02-18-2022, 10:53 PM
Man what a season. Although it didn't end how we wanted, it was great never the less. I believe there is a strong foundation to build upon. I think Joe Burrow is starting to have that positive, confident, winning effect and I could see several big time FA wanting to come here, but the reality is we need to build the team with a good blend of solid FA signings, extending the right guys and getting a good mix of youth in via the draft.
I'm going to do a quick free agency breakdown. I decided to be aggressive on addressing needs, but when I saw how much I'd have tied up I decided to take a less aggressive pursuit of a few top tier guys and decided to build good depth with quality proven guys.
I created roughly 77 million in cap space by a few releases and 2 restructures
FREE AGENCY:
RELEASE:
Trey Waynes - Can't pay a guy that much to be nothing more than a spectator
Trey Hopkins - Average on his best day, far below average mostly all season. can't pay a guy of this caliber $7mil/year, it's not a good value
Isaiah Prince - He's not very good, period.
Brandon Wilson - Paid almost $3mil per year to do what. solid returner when healthy, but offers nothing else
Hakeem Adenji - I thought he showed promise his rookie season, but man was he terrible this year. Maybe it's due to the injury from last year, but he should not have been out there starting at all
RESTRUCTURE:
Joe Mixon - good all purpose back, but paid too much and we can create some extra space by converting some salary as a bonus and paying it over the next few seasons.
Tyler Boyd - I'm a big Boyd fan, but as a #3 WR, he makes way too much. Same idea as above. Also possible trade candidate.
RESIGNINGS:
Jessie Bates - 5 year/14 mil per year. I'm not too much of a fan of paying a Safety 14-15 million, but I think the deal gets done and Bates showed out in the playoffs. We know he's capable of playing at an all-pro level, I hope if and when he is resigned that he realizes that and strives for greatness
BJ Hill - 4 year/7.5 mil per. I like both Hill and Ogunjobi and I'd take either or both, but I think Ogunjobi is likelier to get a bigger offer.
Tre Flowers - 2 year/1.5 mil per. Good size and played well in spots this season. Would like to see him take on full time TE duties as well as play a little bit on the back end as though he's a safety
Ricardo Allen - 1 year/1.25 mil per. Offers solid vet depth and is a good mentor to have in the locker room.
CJ Uzo - 3 year/7 mil per. I like CJ as he's an emotional leader and is an all-around solid TE. I don't like paying him $7 million per year, but some outfits think he's in line for at least $8 million
OUTSIDE FREE AGENTS:
Trent Brown - 4 year/10 mil per year. We've got a good solid RT for the future. I was leaning towards a combo of Terron Armstead/Ryan Jensen or Armstead/Schreff, but man those guys all have values well over 10 mil with Armstead going as high as 23 million per year. They are all great, but I think going with Brown and my next free agent make more sense from a financial aspect as well as an age aspect.
Brian Allen - 5 year/6.5 mil per year. Steady at the position and already has a history with Taylor and just won a SB. Finally brings some stability to the position. LA is going to have a hard time keeping that group together and with Whit possibly retiring and Corbett up for FA they may turn their attention to those positions over the C spot.
Laken Tomlinson - 3 year/5 mil per year. A good solid vet to fill in at ether RG or LG. Some might ask why not Spain. Personally, Spain is solid, but I think the last play where he let Donald right by did it for me, plus he is going to look for top tier money and he's not top tier material.
GRONK - 1 year/8 Million. I did it, I brought Gronk in. He would be such a good security blanket for Burrow. Teams would not be able to stop a lineup of Chase/Higgins/Boyd/CJ/Mixon and GRONK.
All these signings leave us with right around 17 million which is plenty for rookie/injury as well as couple of smaller signings or spot signings if need be. They also allow us to be competitive as we look to extend guys like Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Wilson etc.
DRAFT:
Round 1
Zion Johnson(G) - gets us a great interior player to either start from day 1 or compete with a hopefully fully healthy Jackson Carmen and Trey hill
Round 2
Max Mitchell(T) - Tackle of the future in case Jonah leaves or gives us flexibility in case of an injury. He's going to be a riser and posted one of the best seasons for all lineman
Round 3
Neil Farrel(Dline) - He's starting to rise up boards and pairing him with running mates shelvin, chase, and burrow could bring out his best. He offers some inside pass rush and depth after letting Tupuo go and seeing Ogunjobi leave.
Round 4
Tariq Woolen(CB) - Athletic big bodied corner. Great guy to bring in and groom
Round 4 2nd pick*
Mario Goodrich(CB) - I didn't think we were getting an extra 4th, but for some reason it keeps showing up. If we only have 1 4th then I pick between Goodrich and Woolen and either is a good pick. Otherwise this is a really solid depth move. We could bring back Apple who was solid, but picked the worse game to have his head up his ass, plus he's a little too social media stupid for me.
Round 5
Isaiah Thomas(EDGE) - Ossai offers some really promising pass rush, but man you can never have enough pass rushers and Thomas has the athletic traits and production to compete with Kareem and Hubert for snaps.
Round 6
Doug Kramer© - A true center prospect that may offer positional upside by playing guard as well. Played in AFC North type weather and played great, just played for a bad team.
Round 7 pick 1
Charleston Rambo(WR) - Good value this late. Offers a lot of athleticism and production playing with a bad qb. Pair him with Burrow as a true #4 and he may just shine in that role for now
Round 7 pick 2
Jake Camarda(P) - The end of an era must come. Huber has been great, but his age showed in the playoffs and it's time to get a young fresh leg in there. No one does it better than Camarda coming out this year. Has a big leg and helps the team win field position with it.
I'm going to do a quick free agency breakdown. I decided to be aggressive on addressing needs, but when I saw how much I'd have tied up I decided to take a less aggressive pursuit of a few top tier guys and decided to build good depth with quality proven guys.
I created roughly 77 million in cap space by a few releases and 2 restructures
FREE AGENCY:
RELEASE:
Trey Waynes - Can't pay a guy that much to be nothing more than a spectator
Trey Hopkins - Average on his best day, far below average mostly all season. can't pay a guy of this caliber $7mil/year, it's not a good value
Isaiah Prince - He's not very good, period.
Brandon Wilson - Paid almost $3mil per year to do what. solid returner when healthy, but offers nothing else
Hakeem Adenji - I thought he showed promise his rookie season, but man was he terrible this year. Maybe it's due to the injury from last year, but he should not have been out there starting at all
RESTRUCTURE:
Joe Mixon - good all purpose back, but paid too much and we can create some extra space by converting some salary as a bonus and paying it over the next few seasons.
Tyler Boyd - I'm a big Boyd fan, but as a #3 WR, he makes way too much. Same idea as above. Also possible trade candidate.
RESIGNINGS:
Jessie Bates - 5 year/14 mil per year. I'm not too much of a fan of paying a Safety 14-15 million, but I think the deal gets done and Bates showed out in the playoffs. We know he's capable of playing at an all-pro level, I hope if and when he is resigned that he realizes that and strives for greatness
BJ Hill - 4 year/7.5 mil per. I like both Hill and Ogunjobi and I'd take either or both, but I think Ogunjobi is likelier to get a bigger offer.
Tre Flowers - 2 year/1.5 mil per. Good size and played well in spots this season. Would like to see him take on full time TE duties as well as play a little bit on the back end as though he's a safety
Ricardo Allen - 1 year/1.25 mil per. Offers solid vet depth and is a good mentor to have in the locker room.
CJ Uzo - 3 year/7 mil per. I like CJ as he's an emotional leader and is an all-around solid TE. I don't like paying him $7 million per year, but some outfits think he's in line for at least $8 million
OUTSIDE FREE AGENTS:
Trent Brown - 4 year/10 mil per year. We've got a good solid RT for the future. I was leaning towards a combo of Terron Armstead/Ryan Jensen or Armstead/Schreff, but man those guys all have values well over 10 mil with Armstead going as high as 23 million per year. They are all great, but I think going with Brown and my next free agent make more sense from a financial aspect as well as an age aspect.
Brian Allen - 5 year/6.5 mil per year. Steady at the position and already has a history with Taylor and just won a SB. Finally brings some stability to the position. LA is going to have a hard time keeping that group together and with Whit possibly retiring and Corbett up for FA they may turn their attention to those positions over the C spot.
Laken Tomlinson - 3 year/5 mil per year. A good solid vet to fill in at ether RG or LG. Some might ask why not Spain. Personally, Spain is solid, but I think the last play where he let Donald right by did it for me, plus he is going to look for top tier money and he's not top tier material.
GRONK - 1 year/8 Million. I did it, I brought Gronk in. He would be such a good security blanket for Burrow. Teams would not be able to stop a lineup of Chase/Higgins/Boyd/CJ/Mixon and GRONK.
All these signings leave us with right around 17 million which is plenty for rookie/injury as well as couple of smaller signings or spot signings if need be. They also allow us to be competitive as we look to extend guys like Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Wilson etc.
DRAFT:
Round 1
Zion Johnson(G) - gets us a great interior player to either start from day 1 or compete with a hopefully fully healthy Jackson Carmen and Trey hill
Round 2
Max Mitchell(T) - Tackle of the future in case Jonah leaves or gives us flexibility in case of an injury. He's going to be a riser and posted one of the best seasons for all lineman
Round 3
Neil Farrel(Dline) - He's starting to rise up boards and pairing him with running mates shelvin, chase, and burrow could bring out his best. He offers some inside pass rush and depth after letting Tupuo go and seeing Ogunjobi leave.
Round 4
Tariq Woolen(CB) - Athletic big bodied corner. Great guy to bring in and groom
Round 4 2nd pick*
Mario Goodrich(CB) - I didn't think we were getting an extra 4th, but for some reason it keeps showing up. If we only have 1 4th then I pick between Goodrich and Woolen and either is a good pick. Otherwise this is a really solid depth move. We could bring back Apple who was solid, but picked the worse game to have his head up his ass, plus he's a little too social media stupid for me.
Round 5
Isaiah Thomas(EDGE) - Ossai offers some really promising pass rush, but man you can never have enough pass rushers and Thomas has the athletic traits and production to compete with Kareem and Hubert for snaps.
Round 6
Doug Kramer© - A true center prospect that may offer positional upside by playing guard as well. Played in AFC North type weather and played great, just played for a bad team.
Round 7 pick 1
Charleston Rambo(WR) - Good value this late. Offers a lot of athleticism and production playing with a bad qb. Pair him with Burrow as a true #4 and he may just shine in that role for now
Round 7 pick 2
Jake Camarda(P) - The end of an era must come. Huber has been great, but his age showed in the playoffs and it's time to get a young fresh leg in there. No one does it better than Camarda coming out this year. Has a big leg and helps the team win field position with it.
