New and Improved Free Agency Discussion and News Mega-Thread

[BeerBaron]

Originally Posted by Unbiased

Lee Evans visiting Jacksonville today.

Lee Evans and Laurent Robinson. No way that can fail!

[Jvig43]

APS does not know what he speaks of if he thinks there is anything to be excited about in Pees.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by bigbluedefense

The AFC as a whole is looking pretty weak right now. Who is the front runner coming out of the AFC?

There isn't a single dominant team in the conference right now. Maybe the Steelers or Ravens if they can squeeze another year out of their veterans, and the Pats if they can develop a defense but other than those remote possibilities, the whole conference is wide open.

Losing Ryans is huge for Houston, but I still think they have the pieces to field a pretty darn good defense. Their offense should be even better next year if their replacement at RT is serviceable. Right now I think that Houston and New England are the front runners in the AFC and probably two of the better teams regardless of conference. People might think I'm a homer for including NE, but the defense can't get any worse than it was last year and the offense have addressed the problem at wideout so the offense should be even more explosive. Look for NE to improve the quality and depth on the interior OL in the draft plus drafting a safety and a pass rusher. Barring injuries, these two teams are my current favorites for the AFC.

[GaMeTiMe]

Originally Posted by bigbluedefense

Ryans is terribly overrated. He loves making tackles 5 yards beyond the LOS.

Houston realized they gave an average LB a huge contract and dumped it on someone else. Good trade for Houston.

Bad trade for Philly. If they think Ryans is going to come in and thump inside and stuff the run for them, they have another thing coming. I really hope this means they don't draft Luke, bc that would be fantastic.

It's not as one-sided as you make it, but definitely not a good deal. I guess we liked him that much more than Hawthorne to give up a pick and move down in the 3rd, but I'm not sure he's going to stay here long-term under that deal, and if true whether he'd restructure sooner than later remains to be seen. After passing on both a long-term commitment for Tulloch and a bidding war with Tampa for Lofton I don't think giving up draft picks and still paying a premium salary is what they intend on doing here. At the same time this regime can't identify talent at the LB position and has loved Ryans for years, not saying he isn't a talent but there are enough strikes against them where they could just be in love with this move and expect the world out of it when they clearly won't be getting that.

I guess we'll have to wait to see what Lofton gets paid, but he's not a 3-down player and that's a big factor in all of this.

Ryans probably won't be a top-10 ILB but he's back at 4-3 MLB where he belongs and spent most of last year getting back to speed physically, we'll just have to see how the wide-9 works out for him.

And yeah, it means we probably won't draft Kuechly. We needed a FA LB all along, and LB is still probably our biggest need but it's unlikely to be our first-round pick.

[Unbiased]

Never said it was good or bad, just passing along info.

[A Perfect Score]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

People are going to call us crazy but I would not be shocked to see a down year, possibly .500 season by the Ravens next year. They're getting older in some key areas, don't seem to have the youth waiting in the wings to replace it on hand, have replaced an aggressive d-coordinator with a very conservative one, have a head coach who defers everything to his crappy coordinators, Cam Cameron, Joe Flacco, Ray Rice will probably hold out up until the season starts at least so look for him to be sluggish after missing camp....

And it's sad because the Ravens would be poised to take over that division completely with the Steelers also in relative decline. (Also considering Cincy has no idea how to use cap space and will probably squander their two firsts and the Browns....they're the Browns.)

Unfortunate. It'll be sad to see Ray and Reed go out like that. Suggs will have the last few years of his prime wasted...

Honestly, our offseason could have gone so much differently and I think we could have made a really strong run next year had the organization not been ******* ********. Drop Cameron immediately, bring in Hue Jackson to replace him. Jackson has a history here and Flacco enjoyed working with him immensely. Instead of looking to promote Pees, maybe bring back a Mike Nolan or Jack Del Rio who offer the attacking style defense we're so accustomed for. In two moves, coaching staff could have been fixed instead of being one of the weaker aspects of our team.

Immediately releasing McKinnie, Evans, Foxworth and Carr would have cleared enough room to retain Grubbs, especially after losing Birk as well. Shift Oher back to LT (I don't care what anyone says, he was better then McKinnie there) and start Jah Reid at RT. Bring back Andre Gurode as a serviceable starter, and then you've got Oher - Grubbs - Gurode - Yanda - Reid along the offensive line, which looks a hell of a lot better to me then McKinnie - LG - Birk - Yanda - Oher. Oh look, another improvement on the offseason.

Letting Johnson walk was probably inevitable to resign Grubbs, but I think we probably could have resigned Corey Redding, giving us more depth along the defensive line. He was a very good starter for us the last few seasons. I'd probably look to improve that other OLB spot in the draft, along with ILB. I would have tried to retain Zbi as well, but Im assuming he wants a chance to start and that's fine.

Seriously though, this organization has made some really crucial mistakes this offseason. You're right BB, I wouldn't be shocked to see 8-8 next year. Personally, I would have told Flacco and his agent to go **** themselves with that "Top 5 QB" ********. He's set to make 8 million next year, and that's about all he's worth IMO.

[killxswitch]

Originally Posted by cmarq83

Kuechly is a prototypical LB. He can easily play any of the 3 linebacker positions in a 4-3, and would excel at all of them.

But you don't spend a high pick on a 4-3 OLB.

[H.O.O.D]

Originally Posted by gpngc

Why the hell would they take Kuechly? Both guys are prototypical Mikes and they just spent a 4th and big money on Ryans. There is a 0% chance they take Kuechly.

I think Ryans to the Eagles is a HUGE move. His leadership will also immensely help the run defense.

Both could play the WILL spot and would be upgrades over Chaney, Matthews and Fokou. Ryans also can play SAM in a pinch.

[H.O.O.D]

Originally Posted by killxswitch

But you don't spend a high pick on a 4-3 OLB.

Teams do it all the time. And they will continue to do it.

[cmarq83]

Originally Posted by killxswitch

But you don't spend a high pick on a 4-3 OLB.

It's hardly that cut and dry. There are like a half dozen positions that you could say that about, and at the end of the day people still pick those positions high because you can't continuously reach for bad prospects and pass up good players at positions you need. Kuechly is probably the best LB prospect since Willis, and if he turns out as good as a guy like Briggs or Derrick Brooks you've made a good pick. Plus, look at a team like Houston, they picked up Cushing to play OLB in their 4-3 a few years ago at pick 15. He was DPOY his first season, and when they switched to a 3-4 he was able to go right into the middle. That's was certainly a better pick then going after a guy at a premium position who didn't warrant that draft slot like Larry English or Robert Ayers.

[gpngc]

I don't think Andy Reid, who has never valued LBs, would spend a 1st, 4th, a few spots in the 3rd, and a boatload of money on two 4-3 LBs in one offseason. I guess it could happen. And I think Kuechly is a Mike through-and-through and will be drafted as such.

[killxswitch]

Originally Posted by H.O.O.D

Teams do it all the time. And they will continue to do it.

I don't count Von Miller, he is a pass rusher that happens to play LB.

I also should've re-checked the Eagles' pick. They draft 15, which isn't that high. I thought they were higher up than that.

I still doubt they'll take Keuchly.

[brat316]

its has been an Eagles signature move to devalue the Lb position, have good Dline and secondary the rest will solve it self. I think its about time to invest a little more than the usual, but they probably won't.

[cmarq83]

Originally Posted by killxswitch

I don't count Von Miller, he is a pass rusher that happens to play LB.

I also should've re-checked the Eagles' pick. They draft 15, which isn't that high. I thought they were higher up than that.

I still doubt they'll take Keuchly.

I don't really think so either because of the management, but it would probably be the best pick they could make considering the prospect/need match.

[H.O.O.D]

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't think Andy Reid, who has never valued LBs, would spend a 1st, 4th, a few spots in the 3rd, and a boatload of money on two 4-3 LBs in one offseason. I guess it could happen. And I think Kuechly is a Mike through-and-through and will be drafted as such.

His best fit is at MIKE and although they stated Ryans would play MIKE he could shift outside to SAM or WILL.

Like I said they probably won't but they should.

[BeerBaron]

The SHOULD stop running that stupid scheme in the first place. Hey, I have an idea, let's spread our defensive lineman waaaaaay out wide! No way that will hurt our run defense and expose our linebackers!

[H.O.O.D]

Originally Posted by killxswitch

I don't count Von Miller, he is a pass rusher that happens to play LB.

I also should've re-checked the Eagles' pick. They draft 15, which isn't that high. I thought they were higher up than that.

I still doubt they'll take Keuchly.

I never mentioned Von Miller. But Brian Cushing is a great example, and he was drafted to play SAM at 19.

[draftguru151]

Originally Posted by vidae

I hope someone took all the sharp objects out of your house.

I do not. :D

[TACKLE]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

The SHOULD stop running that stupid scheme in the first place. Hey, I have an idea, let's spread our defensive lineman waaaaaay out wide! No way that will hurt our run defense and expose our linebackers!

or

Hey, I have an idea, let's lead the NFL in sacks, have the best pass rush in the league while still only rush 4 almost all of the time.

[BeerBaron]

Originally Posted by TACKLE

or

Hey, I have an idea, let's lead the NFL in sacks, have the best pass rush in the league while still only rush 4 almost all of the time.

Effective for a .500 record if that floats your boat.

[killxswitch]

Originally Posted by H.O.O.D

I never mentioned Von Miller. But Brian Cushing is a great example, and he was drafted to play SAM at 19.

I know, but he is the best example of a 4-3 OLB taken early, and I wanted to explain that I don't mean pass rushers. Cushing at 19 was not an "early" pick by my definition of early. I admittedly did a very bad job of articulating my point.

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

Effective for a .500 record if that floats your boat.

Getting Aso back and having NFL-caliber LBs will probably help with that.

[BeerBaron]

When was Aso gone long enough to qualify as coming "back?" They forced him to move around and play zones which he was grossly unsuited to do.

I've already said that I think the Eagles will have a rebound year next year and could easily win that division. I still think the wide 9 is stupid as hell though.

[killxswitch]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

When was Aso gone long enough to qualify as coming "back?" They forced him to move around and play zones which he was grossly unsuited to do.

Dammit I suck today. I thought he got hurt early and missed time.

[GaMeTiMe]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

Effective for a .500 record if that floats your boat.

Because the LBs were so bad, lol.

It was a bit redundant to run that scheme with such bad LBs, but they weren't going to turn down Washburn last off-season and/or ditch his scheme in-season, and still won't now in the second year. It obviously worked for our pass-rush, and we'll only be adding Graham so hopefully it at least remains solid, but it's not the system. I get why people trash it because it has it's flaws but this team is equipped with the rushers to potentially run it flawlessly.

That being said, again the LBs still need a bit of improvement. The starters right now would be Rolle/Ryans/Chaney and it's more than possible those remain the starters going into next year, but Fokou needs some serious competition for that 4th spot from a guy who can obviously play either OLB spot and seriously push the starters, and that would preferably be a 2nd or early-3rd day pick. Guys like Akeem Jordan and Casey Matthews can then go from being counted on to start at times to pure depth


While the starters are probably set in the minds that matter most, Andy has done a few out of character things lately that he was infamous for not doing in the past. LB was not always the only position we didn't take in the 1st - WR was too. While DeSean was a steal in the 2nd we followed that up the next year by taking Maclin in the 1st, our first 1st rd WR since Freddie Mitchell. This was after rolling with Pinkston/Thrash all those pre-TO years, then guys like Reggie Brown, Stallworth and Kevin Curtis post-TO.

We've also shown a lot more of a commitment to the running game, even if out of the shotgun, something Andy was heavily criticized for for years. I know it's mainly because we have McCoy, but Westbrook could've been featured similarly in the past.


With his job on the line now and LB still the big ugly zit remaining on the team's forehead nothing can really be counted out, but I'd still guess 2nd/3rd earliest.

[703SKINS202]

This is probably just recency effect but I can't remember a crazier or more eventful offseason.