As soon as the clock hit zero in the Super Bowl, we began perhaps the worst time of year for football fans. No, not just because it’s officially the offseason, but because we’re about to be bombarded with a cascade of annoyances while we await the return of our beloved sport.
Ladies and gentlemen… it’s Nonsense Season.
Let me elaborate: When the NFL season concludes, the grind to continue producing content among NFL media doesn’t stop, and there is pressure on media outlets to continue generating web traffic. Despite the fact that the offseason has plenty of legitimate sources of NFL news (prospect analysis, the Combine, contract and trade news), media members have to fill the 24-hour news cycle somehow, and they tend to gravitate toward the names that they know will generate traffic no matter what.
Unfortunately, they’ll do this even if the “stories” that they produce have little to no merit or foundation.
Hence, Nonsense Season.
Trade Lamar Jackson? Ravens plan to tag and keep QB, but could be tempted by big trade offer (per @TomPelissero + @RapSheet + @MikeGarafolo)https://t.co/NtlhFPYT3z pic.twitter.com/plJAfWlj8N
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) February 11, 2023
Three respected names among national NFL media worked together to author that story. Congrats, guys, it took the three of you to essentially list what the options are for Lamar Jackson this offseason while authoring a gigantic nothing-burger of a piece. This is the media equivalent of a meeting that could have been an email.
Ravens Flock reacted accordingly.
“If grandma had wheels she’d be a bike” is my official motto for the 2023 off-szn. https://t.co/n6Dwc0bjXl
— FIELDS (@EDCburner) February 11, 2023
All the NFL Network reporters tweeted a lot about Lamar Jackson today and literally didn’t release one new piece of information
— Ramey (@HoodieRamey) February 12, 2023
BREAKING: the same news as last week.
Excellent reporting! https://t.co/oKwVJzx8Zn
— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) February 11, 2023
This is what I fear awaits us in the offseason: a bleak Tartarus of insubstantial Lamar Jackson news and rumors. Don’t get me wrong, this is nothing new; in fact, it hasn’t even been six months since I wrote another piece about only trusting local sources for reliable Ravens news.
It’s not that guys like Rapaport and Pelissero are unreliable, per se, but they’re firmly on the outside looking in when it comes to this situation. At best, they’re making educated guesses based on the tidbits that they know. At worst, they’re speculating wildly in the hopes that one of the thirty guesses they throw out between now and April will be close to correct.
You want to know how I know? Watch this clip from Ian Rapaport on The Pat McAfee Show. Pay close attention to how long this clip is and then listen to the very last thing Rapaport says.
"I think the Ravens will use the exclusive franchise tag on Lamar Jackson but I'm not positive" ~ @RapSheet #PMSOverreactionMonday pic.twitter.com/Zc6cvMQDvt
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 13, 2023
Right, Ian, you don’t know. No one is going to know anything until a deal or a trade is done, by design. Regardless of what the outcome is, the most beneficial course of action for the Ravens and for Lamar would be to say nothing to anyone. Just think back to last year’s trade of Marquise Brown: no one had any idea that was coming until the evening of the Draft, and keeping Hollywood’s trade request out of the open-air market meant that the Ravens could set the asking price.
Sure, having an air-tight front office sucks for the media guys. You know who has it worse, though? The fanbase that has to weather all of their reckless, ill-informed speculation while awaiting actual news. None of us, fans or otherwise, have any control over how quickly these negotiations get done, but I resent that media members that do have control over their stories willfully churn out garbage. It makes a bad situation worse, and they couldn’t care less as long as they can create traction using Lamar’s name.
Here’s what I want to see from guys like Tom Pelissero:
Welcome to the NFL "offseason".
🗓️ 15 days until the combine
🗓️ 30 days until free agency
🗓️ 73 days until 2023 NFL Draft— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 13, 2023
Count down the days until we get something germane to next year’s team. Ignore everything else unless it comes from the team or Lamar directly.
And for the love of all that is holy, save your clicks.
3 Responses
Frankly, at this point knowing that Harbaugh will remain HC, I couldn’t care less what happens with Lamar because the offensive identity that Harbaugh embraces is not going to change…..
When it happens, the news about Raven-Jackson contract will come from either of the two parties involved.
Let’s not act like it wasn’t the same every year.