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He is a genius . . .
. . . a click-bait genius that is.
There is no way around it.
Several times a week he publishes things that are linked to on myriad NFL-oriented websites.
And that is what it’s all these days – getting eyeballs to your website.
Manish Mehta has a black belt in click-bait.
But for the educated consumers out there, to borrow a expression from the late clothier Sy Syms, you really need to examine some of these stories closely to determine the veracity of each.
Don’t get me wrong, he does break things once in a while. His stuff in 2011 was all legit. Mike Francesa outed one of his sources – Mike Pettine. Playing basketball with the coaches in Cortland was a brilliant idea.
But some of this stuff, to me . . . I just don’t buy into all of it. Some of it, to me, is “educated-guessing.”
“Le’Veon Bell would be the weapon that Sam Darnold desperately needs, but it’d be foolish to believe that he’s a slam dunk to land in green-and-white,” Mehta wrote. “The Jets will not break the bank in free agency for the dynamic play-maker, according to sources.”
I highly doubt the sources were from One Jets Drive. Nobody is talking right now. They have a bunker mentality trying to fill out their coaching staff. And if they did talk, do you think they would discuss their free agent plans with the Daily News? No way.
Adisa Bakari, the agent, isn’t going to tell people that the Jets won’t “break the bank” for his client. How would that helpful to him?
I just it’s pretty safe to throw it out there that they won’t “break the bank,” since it’s kind of a vague statement. What does “break the bank” truly mean?
So why not throw out there they won’t “break the bank” and get tons of clicks? You have nothing to lose.
Mehta added there is some concern within the Jets’ organization regarding whether Bell will remain motivated after signing a big contract.
Do you think anyone in the organization told Mehta that?
I talked to Mike Maccagnan at length at the Senior Bowl, and I can’t remember one newsworthy thing he said, and I don’t care. It was a very pleasant chat, but he’s not one to get into his free agent thinking.
Maccagnan’s right-hand, Brian Heimerdinger, doesn’t care for Manish. He once said to another beat writer, “You are worse than Manish.”
As for Gase, I have no idea. The writer is clearly trying to get in his good graces with a charm offensive (a bunch of positive articles before and after he was hired). Has he? I don’t know.
But isn’t it common sense that the team, in discussing Bell, would have some concern if the player will stay motivated once he gets a ton of money?
Of course this would be brought up. It’s pretty obvious. So why not throw that it against the wall as a reporter – you have nothing to lose.
So I agree the Jets won’t go nuts on a contract offer to Bell, and I agree that there are some concerns about his attitude once he gets paid.
But I question whether this is a scoop.
However, it’s being treated this way all over the internet.
Pro Football Talk, the most popular NFL website on the internet, links to most of his “scoops.”
Once again, the man is a click-bait genius, and having Mike Florio in his corner, is a boon to his operation.
January 31, 2019
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