BeenPounding

How good would the Colts have been if they traded for Bryce. Richardson is wasting a good line and quality receivers.

Remember our cap only counts the highest 51 contracts. Many of these guys could be had for near or vet minimum contracts. Cutting those contracts has no real cap ramifications. Many of these guys played too much last year and didn't serve the role of depth players. Even though they didn't perform as starters, they could serve a valuable depth pieces. If we draft well, get healthy, and sign a few quality free agents, many would be in position to play a part of this team that serves both well. Take a look at this link and you will see some interesting stats in regard to playing time. FYI, Xavier Woods played 100% and Mike Jackson played nearly 99% of defensive snaps. They were the only two players above 95%. Hunt was the next highest at 93% and he missed the final game. Unrestricted FA's QB Andy Dalton - I like him, but we could get someone like Cooper Rush or Minshew for the same $$$$ we are paying him. C Austin Corbett - Incentive laden and team friendly C Brady Christensen - top swing OL pay replace Yosh Nijman TE Tommy Tremble - Lock him up now, multi-year cheap. He's not even 25. He will get much better. TE Ian Thomas TE Feleipe Franks - ST minimum deal WR David Moore - minimum deal RB Mike Boone DE DeShawn Williams - minimum deal (PS?) OLB Cam Gill LB Shaq Thompson - only if it is a minimum with incentives. Think late career TD or Jeremiah Trotter. Player coach CB Mike Jackson - He's going to cost more than we think, but keep the man!! CB Caleb Farley - minimum deal to prove it if he is FINALLY healthy S Xavier Woods S Jordan Fuller S Nick Scott S Sam Franklin - not breaking the bank. He is ST only. S Lonnie Johnson P Johnny Hekker - if the price is right K Eddy Piñeiro LS JJ Jansen - Can't remember a bad snap over the past 10 years. According to Google is hasn't happened since 2010. Resign tomorrow. RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS C Cade Mays - 3 million right of first refusal. WR Deven Thompkins - minimum deal RB Raheem Blackshear - minimum deal. I like him, but he didn't show much when given his shot on offense. WR Velus Jones Jr. WR Dan Chisena - minimum (PS) EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS DE LaBryan Ray - It's cheap, bottom roster PS guy LB Chandler Wooten - It's cheap, bottom roster PS guy

Corbett knows he needs to take a prove it deal and I think he will. I watched an interview and he was convincingly adamant he wants to stay. Two different injuries in two years was bad luck. It's not like it was the same thing. He knows the game and figures to end his career in a place where he is happy. You can't really compare how Bryce did with Mays compared to AC. AC was hurt week 5. Bryce was on the bench after week 2 and didn't return until week 8. Mays is basically under team control next year as a RFA. We could offer the right of first refusal for 3m. I'd offer a 2 year deal which averages a little higher so you can manipulate the cap on his deal. Additionally, I'd resign Corbett to a team friendly deal. Many forget he has positional versatility like BC. Corbett is only one year older, is two inches shorter, about 10 pounds heavier, and has arms that are one inch longer. Corbett has played LT in college and guard/center in the NFL. Ideally, bring back all three, but if BC gets big time $$$ AC and CM can battle for center and the other becomes a swing lineman. If we cut bait on Yosh Nijman we may be able to keep all three. I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat.

The more I mock, the more I want to trade back. If we could move to the mid to late teens and pick up an additional 2nd round pick I'd pounce. We need to get the interior DL and our ILB's fixed. WR would be a luxury pick this year. If we got another 2nd round pick I would look at WR Elic Ayomanor, that kid can play. However our needs in the middle of the defense are paramount. Our pass rush was really hurt because the run defense up the middle and between the tackles was SAWFT. I like a lot of the TE's in this draft as good role players. Late in the draft we need to look at Mitchel Evans from ND. Solid over the middle and he can block.

After watching last night's game, would anyone be opposed to drafting both Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton (3rd - 4th round pick?)? He looked solid all game too.

Remember when BC and Austin Corbet got hurt in the last 2 games of the season and how bad it fugged us going forward??? Right call. This will keep us near the top 6-7 picks in the draft. Carter, Graham, or trade back for a haul.

THIS is the stuff that goes unnoticed by "fans" who don't understand how to build a team and build a culture. You can't just buy it. Not many teams have won consistently by free agency alone. Remember the Philadelphia "dream team"? How many time have the Dolphins won the free agency Olympics? Pats, Chiefs, Bills, Lions, 49'ers all have built culture through drafting THEN selective free agency signings.

I could see a few reasons for the move: 1. Icky is just coming back from being out 2 weeks. BC had been replacing him at LT and Mayes has done a fine job at center. IF Icky has to come out, sliding BC in at LT again keeps continuity. 2. The odds of us resigning Mayes at a cheap(er) rate is much higher than retaining BC. TBH I don't think anyone truly knows what BC's market will be next season. We have roughly 12-13 million of cap space opening up if we let go of Yosh and Corbett. (4 mil and over 8 mill respectively) If we can retain both Mayes and BC for that amount I'd be ecstatic. I'd still draft a developmental swing tackle from a power 5 conference.

I really liked his measurables and potential, but that type of thinking is what has us in the crapper. I looked at his game logs from this year and last. Every time he faces a big time school his numbers are bad. Now the tight end #44 Warren.... that guy would be a perfect addition.

Can we MAYBE focus on some positive..... Brady Christensen, in my opinion, is certainly a key player we need to retain at the end of the season. He is the perfect 6th offensive lineman. He needs to be paid as a top back-up lineman after the season. The guy is so solid and versatile. Anyone else agree? What's the over/under before this post tailspins into the negative?

Could we have the patience to let him sit for a year, maybe year and a half?

You start Dalton for the rest of the year. Everyone is arguing Bryce vs Dalton, but here is my argument. If you have decided that Bryce isn't it, and we have. XL, Coaker, Sanders, and Mingo will not improve more learning along with Bryce's mistakes. While Dalton is old, he is experienced and reliable. He is the new Fitzmagic. Fitzy was 39 when he retired. If he isn't interested go after Gardner Minshew or Jamis Winston. Shoot, you never know, maybe fixed Sam Darnold could be in play. (not really) We have been on a run of red-headed QB's! Trade back from number 1, collect an extra 2nd round pick and grab Drew Allar or even Connor Weigman and have him sit a year or two. Build the defense in FA and the draft. Getting DB back, adding a stud EDGE from the draft and FA depth signings need to happen before we think QB. BC isn't looking half bad at center, AC may want to come back at a discount. I've decided that Icky plays better everyone not named Bryce Young. OL is pretty solid. Got to look for Moten's replacement in the late rounds.

QB play across the League is garbage. Development at the college level is not pro-ready. It's going to take a few years before we see the likes of a draft with (2004) Rivers, Big Ben, Eli, followed by (2005) Rogers, Alex Smith, Fitzmagic, Cassel, Orton, then Romo came out of no where in 2006. We need to build up the entire team so we can fix someone another team lost patience with.

I wonder what the penalty is if we eat 75% of the remaining salary for this season. Would that help us in regards to dead cap? IF that is the case I'd still do it. A sunk cost is a sunk cost. Freeing up $$$ for the future is where it's at.

Call me crazy, but so far Tepper has stayed to the side, our draft is looking promising, and if we hadn't been cursed with injuries we would be in a MUCH better spot. Things are better than last year, period. DC had the stones to end the BY disaster when it needed to be ended. Even if BY ends up starting again at the end of the year, DC showed no one is above the team. Pete Carroll was an extremely underappreciated coach. If the Seahawks weren't such a rival to us back in the day maybe more of us would share that opinion. We are headed in the correct direction. Buffalo, Detroit, Washington, even San Fran had extended periods of struggle before they figured it out. I'd put DC ahead of many of the coaches most of those teams had during their struggles. DC and DM being able to pick their own defensive coordinator might be the missing link for full alignment of the team vision. My 2 cents....

Could this be a sign of Dane Jackson and Caleb Fareley being elevated?

Again, we are down 7 defensive starters, AT, AC, Moten, and are rolling out a 37 year old QB. If were were strength we would be considerably better. There is more here now than last year. The coaching was abysmal last year, and all other times except when Wilkes was in charge. We are going to turn the corner. We may not be the next coming of the Chiefs, but I could see us being close to .500 next year if we are lucky in regards to the injury bug.

If you add Derek Brown, Jordan Fuller, Shaq, a rookie EDGE, and more LB depth via free agency, you could have a MUCH improved defense. The offense is nearly there. You can't go back to Darnold who is going to command 30M +. I'd try to resign Dalton if he is affordable, maybe kick the tires on Minshew who will certainly be released from the Raiders, and draft a QB in rd 2/3 to develop. (Jackson Dart / Garrett Nussimer / Miller Moss ) If we can draft starter quality DT, EDGE, and back up LB's, we will be all right. Resign D. Johnson too, 3 year deal with an out after 2.

I would keep him where he is at for now and pick up his 5th year option. After next season identify a draft pick that can compete with him for his job or Moten's. The kid is only 23. Winner get's LT, loser to RT. Too much potential to give up on him. Worst case, bump him inside after Lewis's contract expires.

Legit, that may be the future with the way football is coached from HS through college. Try to get a 4-3 style front with solid MLB's then fill in with a mixture of speedy CB's and LB/safety style players. I really can't take an offense to anything we do at this point. We are ravaged by injury. By far, the worst injury situation in the league. We have lost a laundry list of starters, not just depth to injury. The only other teams that are close are TB and SF. Proof = https://www.espn.com/nfl/injuries

After the shock, let's think about this pragmatically. He has two years of guaranteed salary and significant draft capital invested in his acquisition. The only hope of saving his career is to sit him down. We have invested a 2023 2nd round picks and a 2024 1st round pick at the WR spot, we have a possible steal with our 2024 4th round pick at TE, and have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the OL. The development of the team cannot trump one player. I'm pretty sure DC has a plan to help him. If it means that he is with the QB coach cleaning up footwork or even getting practice reps that will build his confidence back up at a slower pace, do it. Benching Young doesn't necessarily mean throwing him aside, but it also means he is no longer immune to competition. If Dalton holds the job, which I feel he will, Bryce's reaction to the demotion will be the determining factor for his future. If he is cut loose after the season you know that there were some serious behind the scene issues. Tom Brady elaborated on the current development of QB's recently and is SPOT ON. Pat Mahomes and Jordan Love sat and learned. Gardner Minshew, Baker, and even Sam Darnold took time to recover from youth, lack of development, and poor situations. He can work his way back, but I think we need a veteran for the rest of this year and to push him next year.

We should trade Bryce to Denver in exchange for Zach Wilson. Not that there is hope for either, but why not trade out one busted former top pick for another? Might be the best for both sides. I really don't want to see Dalton get hurt and we are right back at square 1.

Bryce was a mess yesterday...I PRAY it was a one off, but..... we all likely know better. On defense, we basically just swapped our strength for our weakness last year. Last year we were horrible stopping the run up the middle. Last game, they attacked the edge. Welp... Growth, I'm watching for nothing but growth. That is the victory this year.

Things I noticed..... We need a nose tackle. Move Shy into DB's spot and sign Justin Rogers off the Bengals practice squad. 6'2 335lbs. At least he eats up space. https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/4692185/justin-rogers We need more OLB help... I'm calling both Marquis Haynes and Julian Okwara to see if they'd want to go up to the active roster for 4 games. Our TE depth is depleted. We need a guy who knows's the system and who can block. I'm calling Jacob Hollister back or calling Geoff Swaim. Icky clearly needs someone to chip or help block. Additionally, I will not make Miles Sanders active if he doesn't start running north and south. Give me Boone or Dillon Johnson all day over him.

Lonnie Johnson is an upgrade over Keenan Isaac. I'm surprised they went with Franks over Jacob Hollister. Hopefully Franks knows how to block.