10 hours ago
A vet safety, a plus starter at G, pass rush from DT, a two way TE, some CB help (CB1 or depth), and a dependable WR beyond Tee & Chase.
We did not get any of that in the draft or FA. We got a bunch of LBs (Burks, Giles-Harris, Knight, Carter), multiple RBs (Perine, Brooks, and kept Moss at a discount), and multiple mediocre guards (Patrick, Fairchild, Rivers). And we got a run stuffing NT type in Slaton.
That is not to say those guys won't help. We desperately needed better guard play, and even mediocre level (Patrick) G play is an improvement. And Fairchild is solid clay. We needed to improve our run D and Slaton will start, and help. We needed to get more athletic at LB and get more bodies, since it appears we will run more 43 and less nickel. And we have. We needed better RB depth and got it.
And while we didn't sign many/any frontline outside FA's, Higgins, Gesicki, and BJ Hill were all top 5 at their positions. Bringing Ossai back had my stamp of approval. As did Cam Sample. And some other minor moves (Rehkow, Adomitis, Ford, Grandy, etc.).
But the double/triple dip at G, LB, and RB, to the exclusion of other needs (S, DT, CB, TE), especially while running to the podium to take guys we could have traded down and taken, while other teams around us successfully traded down, really dampens our draft performance. As does the needlessly risky Stewart pick.
We also screwed up the Chase/Tee deals (+$11 mil in cap space wasted), and not only have failed to re-sign Trey, but actively pissed him off, numerous times.
Retaining our own FAs: C
Tee, Trey, + Chase extension was the baseline, and we are not at it yet. But we did do a good job outside of those 3. Gets bumped to a B/B+ if Trey gets done without disrupting things in camp.
Outside FA's: C-.
Slaton, Burks, Patrick, Perine, Giles-Harris. Bargains for sure. But also limited upside.
Draft: D.
Risky, redundant, reaches. Failing to explore trade downs.
Cap management: D-.
No Burrow resteucture. Tee/Chase cost us $11 mil in cap. Pratt & Volson still on roster when we could have used that cap savings for FA help/Trey. The Moss restructure after getting Perine & drafting Brooks makes no sense to me. We were pretty frugal in our outside FA pickups, but they are mostly backup level players.
Overall offseason grade: D.
We did not get any of that in the draft or FA. We got a bunch of LBs (Burks, Giles-Harris, Knight, Carter), multiple RBs (Perine, Brooks, and kept Moss at a discount), and multiple mediocre guards (Patrick, Fairchild, Rivers). And we got a run stuffing NT type in Slaton.
That is not to say those guys won't help. We desperately needed better guard play, and even mediocre level (Patrick) G play is an improvement. And Fairchild is solid clay. We needed to improve our run D and Slaton will start, and help. We needed to get more athletic at LB and get more bodies, since it appears we will run more 43 and less nickel. And we have. We needed better RB depth and got it.
And while we didn't sign many/any frontline outside FA's, Higgins, Gesicki, and BJ Hill were all top 5 at their positions. Bringing Ossai back had my stamp of approval. As did Cam Sample. And some other minor moves (Rehkow, Adomitis, Ford, Grandy, etc.).
But the double/triple dip at G, LB, and RB, to the exclusion of other needs (S, DT, CB, TE), especially while running to the podium to take guys we could have traded down and taken, while other teams around us successfully traded down, really dampens our draft performance. As does the needlessly risky Stewart pick.
We also screwed up the Chase/Tee deals (+$11 mil in cap space wasted), and not only have failed to re-sign Trey, but actively pissed him off, numerous times.
Retaining our own FAs: C
Tee, Trey, + Chase extension was the baseline, and we are not at it yet. But we did do a good job outside of those 3. Gets bumped to a B/B+ if Trey gets done without disrupting things in camp.
Outside FA's: C-.
Slaton, Burks, Patrick, Perine, Giles-Harris. Bargains for sure. But also limited upside.
Draft: D.
Risky, redundant, reaches. Failing to explore trade downs.
Cap management: D-.
No Burrow resteucture. Tee/Chase cost us $11 mil in cap. Pratt & Volson still on roster when we could have used that cap savings for FA help/Trey. The Moss restructure after getting Perine & drafting Brooks makes no sense to me. We were pretty frugal in our outside FA pickups, but they are mostly backup level players.
Overall offseason grade: D.
