2019 Free Agency Thread

[NcFinest9erFan]

 I totally forgot about HAHA...maybe he makes it to the market.

[Chrissooner49er]

Hmmm...I know nothing about Shaquil Barrett but HaHa would be an improvement. Barrett probably would too considering the dearth of talent we have at EDGE. 

[48 1/2ers]

 

[J-ALL-DAY]

27 minutes ago, NcFinest9erFan said:

 I totally forgot about HAHA...maybe he makes it to the market.

Wouldn't mind him and Barrett. Those would be two nice additions. But man would I be mad if GB beats us out for Thomas. And Antonio Brown has to be a Niner in this scenario to be satisfied with this offseason. This is the offseason where we have to go after and get that elite talent. Then hopefully we hit with our early draft picks and become a playoff team. 

[Ftn49]

45 minutes ago, NcFinest9erFan said:

 I totally forgot about HAHA...maybe he makes it to the market.

Give me the raiders FA pickups and I would be ecstatic

[Fureys49ers]

Just read that Robbie Gould will be franchise tagged if we can’t come to a contract agreement with him before FA. @Forge, you got your wish haha.

Also, read another report that it is believed to be unlikely that Clowney and the Texans reach a long term deal before FA and it’s unclear if the Texans will tag him. With the Colts and Jets both needing edge help as well I can’t see us outbidding them and the Colts look more on track to win now then us but if he does reach FA I hope this keeps teams attentions and efforts on acquiring him letting other guys ship through the cracks so to speak. Personally I’d gladly let other teams having a bidding war for his services while we swoop in on players like Justin Houston, JPP (both may be available through trade as they are possible cut candidates) ZaDarius Smith, Ziggy Ansah, Preston Smith, Shaquil Barrett among others. Give me a Preston Smith and Shaq Barrett pairing in FA and I’m stoked. 

[Forge]

2 hours ago, Fureys49ers said:

Just read that Robbie Gould will be franchise tagged if we can’t come to a contract agreement with him before FA. @Forge, you got your wish haha.

It would have been silly to let him hit the market. He's old enough that a one or two year deal should be expected, so it's not like the tag should create animosity, and it pays well. 

[Ftn49]

2 hours ago, Fureys49ers said:

Just read that Robbie Gould will be franchise tagged if we can’t come to a contract agreement with him before FA. @Forge, you got your wish haha.

Also, read another report that it is believed to be unlikely that Clowney and the Texans reach a long term deal before FA and it’s unclear if the Texans will tag him. With the Colts and Jets both needing edge help as well I can’t see us outbidding them and the Colts look more on track to win now then us but if he does reach FA I hope this keeps teams attentions and efforts on acquiring him letting other guys ship through the cracks so to speak. Personally I’d gladly let other teams having a bidding war for his services while we swoop in on players like Justin Houston, JPP (both may be available through trade as they are possible cut candidates) ZaDarius Smith, Ziggy Ansah, Preston Smith, Shaquil Barrett among others. Give me a Preston Smith and Shaq Barrett pairing in FA and I’m stoked. 

Clowney is one of the few guys worth splurging on imo. Young enough to grow in the defense with elite upside. If he makes it to the market he needs to be priority 1 for me. Make him the highest defensive paid player.

[NcFinest9erFan]

 

[49erurtaza]

Listened to this podcast where John Middlekauff doesn't expect us to get Earl Thomas but thinks we need to be aggressive to get a top notch WR

https://anchor.fm/amateur-fanboy/episodes/Amateur-Fanboy-PodCast-EP--6-with-Guest-John-Middlekauff-talking-Niners-and-Raiders--Plus-we-discuss-NFL-news-e3899u

[757-NINER]

6 hours ago, Ftn49 said:

Clowney is one of the few guys worth splurging on imo. Young enough to grow in the defense with elite upside. If he makes it to the market he needs to be priority 1 for me. Make him the highest defensive paid player.

I would have serious reservations about making Clowney the highest paid defensive player. Great talent and upside yes, but your talking about a guy who has yet to achieve double digits sacks in a full season and has had issues staying healthy. I would definitely would throw money at him because he is freakishly talented. But I would be very hesitant in overpaying for his services. He such a boom or bust kind of player...he could very easily and get paid and mail it in. 

[Fureys49ers]

5 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

I would have serious reservations about making Clowney the highest paid defensive player. Great talent and upside yes, but your talking about a guy who has yet to achieve double digits sacks in a full season and has had issues staying healthy. I would definitely would throw money at him because he is freakishly talented. But I would be very hesitant in overpaying for his services. He such a boom or bust kind of player...he could very easily and get paid and mail it in. 

If I recall correctly he almost sat out his junior year because his hype was so big at South Carolina, he ended up playing but there was talk as to how much his heart was in it and how often he was playing safe. It’s been the same story in Houston with chatter about him not quite being the first in, last out type of guy, in fact quite the opposite. All the talent and physical gifts in the world and it’s his motor and heart that’s in question for me. I share the same fear that if you pay this dude huge and aren’t and top notch team playing in the SB every year I wonder what kind of effort we see out of him year in and year out. That injury history is pretty extensive as well.

[Ftn49]

12 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

I would have serious reservations about making Clowney the highest paid defensive player. Great talent and upside yes, but your talking about a guy who has yet to achieve double digits sacks in a full season and has had issues staying healthy. I would definitely would throw money at him because he is freakishly talented. But I would be very hesitant in overpaying for his services. He such a boom or bust kind of player...he could very easily and get paid and mail it in. 

I understand and agree to a degree with both of you and fureys points however if he makes it to free agency he is going to be overpaid. It is the nature of the beast.

I wasnt saying he is the best defensive player in the nfl but he will most likely be paid like it.

[757-NINER]

17 minutes ago, Ftn49 said:

I understand and agree to a degree with both of you and fureys points however if he makes it to free agency he is going to be overpaid. It is the nature of the beast.

I wasnt saying he is the best defensive player in the nfl but he will most likely be paid like it.

Is he really worth it though? Of course you overpay in free agency but if you're going to do it, I'd rather it be for a player that has the production, availability and the film to warrant it. For all intents and purposes, Clowney doesn't check any of those boxes. He has been a somewhat of a disappointment as a former #1 overall pick. I'd love to sign him to a one-year prove it type of deal though. I'd be curious as to what his market will be and just how other GMs and personnel ppl view his value. But the fact that he hasn't amassed double digits sacks, playing on the opposite end of Watt really scares me and makes me question could he be the best player on a great defense. Because ultimately, that's what he's going to get paid to become. And like Fuerys mentioned, he's never been viewed as a leader nor a hard-worker that puts in the work to improve on his craft. With all the physical gifts he possess, he should be virtually unblockable.

[Ftn49]

13 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

Is he really worth it though? Of course you overpay in free agency but if you're going to do it, I'd rather it be for a player that has the production, availability and the film to warrant it. For all intents and purposes, Clowney doesn't check any of those boxes. He has been a somewhat of a disappointment as a former #1 overall pick. I'd love to sign him to a one-year prove it type of deal though. I'd be curious as to what his market will be and just how other GMs and personnel ppl view his value. But the fact that he hasn't amassed double digits sacks, playing on the opposite end of Watt really scares me and makes me question could he be the best player on a great defense. Because ultimately, that's what he's going to get paid to become. And like Fuerys mentioned, he's never been viewed as a leader nor a hard-worker that puts in the work to improve on his craft. With all the physical gifts he possess, he should be virtually unblockable.

From Apollo Station on the Texans forum just before the draft last year:

I've resigned myself to Clowney getting $100m+ for a while now and really don't get too hung up on the "highest paid" thing anymore as all it means is that you have the most recent 2nd contract amongst the top 20 players at a premium position. Qb is a bit unique to itself but lets not forget that "Highest paid" status in the NFL includes Jimmy Garoppolo ($137m) by overall, Cousins ($28m) by average, and Stafford ($92m) by guarantee.  That group has as many Pro Bowl appearances combined as Clowney (2).  Mike Evans is coming off a season where he ranked 15th in yards, 23rd in rec, and 37th in TDs and already eclipsed Hopkins as "highest paid" with his $82.5 million deal. Nate Solder is maybe in the top half of LTs but is now "highest paid" in terms of average at $15.5.

Interestingly, the top end of defensive salaries doesn't seem to carry quite as much disparity between performance and pay, but I think it's a bit of anomaly due to a lull in top players hitting FA, which will change with the Mack/Clowney/Donald deals.  Currently Watt still leads DEs at $100m, DT's Suh at $114, LBs Miller at $114, CBs Norman at $75, S's Berry at $78.  The only recent deal mirrors the Solder deal as far as I'm concerned with mid tier starter Trumaine Johnson getting #2 overall CB money at $72.5.   

As for Clowney the starting point is going to be at $100million/$50 guaranteed that V. Miller and J. Houston got, but it's going to be an interesting strategic decision as his agents will almost certainly want to hold off until Mack sets the new high bar, while we'd be better served locking him up ASAP and structuring to burn off a large chunk in the first 2 years since we have the space. As we learned with Bouye, contracts aren't about the cumulative value over the past 4 years, but the present + future value and p & f value of Clowney is still top of the line.  If there was a defensive redraft tomorrow, I think Clowney would be top 5 off the board with Mack, Miller, Garrett, and soon to be $100 millionaire Aaron Donald.  Sure fire edge rushers are more rare than you think they are and this years draft is a good example as after Chubb, who strikes me as a mid-tier starter, you're looking at a flyer on a guy from UTSA (Davenport) or mediocre J.A.G.s like Hubbard or Key who could just as easily be 2nd rounders.  Would you take last year's Solomon Thomas, Darrick Barnett, or Charles Harris over Clowney - hell, I'd take Mercilus over the past two draft classes outside of Garrett. 

Reality is that regardless of overall value, NFL contracts are essentially 3 year deals with fluff stuck on the back end that will either get restructured, traded, or cut.  Clowney may have started out a bit dicey (in part due to the Texans irresponsible approach to injuries), but he is 25 and coming off 2 exceptional seasons and we have plenty of space with no cap issues anywhere on the horizon with our franchise QB taking up less cap over the next 4 seasons than Tyrod Taylor or Case Keenum will make THIS season to keeps seats warm for rookies. The idea of giving Bouye $68/$26 coming off one great season at least gave me some apprehension (franchising didn't), but giving Clowney $100/$50 holds almost no downside for me and is a Hopkins/Watt level "just get it done" no brainer for me at this point.