THE Offseason Roster Question to Ask

[Bengalstripes9]

Re-sign: AJ, Dennard, Eifert, Vigil, Billings, Tupou, Mcrae, Fej, Cethan Carter, Redmond

Outside FA: Linebacker honestly looks pretty weak in FA and the draft, but FA is our best bet maybe? Or a trade: Dalton for a linebacker?
I see a lot of the guys on the upcoming free agents list re-signing with their teams, but we can possibly nab a B Linebacker in FA.
The other position I would look towards is offensive guard but there isn't a lot available.
We could look at an upgrade along the defensive line here, as there are a lot of players hitting FA, but maybe we'd rather develop our own.
I see TE Ebron is available too, maybe he is an upgrade over Eifert--probably re-signs with the Colts though (or signs elsewhere like the Pats)

Draft: Burrow to start
I could see us nabbing a WR in 2-4 as the draft is filled with them.
LB is not a strength, if we could grab a guy similar to Pratt this year that would be nice, but I'm not counting on it happening. Still have to draft
someone (reaching won't get you anywhere though)
Could we see a defensive line prospect fall to us in round 2?
I could see us grabbing a CB in the high middle rounds too.
Successful Draft: draft Burrow and hit on 3 other picks: 2nd-3rd round Guard, WR, CB/Defensive line/Linebacker

We are in a tough spot because our biggest weakness (linebacker) probably gets pushed to next year again, unless we can pull off an unlikely trade.
I don't see linebacker being solved until next year if we get lucky. Best situation for us is we get slightly better, and are in position to draft a good linebacker in the 1st round 2021.

If we can get another G/T in the 2nd or 3rd round I would feel good about the future of the offensive line.

I feel good about our skill position group. Would feel great if they drafted another young WR for depth. Feel great about our running backs.
I feel great about our QB of the future in Burrow.

The defense is what worries me, but if we can truly fix the offensive line and run a dynamic offense our defensive inadequacies will be masked a bit.
What worries me is our aging core of players. In a couple years Dunlap and Atkins are getting too old and now we are left with a pretty average defensive line. In order to get an elite defensive line we either have to draft at the top of the draft every year, or hit on some picks late like Marv did. Is our coaching staff/ scouting dept. capable of doing this? Should we look to FA? or are those FAs too old as well?

I think AJ has 5 years left in him. So I'm not too worried there quite yet. Mainly worried about our defensive core. Can we actually get a quality 1st round linebacker next year? Will one or two be available in FA? Can we hit on some late Defensive line gems? Or do we need to grab Dline at the top of the draft in 2022?

We can win now if the offensive line gets fixed. But in a couple years we will have had to revamp the defense.