AZ54

I'm glad for him to get a shot at a Superbowl but given how weak our TE position is we can't possibly afford the risk giving him that much money at this point in his career.

We are definitely searching for Shaheen's replacement.

It's everyone's problem with Floyd. I don't think it's likely but I'd be happy if Pace signed Ngakoue for $17mil/yr even if it leaves a bigger hole in coverage than I'd like. With this approach we would likely find ourselves with one of Baun, Lewis, Anea, or Okwara from ND. Of course Yannik could see nearly $20mil/yr. We should probably be discussing more about Okwara as a good fit for us. He can do in coverage what Floyd does but he's not as good against the run. Then you take NYC's proposal and go find a good 1st/2nd down OLB which will be cheaper to fill.

I'm in agreement with most of what you have here. Floyd will easily get $7-8mil/yr because that position is so valuable and some team will have a huge hole they must fill. Of course that team will be us if we cut Floyd and there is no 2nd Rd pick that will be nearly as good as Floyd is. Nor do I see any $10mil FAs at OLB that are as good as Floyd in all aspects and who we can slot into his place. Besides that cutting him early on really hurts our negotiating position. If the plan is to cut him we should go hard after the better OLB FAs but there is not much there... https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/edge/ Even old players who were considered "good players" like Jamie Collins are expected to earn $8.8mil/yr. He's averaged a whopping 3.6 sacks per season since he got playing time. That's why I feel Floyd stays with a new extension that lowers his cap hit while we draft another OLB early. IMO the only situation that makes sense for cutting Floyd is if we go after and land a bigger fish like Bud Dupree. He's not even that great of a pass rusher having only hit double digits last year with 11.5. Prior to his "contract year" his best was 6 sacks. That's concerning for a player expected to earn $16-17mil/yr. I'd prefer Ngakoue because I think he can spend some time working inside the tackles but he'll likely see $17mil/yr. Pace could make it all work with the other proposed cuts.

It would be nice to see an occasional 10 yd pass turn into a 50yd TD.

You win the day if you are right on this one. Love how McFarland keeps making guys grab air. That's acceleration we haven't seen since Hester was on the roster. I'm not sure Hopkins last that long in a weak TE draft.

His draft profiles are all over the place. Some read good as pass rusher, others say he'll never make it there and has to be off-ball LB. I see him as a versatile player from coverage to pass rush; a good football player (in the complimentary sense), and the type of defender the Patriots love to draft so they can change their scheme weekly depending on their opponent. We sometimes go into 4-3 sets so having Baun, Kwit, Smith is pretty good with KPL as backup. Any of those 3 could delay rush depending on what the read is post-snap.

Good points and that bigger stature (taller, longer arms) is the type of player I've been looking for. OTOH there are more than a few players who are shorter but still can be effective as pass rushers if they have the quickness and a strong enough base. These players sometimes win the leverage battle even if they are stopped initially. He seems to be pretty stout even on inside rushes. I like the fact he makes tackles like Kwit does where he is usually the one driving the RB backwards. There a multiple plays in this film where he wins the battle against bigger blockers including an inside rush at 1:40 against Penn St, against Purdue at 2:30, against Iowa at 3:00, Illinois 4:14. If he were taller he'd be gone in the first round. Around the internet I can already see a lot of fans are looking at him as a solid day 2 selection. IMO the worst thing we end up with is a really good ILB who can both cover and fill the hole lined up next to Roquan, but one that can also provide some pass rush. Baun is better than Roquan was working inside against the big boys. It will be interesting to watch his draft stock as this process moves along.

IIRC the draft we took Floyd was somewhat weak at the top and at the time OLB was a huge hole on our D. I'm sure someone will pull up a pick later in the first round that has done well but that's hindsight. Floyd at least solidified the weakness and his biggest weakness in the draft, run support, is oddly now his strength. He provided Fangio with the guy he wanted who could do a lot of things on the field including dropping into coverage and running with TEs and RBs. I'm not sure comparing the two conferences these guys played in is a good match. I also see that Anea lines up almost exclusively at OLB/DE while Floyd lined up all over the field at Georgia, often off the LOS. Just saw a mock with us taking this kid from Wisc with our first pick. He looks like a really good football player, dynamic in both the open field and as a pass rusher. I need to learn more about him but I like his style.

I have trouble watching this game and believing Anae will be better as a pass rusher than Floyd is. He's generally easily controlled by a single OT all game with some occasional chips tossed in. He has one splash play in the entire game and a couple missed tackles that don't bode well for his agility. I don't even see 2nd Rd talent but I'm going to find more games to watch.

Don't worry about it that's what the discussion is for. I wouldn't have done any of that without your suggestion. If his knee injury wasn't too serious he might be a viable stop-gap option for a year.

Is Parkey still our kicker? Mike Glennon? Maybe you want to hear him walk up to a microphone and say that guy was a mistake but that's not a classy way to treat people. Nor does it help when recruiting other players in FA. While he deserves the criticism for bad picks/FAs it's pretty clear he's willing to walk away quickly if that's the best option. Charles Leno may soon know this too.

With Anthony Gordon there are just enough good plays on tape to entice you to think maybe he can be an answer. In the game I watched, as the announcers kept talking about his draft status and NFL future, I saw a lot of plays and kept saying to myself...yeah, that's not gonna work. IMO he'll be on someone's practice squad next year but he's not worth spending a draft pick on. With limited picks I see no reason to draft him when we can use that pick to find someone with more potential at any other position.

I watched a game with this Anthony Gordon QB. From what I saw if we draft him his sole purpose will be to make Mitch Trubisky look like a good QB. I think it's a wash between Keenum and Daniel in terms of talent. I think Daniel comes cheaper since he won't be moving his family and he knows the system which gives him a big advantage over Keenum who won't get practice reps during the season.

Who did Eli Apple pay to be put at #50?

I say...what was his knee injury? Because it can easily take a full year to recover which means he won't be available, or won't be playing at full strength for much of the season. I also say I was never that impressed with him when he was in Arizona. Not that he was a bad player but I never thought he was worth the contract he got. But that's Free Agency. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ravens-release-highly-paid-starting-safety-tony-jefferson-a-respected-on-and-off-field-leader-saving-247-million/ar-BB101e2R "But despite starting 35 of his first 37 games with the team, Jefferson struggled to make an impact in the Ravens’ pass defense. He finished with two interceptions and 11 passes defensed, and he had costly lapses in coverage over the first month of last season, when the Ravens defense was in disarray. He allowed a passer rating of 141.4 in 2019, according to Pro-Football-Reference, and his missed-tackle rate (16.0%) was among the team’s worst."

Your proposal on Leno is very realistic. It also means we can keep him and cut him during training camp.

Cam-sized his head.

Daniel Snyder.

I think I'm with you here. Hall of Fame type players change the game and improve those around them. Mack does that he just didn't have enough help last year once Hicks was out. OTOH the #2 pick gets you one of Burrow or Chase Young and (I'm guessing) about $20mil in cap space. That cap space could go even higher depending how the contract is structured. Assuming we are not going to win through Trubisky then we must do so with the Defense. We could then go out and sign Ngakoue or Chris Jones. So the trade question is would I prefer Floyd/Nichols/Hicks/Mack or one of: Floyd/Jones/Hicks/Young Young/Nichols/Hicks/Ngakoue After all the money the Bears spent on Mack I'd be shocked if ownership would let Pace shell out another huge guarantee. I have to say I'd make the trade and take the Chris Jones/Akiem Hicks interior with Chase Young on the outside. Inside pressure is brutal on passing and running plays. It negates the worry about Floyd's lack of sacks (he can get pressures) or it also forces QBs into Floyd's direction where he'll be in position to contain the play. You have Young on the other edge too. The gamble is that all this has to happen before FA and you don't know if you can sign any of the top FAs. This opens some wild opportunities but I prefer the bird in the hand and would stick with Mack.

Had that thought for much of last year because in 2018 he used to occasionally pancake OTs. That just disappeared from his game. I realize teams did a lot to isolate him away from the action but his effort didn't appear to be the same.

Brady won't go anywhere that doesn't have a good Oline. I also agree on the Floyd trade possibility although it's slight. It would have to be to a team that viewed him as a long term 1st/2nd down player and that wanted to sign him to a deal representative of that role. That could just as easily be us.

I think you are spot on with Holtz and Horsted being our 3rd and 4th TEs... say bye to Braunecker and Shaheen. I'm not sure we'll go with a TE in the draft even if I've been saying that for some time. At least not early because I think the position is too important to Nagy's offense that Pace will go out and fix it via FA with one of the top 3. Hooper would get the most guaranteed money. The others would be a little more team friendly/less guarantee. Once he settled into the offense in 2018 Trubisky looked ok when he had Burton on the field. If we want to fix the QB...get him a big friendly target. Otherwise a rookie takes too much time to learn the transition. Use that 2nd Rd pick on a fast WR to take the top off the D and to open up the underneath stuff for that TE we just spent money on. If we end up with Ebron then maybe we take a chance on a TE in the 4th/5th Rd.

What in the world makes anyone think Josh Rosen is better than Trubisky?

Yes and Carson Wentz almost had a league MVP award before he faded back to the point some fans were calling for Foles again. QB is tough position in the NFL and when a team is firing on all cylinders it's the QB who often gets the credit. I like to see how players respond under less than ideal conditions. Mitch has not responded well but it could change. The likelihood of that is up for debate even if many consider it case closed. Watson has had a lot of ups and downs and his playoff performance was far from inspiring. I saw nothing in that one game I watched that would make me want him over Mitch, albeit was just one game. Mahomes is the one of the 3 who is really playing lights out on a first rate offense and even he struggled a lot against a good pass rush even with elite talent at TE and WR.