Let’s talk Free Agents

[JiffyJag]

So in his presser, Urban confirmed that he obviously still wasn’t satisfied with getting a pass catching TE

 

so uh

maybe we make a move soon? Pls 

[JiffyJag]

Also said that we aren’t done addressing the speed WR role, so that pretty much confirms we’ll grab one in the draft 

 

Toney or Moore coming up 

[Uncle Buck]

9 hours ago, JiffyJag said:

Also said that we aren’t done addressing the speed WR role, so that pretty much confirms we’ll grab one in the draft 

 

Toney or Moore coming up 

I hope this means Rondale.  I'm not too big of a Toney fan considering his aspirations to be a rap star.  I'd rather get a guy who is all about football.

Overall, I think I'd rather have the combo of Moore and Friermuth than just moving up for Pitts.

[Uncle Buck]

18 hours ago, JiffyJag said:

This isn’t really the thread to post this and this also isn’t something I thought of until I saw someone point it out elsewhere but:

the bears really do seem to be on a 1-2 year delayed Jaguars trajectory 

they just got rid of their Bortles and now get to bring in their Foles (ironically while the actual Foles is still on their roster)

and now a lame duck coach and GM have begun the process of gutting their once great defense

guess they probably have Rattler to look forward to next year 

You could be exactly right, J.J.  It's the smart thing to do because, although they do have some good players, they aren't going to be able to win a Super Bowl without a decent QB.  It's just a shame for them that they whiffed on Trubisky.  If they had taken Mahomes or Watson (minus the current scandal going on), they could be looking at a very powerful team for the next several years.

There are a lot of teams around the league that need to just blow it up and rebuild the way the Jags are doing it.  I've thought it was the thing for the Vikings to do back after the 2018 season.  They will never do that though, so that's why I jumped ship and came over to Jacksonville.  There is nothing wrong with tearing it down and starting over if what you are doing is just not working.  I applaud Shad Khan for having the cojones to do it.

[LinderFournette]

2 hours ago, Uncle Buck said:

I hope this means Rondale.  I'm not too big of a Toney fan considering his aspirations to be a rap star.  I'd rather get a guy who is all about football.

Overall, I think I'd rather have the combo of Moore and Friermuth than just moving up for Pitts.

I rather have the wr who's available to play vs the injury-prone 1.

Toney and his rapping isn't something to worry about. 

[pwny]

There’s a number of intriguing Safeties left. 
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/safety/

Somebody like Tartt still makes a lot of sense for the team to go after. 

[pwny]

Golladay got paid. Given the price of everyone else in Free Agency vs him, I’m okay with not having been in on him.

[Tugboat]

On 3/19/2021 at 8:26 AM, JiffyJag said:

Also said that we aren’t done addressing the speed WR role, so that pretty much confirms we’ll grab one in the draft 

 

Toney or Moore coming up 

I mean, i certainly wouldn't expect what we have to be "job done" when it comes to addressing what is ostensibly a key point of emphasis for Urban and what he wants in his team with "speed".

But it doesn't altogether have to be a top premium pick to continue to address that.  There are "speed project" WRs who go later into the draft.  But i certainly wouldn't rule out a Day 1/2 pick on a guy either.

[pwny]

He’s right. We really need a solid pass catcher. 

[Charles]

35 minutes ago, pwny said:

He’s right. We really need a solid pass catcher. 

Solid no thanks from me.  We've already got a veteran rb with too much mileage.   Rather get a Michael Carter in the draft and try to improve his pass protection skills than pay this dude.

-charles

 

[Tugboat]

On 4/7/2021 at 11:53 AM, Charles said:

Solid no thanks from me.  We've already got a veteran rb with too much mileage.   Rather get a Michael Carter in the draft and try to improve his pass protection skills than pay this dude.

-charles

 

I really could've gone either way with this.  Gio works.  Underwhelming, but whatever.  But going with someone like Carter in the draft does kinda make more sense to me.  Get a guy in the building who can fill that role, and build that chemistry as the change of pace/3rd down back/receiving back/whatever role via the draft, who you have a bunch of years you can get out of them.  Just let that younger guy build the relationship as the "safety valve" for Lawrence and build momentum that way.

 

At least, Robinson isn't useless as a 3rd down guy.  Just seems like an opportunity to get a younger guy in there with some potentially "explosive" reps may actually end up better than chasing an older version in FA on his last legs.  Even if the real "trust factor" isn't there overall...it might end up better in the long-run to have someone there to grow with Lawrence.  With tread left on the tires to go there (and as Gio shows, those type of backs can actually last longer).

[pwny]

 

[skaterbirdhouse]

1 hour ago, pwny said:

 

Just don’t see it happening with Beathard signing earlier.

[Tugboat]

4 hours ago, skaterbirdhouse said:

Just don’t see it happening with Beathard signing earlier.

It'd be kinda silly, signing Beathard and then bringing in Alex Smith and cutting him or whatever.  But i don't think you let someone like Beathard being on the roster stand in the way of getting the ideal sort of "mentor" in there if it becomes available.

Honestly, it wouldn't even really be a big deal to have all three QBs on the roster, especially considering Smith's health if he actually has to play a stretch of games is...questionable.

At that point, you can trade Minshew for whatever, and cut the rest of the flotsam we have at QB without a second thought really.  Lawrence - Smith - Beathard is a plenty viable QB room.

[pwny]

There’s no need to sink cost fallacy the situation. If you can get better at a position, its always worth doing, as long as the value makes sense. A mentor backup QB is probably the only way a backup on the roster currently makes sense to spend on, even before Beathard.

As the article notes, Smith is also just the perfect example of a QB who has shown he will do anything to make it back into the NFL; one of the traits Urban has made so abundantly clear is important in his teams. That’s the perfect example of *toughness* for an Urban squad; not the playing through an injury and neglecting to tell the staff that you have an injury so they can properly treat it and therefore causing harm to the team’s ability to win games thing that Minshew did.

He went from reports he might not walk normally again and staph infections that threatened his life to coming back to the NFL and working his way back to being able to play at a not-incompetent level. That’s also probably why Urban wasn’t able to nab him earlier; that competitive fire to start again is probably there, and he knows he wouldn’t be given the chance here. But if that changes as he realizes what his market is down the line.. its a big get for the culture. On top of his knowledge of the game and the position. 
 

As for cost..

We have three QBs on the roster, and there’s currently just two teams with less QB spending than us. Even after Trevor’s contract hits the books (and assuming no other team adds a QB), we’ll be at the 8th lowest QB payroll. Then QB payroll quickly takes a massive jump to where you could cut Jake Luton, give Alex Smith $10M (he shouldn’t get near that) and still not crack the top 15 in QB payrolls for a team.

 

 

I also wouldn’t count on this being the case, but it’s worth not ruling out — Alex Smith could be at a position in his career that when this all shakes out and ge realizes that a starting opportunity is gone, he may not want to be a benchwarmer and instead might be willing to move into a small coaching role. Getting him into the QB room to mentor and teach without putting him on the salary cap, given he’s unlikely to throw in a game for us anyway, could be a huge boon.