Blank Stare

I hear you, but I guess it’s just preference. I’d rather cut all those guys, keep Milano, and invest in young dline in the draft. I don’t know that you’re going to find a premier pass rusher in FA. Certainly not one that won’t command a ton of $. I agree they are critical to have. A really good pass rusher that can change a game is something we’ve lacked for a while now, but I’d invest some draft picks in the dline. At least 2 picks on the dline and maybe grab 1-2 decent (but not high priced) guys in FA. Keep Jerry on another year if you can to teach the young cats.

Completely agree with this point. This is the biggest unknown and you can’t force anyone into a deal. Admittedly, I’m making a lot of assumptions on my end. If it’s something where we are at $11MM per year and he’s at $20MM per year, then we were never likely to keep him. But if it’s where we think he’s $11-13MM and he’s at $14-16MM and both sides want to make a deal, and the only reason we say we can’t do it is because of the salary cap being less, I think that’s BS. We can make it work. As I’ve said in other posts, there’s only maybe 3 guys I value equal or more on this defense than Milano as far as impact on the field. I don’t want to watch a homegrown talent walk off, suddenly be healthy every year, and turn into a star for someone else. I could be wrong, but I can see that with Milano.

I agree that it’ll be challenging with the guys you mentioned. It’s tough to maintain when you have success. Of that list, I think Milano is more important than everyone but Diggs. I prioritize keeping Milano over all those other guys.

Who else on defense would you value more than Milano that should stay? I’d put Tre White, Poyer, and maybe Hyde as more important than Milano. Maybe Edmunds? Taron Johnson? Jerry is getting older and hardly ever gets home. None of the other guys on the dline are more important than Milano. Imagine this defense without Milano’s blitzing or coverage ability. Pay the guys that matter and fill in around them through the draft and cheap FAs.

I hear you. I’m not trying to be a PITA on this, but we need to make it work with Milano. Why draft his replacement when we already drafted and developed a guy? We struck gold in the 5th round on him. Seattle kept Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright all these years along with paying Russ a ton of $. No reason we can’t make it work. There is plenty of fat that can be cut on this roster to accommodate.

How do we know he wants $14MM? Why can’t we cut the scrubs on the dline to make it work or structure a deal around this year’s salary cap constraints. I’m happy to eat crow on this if I’m wrong, but I’m telling you if we let him walk, he’ll go be a big time player for someone else. We’ve been fed the line “draft well and retain our own” by this management team. Time to put their money where their mouth is. Pay him.

I don’t think he needs to be highest paid at his position to come to an agreement. I also have some concern with injuries, but sometimes they just happen. Eric Wood was one of those guys. We stuck with him and he turned into a pretty damn good player. Milano may never have another injury that forces him to miss time. We should reward our own that we drafted and developed. Not Mario Addison or Vernon Butler. Cut them and give that money to Milano.

This would be a HUGE mistake to not bring Milano back. He’s a difference maker on defense. Yes, he’s been banged up some, but he’s proven a difference maker when he’s on the field. If they don’t get rid of all these non-impact JAGs at over-inflated salaries on the Dline to keep Milano, they are making a mistake and he’ll go star elsewhere. Unpopular opinion: I’d prefer to keep Milano over Tremaine. I don’t dislike Tremaine like some others on here, but Milano is far more instinctive, is a difference maker, and is typically around the ball.

For me, the goal this off season should be getting pass rushers and increasing overall team speed. Anything else is gravy. I don’t want to go nuts on defense because you have to outscore KC. You aren’t going to hold them down all game, but you can force their hand situationally by disrupting Mahomes. Our pass rush completely disappeared in some big games this year, and when we did get home, sometimes we struggled finishing and bringing down the QB. I’d scrap most of the dline if they aren’t on a rookie deal. Maybe keep Jerry for leadership. We all saw what our lack of team speed meant the other night, so no need to rehash. The plus side is that with the culture this team has created, I think we can absorb some guys with checkered pasts as long as their talent and work ethic is worth it.

What a friggen warrior.

One helluva year. Reload and try again next year. Going to have to go through Mahomes for years to come. Not impossible but have to be better. The unfortunate reality is that only one team walks away without disappointment each year.

Fitting end...not stopping the run.

I might actually have to root for Brady in this super bowl and I really hate that.

Well...we’ve got our kicker.

Agreed. That’s the biggest difference between him and Mahomes right now. Mahomes is so cerebral. Never rattled. Ever.

Wait until now to use McKenzie.

I’d cut loose most of this aging DL to free up space. They get zero pressure most games.

This game plan was almost 2017 like. McD’s conservative hands all over this one.

Still can’t believe we scored only 15 in the AFCCG.

Helluva year. Reload come back strong next year. Hopefully Watson and Stafford aren’t in the division.

Silver lining...Mahomes will smoke the Bucs.

No disagreement. But he’s a punk.

Feliciano has been playing about as well as Winters was this game. Been terrible.

Incredible how poor our red zone O has been today. Supposedly this is the 32nd ranked red zone D. But no one told Daboll that.

This drive is our season.