2024 Free Agency Discussion

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

On 2/19/2024 at 11:13 AM, MagicMT said:

Because Agholor played in the slot 59% of his snaps, which allowed Zay Flowers to be on the outside. And, despite his reputation, he was very dependable for us as a WR3/WR4 and currently our WR group looks like:

1. Zay Flowers - currently involved/under investigation for domestic assault
2. Rashod Bateman - Has literally never played a full season and cannot be relied upon to be a #1 WR
3. Nelson Agholor - A WR3 at best but decent in the slot
4. Tylan Wallace - ST's player

We are once again screwed at WR and we're one Bateman injury / Zay Flowers arrest warrant away from being a bottom 2 WR group.

[Forge]

6 hours ago, Jakuvious said:

This has to reach a breaking point at some point, right? QB deals will have roughly doubled in the last 5 or 6 years, and tripled in the last 10 or so. This is way beyond deals just growing with the cap, at this point. We're about at APY being 25% of the salary cap. There's no rational argument for a $5M per year jump over Burrow, from anyone, honestly.

I've always been against the idea of a max contract or max salary, but at some point it feels like it would benefit everyone who isn't a QB, at this rate.

Honestly, Cowboys have only themselves to blame for this one. 

I mean, giving the man a no tag clause and a no trade clause? And then restructuring him (with void years) year after year? Great tutorial on how to get your *** beat in future negotiations. This is like peak player leverage in contract negotiations lol 

Going to be really fascinating because Lamb has completed 4 years and 100% should not be playing on a 5th year option this year and there is a good chance that the WR market gets absolutely nutty this year given the receivers up for new deals. 

And then you have Parsons who is also eligible for an extension and probably doesn't want to play any more on his rookie deal (and has been good enough that he's one of those you extend after 3 years) 

[squire12]

1 hour ago, Jakuvious said:

This has to reach a breaking point at some point, right? QB deals will have roughly doubled in the last 5 or 6 years, and tripled in the last 10 or so. This is way beyond deals just growing with the cap, at this point. We're about at APY being 25% of the salary cap. There's no rational argument for a $5M per year jump over Burrow, from anyone, honestly.

I've always been against the idea of a max contract or max salary, but at some point it feels like it would benefit everyone who isn't a QB, at this rate.

Certainly not worth it for a QB that hasn't gotten things done in the playoffs.  

[squire12]

3 minutes ago, Forge said:

Honestly, Cowboys have only themselves to blame for this one. 

I mean, giving the man a no tag clause and a no trade clause? And then restructuring him (with void years) year after year? I mean, great indication on how to get your *** beat in future negotiations. This is like peak player leverage in contract negotiations lol 

Yeah.  Dallas is pretty much over a barrel with void years, no tag option.  Maybe they see Lance as an option and let Dak play out his current deal.  But that is a big risk as lance is nearing his end of rookie deal and hasn't shown enough to warrant a starting gig.

3 minutes ago, Forge said:

Going to be really fascinating because Lamb has completed 4 years and 100% should not be playing on a 5th year option this year and there is a good chance that the WR market gets absolutely nutty this year given the receivers up for new deals. 

Teams might start to recycle rookie contract WR and let more of them go via FA/ trade.  

 

3 minutes ago, Forge said:

And then you have Parsons who is also eligible for an extension and probably doesn't want to play any more on his rookie deal (and has been good enough that he's one of those you extend after 3 years) 

Window for Dallas might be next 2 years, then those big cap hits are going to squeeze the depth and role playing starters.

[Trentwannabe]

6 hours ago, Forge said:

I'd guess   12-13 million a year that is easily able to be exited after a year 

 

5 hours ago, squire12 said:

I think that price is about right.  

Maybe a good fit in LAC or KC.  Davis is a good complementary piece.  Good blocker, deep threat type WR.

Makes sense to me. As long as the guarantees aren’t too high he shouldn’t be a FA bust.

If he becomes some teams 3 that has a rookie contract at 1 or 2 then he’ll be a steal IMO

[squire12]

6 minutes ago, Trentwannabe said:

 

Makes sense to me. As long as the guarantees aren’t too high he shouldn’t be a FA bust.

If he becomes some teams 3 that has a rookie contract at 1 or 2 then he’ll be a steal IMO

that $11-12M per year range puts him in the around 20-25 for WR.  that is before the likes of the Jefferson/Lamb/Aiyuk/Higgins class gets signed to extensions.  Chase/Waddle/Devonta would be up soon as well.  $11-12 for Gabe Davis after those players get extensions would move him down to 30-35 range for WR

 

EDIT:  Spotrac has his valuation for a contract at $13.6M per year.  Overthecap has it at $12.4M per year

Edited February 20 by squire12

[bigbadbuff]

Gabe is a depth receiver that can run block and has a limited route tree.

 

That being said, he has a knack of showing up in big games or when it matters most. I’ll give him that. I’ll miss him for those big moments but when 75% of the time you forget he exists, it just isn’t worth it unless he’s your WR3 at best.

[General Tso]

Someone posted this elsewhere, but I might be more worried about Buffalo's WR situation than KC's at this point (said after the playoff game).

Edited February 21 by General Tso

[Forge]

1 hour ago, General Tso said:

Someone posted this elsewhere, but I might be more worried about Buffalo's WR situation than KC's at this point (said after the playoff game).

Depends on if diggs is as cooked as he appeared by the end of last year. 

I thought Shakir was making nice progress last season

[General Tso]

11 minutes ago, Forge said:

Depends on if diggs is as cooked as he appeared by the end of last year. 

I thought Shakir was making nice progress last season

I'm thinking they need to draft a WR in round 1 regardless. Good thing there should be a lot of good ones this draft.

[ET80]

16 hours ago, bigbadbuff said:

Gabe is a depth receiver that can run block and has a limited route tree.

 

That being said, he has a knack of showing up in big games or when it matters most. I’ll give him that. I’ll miss him for those big moments but when 75% of the time you forget he exists, it just isn’t worth it unless he’s your WR3 at best.

And I think Houston would be ideal - Nico is WR1 and Tank is WR2, so Gabe would be filling in for Noah Brown/Robert Woods as that 3 guy. That's an upgrade.

[Soko]

Wouldn’t want Gabe Davis on my team unless it’s WR3 with championship aspirations. Too inconsistent to rely upon as a legit second target (and be happy about it), but I can see him getting hot in the postseason or in some other spurt. 

If he wasn’t that legit WR2 in Buffalo with JA throwing him the ball and prime Diggs being the top dog, then I doubt he goes anywhere else and becomes that guy. I bet he does sign somewhere as WR2, though. That team will just be wanting more down the road, IMO. Not a lot out there for the really WR needy teams in FA.

[HoboRocket]

1 hour ago, General Tso said:

I'm thinking they need to draft a WR in round 1 regardless. Good thing there should be a lot of good ones this draft.

You think they move up for a guy like Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze? Both guys feel like sure-thing #1s. Both Texas WRs scare me. Feel like potential busts. 

Odunze is Tee Higgins but possibly better. Nabers is a better Chris Godwin. 

I do really like Malachi Corley, kinda reminds me of DJ Moore and Deebo Samuel a little bit. Could be a major gem. Steve Smith Sr has him as the steal of the draft and he has an excellent track record at evaluating WR talent.

Xavier Legette could be pretty great, great effort guy, dangerous with the ball in his hands. He's an absolute unit. 

I like Ricky Pearsall, and he could be a steal, but he might be slot only in the NFL. Kinda reminds me of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, though. Probably won't be as good as them.

Ladd McConkey has some red flags with low production and injuries. He had a great Senior Bowl. He has talent but if he gets picked high it's an overdraft due to all the uncertainty a la Michael Wilson last year. Wilson was great for the Cardinals and looks like a major building block but he could have easily been drafted a couple rounds later than he was. 

That dude from Alabama (Burton?) seems like he could be something, lots of splash plays but he had modest production overall and apparently has character issues.

 

Lots of the guys rated as potential late day 1 or day 2 are wildly overhyped. Lots of wide receivers in that range that have production in college offenses with designed touches, but run bad routes and struggle to catch the football. Also a lot of guys who are probably gonna slip once they run the 40 at the combine. Not seeing a ton of great separators on tape.

I guess what I'm getting at is some sources have like 25 WRs rated in the first two days and watching the tape, too many of them remind me too much of either Kelvin Benjamin, Collin Johnson, or Corey Coleman.

Edited February 21 by HoboRocket

[General Tso]

5 minutes ago, HoboRocket said:

You think they move up for a guy like Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze? Both guys feel like sure-thing #1s. Both Texas WRs scare me. Feel like potential busts. 

Odunze is Tee Higgins but possibly better. Nabers is a better Chris Godwin. 

I do really like Malachi Corley, kinda reminds me of DJ Moore and Deebo Samuel a little bit. Could be a major gem. Steve Smith Sr has him as the steal of the draft and he has an excellent track record at evaluating WR talent.

Xavier Legette could be pretty great, great effort guy, dangerous with the ball in his hands. He's an absolute unit. 

I like Ricky Pearsall, and he could be a steal, but he might be slot only in the NFL. Kinda reminds me of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, though. Probably won't be as good as them.

Ladd McConkey has some red flags with low production and injuries. He had a great Senior Bowl. He has talent but if he gets picked high it's an overdraft due to all the uncertainty a la Michael Wilson last year. Wilson was great for the Cardinals and looks like a major building block but he could have easily been drafted a couple rounds later than he was. 

That dude from Alabama (Burton?) seems like he could be something, lots of splash plays but he had modest production overall and apparently has character issues.

 

Lots of the guys rated as potential late day 1 or day 2 are wildly overhyped. Lots of wide receivers in that range that have production in college offenses with designed touches, but run bad routes and struggle to catch the football. Also a lot of guys who are probably gonna slip once they run the 40 at the combine. Not seeing a ton of great separators on tape.

I guess what I'm getting at is some sources have like 25 WRs rated in the first two days and watching the tape, too many of them remind me too much of either Kelvin Benjamin, Collin Johnson, or Corey Coleman.

Buffalo has like 10 or 11 picks in this draft and I doubt they roster all of them, so yea I can see them packaging some picks.

[Forge]

1 hour ago, General Tso said:

I'm thinking they need to draft a WR in round 1 regardless. Good thing there should be a lot of good ones this draft.

Oh, I don't doubt that. I'd pretty consistently mock them a receiver in the first.