MMQB Review: Peter King Isn't Sure Giancarlo Stanton Can Earn His Contract Like Derek Jeter Did Edition

Peter King interviewed Chris Simms in last week's MMQB and Simms informed King that he wasn't no "bitch boy." That was good to know. Simms also alerted MMQB readers to a guy named "Khalil Mack" as a guy that "we" should really know, but don't know yet, but will know in the future. Oh, and the Seahawks are going to be fine. Maybe. They did lose this weekend, so it may be time to panic again. This week Peter talks about the perfect Patriot (not George Washington, much to my surprise), reports exclusively that Marshawn Lynch may or may not be fined by the NFL (it could happen!...or not), at the request of Marvin Demoff gets out in front of criticism that Jeff Fisher may be indecisive (may or may not be indecisive!), and thinks Derek Jeter earned his contract but thinks Giancarlo Stanton will not.

On Sunday morning, none of the eight divisions was tied at the top. On Sunday evening, four were.

Has the NFL ever been this crazy before? This may be the craziest NFL season since the 2013 NFL season.

But the story of Week 11 happened in Indianapolis, and it involved a player on the Patriots’ practice squad for the first six weeks of the season, a player any team in the NFL could have claimed and signed, for free, until the middle of October.

And obviously considering running backs are being devalued and Jonas Gray was undrafted out of college, it's a shock that no NFL team picked him up off the Patriots' practice squad and placed him on their 53-man roster.

The Patriots are doing what they always do—owning October and November—only this time looking like an old-fashioned power-running team. Using a sixth offensive lineman regularly, and at times using both a fullback and a blocking tight end on the same play,

Which is funny, because I recall last year the Patriots winning a game or two running the football and Peter (along with other sportswriters) were like, "I can't believe the Patriots are winning by running the football!" Everything is a circle and sportswriters have a short memory. The Patriots won games last year by being a power running team, but this year is totally different. At some point, sportswriters may realize, "Hey didn't I write something similar last year?," but that day has not come yet.

Gray, undrafted, unloved

Let's drop the dramatics, Peter. Jesus. Fucking "unloved"? Who the hell writes a running back was "unloved"? Maybe the same guy who refers to grown men as "precocious."

Two things I found amazing: Gray never seemed to be winded, or tired, or showing the strain of what in today’s football is an amazing workload, especially for someone who in college or pro football had never carried this many times.

It's called conditioning and the Patriots seem to have gotten Jonas Gray in good condition. By the way, remember when the Patriots' dynasty was over? That was what, Week 2 or 3?

One more note about Gray, from Alex Flanagan, who covered Notre Dame as the sideline reporter for NBC for several years. It’s a humorous one—I think. Gray’s an amateur comedian. He once opened for Dustin Diamond—Screech, on “Saved By The Bell”—at a comedy club. If I were Gray, I’d probably keep that to myself around Bill Belichick.

Get it? It's a "humorous" note and Gray was a comedian?! Get it? Also, you just spilled the beans about Gray opening for Dustin Diamond, Peter. You ol' scallywag.

No Senior Bowl. No Scouting Combine. No draft. Gray got signed by Miami in May 2012 and spent the year rehabbing the knee. In August 2013, Miami cut him. Baltimore signed him to the practice squad on Labor Day weekend 2013, and there he spent all season before being cut loose at the end of the year.

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE WAS JUST SITTING ON THE PATRIOTS' PRACTICE SQUAD UNCLAIMED! WHAT WAS THE REST OF THE NFL THINKING?

Up came Gray. Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels obviously felt the Colts were susceptible to the power-running game Sunday night.

Yes, obviously. Boy, it's hard to get much by Peter when he's on top of his game. The Patriots used a sixth offensive lineman and a fullback for a lot of the game against the Colts, so yes, I would say the Patriots may have believed the Colts could be run against.

That’s how New England played the whole game. Belichick and McDaniels are chameleons in designing game strategy. Some weeks it’s going to be bombs away; some weeks, Belichick channels his inner Marion Motley and plays power. 

The Patriots tend to change strategy from week-to-week, but this time the Patriots used a power running game was totally different. Sure, they change strategies every week, but who knew they would use a strategy like a power running game?

New England did that, for four quarters, with a back no one ever heard of. They have now. 

I had heard of Jonas Gray, but "we" didn't know who he was. I guess I knew who Gray was, but didn't know who he was. After all, if Peter says "no one" had heard of Gray then I must have been mistaken in believing I had.

Again: It’s amazing that Gray never tired.

It's amazing you have written this twice now.

You don’t want to make too much of one game.

Which means Peter is probably going to make a just a little bit too much of one game in the very next sentence.

But this game showed New England can be more than Brady-to-Gronk-or-Edelman.

I thought it was understood prior to this game that the Patriots were more than Gronk or Edelman, but again, Peter doesn't want to make too much of one game. It's just this one game proves what wasn't proven before, though Peter doesn't want to make too much of this game. Jonas Gray proven to be among the Patriots' weapons is like the one game where the Patriots got blown out by the Chiefs proved that the Patriots' dynasty was in it's death throes.

Seven things you need to know about this weekend.

Thank God that Peter is here to tell us what we need to know. I know I am a mindless piece of shit who can't tell his ass from his head, so I need someone else to feed me information because I'm not smart enough to acquire information on my own.

Jay Cutler stood and delivered Sunday. Say what you will about the Chicago quarterback. (What? Has he been in the news?) But after two horrendous Bears losses, Cutler made a Brett Favre-like 44-yard touchdown throw to Brandon Marshall against Minnesota at Soldier Field Sunday and played well enough to get a sloppy, 21-13 win over Minnesota.

Peter has to find a way to shoehorn a Brett Favre mention into MMQB, especially when Favre's replacement is playing better than Favre ever did. Maybe I'll get lucky and in 15 years sportswriters will be writing things like, "Could the Packers have won another Super Bowl if they had benched Favre for Rodgers prior to Favre retiring, unretiring and then holding the team hostage?" articles. That won't happen. I'm not that lucky.

Marshawn Lynch might get fined $100,000 by the league, or he might not.

IT MAY OR MAY NOT RAIN TODAY. CHECK THE SKY FOR DETAILS!

He refused to talk to the media Sunday after Seattle’s loss in Kansas City—but when he left the building, he called two media members, former Seattle fullback Michael Robinson and Mike Silver of NFL Network. Lynch thinks that level of media cooperation should suffice. The league will decide if it does. It shouldn’t, of course.

So Lynch may or may not get fined today. The NFL probably will fine him, but they may not. I don't have an issue with Peter's report, because he doesn't know, but I like how he is basically reporting nothing and shading it as news "we" need to know.

Kansas City is dangerous, and I mean that in a good way.

Like in a Michael Jackson "dangerous" good way?

There is depth along the front. Recently, 2011 third-round defensive end Allen Bailey has become a force. That’s why the Chiefs were glad to reward him with a four-year, $25-million contract Saturday—but more about that in a moment.

That's not fair to make us wait with baited breath for your thoughts on Allen Bailey's contract extension. You are such a tease, Peter!

The Chiefs are not going to win many shootouts; Alex Smith hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass to a wide receiver yet this year.

Alex Smith everyone!

“Our saying is, ‘Deny it to the end,’ ” Bailey said from Kansas City after beating the defending Super Bowl champs.

The New Orleans Saints are like, "Hold on, that's OUR saying too!"

Then Roger Goodell is like, "You too? We joke about that being the NFL motto around the league office! We have more in common with the Saints than I originally thought."

Bailey was a great signing for GM John Dorsey. He inherited Poe, Houston and Bailey from the 2011 and ’12 drafts of fired GM Scott Pioli, and Dorsey wants to keep the group intact, obviously.

That's quick reminder from Peter King that his buddy Scott Pioli didn't do everything wrong while he was in Kansas City.

I asked Bailey: Why didn’t you wait for free agency?

“I saw the Carson Palmer incident,” he said. “That was an eye-opener. Anything can happen, on any play. I decided to do it now. Plus, this is a great place for me. I love the family atmosphere we have here. We all buy in, and we all work hard. It’s a great bunch of guys.”

Plus, it's only a four year contract and it makes Allen Bailey an even more comfortable millionaire. It's not like Bailey signed a lifetime contract. He'll be a free agent when he is 29 years old at the latest.

Three Questions With…

Larry Foote, Arizona’s veteran linebacker, in the wake of the Cardinals’ suffocating 14-6 win over Detroit on Sunday. Arizona, 9-1, has a two-game lead over four 7-3 teams (Detroit, Green Bay, Dallas, Philadelphia) for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.

The MMQB: Your team is 9-1. Admit it—you’re a little bit surprised to have the best record in football, aren’t you?

Whoa Peter, don't go so hard on Foote with the first question.

"So your team is playing well this year---does this make you happy, sad or not surprised at all about how happy you are?"

The MMQB: You guys said all the right things about believing in Drew Stanton coming into this game, but losing Carson Palmer is pretty big. How did you think Stanton would play?

Shitty. He's going to say, "We thought Stanton would play shitty and I wish he would die." That's exactly what Foote will say.

Foote: We had faith in him. I’ll tell you why. This summer in training camp, B.A. [coach Bruce Arians] put the ball down at the 20-yard line, and Drew went under center against us, against the No. 1 defense. He went 80 yards on us. That’s the only time that happened all camp. Once that happened, we saw what we had in him.

Again, I'll ask the same question I asked last week. If the Cardinals and Bruce Arians were so confident that Drew Stanton could be a Super Bowl quality starter then why did they give Carson Palmer a contract extension at the age of 34? I think it's a relevant question.

Five fun facts about those lovable Raiders

1. They won their last game one year ago today.

2. They’re on a 16-game losing streak, they’re 0-10 in 2014, and only one game in their final six is against a team with a losing record.

3. Since Nov. 1, 2012, they’re 5-30.

4. Defensive lineman Antonio Smith was on Houston last year and lost his last 14 games there. So Antonio Smith is on a 24-game losing streak.

Gregg Easterbrook is pissed that Peter King stole part of TMQ for this week.

Sure must be a tough call, to make a coach this confused.
Since Sam Bradford tore his ACL on Aug. 23, Rams coach Jeff Fisher has had quite a time figuring who will play quarterback for him as this succession of statements shows:

Marvin Demoff wants Peter to make it quite clear that these statements don't mean that Jeff Fisher is indecisive. It's just part of the rebuilding process for the Rams. Once Fisher gets that contract extension, upward is the direction for this Rams team.

Aug. 25: Fisher says Shaun Hill will be his quarterback “for the season.” Says Fisher: “I think it’s important once you make a change for whatever reason, you stick with it. And we’re sticking with this. There’s no doubt about that. That allows everybody to get comfortable and have confidence in who is under center as opposed to ‘Well, what are we going to do this week?’ There’s no doubt that he’s our guy.”

Sept. 14: A Tweet from the Rams’ official account: “Fisher confirms when Shaun Hill returns, he will remain the ‪#Rams starting quarterback. ‪#STLvsTB“

Oct. 1: The Rams return from their bye, and Fisher announces Davis will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Says Fisher: “I did say that Shaun was our quarterback. My job is to make the right decisions, and I felt that I was going to go this way pretty much after the Tampa Bay game based on what I saw, and then the Dallas game was just what really convinced us as a staff and myself. And he [Davis] deserves it.”

Nov. 10: Fisher, asked he is considering benching the slumping Davis after a poor performance at Arizona: “No. He [Davis] didn’t have his best half. He missed some opportunities. He made a couple bad decisions and he had trouble seeing at times. The last couple of weeks he’s thrown four interceptions, but we’re going to hang in there.”

Nov. 12: Fisher announces he is benching Davis and will start Hill. “I just felt that the best thing to do, at this point moving forward, was to lean on the experienced quarterback. [Austin] is much better now than he was when he started, but we made the decision to go ahead and play with Shaun. It’s all out in the open. There’s no controversy.”

I won't even fault Fisher too much for going back on his word (the second time) about who his QB "for the season" was going to be. These are the things that happen when a team's season is banked on a notoriously injured and unreliable QB coming off major surgery being the Rams' starter for 16 games. That in itself is the decision that has ruined the Rams' 2014 season. It was an inexplicable decision in my opinion. So of course Fisher can't figure out a starter, because he's got two relatively not good options to choose from.

Unsolicited advice for a 19-year head coach:

Who has last had a winning season in 2008, last won a playoff game in 2003 and has had more seasons below .500 (eight of them) than he has had above (six of them) .500. Sorry, I know I harp, but it's hard not to do.

I will say this in defense of Fisher: It’s hard to have faith in either of these quarterbacks after watching 10 games of them. Whether the Rams have Sam Bradford back next season, they’ve got to invest in a second quarterback they can trust to win games.

Let's not act like Jeff Fisher is a first year head coach or anything. This is his third season with the Rams. The fact the Rams had no quality backup quarterback lined up isn't a defense of Jeff Fisher and Les Snead, but is an indictment of the job they have done in trying to put a winning team on the field for St. Louis. The Rams have talent, but Snead and Fisher have continuously played roulette with the most important position on the field. There is no defense for them, Bradford's injuries are simply an indictment of the lack of urgency felt by Snead and Fisher to put up wins or risk being fired.

There aren’t many of those around, obviously.

No, there aren't. There also aren't a lot of seasons where Sam Bradford has played a full 16 games in one of the NFL's toughest divisions. So, there is no defense for Fisher in my opinion. He was hired by the Rams because he supposedly knew what he was doing and could put a winning product on the field. So far, he has neglected the most important position on the Rams' roster. And yet, his job security seems pretty good and Peter King is using Snead and Fisher's own lack of forethought as a defense of the job they have done.

But if Bradford returns, his fragility shows backup quarterback is one of the most important 10 players on the St. Louis roster.

This could have been written two years ago and it would have been true. Therein lies the problem.

The Fine Fifteen

4. Denver (7-3). Last week it was Jets beat Steelers. This week, Rams beat Broncos. The reason you can’t overreact about this loss, decisive though it was, is because Julius Thomas (sprained ankle) was gone early in the game, and Emmanuel Sanders (concussion) was lost 90 seconds into the second half. If those two are back Sunday at home against Miami, all will be right with Denver.

You mean Peyton Manning can't win games without his two Pro Bowl receivers (well, one is going to the Pro Bowl this year most likely but hasn't made a Pro Bowl yet...you get my point hopefully)? Now he knows how Tom Brady feels. Welcome to the pain of not having a loaded receiving group. Not so fun and easy, is it?

8. Philadelphia (7-3). Hard to know what to do with a team that got smashed into a million tiny pieces at The Tundra. I guess I’m passing it off as the Packers will score 50 on anybody these days. Move on, nothing to see here.

Fair enough. The Mark Sanchez era continues...

12. Miami (6-4). Still in show-me mode about Ryan Tannehill, particularly in completing throws downfield to a good trio—neither Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry nor Brian Hartline has a 60-yard receiving game in the last five weeks—but at least Tannehill’s not making the big mistake. Two picks in those last five games.

I bet if Tannehill had Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, and Wes Welker then he wouldn't be in show-me mode for Peter.

13. Cincinnati (6-3-1). Freud would have had fun with Andy Dalton. “I cannot figure this man out!’’ Sigmund would say after five sessions with him.

He's inconsistent. There, I figured it out.

Defensive Players of the Week
Alec Ogletree, linebacker, St. Louis. Roll this around in your head: The St. Louis Rams, who had allowed more than 30 points in six of nine games before Sunday, held Peyton Manning and the explosive Broncos to seven at the Edward Jones Dome. In the 22-7 victory, Ogletree was the leader of the pack: 13 tackles, an interception and two passes defensed. Chosen with the Rams’ second first-round pick in 2013, Ogletree is rapidly becoming the kind of pass-rusher and pass-defender every quarterback has to fear. This was his second straight game with a pick.

He's a great player. If only the Rams had a quarterback. Welp, nothing can be done about that. It's not like Fisher and the Rams have had three offseasons to improve the QB situation or anything.

“After today’s performance? Nobody has proved that they deserve to start anywhere after today’s performance … I believe this was a total team effort, this horrific game.”
—Washington coach Jay Gruden, after the embarrassing 27-7 loss to Tampa Bay at home.

So the guy who got credit for the quarterback in Cincinnati that people think sucks now is struggling with his new team as the head coach? I still wonder if Daniel Snyder thought he was hiring Jon Gruden? I still claim that if Jay Gruden had the last name "Bennett" then he wouldn't have gotten a head coaching job with the Redskins.

“The Cardinals are no longer a Super Bowl contender. They are out of the picture.”
—ESPN’s Ron Jaworski, on the 9-1 Arizonans, before Sunday’s game against Detroit.

I tend to agree, but wouldn't say something so definitively and am open to the idea that I could be wrong until proven to be correct. What else would anyone expect from an ESPN talking head though? Jaworski is the one who said Colin Kaepernick could end up being the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. ESPN talking heads exist to say outrageous shit and get their name in the news or the echo chamber that is ESPN.

My apartment in Manhattan is 1,480 square feet in area. We have two televisions.
The NFL replay command center on the fifth floor of the league offices in Manhattan is 1,512 square feet in area. It has 82 televisions.

And are they both used for the same purpose Peter?

In the 2007 NFL draft, Detroit general manager Matt Millen, with his first two selections, chose wide receiver Calvin Johnson with the second overall pick and quarterback Drew Stanton with the 43^rd overall pick. Johnson and Stanton were key cogs in a game with teams that had won 15 of 18 entering the meeting of Johnson’s Lions and Stanton’s Cards in Arizona.
Who says Matt Millen didn’t leave anything good behind when he got dumped by the Lions in 2008?

I would really like to pump the brakes on the whole "Drew Stanton is a quality NFL starter" thing for a bit. He's been bad previous to this year and was drafted in the 2nd round to boot. I would prefer coronation of Stanton as "a key cog" be postponed for another week or so. I'm open to the idea I'm wrong about Stanton, but I really don't think I am. Let's just leave Stanton out of the same sentence as Calvin Johnson, that's my point.

Then Peter throws in some Chip Kelly wisdom about there not being 16 games in a season, but each week is a 16 game season. It's just another way of saying to take each game one at a time, but Kelly frames it in a different fashion.

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think this is what I liked about Week 11:

f. ESPN’s Adam Schefter with the story of the NFL investigating the Saints stashing a player they’d just waived, linebacker Todd Davis, in their building for a day, and not giving him access to communications, delaying his agreement to a deal with Denver. Schefter said New Orleans intended to keep him off-limits so the team could re-sign him to its practice squad. Davis finally got word that Denver had claimed him and reported to the Broncos in St. Louis on Saturday.

I don't believe the Saints would do this. They always follow the rules as laid out and also their fans wouldn't steal a football intended for a lady and then act like an asshole by refusing to give that football back to said lady. They are a gracious, rule-abiding people.

g. The specter of the last two Scott Pioli drafts—which left the Chiefs with three crucial pieces on the front seven, one of whom signed a big deal Saturday. Dontari Poe (round one, 2012), Justin Houston (round three, 2011) and newly signed Allen Bailey (round three, 2011), who got a four-year, $25 millon deal.

Keep pushing for your friend, Peter. Keep up the good fight to help your buddy land another job in the NFL as a GM. It's not unprofessional in any way. Greg Schiano would agree.

s. Drew Stanton, playing well enough—particularly early in the game—to win.

"Playing well enough to win" usually is a polite way of saying "He didn't turn the ball over and the defense didn't give up points to where he had to play from behind or get the offense off-schedule."

2. I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 11:

b. The Bills have played 21 straight drives, covering 107 minutes, without scoring a touchdown.

I probably should throw myself off the Kyle Orton train soon. Someone remind me to do this.

3. I think there is one thing you probably didn’t know about Jordy Nelson (other than the fact that he is a Kansas City Royals fan, and his son is named Royal but was not named after the baseball team) and that is: He spends a month every year working on the family farm in Kansas. “When we get the opportunity to go back—it’s a little bit less now than when it was earlier in my career—in the summer after minicamp, it times up perfect with the wheat harvest. So I’m able to go back and help my brother and my dad get that taken care of. It’s a very busy time of year; you need a lot of hands on deck to get that done. So I’m fortunate to be able to help them get through that and spend the rest of the month there doing whatever. Working with cattle, working the ground, building a fence, whatever it is. I like being outside. The great thing about farming is that for the most part it’s something different every day. 

We all know Peter King is a sucker for a football player who works the land during the offseason. Jordy Nelson won't ever take the place of Brett Favre in Peter's heart though.

5. I think that was a pretty short Mark Sanchez honeymoon, Philadelphia.

It's a bit presumptuous to say that the Mark Sanchez honeymoon is over, but Mark Sanchez is still Mark Sanchez. Nothing has changed in that regard. I wouldn't expect a sudden increase in performance is where I'm going with my thoughts.

7. I think if I were an NFL owner in the market for a head coach—or a general manager with hiring authority—I would place a phone call to Nick Saban, very much on the QT, and ask if he has even a smidgeon of interest in a second chance at head-coaching in the big league. I doubt he does. But you don’t know for sure until you ask, do you?

No, but his first stint in the NFL seemed to make it pretty damn clear that Saban wanted to be a college football coach. I think the risk that someone gets wind of a phone call going out to Saban isn't worth the reward if Saban by chance chooses to state that he wouldn't mind being an NFL head coach again. Who is to say when Saban would want to come back to the NFL? He may have interest, but isn't ready to make the move. Maybe calling Saban is not a risk, but I don't have fond memories of Saban as an NFL head coach. I think contacting him to gauge his interest in an NFL head coaching job is a bad idea.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

d. Re Mississippi State: That was the number one college football team in the country on Saturday morning?

This is a non-football thought? Sounds like it deals directly with college football.

e. Urban Meyer is 33-3 at Ohio State. Pretty good.

This is also a football thought.

f. Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly made one of the all-time bonehead coaching decisions, going for two with an 11-point lead with 10 minutes to play. Notre Dame failed. Northwestern scored a touchdown with a two-point conversion, then a field goal, to tie it and send the game to overtime. A Northwestern field goal in overtime won the game. “Our chart in that situation tells us to go for one,” Kelly said at his post-game press conference. “But we were up, I think, 11 at the time. And we felt like, given the circumstances, our kicking game situation, that we were going to try to extend it with a two-point play.”

This is a third football-related thought in a section for non-football thoughts.

g. There is no justification for that, unless your holder has two broken hands.

This is the fourth football thought.

h. Stopping the clock after first downs in college football is crazy.

Fifth football-related thought in a section reserved for non-football thoughts.

i. Making defensive pass interference a 15-yard penalty in college football is brilliant.

Sixth.

k. Rutgers is in the Big Ten. Rutgers is bowl-eligible in the Big Ten. Two sentences I never thought I’d write during the 24 years I lived in Jersey.

Seventh. At least stick to the format, Peter. You decide the format of MMQB and these are supposed to be non-football thoughts, yet there are seven football thoughts here.

l. My three big problems with giving Giancarlo Stanton a 13-year, $325 million contract:
m. The 13 years.
n. The $325 million.

o. The fact that the last time Stanton was on a baseball field he took a fastball in the face.

Good point. If Stanton can't dodge a fastball and prevent it from hitting him in the face, how can he hit a fastball with a bat?

How can the Marlins be sure that Stanton, who suffered multiple facial fractures and some dental damage and had to sit the last two-and-a-half weeks of the season, will be totally unaffected by one of the most frightening things that can happen to an athlete in any sport? Hope the Marlins have done their research—including studying the Tony Conigliaro story.

It always comes back to the Red Sox in some way.

p. Let’s say Stanton hits 40 homers a year for the next five years. That will mean he will be earning his money. He will still have eight more years, at that point, starting at age 30, that he will need to produce like that to earn the contract.

q. Insane. What 10-year baseball pacts have been truly earned? Derek Jeter’s maybe. Beyond that … none.

How many 10 year baseball contracts have been handed out prior to this one? I come up with nine. Todd Helton, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Troy Tulowitzki, A-Rod (twice), and The Jeter. It's too early to say for Cano, Cabrera, and Votto. I would argue Todd Helton earned his contract, as did A-Rod the first time he signed a 10 year deal. Pujols and A-Rod (the second time) did not earn their contract. If Derek Jeter earned his contract, then Troy Tulowitzki is certainly in the middle of earning what he's been paid by the Rockies.

How many of these players got a double-digit contract (in terms of years) when he was 25 years old? Stanton is only 25 years old. Peter has to remember that marketing and other factors are a part of a player's value to a team. Derek Jeter didn't earn his contract on the field, he earned it in marketing and being the name that the Yankees brand was associated with. So in terms of that, other players have earned their 10+ year contract from the team they signed this contract with. I think it's hilarious that Peter King chooses Derek Jeter as the guy who earned his 10 year contract. Jeter's last two seasons weren't very good at all (including one year because he was injured) and Jeter really played above league average for one of the five seasons on the back end of his 10 year contract. But yeah, he is the only guy who earned his 10+ year contract. Peter King consistently overrates Derek Jeter. You would think he is a Yankees fan.

r. I understand the position of the Marlins, who basically have to sign the only true marquee player they have. But 13 years is just … not smart.

Stanton will be 38 years old when the contract runs out and it's not that crazy of a contract for when the Marlins try to trade Stanton (and they will) to a team with a higher payroll who can absorb a big contract for a player who doesn't turn 30 years old until November 2019. A contract that averages $25 million per year will be nothing in three or more years. Stanton could easily be a bargain at that point. And yes, the Marlins are going to trade him eventually, but it's not that crazy of a deal I don't believe. It's long (that's what she said), but Stanton hasn't shown any signs of having a declining performance, even if he did get hit in the face with a baseball the last time he was on the field.

Then Peter requests readers send in 200 words on the best Thanksgiving day rivalries in high school football. I guess he's trying to infringe on Gregg Easterbrook's territory as revenge for Easterbrook nicking the name TMQ from MMQB.

(Just change the day around, Gregg! No one will notice!)

The Adieu Haiku
Is it possible?
Six wins wins NFC South?
Wake up, New Orleans!

They are too busy stealing a football from nice ladies in the crowd. Anyone in the NFC South, wake up! Forget New Orleans waking up, someone, anyone, be respectable in that division.