The "it's dead right now here pre free agency mock offseason"

[INbengalfan]

Haven't done one of these in a while, but with FA fast approaching, the time is now.

 

Free Agency

 

Our own

Re-sign both Lawson and Jackson to matching 4year/$50 mill deals with a $12 mill signing bonus, a $5 mill salary for 2021, and $11 mill each of the last three years of the deals. That gives each an $8 mill cap hit this year

 

Re-sign MacKenzie Alexander to 3year/ 18 mill deal, with $6 mill signing bonus. $4 mill salaries each year. cap hit this year= $6 mill

 

Why both jackson and Alexander? Solidify the secondary for the next few years. We can afford to with urrow on a rookie deal. Allows the team to address BPA at specific positions, and eliminates need at CB so we don't reach for a CB over a better player at another position.

Re-sign Wilson, Huber, Perine, Carter and Josh Evans to new deals, none of which should be cap altering.

 

Broach the topic of restructure with Geno. I think he has something left, but not enough to justify that salary. If you can restructure, throw some of that money at Daniels and keep DT off of the needs list in the draft. If not, address it in rounds 2-4

 

Outside FA

Do we go after a few mid level guys, or go for 1 really good and one above average guy? I say the latter. I prefer a roster of many good players with a few holes to a roster of all average to slightly above average players.

LG Joe Thuney This offseason is all about the line in front of Burrow. The guards are actually in worse shape than the tackles, so start here (and the draft is top heavy with OTs, so save money and take the OT in the first two rounds of the draft). I don't know how they would structure it, but assuming around $12-13 mill per, regardless of structure

 

TE Gerald Everett. Could also try to trade for David Njoku then extend him. I'd allocate no more that %6 mill per for either of these guys. If they get one, cut Uzomah or restructure. I don't see this is as a likely move, but it's something I'd consider. If they go after a WR instead, I want Josh Reynolds.

 

The rest of the cap space can be blown on extending Bates and possibly Hubbard.

 

The draft:

Round 1. If Penei Sewell is there, he's the pick. Jonah moves to RT. If he isn't, then JaMar Chase with Jonah staying at LT. Yes, we have that luxury, in that Jonah has some positional flexibility. If neither are there, then a top 3 QB is, and we move back for extra ammo. Kind of hoping that doesn't happen.

As soon as the pick is in, I'm releasing Bobby Hart

*** Outside the box thinking, something Mike Brown doesn't seem capable of at this point in his life, but something that I've been tossing around in my head.

If BOTH Sewell and Chase are there, I'm calling Philly about trading for the 6th pick. I'd offer our first three picks in 2022 to entice them. Now, the trade value doesn't work out, but Philly is in a unique situation. They traded away Wentz to Indy, and if all goes well for the Colts, Philly gets a 1st round pick back in 2022. The Eagles have a year to figure out what they have with Jalen Hurts, but if that doesn't work out, this trade provides a third 1st round pick in next year's draft to move up if they need to. If Hurts is legit, then they have the ammo and flexibility to do whatever they want in the draft next year without having to move up for a QB. Again, it's not likely, but could work in this limited scenario. Plus, in free agency and the past couple of drafts, we won't have many holes in the roster going into next offseason.. If it doesn't work, OK.

Round 2. This comes down to linemen, with an outside chance of Terrance Marshall if he makes it to us at 39. If somehow the Chase trade miraculously worked out, that eliminates the need here. So it's down to three positions. If we got Sewell, then we go either DE, WR or OG. If we took Chase, substitute OT for WR. The guys I'd focus in on, if there, are Carlos Basham, Wyatt Davis, or whatever OTs are still on the board (Leatherwood, Cosmi, etc)

I'm going to assume we took Sewell, so I'm going DE Carlos Basham here. he just needs to check out medically. His numbers dipped this year, but he reportedly had a severe case of COVID. That would do it. Now as long as his lungs show no permanent damage, he's my guy. If not, there are other DEs in that range. If we cut Geno and let Daniels walk, Davyion Nixon would also be in play, especially f we traded back and got an extra 2nd rounder while picking up either Slater or Darrisaw.

Round 3 This one will be whatever position hasn't been hit in the draft yet, based on earlier rounds. If WR, I'm looking at a guy like Brown out of UNC. We could also see a TE like Brevin Jordan or Tommy Tremble.

 

Round 4 Been throwing this name out all along, and no reason to change now. OG Ben Cleveland. Even if we took Davis in the second. Time to build the trenches for the foreseeable future.

 

Round 5 a slot WR with return ability. I'm thinking Jaelon Darden if he's there

 

Round 6 A Backup OL makes sense, but some DE is going to fall. Don't know who, but this player ultimately ends up on the PS anyway

 

Round 7a top player at any position who slipped for reasons the league all knows, well except Mike Brown. This pick could also be thrown at Tennessee and for OT Isaiah Wilson. I wouldn't do it, but it's not my call, even tho this is my mock. Wait a minute............

 

Round 7b Some special teams type guy that Simmons covets. Or maybe a developmental backup QB, since I didn't bring back Allen

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by INbengalfan

[sparky151]

Lawson's market value is probably higher than Jackson's. Maybe something like 14 mil vs 10-12 mil. The real life team won't backload contracts like you, me or every other team would given the reduced cap for 2021.

We can probably upgrade from Alexander to a Troy Hill or Mike Hilton if we're paying 6 mil to a slot corner. 

I'd add Bynes and Spain to the list of players we should re-sign who won't cost a lot.

No way on a restructure for Geno. It just kicks his cap hits down the road and locks them in. Cut him and move on to someone younger. He's already had a couple of subpar years ala Green and won't bounce back. We need his replacement, not hope for a revival. I'd also cut Hart, Uzomah, and Bernard before the beginning of free agency. They aren't worth their current contracts and we should look for upgrades. Gio and CJ are good locker room guys and suitable backups so re-sign them later in free agency if they are willing to take vet min deals. 

 

With all that cap space, we should go for at least 2 high profile guys. Like Trent Williams plus Shaq Barrett or Leonard Williams. Trent would cost something like 22 mil per year and the others about 20. If we add a stud to either or both lines, we're on our way to playoff contention. If we whiff, there are fallback options. Fixing the O-line and keeping Burrow intact has to be the top priority for the offseason. If we got Trent Williams, move Jonah to RT and add Richie Incognito or Larry Warford neither of whom will be expensive. Then we'd have a starting lineup of say TWilliams-Incognito-Price/Hopkins-Spain-JWilliams. Backups would be Adeniji-XSF-Hopkins/Price-XSF-Johnson. No Jordan or Hart to be seen. If we miss on Trent Williams, we could go for a free agent RT like Moton or Darryl Williams or draft a tackle in round 1 or 2. We could then spend our money on say Thuney+Linsley. Combined and with us releasing Hopkins, they could cost less than TWilliams alone. That would give us a starting line of JWilliams-Thuney-Linsley-Spain-Rookie. Much better than last year's Williams-Jordan-Hopkins-Redmond-Hart. 

 

IMO Sewell is pretty likely to be on the board at 5. The first 4 picks will have at least 2 QBs, maybe 3. It wouldn't be a shock if a WR was taken at 3 or 4. If Sewell is gone, then at least Lance is still on the board, maybe Fields too. In that case we should be able to trade down with Carolina or Denver or San Fran and pick up an additional 2nd and some other things. That would be ok. If we can't get a decent deal to trade down from 5 and Sewell is gone, then we should take Kyle Pitts rather than a WR. We can then take a tackle later. If we don't need Sewell due to free agency, then we should still take a decent trade down offer and look to add Pitts at 8 or 9 or maybe Waddle or Farley.