AZ54

Don't take a DT because he won't start? We will use a 3-man rotation as we always have and as all teams do. Who will someone like Aaron Donald not be ahead of: Paea? Collins? From there he follows up that logicby saying we could draft an OG in Rd 1. This after we signed Slausson long term and have Long at the other spot. So that guy won't be a starter either Last year drafting an OG in Rd 1 was not a surprise. Drafting Kyle Long at #19 was. So what we really know is that Emery will draft needs and he's not afraid to go get his guy earlier than we think. It was the same when he drafted SMC. DE was a need at that time it's just nobody thought we'd go after SMC that early (if at all given our scheme). The better advice might be to look at the players ranked or expected to go in the first half of Rd 2 at one of our positions of need and expect one of them to be our pick at #14. I wouldn't rule out Ebron but I highly doubt we go that route. If we wanted to add a purely WR-type TE we can likely do that later in the draft.

More than anything his presence replaces the leadership gap we had on defense last year. Add in Ratliff as well and you have two veterans who know how to work and are willing to speak up and help the younger guys. From a talent standpoint he is the speed rusher we haven't had for years even if he's lost a little bit of the burst. I would love to add Aaron Donald to the inside pass rush with these guys.

I don't think we're done in FA at all. I expect we'll see a couple more additions with the most likely being a DT. It might not happen until after the draft. Backup OT is also on the needs list. We have $8mil in cap space so there's room to do both. Beyond that we might see one or two more brought in on vet min salaries to compete for a roster spot at any of the positions. Have we cut Eric Weems yet? We asked him to take a pay cut and he said no.

From your list De La Puente is the one that most surprises me. Usually young linemen get snapped up pretty quickly but I'd say his salary demands don't match his ability. It seems that his performance has been assisted greatly by playing next to true Pro Bowl talent and when that wasn't there he wasn't nearly as good. He'll find work but his price is likely dropping.

Regarding Shea…Emery said he wouldn't consider the undersized guy for DE again as he did with SMC. He has said as much before in that undersized guys need to have elite athletic ability to overcome the gap. SMC is not elite but he is a good athlete. I have not said so yet, but Tuitt's ability has always intrigued me based on the initial draft profiles I read in January. In some ways I've been surprised by the fact he seems to have fallen off the radar down toward the 2nd Rd. He seemed like a perfect fit for what Emery wants on our Dline now in terms of versatility. I understand the injury affected him during the season but I think he'd have been rising instead of falling as the draft workouts progressed if he were in shape now. Back to what I said about SMC above: Emery feels undersized players need to be elite athletes if he's going to pick them. Aaron Donald is an elite athlete for the DT position. He'd be a DE if he had the length for the position otherwise his stats match up with the best DEs. He also has the character Emery wants. He belongs on that list.

I think we have done an excellent job upgrading our DEs. I look at it this way: For $14mil we had Julius Peppers. We cut him. For $3mil (Allen 2014) + $2.66mil (Young) + $5mil (Houston) = $10.6mil we have two young and still improving players who are good, but not great, against both the run and pass. We added a speed rusher that is better than anything we had last year, or in any recent years. That's one heck of a trade and is some damn good business by Emery IMO. Even if we were talking about the Peppers of two years ago I'd still make this deal. We're carrying $8mil in dead money (14 - 8 meant we had 6 to spend so we added 4 from Cutler's deal) but it's all worth it. Next year when that $8mil cap hit rolls off the books it goes right into Jared Allen's bank account, plus a little more to thank him for his patience (2015 cap hit $12.5mil). Emery has a slew of young players and one savvy veteran in the locker room ready to compete for the 4th (and maybe 5th) DE position. With improved team culture and coaching if either Young or Houston take the next step and develop into 9-12 sacks/yr players then we're in very good shape for the next couple years.

Brian is not standing up for his team, he is standing up for certain players (past players). Big difference.

No real change up the middle of the line (yet) but the DE situation is much better.

I don't see that given that we have the record setting PR/KR from the CFL on our roster. Before we jump up and down saying that's the CFL, how will that be different or worse than drafting a KR/PR? I wouldn't mind having someone like Gilbert as an option on some returns. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chris+...D3AE85533C90670

We need 2 DTs, not 1, and they both need to good enough to challenge for playing time or a roster spot. I'm ok with Ratliff but he's at the end of his career. Paea has never proven reliable. Collins is coming off a serious knee injury. I don't count Izzy as a DT (despite my suspicions that his versatility is the main reason he was signed). I don't count Houston as a DT either. There is no reason to take Houston, a guy that's a strength at DE against both run and pass, and make him a weakness at DT. Kicking either him or Izzy inside on occasion for pass rush is fine by me. At this point we're drafting 2 DTs unless we sign another FA DT, which is entirely possible. Even if we do sign someone, at this point to a vet min deal, I think we're likely to draft 2 DTs one early and one late. At the top of the draft our needs have to be DT, CB, and S. We've infused our DE position with two young talented players (Houston, Young) we need someone in that category at DT. Final roster likely keeps 9 Dlinemen, so figure 4 DTs, 4 DEs and one swing player in Izzy? Not that I think Izzy is a lock to make the roster. Competition for that 4th DE spot just heated up big time.

He should be able to do that with sharing some reps, and taking off on run downs to keep the legs fresher.

Agreed, makes no sense whatsoever despite what reporters are saying. We still need help at FS, CB, DT, and DE and we're not getting all of it via the draft.

ha totally jacked up that last sentence. Too many revisions on it, or too many beers.

I'm confident we will see some of that.

Atlanta will be disappointed with Hester as a WR. Let's roll the tape back a year where Hester was saying he just wanted to focus on one thing….returns. Now he says he wants to play some WR again. He only says he wants to play WR when there's a new contract involved. He was a good returner for us last year but he was not what he used to be. I think he'll have a good year returning kicks for Atlanta as well, maybe even grab a couple more TDs. I wish him the best unless it's against us. As for him being faster and quicker on the turf in Atlanta….I'm pretty sure the coverage units will be faster and quicker too.

So was Dee Milliner and he struggled a lot last year. Enough that there's plenty of talk of the Jets needing a #1 CB again this year. That's just one season and certainly Milliner can continue to improve but it highlights my concerns over players like Dix who play behind elite talent at the college level. Their mistakes are often covered up and everyone focuses on the highlight plays. Dix can take the risk on a play knowing his Those highlight plays are easier to make because taking the risk on it. It's not hard to find Dix making the same mistakes Conte makes in coverage, or just being late the ball. OTOH he will make some excellent plays closing fast on the ball. I just see the guy as a good player not elite.

I need some feedback from our resident draft gurus. I did a bit of research on safeties in the draft and was surprised to see what appears to be a very thin group this year in terms of talent. I favor the draft analysis at the links below because their player profiles seem to be very accurate when guys get to the next level. If these guys are right, there are a couple prospects at the top and then the drop off is very rapid to day 3. There just doesn't seem to be a lot to choose from between Rd 2/3. This does not seem to be the right year to be going into a draft needing help at both safety positions. Maybe that's why we threw so many bodies at the SS position. What do our draft experts think about safety talent this year especially in the mid-rounds? Give me some hope because I really don't like the idea of drafting a safety in Rd 1 unless he's an elite talent. None of these guys is an elite talent this year. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2014/FS http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2014/SS

http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2014rumors.php 3/23: The Rams, Bears, Seahawks and Browns are possible landing spots for Mark Sanchez, per Rich Cimini, ESPN New York. We've rehabbed one QB so far why not another? I'm not a big fan of Sanchez mostly because I don't think he has it mentally. Not so much playing smarts, although that needs work as well, but moreso on the ability to handle the pressure that comes with the job. Maybe a backup role is where he can succeed but he does not have the headstrong character traits Josh McCown displayed while he was here on several short term contracts.

That's not always true. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13...ick-ordeal.html Where Cutler would have fired off right back at Young for that crap Brady immediately looks for help.

Like I said, he is not Shea McClellin.

Considering the so-so year (although I liked how he competed at DT for us) and his surgery he's got a pretty good deal in Minn IMO. I thought he'd end up closer to $1mil for a year, and maybe even vet min. His versatility helped in this case. He's a good guy and I expect he'll be around the league for another 5 years.

I'd like to see that as well. The Seahawks offered him something reportedly around $5mil but that might be pure guesstimate. Most important to me is that they only offered him a spot as the 3rd man in their DE rotation and that is exactly the position I'd like to see him fill for us. Let the younger and stronger guys handle the run downs. I know he said he wanted to be somewhere he would still the starter with the majority of reps but if he comes to accept that a) he's older and less reps means he'll be fresher for the pass rush and can likely have a few successful seasons in that role and c) he can still earn some big money but not the $10mil/yr he wanted and d) he will still be a name player because he will get plenty of sacks in a reduce role and e) he will have a shot at winning a Superbowl ring doing that Several teams are interested just don't know if we're one of them. If he's still set on earning $10mil/yr or close to that and wants to be the starter then I'm not interested.

I wanted him back but there was no need for us to go that high for Melton. Year 1 not bad, but that escalation kills it IMO. He can be just "good to very good" with say 5-6 sacks and are you really going to cut him? He's not that good in run defense, not like an $8-9mil/yr player should be. I will carefully watch what Collins does this year versus Melton but I'm thinking we'll get a lot more value for our money.

Standard. No idea there was an outline option and now that I do know there is one I'll still be in standard mode. That's because I value each and every word each of you has to say!