2025 Offseason/Draft Thread

[tyler735]

After 7 straight losses, and our head coach getting fired, it feels like a good time to start looking towards the 2025 Offseason/NFL draft. With a new head coach coming in (wouldn't be surprised if we also had a new GM after the season as well), one would imagine there will be some pretty significant changes coming with our roster.

 

We currently have the 3rd overall pick, but this could drastically change in the coming weeks. I have a feeling whoever we bring in as a new head coach would like a chance to start fresh with a QB if we are in position to draft one of the top prospects. Making Carr essentially a bridge QB next season to play until a rookie QB is ready to take over. I don't think Haener/Rattler will sway a new regime from investing in a top QB prospect if the opportunity is there. The top 2 QB's in this class appear to be Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.

 

From what I've seen so far, I'd prefer Cam Ward. He can play in structure and gets through his reads quickly and can get the ball out on time for quick hitting routes. He also is excellent at making plays out of structure and can do all the things that are now becoming expected out of a top tier modern QB in terms of making plays with his legs and throwing from different arm angles. Can throw darts when he needs to in tight coverage and also does a good job of putting touch on the ball when he needs to. In terms of negatives, his throwing motion is a little funky and at times he can be a little spotty with his accuracy. Given his ability to make plays out of structure, he will make several "wow" type plays with this ability then will occasionally make a "head scratching" play throwing across his body or into a risky coverage. His ability to turn "would be" negative plays for many QB's into positive plays I think makes the risk of this playstyle worth it. 

 

People are saying this is a bad draft class to draft a QB. It's undoubtedly worse than last years draft class for QB's which was one of the best ever at least in terms of how they were viewed as prospects. However, from what I've seen (so far), I think I would put Cam Ward as the 3rd or 4th best QB prospect when comparing 2024/2025 QB classes. I'd definitely have Ward below Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels as a prospect. I wasn't nearly as high on Drake Maye as most were. I was very high on Michael Penix last year and thought he would get drafted much higher than where most had him. I view Cam Ward as a slightly better prospect than I did Michael Penix. In terms of overall ability I view them similarly, but Ward is a younger prospect and doesn't have the extensive injury history that Penix had.

 

I think adding another WR will also be a priority. Olave doesn't seem like a long term solution with his concussion history. Shaheed certainly can be a playmaker for the next few years. Bub Means flashed some potential, but not enough to count on him yet. Mason Tipton has been given chances this year, but has yet to do much with them. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to trading Olave for a day 2 draft pick and seeing if we could get make a separate trade in the works for Tee Higgins. We need some size in our WR room and Tee Higgins could definitely help us out in that area. Would also give us a quality plug and play WR opposite Shaheed for years to come. 

 

One silver lining is that I don't think our OL is in that bad of shape. Penning has been much better than I thought he would be. He needs to cut down on stupid penalties, but as a blocker I think he's shown enough growth to be a solid RT for us going forward. Fuaga looks like a legit talent at LT. McCoy is a top tier Center. Ruiz is a solid RG. Leaving LG as an area that could use improvement, though when healthy Patrick has been fine in that spot if need be. 

 

Our DL needs at least 1 more impact player. A top tier pass rusher would obviously be a step in the right direction. A replacement for Davis will also likely need to be drafted soon as he is no spring chicken anymore. I feel good about our depth at CB even if we get rid of Lattimore or Adebo. Safety could use another playmaker as well.   

[Mid Iowa]

Good stuff!

As far as HC goes, I don't really want us to look at anyone who has a "D" (as in defense) in the front of their title. We need - in my opinion - an offensive minded guy who can help guide the talent we do have, you know, the first two weeks talent. Someone who can help develop the young talent into key playmakers. Outside of Bill B., name a defensive minded coach who's crushing it right now. And Belichek needed Brady to get what he got. He was mediocre before Brady, and mediocre after. And Vrabel is barely over .500.

Ben Johnson is obviously a name getting thrown around quite a bit, and I like the thought there. Judging by the way the team has responded to Kubiak, I'm not too certain he's the answer either, but the poor leadership could have poisoned the waters for everyone at the trough. What if Johnson came in and managed to hire Robert Saleh as a DC!

Player wise; I know we're all sour on Carr. I get it. And... when the offense was healthy, he was a top tier QB.

I think bolstering the O-line and WR corps are imperative for this O. And get another RB that didn't come broken when the package was delivered.

Defense... Cam is done. He's averaged 1 tackle per game, and only 1 sack. Like Demario, who we all love, on the wrong side of 30, and it's showing. Hell, make Demario our new DC?

2 quality edge/end guys and some depth at Corner would be great.

The first two weeks showed us that there's some great play capable with this team. Sure, there are weak spots, but there's a lot of potential. The team just has to start believing again.

[Jlowe22]

I wouldnt worry about about Belichick, there's no way in hell he's dumb enough or desperate enough to take this job.  We'll probably have to take some young unproven guy, which is fine by me I actually prefer that.

[tyler735]

Looks like we've acquired a 3rd, 4th, and a 6th round pick for Lattimore and a 5th round pick. Overall pretty solid return and should free up some cap space in the future to help us rebuild on top of getting a couple extra draft picks. 

[Mid Iowa]

40 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

Looks like we've acquired a 3rd, 4th, and a 6th round pick for Lattimore and a 5th round pick. Overall pretty solid return and should free up some cap space in the future to help us rebuild on top of getting a couple extra draft picks. 

So we're finally stockpiling a few picks. I like it.

I got to thinking about our injuries. When people aren't focused (or are distracted), they don't use proper technique. I wonder if that's been a big part of our injury bug the past few years. We had uncertainty around our QB, then Head Coach, still Head Coach, among other things. These guys can't just focus on football when there's so much murky water surrounding them.

Anyway, sorry to see Lattimore go, and happy he's going... make sense?

[Mid Iowa]

Don't look now, but the Panthers have managed to gather 9 draft picks. We all know they're rebuilding, and I'm guessing they're going to be looking good in 2-3 years.
They also will have about $46mil cap space in 2025, with the majority of their cap hit going to the O&D Lines.

In some contrast, the Saints have 8 picks (1,2,3,3,4,4,6,6), which is great, but we're -$77mil in '25 cap space, with nearly 48% going to only 5 players, ALL 31+ YEARS OF AGE!!

Carr, 34 and 18.83%. Ramczyk, 31 and 10.64%. Cam J, 36 and 7.34%. Taysom, 35 and 6.58%. And Demario, 36 and 4.57%.

We are soooo screwed, and we can't keep kicking the Loomis can down the road. It's finally biting us in the arse, HARD!!!!

Ditch everyone mentioned above (I know it's not that easy) and keep:
McCoy, Ruiz, Granderson, Chase Young, Penning, Bresee, (total of about 21% of our cap) and a few more sprinkled in here and there, and let the rebuild begin!! 

Rizz can keep his HC job for 2 years during this time.

[Jlowe22]

7 hours ago, Mid Iowa said:

Don't look now, but the Panthers have managed to gather 9 draft picks. We all know they're rebuilding, and I'm guessing they're going to be looking good in 2-3 years.
They also will have about $46mil cap space in 2025, with the majority of their cap hit going to the O&D Lines.

In some contrast, the Saints have 8 picks (1,2,3,3,4,4,6,6), which is great, but we're -$77mil in '25 cap space, with nearly 48% going to only 5 players, ALL 31+ YEARS OF AGE!!

Carr, 34 and 18.83%. Ramczyk, 31 and 10.64%. Cam J, 36 and 7.34%. Taysom, 35 and 6.58%. And Demario, 36 and 4.57%.

We are soooo screwed, and we can't keep kicking the Loomis can down the road. It's finally biting us in the arse, HARD!!!!

 

They're going to have to kick the can down the road to some extent.  This is really bad, and we knew this cap hell era was always coming, we should have ripped the band aid off after Brees retired.  

[Mid Iowa]

6 hours ago, Jlowe22 said:

They're going to have to kick the can down the road to some extent.  This is really bad, and we knew this cap hell era was always coming, we should have ripped the band aid off after Brees retired.  

The QB battle will be interesting. 
The Panthers may or may not have their guy. The invested a lot to make Bryce Young happen, and with good surroundings, perhaps he's the guy.
Atlanta has their guy for a few more years, but they'll need to start thinking about Cousins' successor. So we'll be battling that.
I think Tampa found their guy. Mayfield could have another 5(ish) years with Tampa, so we shouldn't be battling that.

So, hopefully, we'll be chasing after our QBOF without battling our own division for a QB. If we can get out of our own way regarding cap - it's really only 5 players - I think we'll be back in tall cotton. Maybe in time to grab Manning?

[Raves]

I would talk to Carr about restructuring his contract into a bonus with the expectation that we cut him post-June 1st.  We get like 20 mil off the books, though we kick the ball down the road a little it's not like we have to worry about other big contracts coming up, and he gets more money than he would've if we just cut him.

I would then focus on spending this draft on the ensuring that the players that will be phased out due to age and ensuring the OL is going to be secure for the long term.  Getting weapons and a QB can be looked at later.

Players that will be phased out in the next 2-3 years being Davis, Mathieu, and Jordan on defense.  I think we'll look to keep Hill and Kamara around just so the offense can have some excitement while we also look for new weapons due to Olave's concussion issues.  It's almost to the point that I want to him to retire just like I want Tua to retire so they don't have worse issues down the road.

1) Mason Graham DT, Michigan - One of the best run defenders in college football and would be a good long-term pairing with Bresee.

2) Donovan Jackson OG, Ohio State - Would be a great fit at LG for the Saints which is his natural position at Ohio State but was also willing to kick out to LT just recently to improve the entire OL.  Not great at OT but was good enough with some scheming help to perform well vs Penn State.

[tyler735]

It's looking more and more like we might be playing ourselves out of contention for one of the top QB's in this draft class. Which honestly isn't the end of the world. What is very evident is we need to add 1 or 2 more playmakers in our WR/TE room. I'd venture to say we will be picking somewhere between picks 10-20 depending how things play out over the next several weeks. Guessing we won't be in contention to draft Tatairoa McMillan as he will likely be picked before we have a chance to get him.

A guy I'm really intrigued by is Tre Harris. He plays for Ole Miss and was absolutely dominating this season before missing the past couple games with a fairly minor leg injury. He is a 5th year senior and will be 23 by the time the draft roles around. That sort of thing really doesn't bother me, but does sometimes seem to push a player down a little bit in draft rankings. I'm hopeful that is enough to push him down to us wherever we are picking in the 1st round. He would provide some much needed size in our WR room and has all the traits you'd want in a prototypical #1 WR. He also is from Louisiana, which can't hurt. 

If we could pull off drafting Tre Harris and Harold Fannin at TE with our top 2 picks, our passing game would be insane with Shaheed, Olave and Kamara as well. 

[tyler735]

Another WR I’d love to see us draft is Savion Williams. He’s a bit of an under the radar prospect, but in terms of being an absolute freakish athlete at WR, few can compare with him. 6’4” 228lbs and has the versatility to play WR and RB. People his size should not be able to make the explosive cuts he does.

 

Edited November 19 by tyler735

[Raves]

Watching what you showed of Fannin he looks like a dynamic receiving threat, I still prefer Tyler Warren due to the extra size and his versatility to be used in various positions but I don't think it'd be a wrong choice either way.

Also we 100% need to stay away from Ohio State CBs this year.  Burke regressed quite a bit and Igbinosun is a literal coin flip whenever he's targetted on if he's going to make an amazing play or get called for pass interference which although it doesn't hurt much in college, being a spot foul in the NFL will leads to us all pulling our hair out. I think going after someone like Donovan Jackson from Ohio State wouldn't be bad to play LG with the ability to move outside in emergency situations with a TE to help him out. 

[tyler735]

I would say Fannin also offers similar versatility to Tyler Warren as he's also able to run the ball and lineup in the backfield as well. Fannin isn't really a threat to throw the ball, but I honestly don't see Warren being much of a threat to do so either in the NFL even if he has a few times in college. It's not like Taysom Hill where he was legitimately a QB in college that transitioned to other positions once he got to the NFL. Another huge thing with Fannin is he has excellent hands. Fannin has just 2 drops on 171 targets.