Big Blue Huddle

P.S. The London branch of this forum is pumped to have our London boy (exiled to NJ in his teens) on the OL helping fix it! Expect him to force Neal inside.

Per Ian Rapoport. Our CB need remains glaring. He was a very smart option. Let us see what else Schoen can come up with (and how he will generate the cap space needed).

It is threads like this that make me wish we had an ignore button. Obstreperous opinion oft repeated becomes no more convincing.

Let us see where we are when camp starts. The roster today is not the roster tomorrow, let alone then.

We now have serious cap work to do but Tyler Huntley remains the guy I have always had my eye on for us. If the Jets cut Zach Wilson because nobody wants his contract I can see him as well as Daboll liked him.

Runyan will be above average in pass pro and a bit below average in run blocking. He is better at LG so maybe we slot him there with whoever loses RT out of Neal, Eluemunor competing with Ezeudu, McKethan in camp to play RG. Bricillo did well with a mixed array of talent in Vegas so I am optimistic we will get at least league average OL play. My biggest worry is AT not staying fit.

Singletary was always going to be the guy and once people calm down and look at his stats they begin to see why. Solid production. Decent but not special pass catcher. Rarely hurt.

He's just a good value signing who will never resemble rookie Saquon for excitement, but then again nor did Saquon last year! Think we add another veteran and/or a rookie and go RB by Committee like the Bills.

At 45% of Saquon $ he will give better than 45% of production with us.

Roster better at:

OL - 2 starters added; Runyan LG/RG flex, Eluemunor RT/RG flex
Edge - Burns is a big upgrade at a huge price
ST - kept our own wth Gunner for a full year a small + (but need more)

Roster worse at:

QB - need at least QB2
RB - need another vet to help Singletary run by Committee
S - even if we like Belton, depth is an issue

Roster holes not yet touched:

DT - need more than Dex inside (keep A'Shawn?)
TE - especially if Waller goes but cannot rely on him if stays
WR1 - will have to be draft
CB - will Darious Williams sign?

Players we might yet want to keep
The most obvious options are T Phillips as swing T (might be later due to injury), Bredeson as back-up C and Robinson at DT. Hodgins at WR also likely IMO.

State of cap:

We have none given the reported deals for the signings. This means we need to create room for any more than veteran minimum deals and to sign draft picks. The obvious options are Waller retire/cut, Dex and AT restructures. Maybe a Slayton restructure or even an immediate restructure of the Burns deal.

Free Agency v Draft
The Burns trade reduces draft ammo. A trade for a QB now would eliminate it so have to think we are running back Jones and praying, making WR and two of DT/CB/S the most obvious day one and two draft targets. If we trade up for a QB losing day 2 and future picks we will be scouring late camp cuts for key pieces.

It has already been interesting 😉

Ed, I think the Nick Foles/Gardner Minishew trades provide the ceiling and floor. Minishew beat out Foles to emerge as a starter in Jax. Foles was then traded to Chicago for a 4th mainly off his past Philly heroics. Minishew was so-so year two and got injured so Jax went for Trevor and Minishew was traded to Philly for a conditional 6th. Fields fits in this range for me though it seems Chicago are desperately hoping for better.

Quote from: Ed Vette on March 10, 2024, 11:21:46 AMDo you see Fields as a backup QB?

A low level stop-gap starter/solid back-up. I personally don't think any team of the NFL sees him as a build around starter. The best case scenario for him is to get a chance to compete with an under-pressure starter or be a stop-gap starter but any team trading for him risk him being a rental as it would not make sense to pick up his fifth year option before May 2nd deadline as you'd have no new information.

Mac Jones just got traded to the Jaguars for a 6th round pick. Fields might bring back a bit more but it should not be much more.

You can never rely on oft injured players. A good Ojulari season is a bonus at this point. I expect us to add a respectable, not top of market Edge (Epenesa, Uche type), and draft someone like Isaac R2 or Greenland R3 as Edge is more important to Bowen's scheme than it was in Martindale's and he will always want fresh legs rotating in.

The college and NFL games have drifted further apart making it harder to directly translate production or lack of production from one level to the next. The need to project more from traits and intangibles inevitably increases room for error.

Teams can also get medical evaluations wrong for people with a history of injuries but also for players with very heavy or very limited college use.

You also get process errors. Too many voices or too much weight on a single voice (GM, Head Coach) dependent on the specific team dynamics.

For all of the brainpower, analytics and process they deploy teams still need luck as do the players themselves when drafted. Sometimes it is just the wrong environment. Sometimes there is a fluke injury. Sometimes timing is off (talented WR stuck with a bad QB etc.).

The bottom line? Drafting is difficult!

A couple of writers on the Musk Mess social site raise an interesting scenario:

Sign Wilson vet minimum or Minishew/similar cheap
Draft best QB available R1
Cut Jones with post 1 June designation making it salary cap neutral this year & next vs cutting at end of season

It means $48m dead cap this year and $23m next but provides a clean break consistent with Rich Eisen's take on our thinking and gives Jones a chance to find a gig as a back-up/spot starter somewhere once fit.

Thoughts?

Fields has no market as a starter or even in a place where he might be realistically be competing to be a starter if we trust the major media guys. Nobody is giving up more than a conditional future day 3 pick if they are correct.

The problem is if you believe you made a mistake you have to change course, which creates more instability in the short term.

The actions and inactions so far suggest Schoen believes this is a full rebuild not a tinker and retool. That tends to suggest he thinks his DJ decision was wrong. Free Agency might put a slightly different perspective on things but for now I am thinking rebuild.

If we can get a QB we will. If we cannot we will try to give a future QB protection and weapons whilst fielding a D that can stop us being regularly embarrassed if the O sucks.

Today we are one of the 2-3 least talented rosters in the NFL. Even a really solid FA and inspired draft will not make us contenders. The Jones decision cost us a year and reduced our cap resources. Unfortunate and of course it will slow things down but it is done and now Schoen has to be clear-eyed with his priorities and decisions. So far, so sensible with Saquon and McKinney.