That's a fair point. I think average Qb play can bring this team to the playoffs (assuming we upgrade CB and guard). We can potentially get that with Sam Bradford, Jay Cutler, etc. or even Mariota after a year.
I think you have to look at resigning Powell, Douzable, Bellore, Phillip Adams, Ijalana and Jarrett for depth reasons. It's tough to go into a free agency period completely cleaning house without keeping the depth guys around because filling 4th corners and backup safeties isn't something you want to have to do while competing with the rest of the market. A special teams contributor like Bellore signed quickly at the beginning of your teams free agency period helps the general manager to not have to fill those holes by competing for other players. Douzable is an interesting case as he has shown flashes in rotational duty but not so much when starting. I think teams will look at him as a 3-4 run stuffing lineman and there is certainly a market for guys like him as they are not players that receive a lot of praise but they can certainly play a pivotal role on good defenses. A Frostee Rucker on this Arizona Cardinals defense is an unheralded player at a cheap price that contributes to having one of the better defenses in the league. A lot of our decisions on our defense really depends on the head coach we bring in and what system they deploy. I for one really don't want David Harris back at anything more than $2.5-3 million a year and that's a big pay cut for one of the currently top paid inside linebackers to take. He's a 2 down run stuffer who can situationally blitz but that's about it. He doesn't fit at all in a 4-3 defense and really doesn't play any role in any defense outside of the strong side inside linebacker who takes on a guard fills a hole and that's about it. He's not versatile and while he's a sound tackler he doesn't force a lot of big hits or tackles for a loss. If we go with a coach that employs a 4-3 defense hopefully the front office will recognize that he's as good as gone and let the other 3-4 defenses go after him. Linebacker speed is where we're lacking and we have absolutely no answer to backs and tightends over the middle of the field with any of our linebackers. Davis is the only guy who has any resemblance of speed as the rest are useless in coverage. Mason Foster is a guy to look at if we decide to switch to a 4-3 defense which allows Davis to slide over to the weakside spot and leaves us with only one hole at linebacker. Sean Witherspoon and Geno Hayes are two other potential linebackers to look at to strengthen our team speed and perhaps move Davis inside to move sideline to sideline. Harrison & Ellis is a tough situation because they are also not exactly guys you want to break the bank for. If you tender Harrison at a first rounder and someone matches it you simply have to let him walk. Think about it this way, do you really spend a first round pick on only a run stuffing defensive tackle on a team that's main strength is stopping the run? If we have a 4-3 coach then you can have confidence in run stopping ability with Richardson inside at the 3 technique and big strong defensive ends in Wilkerson and Coples on the outside that have no problem holding their gaps at the point of attack. Run stuffing defensive tackles are much easier to come by especially later on in the draft if we're going to plug them in next to our other very good defensive lineman. A 3-4 coach might covet Harrison more although TJ Barnes has shown some good ability in limited duty. The question is whether we want to trade Harrison for Ellis & Douzable. I certainly would take that trade any day of the week, and if we can get a draft pick out of it we win every day of the week. In terms of the rest of the defense corners need to be signed but there aren't really any guys to break the bank for. Sign a couple of mid-level guys and let the entire stable fight with each other to play. We've seen some good things out of Marcus Williams, so you keep him, Milliner and McDougle around and bring in some mid-level guys obviously a step above what we tried to sign this year. Brandon Flowers, and Kareem Jackson are the only corners you'd want to give an resemblance of a big deal and I'm not even too sure on how Jackson has played this year. If they're unattainable you have to look at nickel corners like Walter Thurmond, Darius Butler, Buster Skrine, Chris Culliver, and Patrick Robinson. Bring in a combination of those guys and a bottom level guy. We absolutely need a free safety. He doesn't have to be a world beater although Devin McCourty would be a dream but I just don't see us prying him away from New England. Rahim Moore, Marcus Gilchrist, Charles Godfrey and Nate Allen are all guys you can look at for between $4-6 million a year which will hopefully mask some deficiencies at corner just in terms of having a veteran back there to call the signals because we've had so many problems with miscommunication. We need organization more than anything. The last position I'd break the bank for is guard. We still have a top rated center in Mangold, and Aboushi has shown that he is a good run blocker which would be a good fit next to Giacomini. This team needs to do everything they can to assure that Mike Iupati is our starting left guard next year. If not, stop gap is really the only way to go with veterans Davin Joseph, Daryn Colledge or Jeremy Clary. Hopefully D'Brickashaw will restructure his enormous deal. And while not an immediate need if we retain Harvin, a professional 4th receiver is needed. I was high on Salas early in the year but he hasn't shown all too much. Go get a Jason Avant or Miles Austin that can move the chains and provide a reliable target in 4 and 5 receiver sets. A lot of information and players packed into one post but the general manager needs to consider a lot of these allies. If we don't get one player targeted we need to have backup plans for them. To summarize Targets: Linebackers (dependent on scheme) Sean Witherspoon 4-3 WLB Mason Foster 4-3 ILB Geno Hayes 4-3 versatile Cornerbacks Brandon Flowers (unlikely) Kareem Jackson Darius Butler Chris Culliver Patrick Robinson Buster Skrine Safety Devin McCourty (unlikely) Marcus Gilchrist Rahim Moore Charles Godfrey Nate Allen Guard Mike Iupati (must sign) Daryn Colledge Davin Joseph Rob Sims Wide Receiver Jason Avant Miles Austin If we can sign one of these guys at each position we'll have a much easier time drafting best available in the draft or potentially moving up to get a quarterback
Obviously we all love Big Snacks, but I agree, if we can get a draft pick for him as a restricted free agent we may need to take that. We can't afford to pay big money for all 3 D-Line and T.J. Barnes may be ready to step up. I wonder if strategically we should put a 2nd rd tag on Harrison? I don't see a team willing to give up a 1st for a run stuffer, but for a 2nd we got a shot..
Nice post. I agree with the idea of resigning many of those depth guys. I'd bring back all of the players you mentioned. However, if they stick with 3-4, I'd probably look strongly into resigning Harris for 2 to 3 years at a reasonable rate that's essentially non-guaranteed beyond the first, but also draft an heir apparent this year. I'd be open to letting Harris walk if a similar or higher caliber ILB is available at a similar or lesser rate, but I'm not sure you can find something like that. Harrison does deserve a first-round tender and if some team does offer that, I might let him walk and go forth with Barnes and Ellis, but I don't think quality NTs are necessarily a dime-a-dozen and certainly not Harrison, who hasn't just been good against the run, he's been the best in the league for two straight seasons. There's one CB that I would probably dish out about 10mil a year for and that's Chris Harris Jr. IF he hits the open market. If not, I'd like someone like Tramon Williams on a short-term contract and would perhaps consider Byron Maxwell or some of the other names you mentioned. If all are healthy, the group of Milliner, McDougle, Marcus Williams, Adams, Walls doesn't scare me as long there is at least one quality CB added. There's definitely some promising young talent in that bunch, but I'm not sure just how heavily to rely on those guys and how good they can be. With the cap room this team will have, I think Chris Harris Jr. would be an excellent option, but there has to be a limit on how much he's paid. And I'm not sure about safety yet. Are we sure that Antonio Allen or maybe even Jarrett or Pryor isn't that guy? If Allen was put out there to play CB, I would imagine he must have some at least decent coverage skills. Also, I really liked Nate Allen coming out of college, but he's been atrocious even these past two seasons - among the league's worst. I'd also consider Mike Adams from Indy if they like their young talent, but would like some veteran insurance; PFF rates him as the second-best safety in terms of coverage in 2014 and he would probably come at a bargain Also agree that guard in free agency is a priority and a position that an instant starter is needed. Iupati is probably the biggest name, but I think Orlando Franklin or Clint Boling would be excellent, less expensive and just as good or better options - especially Franklin. Forget Davin Joseph as he's been dreadful over the past couple years - not the same player he was earlier in his career. Rob Sims isn't so great either and not sure he's a major upgrade on Colon If they decide to go forth with Harvin-Decker-Kerley, which wouldn't be awful, I'd look at Nate Washington, who can still play. Miles Austin would be a good depth option as well regardless of what happens with Harvin. If they decide there are too many flags with him and cut ties, I'd imagine Amari Cooper is a likely target in which case a vet WR would be a good addition. I'd forget about Avant though as I'm pretty sure he got cut from Carolina, a team with the worst group of receivers in the league. I think his career is pretty mcuh over
