richard pallo

Is trading up in the 1st rd a possibility given your current draft position?

Do you view Dejean as a safety or cornerback?

Seriously. That’s a small price to pay for a Nabors or Bowers. I think most here would do it in a heartbeat.

You focused your question on trading up for MHJ only. I think he’s trading up but not for him. So unfortunately I can not choose one of your choices. I would bet there are many who agree with me.

I think many of us expected his cap hit to go down a little bit. But a reduction of this magnitude was certainly not expected especially just before the draft. Hard not think it’s a sign that another move is on the horizon.

Trading down for more picks doesn’t really make sense to me with this team as it’s currently constructed. I think we were the youngest team in the league last year. If not then we were very close. We have all 22 starters coming back and the three specialists. That’s a strong nucleus. We resigned a number of key reserves and added two more key reserves in FA. We have a number of key players returning from injury that were counted on to be key contributors last year. I’m thinking of players like Flowers, Dulin, Woods, Hull to name a few. My point being I’m not sure our current seven draft picks will all make the roster. And we still could sign a FA or two. This strikes me as the time to move up and try for better talent not trade back to get more picks. I also read it’s not considered a good draft class overall. I read where once we get past the top 150 prospects it’s not that great of a class. So I think this is the year to trade up even if it costs us a pick or two.

Just read where Eliot Wolf who is in charge of the Patriots draft confirmed this morning they are involved in trade talks for the 3rd overall pick. The Colts pick 15 and the Raiders pick 13 is worth 100 pts more than pick 3 on the draft picks chart. The new coach of the Raiders wants to move up for a quarterback. Just saying there is a way if they want to get the Colts involved. Of course maybe the don’t want to.

I think he saves his job this year and Colts fans are happy with the results of the season. He probably saved it last year but AR’s injury derailed the playoff spot. I think if he played the entire year we wouldn’t be talking about Ballard’s future with the team right now. So far so good this year. And the draft is still in front of us and he’s armed with more cap space so we shall see.

Very true. Josh Allen is another one. The Bills traded for Diggs to help him out and they took off. Now he’s gone. I expect the Bills to do something big again to help him out. Once you get your quarterback the next step is making sure he has the weapons around him. Right now AR has some real quality weapons. Getting him another one could really set the team up for a nice run.

So what.

Ballard could have extended Buckner after the draft and still achieve the same result. But he does it a week before the draft. Therefore giving him more cap space and giving him plenty of flexibility before and during the draft to trade for a player with a meaningful cap hit if he wanted to. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the 1st pick. It could be a 2nd or 3rd rd pick. This seems to be the reason to me. This is the first time he has extended a player this way with a significant cap reduction. And he does it just before the draft. He has never traded up in the 1st rd either. Maybe that is also about to change. I believe he has a press conference this Friday. I would imagine he will get questions about this extension and will probably be vague explaining his reasons for doing it the way he did. That said I think Ballard is going for it this year. I think he feels he has to. I think these coming days are going to be exciting and full of surprises. JMO of course.

I think it makes sense to draft a corner to try and counteract the trend of opening up the wide receivers more with the rule changes.

Unless I’m missing something I don’t see why we would need all of this extra space to move up in the draft. Trading for an established player is a different story. That seems more likely to me given the choices you presented.

Yup. Another good one.

The first impulse is to say Simmons or Diggs. I think Ballard could very well make a bigger move. I have mentioned three trades in earlier posts. Baker, Aiyuk, or Crosby. The Raiders would really want to move up for a quarterback to want our pick 15. But our pick could easily help get them to 3or 4. Some think Crosby is a foundation piece and they would never trade him. But if you really want a certain quarterback you have to sacrifice something to get him. Ballard wanted Hunter no reason he wouldn’t try for Crosby. I like a Baker trade a lot as well because it’s a longer term fix in a position of need. Trading for Aiyuk reminds me of the Bills move for Diggs. I wouldn’t rule that out either. I think the Crosby trade is the only one that would require our 1st pick. The others would not imo. For me something is definitely cooking. Exciting times coming up I would say.

I said this in an earlier post. A trade for Baker makes sense to me. He’s younger than Simmons or Diggs. I think the first knee jerk reaction is we are signing on of the two but I wouldn’t rule out Baker.

You could make that argument that he has been aggressive and overpaid when it came to acquiring Wentz and Ryan. Draft picks and money. Two quarterbacks no less. The most important position on the team. So I don’t think you can say he’s not aggressive. He took big swings on those two and missed. But he also traded a 1st rd pick for Buckner paid him and hit a home run with that swing. I think you could say he has taken aggressive swings. I do think having a franchise quarterback leading your team makes it easier to justify taking one. I think he thinks he has that guy now. So I’m expecting a few more aggressive moves going forward. I think they will be calculated and well thought out. And he and Shane will be in lock step when they happen.

Move up. With no regrets.

Once players think you have the right coach and a franchise quarterback everything changes. Night turns into daylight.

This is the year to trade up. Move up higher in the first four rounds seems like a good strategy.

Apparently he thinks we are Super Bowl contenders.

I’m not willing to assume the risk on Latu. I would rather move up for Turner or Nabors. Increase your chances of getting a difference maker.

TBH Ballard hasn't really drafted edge or corner early. I don't consider Paye at 21 early for an ER. The potential elite go before pick 21. Usually top 10. This is the year to move up for Turner. He is within reach. That said I wouldn't entirely rule out Ballard trading pick 15 for a starting Edge or WR.

I think that's why Ballard tried to sign Hunter. He knows he could use an upgrade there.

I think if Gus has the right experienced players in his defense it is very effective. Starting inexperienced and multiple rookies in the secondary is going to result in breakdowns and problems. Hopefully we see a significant jump from these players this year.