Is pushing your chips to the middle of the table even a viable strategy for a contender? I mean I’ve watched KC stay afloat for years now with good drafting to pair with a very expensive franchise QB.
Mahomes signed a 10 year deal and its already looking like a steal actually…
A lot of teams supplement as buyers at the trade deadline. I could see us picking up a pass rusher or a corner etc that way.
I kind of feel like we just starting to launch with these five top 100 picks in this draft. Its so important Holmes nails these.
The window is open now. The final 10 games of the year, we were one of the best teams in the league. And you never know when it closes. It could close game two of ‘23, or it could go 10 years, or just as long as Goff plays damn near elite level. The roster is young. Many key guys are on rookie contracts!
IT’S OPEN!
Exactly, the NFC North is wide open. And other than the Eagles and 49ers, 2 very good football teams. None of the other NFC teams really concern me at all. Improve the defense and why not us next year!? Shit we finished 8-2.
Our front office needs to treat 23 as the year we take the NFCN.
The O should only improve on a phenomenal year. JAMO in sync with the O and Jared, then get our new RG on the field. Vaitai? Draft?
Draft our new RB with pick 2B if he’s there.
Does anyone see the offense taking a step back? Barring major injuries, I’d take that bet.
So 2023 our offense should be top 5 in the NFL!
We all know where that leaves us. The Defense!
Will Hutch, Houston, McNeil and Pascual improve? I think yes is the obvious answer. With Buggs and Cominsky back(I hope) Our D-Line is decent! I expect to add a high pick to this unit. So barring injuries, our D-line should be improved.
I also expect Rodrigo and Barnes to improve in 23, will AA be back? I doubt it, but I see a FA signing here as well as a mid round pick. I don’t think we can count on a mid round pick to pull a Rodrigo, but depth and be ready to fill in for injuries.
Depending on AA’s replacement I expect the LB corp to be a bit improved. Not to our liking but better than 22.
Okudah will be back and improved. Now we need some help, I hope to see pick 6 or 18 on CB. Brad needs to get this one right. We need a starter opposite Jefe as our new #1. Asking a lot out of a rook, but it happens. CB, it’s our weakest link going into 23, it equals our poor CB play from 22. Should get better as our rook improves throughout the year. Need a better NB than Harris, Is there a FA Brad likes? Worst case, our CB play equals that of 22.
I expect Kerby to have a great year as a ball hawking safety! I’d like to see us add another FA/resign Elliot as starter #2. I don’t have high hopes for Walker until mid year.
Making a short story long here, but if we can get the D into the 18-22 range, we win the north and are dancing, where anything can happen.
Once we’re in, the window is open, anything can happen, ask a Bengals fan. Who in their right mind saw them in the SB in 2022?
The 9ers still have to pay Bosa who knows if other pieces fall off. They won’t stink next year but it’s hard to keep an elite defense together for a long time
Assuming a good offseason, the window opens this year. We are a .500 football team that is moving in the right direction. Next year we should (I believe realistically) be in the playoffs. Because we are in the NFC, I believe we are or will be poised to be a top team as long as we keep this one very important thing in mind:
Like other posters I think the window is now open and will be open for several years. Most teams and fanbases are obsessed with finding the perfect QB, ideally on a rookie contract, but I like to believe there is another way to go that involves drafting well, coaching players up and not going all-in that leads to a sustainable top 5 or top 10 team year after year that always has a chance to go all the way. I think the way to do that is to make decisions that give you more options in the future rather than less, so holding on to future picks and managing future cap hits so that when you arrive at that point in time you can maximise the impact of all your available resources.
For example Decker’s contract is up in two years at the same time as Sewell will be due for renewal. The all-in mentality would be to sign both of them, likely with heavy future cap hits and go all out with established bookend tackles. The sustainable approach would be to let Decker leave, extend Sewell and move him to LT, and trust the process in finding a good RT in the draft that can be coached up into a good starter.
I’m not necessarily advocating that that is the way to go with that particular scenario (maybe Decker takes a hometown discount or maybe his injuries push him into retirement), but that’s the kind of path I want to see the team follow, and I think we’ve seen it already from Holmes and Campbell. They haven’t loaded up on high price long-term free agents, they haven’t traded future picks, everything they’ve done has been about getting value and building up for the future. The Jamo trade is a perfect example, he was drafted for 2023 onwards and will be like another new player next season, but Holmes didn’t give up any future picks to get him. If you keep building for the future, you’ll be in a very good place when it arrives.
I’m expecting to compete (and win) the division next year. Does that mean super bowl? No, just that we’re better than 3 other teams in the same geographical region. This team isn’t beating the 4 teams still playing… Maybe they have a great offseason and it puts us close. I’d say we’re 2 offseasons of talent and a season of “maturing” away before our window opens. All eyes on the 2024 season and beyond for a SB IMO
Only clarification I would make for the above: This team won’t be the favorite against the 4 teams still playing. I’m not making a definitive win or lose statement with regards to a DC team.
