mastershake

Kittle could be the dark horse TE of the draft. Maybe we snag him in the 3rd. We still need an OL, whether through the draft or FA.

What about the OL? We're short two starters and Flowers will need to be moved.

True, but this TE class is deep. Howard, Engram, Ojoku, or Everett could fall to the cowboys. This is potentially one of the best TE classes in years. I hope we address the OL in Free Agency, so that we can use our 1st pick instead on one of these TEs.

One potential move is releasing JT Thomas, which would free up an additional $3mm from my understanding. I'm not sure what other moves there might be (maybe JPP at a long term deal lowers his year 1 cap hit), but that puts us at ~17 million. Might be difficult to sign both a WR and OL, and if I had to pick one or the other, I still say OL. We can draft WR, and this draft is fairly good for WRs.

We only have 13-14 million remaining in cap space.

Do we have a pair of tackles and RG at this point?

What good is having stud WRs if there's no time to throw to them, and if there is no run game to support?

Yeah, let's use our remaining cap on a WR and not OL....that way, they'll look real good as Eli throws those 5 yard routes to Marshall or Jeffrey just after our 1 yard shotgun draw plays, and just before the inevitable 3rd down holding penalty/sack/or Eli throwing the ball away under heavy pressure.

I wouldn't either, but someone else will pay him that.

Here's what I think will happen. We blew over half of our cap space on JPP. We don't appear to have the spending power to bid/compete with other teams to bring in an LT and/or quality RG or RT. Thus, we will have to draft OL on days one and two, in a draft where this really isn't a deep draft for OL, and where there aren't any LT standouts in particular. Thus, any OL rookies will likely be developmental and will make mistakes during seasons one and probably two, and we might even need yet another year of Flowers at LT. In the process, we will be missing out on some of the most intriguing TE prospects I've seen in some time, which could open up our offense: Engram, Everett, Howard, or Njoku. All to bring Jason "Can-Opener Hand" Pierre Paul back. We also don't appear to have the bidding power to bring back Hankins (some other team is going to offer him like 5 years 45 mil), so we'll also have to find a DT in the first three or four rounds, or find a FA DT. So at best, we bring back the same team we had last year, the same team that can't run with the big dogs in the playoffs, can't maintain a consistent offense that can put up points and control the ball, and can't give the defense a rest once in a while.

And yes I know Webb played in a spread, short attack offense, but he has all the traits, and the hope is he backs up Eli for a few years, learns, and develops. Besides, McAdoo's similar short attack game might suit him.

Some interesting, potential storylines. Everyone covered Ross on the 40 already. - TE Evan Engram and Gerald Everett may have worked their way into the 1st round or at least very early 2nd. - TE Oj Howard ran a great 40, but had a mediocre verticle jump (30 inch). Not sure if that will affect anything. - LB Reuben Foster sent home because of some bizarre incident with a hospital employee. - WR Mike Williams NOT running the 40. He had a very mediocre vertical jump at 32.5. Williams looked kinda sluggish in workouts IMO. I think he's the Laquon Treadwell of this draft class; potential bust in the making. - Curtis Samuel had a very good workout all around, but it's not clear what position he plays in the NFL. He worked out with the WRs. Maybe he's a Reggie Bush type? - The two Michigan WRs Darboh and Chesson ran faster than I expected and I think they looked good. Both have great size (6'2 and 6'3) and had decent vertical jumps to support (36 inches), plus good arm length. Would love if we snagged one of them in the 2nd or 3rd. - I have no idea how to evaluate OLs, lol - For QBs, Tribusky, Mahomes, and Webb looked good. I didn't see Kizer. Peterman, who I was eager to see, looked awkward throwing the ball (footwork looked off balance, but maybe coaching can correct this). Watson was meh...didn't seem to stand out, and threw a few fluffers and floaters. I don't know why people get excited for him. Would love if we snagged Davis Webb in the 3rd as a backup and developmental prospect. The guy has a cannon, looked poised and accurate. Ran much better than I thought he would. I assume Mahomes will be taken high, before we can draft him so maybe Webb is the QB of the future.

I think the eventual tag amount will be less than 17, and if they sign him to a long term deal, cap # might be lower.

Fair point. Though that's if he's healthy, a big if. Plus he's not always consistent. Anyway, at this point, I just hope we get that cap number for this year at reasonable range...$10 - 14mm, so that we can also address the OL.

Feels like a Browns or Jaguars type of move. I can dream, lol.

Yep. As I stated in another thread. I bet Romeo Okwara can put up 5-6 sacks to JPP's 7 in 12 games, so to put it in perspective, we're going to pay JPP 17 million to produce two extra sacks.

Well if it takes that long, then we have won't have additional money for the free agency period netted by signing JPP to a long year contract rather than the tag.

My guess is it's something like 3-4 years, 15 million per year...so maybe the first year cap hit is ~10-12 million at best...so that could be approximately a ~5-7mm savings in the cap. There's Hankins, I think.

If they're going to address the OL in free agency with remaining cap, and if they're willing to invest in more than just backups, then my guess is they'll let Hankins walk since they can't afford both. It's not a bad scenario. In that scenario, I hope we: - Two starting caliber OL (we need a T and a G; we currently have holes here) - Re-sign Keenan Robinson if we can get him cheap Draft priorities are then: - OL - DT - TE - LB - WR - RB - DB

I don't see where the money is coming from for a decent OL. We had ~$33mm before Deossie and JPP. Likely after them, that looks like $15mm remaining. We don't have a kicker, so let's say $14mm. Where is the money coming from to get a decent lineman, other than ~$3mm from JT Thomas? We need more than one lineman too. If we do end up spending most of the rest on OL, that leaves little left for dealing with MLB and DT, so again we opened up two gaps on defense). Are draft pics already factored into this? If not, drop another $5-6mm. We basically have four starter gaps compared to last year: - Two OL (and if you address via the draft, their will be rookie mistakes this season, especially with this OL class) - MLB - DT (maybe Bromley and Rob Thomas step up?) Backups - Gaps at OL, WR, and LB Plus I still say we don't really have a starting caliber TE.

So we basically have no money left to being in a substantial OL. We're sacrificing an OL (and an offense in general) this season to bring back JPP, plus we likely won't have money to re-sign two other starters, Hankins and Robinson (two more gaps). Best case scenario, we're a fringe wild-card team at best, one that once again has an inept offense which will struggle to put up 16 points per game, a gassed defense (which consequently will likely be shredded again at critical moments, like with GB TWICE), and can't really make a playoff run.

Yes, I'd say it's vital to bring in a RG rather than an RT through free agency, and assume Flowers can move to RT. In other words, a RG will be easier to find in FA than an RT. The LT position is still a glaring hole, and this draft is not deep at OL in general. Plus, I'm not sure we want to go into the season with a rookie LT. We need a veteran at the position, particularly considering Flowers on the other tackle side will be learning.

Given the VERY average ability of Richburg and Pugh, and uncertainty of possibly moving Flowers to RG or RT, plus the fact that we have practically only three functional offensive lineman currently on the roster, I really hope and expect we address much of this gap through free agency. We need to bring in at least two OL in free agency. How about Okung and Ziegler?

I agree. First need a capable OL before thinking about an RB.

He also slashes through a decent amount of tackles too.