I can already see that we are going to suggest 957 different ways to skin the cat this winter…
We need a big, fast CB who can follow a #1 if need be…. We need a 3T who can be stout against the run, but also get some interior pressure. We need a heavy nickel who can get us 3 ints AND 3 sacks, and we need a LB with DB athleticism….
Ask Tyree Wilson to gain 15 pounds and play DT?
Hope Gonzalez can convert from a zone to a man CB?
Pretend Carter or Anderson will fall?
—- here is how you fix the D…
Sign Daron Payne- zero players from this draft call will have 25 QB hits and 16 sacks the next 2 years- that’s what Payne had the last 2……maybe Will Anderson Jr will-
Draft Brian Branch- he’s the guy. The Polamalu, Hufanga, or Pitre- the modern “nickel missile!”
Draft Bijan Robinson- he erases mistakes and injuries elsewhere. If you have WR, you give him 25 Carrie’s kind of guy!
Draft Witherspoon or Forbes in round 2…. I’d like to think we trade down to Carolina or Titans and gain a 2nd, but I’m fine here either way.
Draft Voorhees, Michael Schmitz, etc to properly fill the RG hole
Over on reddit where every team is talking about how to start their offseason, 95% of them start with “sign Daron Payne.” He’s the belle of the ball this offseason. I think we’ll be a lot more appealing to FAs now than at any time in our history, but I also don’t think we’ll offer nearly as much money as some other teams. And generally in FA, money talks.
He’s probably going to demand over 15 APY with what Roquan just got paid, but he’s a very good player. If we can get him without signing him to a really bad contract I think it would be a great move.
Peterson brings a veteran presence to a relatively young secondary.
(Okudah, Jacobs, Parker, Melifanwu, Joseph, Lucas)
He is still playing at an incredibly high level (just had 2nd best overall PFF score of his career! and the 4th best coverage grade in the NFL). Dude is still ballin’ and would fit right in with this culture. We need another Rasean Mathis type veteran to pull the ‘Slay’ along. <<<<< see what I did there?!
“It’s that point in my career, where I have to take care of my family” said Alex Anzalone when asked if he was coming back in 2023. I don’t blame him for chasing that pro athlete dollar, get it while you can. Holmes has a pretty rigid threshold with big contracts and maybe Alex gets an offer in FA that leads him to another team.
In comes Germaine Pratt. Does Cincinnati let him walk? The guy is playing at an incredibly high level and could solidify the 2nd level of our defense. #1 LB cover grade in the NFL in 2022. It would be like resurrecting Deandre Levy from Lion past. If I’m Holmes…I’m throwing some $$$ at Pratt if he becomes available. Consistently productive for 4 years with and arrow pointing up.
This is an excellent point. This is the kind of guy that is the talk of the town in Indy when agents are into negotiations at the combine prior to free agency. He’s also the kind of guy that gets signed for a $100M+ deal during the tampering period. In other words he is the exact kind of guy we should void signing. That’s one of those deals where if you win, you really lose. A couple of things I don’t like about Daron Payne, overanalyzing things based on past free agent duds. First, its always a red flag when a guy suddenly has a breakout season in his contract year. Particularly in an effort position like DT. I also don’t like some of the language he has used when talking about his impending free agency. He’s not talking about future value or what his worth is to a team in future terms. He says he wants to get paid what he has earned. As in past tense.
— that is how long before any of these guys gets expensive…. As an example AJ Brown signed a 100M extension in Philly last year and cap hits are very reasonable the first 3 years (Starting with 8M in 2023)
Any time a player gets a big extension, year one is typically less than 50% of their APY…. Agents and players seem to be chasing these VANITY contracts, and Brown for example is due 37M in 2026, but he only carries an 8M dead cap hit- so when he crosses 30 they save “30MM” in cal space to cut him!!! So really it was a 4 yr 70M deal- so 17.5M apy not really 25M…
So we could get most of Payne money paid in the next 3 years when the above 12 guys are mostly pretty cheap!!!
then factor we are likely adding 4 more starters via the draft this year- with 5 and 6 years time before any get really expensive.
