Mock Offseason (updated 2/14)

[Icege]

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[Hoenheim]

That's not too bad. I'm kinda wincing at the DT in the 1st after Vernon in 2016 so I'd hope to God he would actually be good. We've missed on way too many Dline picks in the last few drafts and its really contributed to how bad its been this year. 

I totally agree we need to spend money on both a high quality  Dline and a good Oline player this off-season, we have to find a way to make it work cap wise.  We are in horrible dire need of a premium pass rusher and I would not mind paying out the ass for one if he's good. 

Another thing I don't like about your draft is trading up for Austin Bryant. That is very reminiscent of Gettleman trading up for Ealy and D.Hall in fairly recent years. I'm really not sure about hardly any of these DEs besides Bosa and Gary who will be long gone by the time we pick. 

[Icege]

6 hours ago, Hoenheim said:

That's not too bad. I'm kinda wincing at the DT in the 1st after Vernon in 2016 so I'd hope to God he would actually be good. We've missed on way too many Dline picks in the last few drafts and its really contributed to how bad its been this year. 

I totally agree we need to spend money on both a high quality  Dline and a good Oline player this off-season, we have to find a way to make it work cap wise.  We are in horrible dire need of a premium pass rusher and I would not mind paying out the ass for one if he's good. 

Another thing I don't like about your draft is trading up for Austin Bryant. That is very reminiscent of Gettleman trading up for Ealy and D.Hall in fairly recent years. I'm really not sure about hardly any of these DEs besides Bosa and Gary who will be long gone by the time we pick. 

I can definitely understand the hesitation over DT after 2016, especially with needs at DE. However, we also double dipped on Star & KK to tremendous results. My hope is that by clearing up money for Poe and replacing him with the NT on the #1 college team in the country will help us. Lawrence has xp in a 4-3 and the size to allow us to show more 3-4 looks while freeing up $6M.

Hurney also traded up for Brown and Haynes, so again, totally understandable the hesitation on moving up. However, I would like to think of this more in the vein of trading up for Daryl Williams and Taylor Moton. It could give us a guy who was the least talented on the most talented DL, but still produced. Bryant I think would provide a Charles Johnson-esque type of player in terms of development and long term production.

[Icege]

Insert intro to be ignored here.

CUT
Matt Kalil, LT (post-6/1, $7M)
Dontari Poe, DT (post-6/1, $6M)
Mario Addison ($7.25M)
Captain Munnerlyn ($2M)
Ross Cockrell ($2.5M)
Da'Norris Searcy ($2M)
Torrey Smith ($5M)

Time to free up some money! Also: potentially restructure Kuechly and pay him his base salary, pushing it back the next two seasons to free up an additional $10M and make some bigger splashes in free agency. Maybe for the post-Super Bowl version of this mock.

SIGN
Jadaveon Clowney, EDGE ($14M)
Daryl Williams, RT ($8M)
Eric Reid, S ($4M)
Ryan Fitzpatrick ($3M)
Matt Paradis, C ($7M)
Kyle Love, DT* 
Bryan Cox Jr, DE*
Damiere Byrd, WR*
David Mayo, LB*
Justin Hardy, WR*
B.W. Webb, CB*
Chris Mahertz, TE (Signed)*
Efe Obada (Signed)*

* == Combined cap hit: $10M - $12M

I also considered Alfred Morris or Doug Martin to provide a powerback, but like the idea of filling that role with a UDFA instead for cheaper. Also for consideration: Ramon Foster.

Draft
1. Dexter Lawrence, DT, Clemson
2. Chris Lindstrom, OG, Boston College
3. Jaquan Johnson, FS, Miami
3. Austin Bryant, DE, Clemson
4. TRADE UP IN 3rd for Bryant
5. Bryce Love, RB, Stanford
6. TRADE UP IN 5th for Love

Dexter Lawrence, in my opinion, provides us both a NT to replace Poe at a much cheaper cost as well as the flexibility to shift seamlessly between a 4-3 front (Lawrence, Short, Clowney) and a 3-4 front (Butler, Lawrence, Short w/ Clowney as the Joker/Panther? OLB). I've had a man crush on Michael Deiter, but now I am all in on Lindstrom who proved to be the best OL at the Senior Bowl. Moton/Lindstrom/Palardis/Turner/Williams would look pretty damn good walking into next season, especially with Van Roten and Larsen providing depth along the interior. Depth for OT would be questionable, but hey, maybe Isaiah Battle figures it out? Johnson is a ball hawk that allows Reid to roam in the box where he belongs, providing better defensive scheme flexibility since we'll have a true center fielder 20yds back. Bryant could end up being the new CJ, which I think we can all agree worked out for the team (regardless of whether or not you agree with that Big Money contract). It also provides us some lifeblood on the edge should the 4-3 base be retained (I don't think the team is looking for a full conversion as much as they are the personnel to move between the two seamlessly with the understanding that some players will fit certain packages but not the rest. Finally, the Bryce Love pick is a late luxury pick as he tore his ACL at the end of his season. However, the team has shown a reliance on CMC and providing Love would give somebody that while not as talented at the very least allows the team to continue to operate much the same. My only regret, however, is not walking away with a center for the future and instead banking on a multi-year contract to Paradis.

UDFA
Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson
Jacques Patrick, RB, Florida St
Matt Sokol, TE, Michigan St

I think that Renfrow has worked himself into a draftable position, but if not, it gives him an opportunity to be close to home and for the team to have a developmental ST guy that can also come in and be a clutch 3rd down WR that just gets open. Patrick is a big boi that can take the powerback duty off of Cam's shoulder(s) while allowing CMC to breathe rather than run headfirst into over 1000lbs collapsing on him. Sokol is also a potential blocking TE depth option for when Manhertz's 2yr deal expires. I'm not certain yet on some of the lower ranked prospects, but expect to become more familiar as the process moves along.

Roster
QB: Newton, Fitzpatrick
RB: McCaffrey, Love, Patrick, Armah
WR: Moore, Samuel, Wright, Hardy, Byrd, Renfrow
TE: Olsen, Thomas, Manhertz
OL: Moton, Lindstrom, Paradis, Turner, Williams, Van Roten, Larsen, Mahon, Battle
ST: Gano, Jansen, Nortman
DL: Short, Lawrence, Love, Butler, Bryant, Obada, Cox Jr
LB: Kuechly, Thompson, Carter Jr, Smith, Mayo, Clowney, Haynes, ??, ??
CB: Bradberry, Jackson, Doss, Elder, Luke, Webb
S: Reid, Johnson, Gaulden, Parms

I'm not sold on the final roster here, but at the very least have a base to work from. Still need 2 LBs for depth, but at this point I would just be throwing names at the wall to see what sticks.

[Shocker]

I would bust a nut if that happened, good job man!

[Panthers8969]

Why are we cutting Addison? And good luck getting clowny. Guaranteed to be tagged or resign long term 

[Icege]

12 hours ago, Panthers8969 said:

Why are we cutting Addison? And good luck getting clowny. Guaranteed to be tagged or resign long term 

The money that it would free up (which is cited next to his name).

Clowney being franchised is going to open up a can of worms whether to pay him as a DE or OLB (ie: Jimmy Graham). I mean, I have seen folks say that we should sign Landon Collins like the Giants are gonna let him walk. It's a mock offseason?

[Panthers8969]

2 hours ago, Icege said:

The money that it would free up (which is cited next to his name).

Clowney being franchised is going to open up a can of worms whether to pay him as a DE or OLB (ie: Jimmy Graham). I mean, I have seen folks say that we should sign Landon Collins like the Giants are gonna let him walk. It's a mock offseason?

So just cut anyone who makes a lot? Addison had 9 sacks. Cutting him to save 7m would be an awful move and it’s not happening 

As for clowney. I don’t get you’re point. Whether he’s tagged as a DE or OLB is irrelevant. Texans aren’t letting him go

[Icege]

4 hours ago, Panthers8969 said:

So just cut anyone who makes a lot? Addison had 9 sacks. Cutting him to save 7m would be an awful move and it’s not happening 

As for clowney. I don’t get you’re point. Whether he’s tagged as a DE or OLB is irrelevant. Texans aren’t letting him go

Addison did not produce to the level of his paycheck, and by releasing him along with Kalil, Poe, and Smith it opens up over 25M in cap space to go out and bring in better options. I think that Clowney, Moton, Lawrence, and Samuel are much, much better options in those positions as well.

Whether he is tagged as an LB or a DE is huge because it directly effects his pay and whether or not he will sign the franchise tag.

[Panthers8969]

29 minutes ago, Icege said:

Addison did not produce to the level of his paycheck, and by releasing him along with Kalil, Poe, and Smith it opens up over 25M in cap space to go out and bring in better options. I think that Clowney, Moton, Lawrence, and Samuel are much, much better options in those positions as well.

Whether he is tagged as an LB or a DE is huge because it directly effects his pay and whether or not he will sign the franchise tag.

I would not certainly not group Addison in with kalil Poe and Smith. That’s pretty disrespectful 

 

ill just drop the clowney thing. Doesn’t seem to be going anywhere 

[Panthers8969]

I’ll also add that one of the FS (earl thomas would be nasty and should be discounted coming off injury) would be a good alternative as again I don’t think we have a shot at one of the top pass rushers. I also don’t see the point of drafting another LB late in the draft when we do that basically every year. Let’s give some of the guys already on the team a chance. I’m also against spending anymore resources on a DT, but if we can actually save 6m cutting poe it would make sense(obligated to say fug butler I’ve hated that pick since day 1) as Poe was a huge bust. Need to look at OL in FA as well in addition to early in the draft and then of course DE early rounds as well

[Icege]

2 hours ago, Panthers8969 said:

I would not certainly not group Addison in with kalil Poe and Smith. That’s pretty disrespectful 

 

ill just drop the clowney thing. Doesn’t seem to be going anywhere 

It's just business. Addison did not produce to the price of his contract and is on the final year of it iirc. Do you think that he is better than Clowney for a hybrid defense?

1 hour ago, Panthers8969 said:

I’ll also add that one of the FS (earl thomas would be nasty and should be discounted coming off injury) would be a good alternative as again I don’t think we have a shot at one of the top pass rushers. I also don’t see the point of drafting another LB late in the draft when we do that basically every year. Let’s give some of the guys already on the team a chance. I’m also against spending anymore resources on a DT, but if we can actually save 6m cutting poe it would make sense(obligated to say fug butler I’ve hated that pick since day 1) as Poe was a huge bust. Need to look at OL in FA as well in addition to early in the draft and then of course DE early rounds as well

Our current LBs are Kuechly, Thompson, Carter Jr, and Smith. We have typically kept 7 and will likely still do so at the very least if using more 3-4 looks. Drafting one guy late as depth for development in the 5th rd is pretty good value. There also aren't a lot of prospects outside of Mark Fields that I'd target in the 5th, but I've got enough Clemson dudes being mocked. FS options are there for sure, but I'm high on Jaquan Johnson and could see him starting next to Reid.

Poe frees up $6M on the dot. Lawrence is a behemoth and shouldn't have Butler's failures held against him as neither have anything to do with each other other than being defensive linemen.

[Panthers8969]

1 minute ago, Icege said:

It's just business. Addison did not produce to the price of his contract and is on the final year of it iirc. Do you think that he is better than Clowney for a hybrid defense?

Our current LBs are Kuechly, Thompson, Carter Jr, and Smith. We have typically kept 7 and will likely still do so at the very least if using more 3-4 looks. Drafting one guy late as depth for development in the 5th rd is pretty good value. There also aren't a lot of prospects outside of Mark Fields that I'd target in the 5th, but I've got enough Clemson dudes being mocked. FS options are there.

Poe frees up $6M on the dot. Lawrence is a behemoth and shouldn't have Butler's failures held against him as neither have anything to do with each other other than being defensive linemen.

Didn’t realize we lost 3 lbs this offseason lol. Fair enough. Carter jr and smith seem like solid depth to me. Will be keeping an eye on them come TC. And I do like Lawrence. Lots of good DTs this clas for sure. If we cut Poe I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Just still so pissed about butler 

[Icege]

Not a full update yet, but just wanted to churn out my latest mock draft.

 

1. Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
2. Erik McCoy, C, Texas A&M
3. Jaquan Johnson, FS, Miami
3. Max Scharping, OT, Northern Illinois
4. Bryce Love, RB, Stanford
5. Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson
6. Deshaun Davis, ILB, Auburn

Only difference between my post and pre combine mocks are that I had Renfrow in the 4th and Love in the 5th (swapped them post-combine) and I had Garrett Bradbury in rd2 (who is likely now going in the 1st, but I'm high on Erik McCoy)