also seems like the Giants could sign at least one premium player this offseason, without ruining their plans for the future.
It’s important to remember, though, exactly what the Giants’ job will be next offseason. It won’t just be about a shortstop. The reason the Giants will have so much payroll room is because of who’s leaving. Evan Longoria will still be around, and Wilmer Flores’ $3.5 million option could seem reasonable, but the team will likely decline the club options for both Buster Posey and Johnny Cueto, which are each for $22 million. They’ll likely have Brandon Belt entering free agency, along with Crawford, Anthony DeSclafani, Donovan Solano and Kevin Gausman.
It’s a lot of money that’ll free up. And all the Giants will lose is their starting catcher, shortstop, first baseman, second baseman, along with their No. 1, 2 and 3 starters.
Which, when you put it like that, holy schnikes.
This is the real reason that the Giants aren’t connected to George Springer, Trevor Bauer or DJ LeMahieu. It’s entirely true that they could have one of those players just by increasing payroll to where it was for the 2019 season, but they’re trying to maintain maximum flexibility for next offseason, juuuuust in case they need to spend money on half a lineup and three-fifths of a rotation.
The plan shouldn’t be to buy all of those players, of course. There will be trades and waiver claims that could change the situation. They might re-sign some of the incumbents before they reach free agency. More importantly, the Giants are hoping for a normal minor-league season, which would lead to normal developments and promotions. At some point, the prospect cavalry will arrive, and there’s no time like the middle or end of 2021.
In an ideal world, this would be the Giants’ job next offseason:
C — Joey Bart
1B — FREE AGENT OR TRADE
2B — Mauricio Dubón, Will Wilson or other internal option
SS — MAJOR FREE AGENT
3B — Evan Longoria
LF — Heliot Ramos
CF — Mike Yastrzemski/Dubón
RF — Yastrzemski/Austin Slater/Alex Dickerson
SP — FREE AGENT OR TRADE
SP — FREE AGENT OR TRADE
SP — FREE AGENT OR TRADE
SP — Logan Webb
SP — Tyler Beede, Sean Hjelle, Seth Corry or other internal option
RP — They’ll figure it out
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