H2o

Yes. I always miss at least one thought initially when created threads like this. Thanks.

This will be an offseason like no other we have seen in a long time. With the cap decreasing, where it had been growing exponentially over the last few years, it is going to make things a bit challenging. Beane will have to navigate this whole situation and really hit on the moves he makes, both in FA and the draft. I don't know if this is anything that he would do, but this is a scenario I put together. First thing we'll have to do is take care of things at OBD with whom we re-sign and whom we cut. Right now we only have about $3.3M in cap space at the current projection. Cuts: John Brown - Saves almost $8M in cap. I would rather resign McKenzie for less than 1/3 of what Brown is making. Mitch Morse - Saves $4.8M in cap. Morse has never really lived up to the contract, but he has been solid. Still, you don't know which head injury will be his last. Quinton Jefferson - Saves $6.5M in cap. He was decent, but I think we an easily fill his production with someone else at a cheaper rate. Vernon Butler - Saves $6.8M in cap. I know he was played out of position at the 1-Tech, but we can get similar production for cheaper. Lee Smith - Saves $2.25M in cap. It really is time. Bye Lee. Mario Addison - Saves $6.16M in cap. He'll be 34 when the season gets going and he didn't add much to the defense last year. At this point we would be sitting with close to $38M in cap space and could save more money with a couple of restructures to Dawkins and possibly Tre. Let's just say Beane restructures both of them to give us another $8M-$10M and we end up with $46M-$48M in total cap space. Re-sign: McKenzie - (3 yrs $6M w/ $4M gtd) It's not a big contract. I don't see him getting more anywhere else. I see value on ST and in the offense for us. Feliciano - (3 yrs $19M w/ $13M gtd) Feliciano wants to be here and I think we want him back, but we won't overpay. This gives him an uptick and we move him to C. D. Williams - (3 yrs $24M w/ $16M gtd) Williams had a tremendous bounce-back year and was a key cog on our OL. This would be top 10 RT $$$. I think it's enough to get it done. Ike Boettger - RFA Tender Bojo - RFA tender Wallace - RFA Tender Winters - 2 yrs $3M w/ $1.5M gtd (I don't really like it that much either, but he is a cheap depth option that knows the offense) Nsekhe - 2yrs $4M w/ $2M gtd FA: Romeo Okwara - DE - (4 yrs $32M w/ $24M gtd) He would be an upgrade @ DE for a reasonable rate. Reminds me of a younger version of Jerry Hughes and he's only 25. He can also take over for Hughes after 2021. He had a solid 2018 with 7.5 sacks, but had a down 2019. Then in 2020 he put it all together getting 10 sacks, 31 pressures, 10 QB hurries, and 10 QB hits. He also plays the run well at the position and is effective from either side of the DL. Jayon Brown - LB - (4 yrs $40M w/ $28M gtd) Imo, he's an upgrade over Milano though Milano will likely get more $$$ on the open market. He's just as good in coverage even though he may not be as fast. He's a better tackler than Milano and has more pop in his pads. He played an inside LB role in that Tennessee hybrid type defense, but would be able to handle the WLB responsibilities here with absolutely no drop off. Johnathan Hankins - DT - (3 yrs $12M w/ $8M gtd)We all know what was missing up front this past year. A run stuffing 1-Tech that would eat up blockers while making plays inside. Hankins plays well against the run, but offers no pass rush for the most part. He is at the least a heavy rotational back up to Star, but could very well end up the starter. Either way it would give us a nice rotation in the interior of the DL and allow Oliver to get after it. It would also allow us to keep our big guys up front rested not having to lean on one guy all of the time. Draft: 1. Trevon Moehrig / S / TCU - The nation's Jim Thorpe Award winner in 2020. Moehrig is an athletic freak who can squat 600lbs, bench 400lbs, and runs a 40 in the 4.5's at 6'2" 210lbs. He has a lot of positional flexibility being able to play both FS and SS, but he will eventually take over for Hyde in this defense. We could run that three S look against pass heavy offenses as Moehrig can cover anyone on the field. He takes good angles and lowers the boom on ball carriers when given the opportunity. 2. Daviyon Nixon / DT / Iowa - Another guy to get after it from the interior of the defense. Between Oliver, Hankins, Nixon, Star, Zimmer, and Phillips that interior is looking VERY capable of causing opposing offenses problems. Nixon plays with power, quickness, and uses his hands well when shedding blocks. 3. Nico Collins / WR / Michigan - At 6'4" and 215lbs Collins is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Especially hard to handle when you add him to an offense that already has Diggs, Davis, and Beasley to account for. He is a true vertical threat that uses his body to shield defenders, has an extra gear when he gets in any kind of space, and can go up the ladder to snag any ball Josh would hang up for him. He opted out in 2020, but averaged 20 yds per reception in 2019 even with Shea Patterson as his QB. 5a. Daelin Hayes / DE / Notre Dame - Hayes reminds me a bit of Shaq Lawson. He didn't have the college production of Lawson, but he also didn't have four 1st Rounders playing by his side up front either. He is decent at setting the edge and can be a 5-8 sack per year type of player on a rotational basis. (You knew I had to go with a ND player at least once in the draft ) 5b. Garret Wallow / LB / TCU - Going back to the TCU well again for another defensive player. Wallow was a S who converted to LB in college. He does well in Zone coverage and blitzing off of the edge when his number is called. He's depth and a developmental WLB to add to our defense. 6. Javian Hawkins / RB / Louisville - Hawkins is lightening in a bottle, but on the smallish side standing at 5'9". He has a good build for his size though at 195lbs. He's that home run threat type of guy though who can hit a seam and take the ball 80 yards to the house. His 40 time is expected to be between the low 4.4's to the high 4.3's and you can see on the tape he is that fast in pads. Not really used in the passing game at Louisville so he will need some refinement there, but he could end up being a steal this late in the draft. 7a. Tommy Doyle / OT / Miami (OH) - A developmental prospect who has the ability to evolve into our swing OT off of the bench. He has good functional playing strength, but will need to grow in pass pro. 7b. Jimmy Morrissey / C / Pitt - A developmental C prospect who started a bunch of games at Pitt. He was solid, but is more of a finesse player than one who plays with a mean streak. He still could provide depth along the OL. Our lineups next year would be as follows: OL: Dawkins-Ford-Feliciano-Boettger-Williams (Starting) Bench - Nsekhe, Bates, Winters, Doyle or Morrissey WR: Diggs, Davis, Beasley, Collins, McKenzie, Hodgins RB: Singletary, Moss, Hawkins TE: Knox, Sweeney, Gilliam(FB/TE) QB: Allen, Webb or Fromm DE: Hughes, Okwara, Epenesa, Hayes, D. Johnson DT: Oliver, Star, Nixon, Hankins, Zimmer, Phillips LB: Edmunds, Brown, Klein, Wallow, Dodson, Matakevic S: Poyer, Hyde, Moehrig, J. Johnson, Neal CB: White, Jackson, T. Johnson, Wallace, Lewis K: Bass P: Bojo LS: Ferguson I know there are things I didn't address which other people say would be necessary such as CB, but I believe an improved pass rush makes all of your CB's look better. I also love what Moehrig will bring to the table for this defense on the field and I think it gives us options. Okwara will be much better than Addison. Epenesa I think takes another step forward with a full offseason of work in the weight room to get his body right and working on his craft. Hayes and D. Johnson are capable of making plays. Throw Hankins/Star into the lineup as space eaters (which we didn't have last year) so Oliver, Nixon, and Zimmer can get after it up front. Now the interior looks like a strength as well. I think that Edmunds and Brown are also a better tandem than Edmunds and Milano. On top of that, for passing downs you can have Oliver and Nixon both on the field pushing the pocket from the middle. Backup QB is sketchy. TE still isn't solved also if you don't believe Knox will get any better, but you can only do so much with the cap this year. Overall I think this team keeps us contending for the AFC and a SB next year while starting to position us for when other roster turnover starts to take place.

He's already made over $100M from football alone, not even counting endorsement $$$. If he hasn't managed that well enough to where he needed to chase $23M more then he's in trouble. It just shows that he's more about the $$$ than he is achieving something other than being able to say, "Dude, look at my bank account."

It's cool. I'm glad he signed so the hoopla around it is over with. I don't care that we were next in line. This just goes to show that Watt was chasing $$$, even at his age and with all he has made, over trying to get a ring. Arizona is not close right now.

The plane? Pssshhh, they better get the Taurus out for this one.

Watt would be nice to have, but if he signs elsewhere so be it. This isn't the Buffalo from 5 years ago. We have a Franchise QB, a top tier GM, and one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL. The culture here is night and day from Rex's tenure and every other one before it. We don't have to overpay anymore, Buffalo sells itself as a whole when you look at us from top to bottom.

Smith was a great story this year, the fact he was able to see the field and be semi-successful. Imo, he should hang it up. He's almost 37 years old, has plenty of money, and did what they never thought he would after 17 surgeries. At this point why risk anything further. He has nothing to prove to himself or anyone else.

The concept of social media, being able to keep in touch with people you don't see often or if at all in person, was a good thought and not a flawed way of thinking. The problem is the flawed people, what it has become, and what it is used for now. You have a bunch of people recording basically every bowel movement on their preferred platforms and people who follow it like it truly matters. Then you have the internet gangstas who use it as an avenue to say all kinds of things they wouldn't have the gall to say in person because they likely won't ever see the person in real life, but know it would end up in them getting their *ss beat if they did. Then you have the people who use it to prey on others in various forms with too many examples or categories to list them all. For what it was meant to be in the beginning, it has almost become the bane of our existence.

I think he'll be too expensive for us, though he would be a nice addition.

Nope, just a fan who has watched every game basically since the mid-late 80's.

Everyone who says he can't block has clearly never watched an actual Notre Dame game. Tony Dungy loves the kid and raved about him every single broadcast. In the replay breakdowns you would see him demolishing people at the LOS, and at the 2nd level, being the main reason Kyren Williams was able to get loose. I wish they would have used him in the passing game more because his athleticism is freakish to say the least. They tried to convince him to come back by promising to feature him more, but he already got enough info from people to know where he stands in the eyes of NFL scouts/FO personnel. I think it was a good call to enter the draft for him as I expect he will be better utilized in the NFL than he was in college.

Here are a couple of guys talking about him who watched him a lot as well.

No worries my friend. He didn't really get the opportunities his Sophomore year, but last year he was on the field almost all the time. It wasn't for his receiving ability, which I believed they underutilized him in that aspect, it was for his blocking. Almost every big Kyren Williams run was set up by #24 knocking someone out of the way or sealing someone off. Kid is a beast in the run game.

This is just flat out wrong. He played in line virtually every play. He's one of the best blocking TE's in this class and it's also something he loved to do. He'll pancake LB's, DE's, and anyone at the 2nd level. If you ever actually watched ND play then you would have heard Tony Dungy raving about his blocking prowess in the run game at least once, if not more, with every Notre Dame offensive possession. In that would be indepth breakdowns of how good of a blocker he actually is. Swing and a miss there my friend.

I posted about him in another thread as well. The guy is lightening in a bottle. He's smallish @ 5'9", but has a thick build weighing 195lbs and speed like no other RB on this roster has.

They won't offer him a contract. He should have been used more, but it is what it is. He'll land a backup gig somewhere. Adios TJ.

He's a youtube vid I found on Jenkins. This kid says he may be a guard, but I think he would make a good RT easily.

Well, Miami isn't listed as one of the destinations he would waive the "no trade" clause for so that's a good thing. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/25/agent-says-russell-wilson-would-accept-a-trade-only-to-the-cowboys-saints-raiders-or-bears/

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/09/brandon-marshall-says-russell-wilson-is-beyond-frustrated-with-seahawks/ People were laughing at this idea when I created the thread a couple of weeks ago. Looks like there was some traction after all.

Are you an FSU fan? Care to explain? I admit I've only seen him play a few times in 2019 and seemed solid to me. I didn't watch any FSU football this year except when they played ND. I know he only had a single tackle in that game, but FSU was getting mopped anyway.

He wanted the big $$$ contract at all costs, got the big $$$ contract at all costs, and now thinks he has more power than the people who invested that big $$$ in him thinking he would be the face of the franchise for the next 5 years at the least.

Collinsworth aside, Beane is a great interview. He's always straight forward and interesting to listen to. His answers also give you a great look into the inner workings of this organization and the thought processes behind them. Thanks for posting.

@Sherlock Holmes right now

Snyder's a piece of . Anything would be better than him.