DCOrange

We’ll have to agree to disagree. They knew what they had in Goff, and it was a guy that could succeed if his first read was correct. If anything didn’t go according to plan, it was a lost down. Even before Goff was resigned, all the talk was that it was McVay and the supporting cast making it all work. They ultimately chose Goff at the expense of the supporting cast. Teams need to think more rationally about the QB position. If you’re paying a guy like they’re a top 5 QB when they aren’t actually capable of leading the team themselves, you’re probably not going to be a real contender. The Rams kept themselves afloat by trading all of their first round picks to and carefully structuring the other contracts to try to keep the deck stacked for Goff as much as possible but it still wasn’t enough. Had they traded Goff earlier, they could have gotten at least a first round pick if not multiple firsts, kept the elite run game, elite OLine, continued building up an elite defense, and continue taking more shots at finding a good enough QB on a rookie deal. Cleveland is one of those teams that are now about to be in the same situation that the Rams were in not too long ago. They should talk to Houston about what they’d need to add to Baker in order to do a Baker-Watson swap. Otherwise I think Cleveland will likely plateau like the Rams had these past few years (though to be fair, I do think Baker is a better QB than Goff).

Giving Goff that contract was a major mistake too. They should have traded him on his rookie deal when they could have gotten good value from him. Most teams have no capability to think rationally about the QB position.

Those GMs should probably not be GMs. Goff is precisely the type of QB teams should constantly be trying to replace IMO. A talented passer but he just doesn’t have it between the ears at all. If a play doesn’t play out exactly as expected, he’s screwed.

It’s interesting that Detroit supposedly turned down a better offer from Washington. I’m surprised this Goff-Stafford swap actually happened, but value wise, I think this was in line with what was expected. Don’t think this changes the price for Watson at all. Decent return for Detroit, but Goff’s contract is pretty bad and those 1sts are years down the road and likely in the late 20s to 30s...not super valuable chips. If a team like New England had offered #15, they probably should have taken that instead but it sounds like they just wanted to get Stafford to his top choice, which was LA.

I’m not really a fan of any of the TE options in free agency. Maybe you sir back and see who doesn’t get a deal and bring one of them in super cheap, but I think a trade is probably the best way to upgrade at TE this offseason. I’d be going for Cam Brate or OJ Howard from Tampa.

There's a 0% chance we cut Beasley after the year he just had. Certainly not to replace him in the slot with McKenzie.

The Combine times aren't perfect either. With Reagor for example, if you put his combine run under the microscope, he actually ran a 4.40 but their timing system didn't work properly.

I just don't think he's good at anything outside of the gadget stuff. A guy like Toney or Moore can replace that production while also being a dependable WR and maybe even be able to line up in the backfield from time to time.

I would guess he's closer to a 4.5 than a 4.3. I do like him a lot though (depending on what the doctors think of his medicals). I'm really hoping to upgrade McKenzie this offseason and this is one of the guys that could do that. Kadarius Toney is probably the best option in that regard but I'm not confident he'll be available at #30.

They aren't looking to rebuild. They're looking to upgrade at QB so that they can be Super Bowl contenders next year.

Jackson isn't a free agent. Some of the options (ignoring whether or not we can afford them): Shaq Barrett (almost certainly staying in Tampa) Yannick Ngakoue Carl Lawson Jadeveon Clowney Melvin Ingram Bud Dupree Leonard Floyd Trey Hendrickson Matt Judon Haasan Riddick Romeo Okwara

Milano is going to be tough to replace, but I think we pretty much have to try. I'm not necessarily convinced that Edmunds is or will be a better player than Milano, but we can probably only afford to pay one of them and Edmunds is understandably the one they're going to be willing to bet on. We're going to need to find a diamond in the rough.

Our reported interest in pretty much every significant free agent RB does make me wonder. I hope we ultimately just sign a cheap RB this offseason that can catch the ball and call it a day personally. Yeah, I mentioned it last year as well, but I think a trade for a vet TE makes the most sense for us and I would continue to look to the Bucs, who have two TEs on their roster for next year that would be upgrades over Knox and they'll likely try to keep Gronk as well.

Are you assuming he’s going to be cut or under the impression that he’s actually due to be a free agent this offseason? His option for next year was already picked up

You’re a year early. He’s a free agent next offseason.

Harris looks like a good prospect but spending a first round pick on a RB just isn’t a good use of our most valuable chips. You need to start hitting on valuable positions with these picks so that you’re paying a 10+ million caliber player $1 mil. The value just isn’t there with RBs. If you need a RB that can catch and pass protect just sign one for $2-3 mil and save the draft pick for a better value play.

I wouldn't say he's on my wishlist and I have no idea what kind of contract he might get, but if we wanted to replace Isaiah McKenzie and also add receiving to the backfield in one swoop (and were nervous you couldn't do this via the draft), we could theoretically return to the Carolina Pipeline and target Curtis Samuel. It took 4 years, but Carolina finally realized that he was best utilized as a short-yardage guy/gadget guy and he responded with by far his best season as a pro.

Yeah, I don't think I'm touching this group in free agency. Like you said, give Levi the 2nd round tender and either you get him back and you're happy or you get a 2nd round pick for him and you're happy. I do think both CB and S are Day 1/2 potential targets in the draft. Taron and Levi are fine but I think we should be aiming to upgrade from both via the draft if we get lucky. I would definitely be in favor of taking a safety as well; I thought it was a good idea last year when we were interested in Duggar and feel the same way now; as much as we all like Hyde/Poyer, they likely won't be around much longer.

He can want whatever he wants; he's not getting $20 million a year in a normal year, much less a year like this where teams don't have as much money as usual.

I'm not sure he actually improves it honestly. QBs were getting the ball out in 2-2.5 seconds against this year and Dupree generally takes 3-4 seconds to get to the QB, and that's while playing next to far better pass-rushers than what he'd have here. He seems prime to get overpaid by someone and I hope it isn't us.

Now that we're at a place where we need to start being a lot more careful with our money, I just philosophically don't think it makes sense to spend our most valuable assets (rookie salaries) on the cheapest position in the league outside of special teamers. Just throw a couple million at a guy like Jamaal Williams, James White, Tevin Coleman, etc. and save those picks for positions where we have a much better chance of stealing value.

We could theoretically afford him if we wanted him badly enough, but I doubt we'll pursue him. We must have higher priorities than signing another expensive corner. Seems like a strong candidate to end up in New York with his former DC IMO.

Great post. Some ramblings from myself on some of this: I think I agree with pretty much everything you said regarding the free agents. The one potential sticking point for me is McKenzie; I think it would be wise to try to get some sort of deal done with him just in case, but for me, replacing him in the offense is one of my top priorities this offseason. I think the role he plays is an important one, but he's just too limited IMO; good at the jet sweeps but pretty much worthless at actual WR things. We can find someone in the draft that can replace his skills while potentially being a much bigger factor operating as a real WR IMO. Guys like Kadarius Toney, Rondale Moore, Tutu Atwell, etc. I think I might be willing to go a bit higher than you on Milano, but ultimately, I think he probably prices himself out of Buffalo. Guessing we will bring Daryl Williams back but not sure it's the right move to make personally. Moving John Brown one way or another makes a lot of sense IMO. I don't expect much back in a trade as I think teams will call our bluff knowing he's likely getting cut if we don't get a trade done, but I'd still take a day 3 pick for him and call it a day. I agree with your assessments on the DLine and the safeties. I think I'd probably try to keep Hughes with a restructure and be fine moving on from the rest of the DLine. I had brought up this point re: the safeties last year in the lead-up to the draft, which is why I was in support of taking guys like Dugger, Winfield, and Chinn. I expect we'll be moving on from at least one of our safeties by next offseason, so once again, I think it would be wise to get their eventual replacement in house, preferably via the draft. Agreed re: Edmunds; pick up the option, let him prove himself worthy of a big contract. He seems poised to get a big contract just due to his accolades and age but it makes me super nervous personally. I think you're probably right about Allen, but for the amount of money he's going to get, it's going to make me uneasy until I see him play this way another season. I loved him throughout the draft process and obviously still love him now (as I think we all do at this point), but I'm going to be a bit nervous about regression next year knowing that we're probably about to make him the highest paid player in the league or close to it. Some positions of importance this offseason IMO: WR - Already discussed this re: McKenzie/Brown so won't rehash it here. RB - I mentioned this in one of the other threads, but I think I'd probably look to bring in one of the pass-catching RBs in free agency this offseason and there's a bunch of them available. Jamaal Williams, James White, Rex Burkhead, Tevin Coleman, etc. I wouldn't bother spending another early draft pick on a RB personally; guys like the ones mentioned above will sign cheap enough that relative to the draft pick that I'd rather just take the certainty of getting a good one that fits our needs. Jamaal Williams is the #1 option IMO but he'll probably be the most expensive if I had to guess. CB - A strong contender to be our day 1/2 pick. I agree with you that we need a more versatile corner opposite Tre. D-Line - Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with Star but I assume he'll be back next year. If so (and probably even if he doesn't come back), edge rusher is the bigger hole and also probably more difficult to fill unfortunately. There are some solid pass rushers available in free agency this year but we aren't exactly flush with cap space so it'll be tough to sign any of the top guys. I don't know much about the position in the draft this year, but from what I've read, it sounds like another blah year for edge rushers so we might be out of luck.

Given how successful the OLine was in terms of pass protection this year, I'm not really sure how much I want to shake it up. Their struggles opening up running lanes were apparent, but a part of me thinks we'd be better off just leaning into our passing game and bringing in a 3rd back that's more of a weapon out of the backfield. Guys like James White, Jamaal Williams, LeVeon Bell, Tevin Coleman, Rex Burkhead, etc. are available in free agency this offseason, probably won't break the bank, and would give us something we certainly lack from Singletary and may lack from Moss (though I think he's far more promising as a pass-catcher than Singletary). I personally am not in a rush to bring in a more talented runner than the two we already have, though Singletary's regression this year was definitely alarming. If he can't make people miss the way he did as a rookie and in college, he's not contributing on the field at all so they're going to need to re-evaluate him this offseason and figure out if something significant changed this year, if he had a nagging injury we didn't know about/wasn't in good shape, or if they think he just had a bad year and will bounce back.

Obviously depends on price and all that, but my initial feelings of it (not what we WILL do but what I would do): DE Trent Murphy - gone TE Tyler Kroft - gone LB Matt Milano - would like to keep but might get priced out CB Josh Norman - gone or camp body OL Ty Nsekhe - gone OL Jon Feliciano - keep OL Brian Winters - gone WR Andre Roberts - gone OL Daryl Williams - would like to keep QB Matt Barkley - don't care RB Taiwan Jones - gone RB TJ Yeldon - gone S Dean Marlowe - gone or camp body WR Isaiah McKenzie - trying to replace him this offseason but open to giving him a camp deal until we get an actual replacement in house CB Levi Wallace - keep LB Andre Smith - don't care