I’m not a fan of keeping overpaid players around…but I’m also not a fan of breaking up offensive line groups that seem to be working well together. Vaitai is overpaid but in reality we are only talking about a few million. We have other positions to worry about.
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They could cut him and save the money and have stenberg or brown plug in… if there are two position groups that have shown up regardless of who’s starting it’s been the OL and DBs which does speak to those position coaches
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The savings is only around $3M. It’s not really worth it IMO.
Flowers on the other hand needs to be purged from the books.
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Pretty much this
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The new guy Kramer graded out very low at 45.3 in his replacement for Big V. I’d roll with Big V next year, keep the o-line together. Keep Sewell and him together on the right side. Add a healthy Ragnow and this line is in good shape for next year.
We need WR’s and pass rushers. The 2 biggest weaknesses on the roster. Hutch @ 10A should be a major boost to the pass rush. And of course, we prob need a QB, not sure we find him in this draft though. Add as much talent as you can, give Goff some actual weapons and we might win 6 or 7 games next year. Might! The key is going to be the offensive coordinator hire because it’s pretty clear Lynn is gone and MC/DC is not a play caller in the modern nfl.
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Evan Brown has earned a shot as the starting RG next year with his play at Center.
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As we know injuries happen every year, Brown would be the ideal backup. He can play center and guard and if someone goes down, he steps right in and he’s cheap.
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Yeah, and I think with the extended reps he’s getting he’s making the most of it. I’d have zero problems penciling Brown in as starter next year with Kraemer as a backup.
I was prognosticating that they would draft a Guard a few weeks ago. I’m much less concerned about that now. We may still grab one late, but I’m thinking it’d be very late rounds.
Yup- l like all of this. Sincerely, sincerely hope they can find a good OC. Another year of having to learn the playbook is another year where OC has to learn. I’m good with us having a mauler offense, but we need to be able to throw a pass deeper than 3 yards.
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We’ve got some nice depth guys on the roster, and G is definitely easier than playing center.
Agreed. Might lose some of the guys, when their contracts some up. Starting to get a really Nice OL.
Actually nice that we have so many directions we can go. Can’t wait until this is the case at more than just one position group. LOL.
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IMO if Big V is unwilling to restructure he should be gone. It isn’t about just the 4.2mil we would save this off-season, but the additional 2.8mil guaranteed that would be off the books for 2023, on top of his high base salary. Guards are probably the most replaceable position in the NFL Year after year teams find solid guards in the mid rounds. Hell just look at our recent success with Larry Warford, Glasgow, and now Jonah Jackson. Kansas City found Trey Smith in the 5th round and hes playing one of the best guards in the NFL. If Vatai doesn’t restructure cut him and draft a guy in the middles rounds (comp 3rd or 5th). Let him compete with Evan Brown to start and now you freed up cap space to use at a more important position.
We said that when we let Warford and Glasgow go. “Oh so easy!” Meanwhile we spent decades finding guys of that caliber to begin with.
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I’m not a cap guy, but I look at a restructure as a double positive. If we can get him long term for the right price, we have a young, talented OL locked up for a nice window.
MF’r I wanted to see Javonte playing behind this line.
The Oline and running game appear to be tremendously important to what the Lions want to do. I am not weakening that group trying to save a couple million unless I absolutely must have the dollars somewhere else. It better be for a top flight, premier player I’m after otherwise it’s not worth it to me. Still going to try to find another way to get it done.
Continuity matters. Depth matters.
I really don’t like the idea of just releasing him. Was rough at the start of the season, as expected. Has gotten way better and there has been zero public issues with his move to guard. Now if he is telling them behind the scenes he doesn’t want to stay at guard, that changes everything. But that’s pure conjecture at this point. Again, there’s been nothing I’ve seen.
I HATED seeing Warford go.
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Agree with your entire post, but the quoted part…something I hadn’t considered. I’m guessing he’s okay with Guard, given what we’ve seen of him playing tackle.
You aren’t “saving” that money.
Maybe I am miss remembering, but guard play hasn’t been a major issue for us. We may not have had any Zack Martin’s over the years, but a bunch of decent starters. Most of the guys we had outplayed their contract as I can’t remembering commiting big money to a guard outside of TJ Lang.
Give me Evan Brown/Mid Round rookie with some extra cap space to pursue a better S/WR in FA then Vatai. Only way I’m paying a guard 10mil+ a year is if he is one of the best in the league. Vatai is a league average starter at best. If he restructures to accept less money great, if not I am fine moving on.
How are we not? The 2.8mil accelerates into 2022 cap which attributes to the 4.2mil in dead money that would hit our books in 2022 if we cut him. We would create at additional 4.2mil in cap space in 2022, as well as clearing an additional 2.8mil in 2023 that was guaranteed (10.4mil overall in 2023).
You’re not paying him $10M. His base is $6.5M, cap hit is $8.4M. Potential savings of $4.2M but you get hit next year for the other $4.2M.
To weaken the group they really want strong???
What the point of building a unit and having depth if the minute you get there, you want to remove the depth?
At some point you have to keep your pieces and add to them. Fill the other holes without weakening the stronger units you have.
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