masnerj
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Posts posted by masnerj
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NTs that can move as quickly and be as athletic as Poe are VERY rare. Usually that talent can mean a NT that can be an effective run-stopper and still offer potential pass-rush (which almost never happens with NTs where they can do both). Obviously, he has had injuries and has played WAYY too many plays compared to most NTs but the potential and talent is still there for him to get back to his rookie year.
Still, a risk. One that I would be willing to take at the right contract. Though it is interesting why Ballard doesn't wanna give him the one year deal.
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Hankins and Logan are probably waiting for Poe to sign/set the market for them. I wouldn't be suprised if Zach Brown and Kevin Minter were doing the same thing and waiting for Hightower to be set at one location. It only benefits these 2nd tier players to wait and become the best free agents left at their positions before they start negotiations.
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Its clear what we need to do at this junction: Draft a stud CB #1 type guy first round if one of the top guys is there at 15. If not, then go pass-rusher or ILB if its Foster.
Having a #1 CB on both sides of the field will do WONDERS for our defense. Especially with Romo coming to Houston soon (expecting it to happen). Go CB, Pass-rusher, Pass-rusher/RB in the first three rounds preferably in that order.
The only issue with above is that we need that coverage ILB bad... Hopefully Cunningham drops to third? He is a bit raw but would be a good pick at three cause he certainly has flashed 1st round talent.
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As most have mentioned, Poe is certainly a risk. However, I trust Ballard as well and especially considering that he was in KC last year I think he will do the right thing. Remember, Ballard has stayed conservative so far in free agency even while targeting top notch free agents. No reason to think he is going to change overnight and sign the guy to a 5 year, 50 million deal.
IF we sign him (which we might not at all), I see a 1 or 2 year prove it type deal that might pay him like 8-9+ BUT it gives us flexibility in terms of being able to cut him after a year or two and not be hurt too much. I would bet money that Ballard will NOT sign the guy to a long term deal where we can't cut him with limited penalty after a year or two. #InBallardWeTrust
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Franchise tags is a very valuable strategy for franchises. Yes, you pay a player the average + 15? percent of top 5 players at the position. But there are several benefits: You get another year to extend him. You can franchise tag a guy who just had a breakout season to make sure it is legitimate (aka what Houston should have done to Bouye). It also gives you flexibility when you have multiple players to sign to big contracts and you can delay one guy's contract for a year if needed.
And if you do the non-exclusive one, you allow other teams to talk to the player and make an offer that if you don't match, you get 2 first round picks (aka what Washington should have done considering theres a chance they would have gotten 2 picks from a team if it makes a move on Cousins).
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I remember when Walden was signed by Grigson a few years back. Everybody gave him so much flak for overpaying a guy (I think we signed him for what 4-5 million a year?) that only had one good game (and that against the colts too!).
At that time, there was definitely merit to those statements but Walden definitely changed everyone's mind as he kept playing in our system. He definitely developed into one of the better players on our defense and most importantly, one of the most consistent. Every team needs players like Walden because although they aren't pro-bowlers or going to give you 10 sacks a year (though he got lucky this year and did), they are solid football players that hold their own.
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I feel that Mingo might have some value guarding RBs and playing in coverage on 3rd downs. I know he is a pass rusher that is incredibly athletic but so far in his career he has shown no transfer of his college talent to the pro scene in terms of pass-rush. Sure he could break out this year but I wouldn't depend on it.
For now, I see him as a heavy ST players who gets some reps here and there pass rushing. Though to be honest, him in coverage at ILB on 3rd downs doesn't seem to be a terrible idea.
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If we got foster, our LB core might be better than average overnight. Foster (although with injury and apparently attitude issues) is one of the most talent ILBs to come out in recent years and can do everything. He would certainly shore up the middle of the defense for years to come. I think that Ballard might (although I hope there will be reports of Foster dropping down people's draft boards) trade up for him. Certainly fits the type of player he wants to add to this defense. I wouldn't be opposed to it tbh, thats arguably a top 5 talent for what would be a 1st pick, 2nd and a 4th? Get him like around 10 or something.
I like Riddick but he has risen really fast in recent weeks and I tend to be wary of players that rise up draft boards like crazy around combine/pro day season. Not saying he isn't good but just something to keep in mind.
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Maybe Mingo can cover RBs in space on 3rd downs?
Maybe an idea cause he is extremely athletic but just not as big as you want for a typical starting edge guy or ILB.
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As the title suggests, fans that are going crazy over the fact that Ballard hasn't done anything need to relax. The world isn't over because we didn't get Jeffrey or Zeitler or Bouye or Gilmore or any one of the extremely sought after but also way over-paid free agents. If you are one of the above fans, go to: http://www.nfl.com/freeagency#tab=rankings or any website's basic top 100 free agents. You will notice as you go down the list that there are MANY MANY decent, good football players that can help this defense.
Our defense right now is bottom shelf, and terrible. We need to remember that we just have to build it to average as a starting point to be competitive again. That doesn't have to happen with a few superstars who likely won't live up to their contracts.
It is much easier to sign slightly overpriced deals to twice the number of free agents who are decent than to sign one or two crazy deals that might not work out and then we are at cap issues down the line. It is much easier to unload smaller overpriced contracts than huge ones that are blockbuster and messed up. List of players still available that would be interesting players to discuss as we move forward.
Defensive lineman:
Brandon Williams
Poe (might not need to break the bank if he wants a 1 or 2 year prove it deal)
Hankins
Bennie Logan
Sheard
Linebackers:
Hightower (though probs will have a crazy contract)
Zach Brown
Kevin Minter
John Simon (really want us to get this guy, could be like a Walden level signing who actually does become a solid football player for us)
DeAndre Levy
Jarvis Jones
CBs (though this is a position where its better to go with the draft cause of the insane top level talent and depth):
Claiborne
Amukamara (though probs will get a really large contract)
Safeties:
TJ McDonald
Byrd (could give him another chance)
Lets discuss some of these guys, what do you guys think? I certainly don't approve of all of them but we can certainly shore up a few starting positions (especially at linebacker) while we work our draft magic for the next two years. All this without breaking the bank (we have like ~30 million remaining after taking into account draft signings and emergency fund).
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I wish we had made this trade :(. Essentially buying a 2nd round pick for 10 million dollars (take his 17 million contract then cut him, saving like 8 mill).
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If Ballard can get a starter at Guard through the free agency, then I would be satisfied (ZIETLER!!!). That way, then we would no longer have to worry about drafting a OL in the draft and can pretty much go every pick defense except for the one where we take a RB (imagine that, all our picks defense and one RB).
Ballard is doing work, just give him some time. Who knows, he might even get Poe for cheaper than what everyone thought! Not too much noise recently about him and thats a good thing for us because it probably means he isn't gonna be as pricey or what not.
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13 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:
I was reading yesterday that apparently the market isn't as strong for him as he & his agent thought it would be.
Thats good to hear! Yea, he is definitely not worth anything close to 10 million a year. Too many injury issues, lack of effort at times on the field (a lot of it due to his weight and position and the fact that he never comes off the field).
However, I would be ok to bring him in for a 2-3 year reasonable but slightly overpriced deal (cause all of them in free agency will be)
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8 minutes ago, Smonroe said:
Yeah. Supposedly we're one of the top three teams after him. We should have the inside track.
If it's only money he's interested in, he'll go to the niners. If he wants to win, it's us or the Falcons...if you can believe anything right now.
Reports are that he is looking at a one year deal so he can hit free agency again next year...interesting strategy when one can assume that he would get crazy money in a long term deal right now.
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I am 100% ok with this move, in fact I love it.
Think about it this way: we essentially removed a kind of logjam and over spending at one position to increase depth and youth and talent in another (probably defense too!). Removing Allen was the right move for multiple reasons: saves us money down the line, essentially upgrades our 6th to a 4th (DEFENSE!!), AND it allows a player like Swoope more PT and more of a chance to make an impact. Jack Doyle will be our primary starting TE who will basically always be on the field blocking, receiving, etc but this also gives Swoope a chance to come in and get better and get more snaps. He flashed last year, lets see where it goes. And don't expect Ballard to simply leave us with two TEs, we could easily buy a cheap TE on the free agency or sign a UDFA!
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Great mock! This would certainly do some work to our team and really give us a chance to bounce back in a huge way!
Though I will say that there is an extremely low chance that Mixon lasts all the way till our pick in the 4th round. Every indication points towards him being picked by someone before the end of the 3rd (even some GMs have come out and said that they are keeping him on their board and will talk to him/evaluate him and then determine where he fits on the board). Not to mention, I expect him to do well at his pro-day.
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Coming from someone who REALLY wants Foster as our first round pick, this talk about a trade up probably isn't about Foster. With the medical story and him getting sent home + injury stuff, I doubt Ballard is gonna trade up for that when there is a DECENT change Foster "drops" to us (in which case, I would run to the podium like the roadrunner).
It has to be an elite guy that he is super convinced about. I am thinking, maybe one of the top top DBs if they drop? Potentially Fournette. I don't think its Soloman Thomas cause he isn't that great of a fit and as much as I love Barnett, he isn't a great fit either (though Ballard is one of those GMs who believe most people can make transition from 4-3 to 3-4 end so who knows).
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Everyone who is complaining about "overpaying" for Doyle or having two premium TE contracts in the books, think about this:
1) Doyle is set for 3 years and looks as of right now to be good for those three years, Allen? Not so much. Essentially we can carry both their contracts in the books for this ONE year alone and then release him next year no worries and then we only have ONE contract moving forward.
2) Doyle is our set #1 TE, we talk around the league and let people know that Allen is on the trade block. If we can get a 4th or a 5th that would be decent and good value for someone many want to cut.
3) We keep both this coming year, and they both explode. In that case, we all win cause they play well and Allen shows glimpses of his past.
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In my opinion you are allocating too much money to the WR group. From various interviews and articles written about and with GMs, I think GMs spend their cap categorically (essentially allocating a certain percentage/amount to a position group and trying to stay within that, obviously a max level QB will get his and a max-level player will get his but overall trying to stay within reasonable limits and not overspending on one position).
TY Hilton is geting upwards of 10 million a year (which is fine, he totally deserves it and in fact its kind of a steal now with the cap increasing).
However, in this plan you are allocating 8 million a year to Robert Woods and another 8 million a year to Donte Moncrief. That is WAY too much money going to a WR group. Our WR3 doesn't need to be paid that much and the argument can be made that Donte Moncreif doesn't get that much money and that many years due to his injury history. I love the guy but I say a 6-7 million a year for 3-4 years is more reasonable.
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10 minutes ago, Colts_Fan12 said:
Sure but they all were way better at playing saftey in college then Green. Green didn't do % in college except be fast.
Ok not to be "supporting" or siding with Green (cause I am not, I truly believe he was way overdrafted and Grigson didn't know what he was doing) but he hasn't been playing safety for long. He is still learning the position because it is still much newer to him than the vast majority of safeties drafted his year and probably this year too! Give him another year. Yes he sucks as of right now and he sucked a lot last year. But that doesn't mean he will continue to suck and be just as bad.
Grigson is gone, lets not worry about his picks anymore and just hope they still contribute. If they don't then you better believe Ballard will show no mercy.
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Just now, Defjamz26 said:
I'm okay with Takk. Wouldn't mind Harris there either because he won't be at our pick in the 2nd round.
But Takk >> Harris. Harris is more of an early second guy in my mind.
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Tim Williams is dropping like crazy, his 40 time will definitely hurt him. Takk's time will probably lead a lot of teams to care less about his injury (and the missed few games that come with it). I personally don't want to draft him, but I would not be suprised if we did and nor would I be disappointed.
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I feel like this will lose a lot of steam by the time draft day rolls around. The shoulder injury would be the reason he falls unless he keeps having bad interviews.
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24 minutes ago, LockeDown said:
You don't really want a dominant RB when your QB is the dominant player, right? That's why AP in his prime had to be the focus because they didn't have the franchise QB. Elliot and Dak worked out because DAk is not a dominant passing threat yet. Luck needs a guy that can pick up blitzes, block, catch in the flat and get tough yards, get first downs. Ballard said it's a passing league.
Not necessarily, Pittsburgh seems to be doing just fine. Drafting a high-end stud RB helps a QB just as much as drafting OL. Luck will have a much easier time carving defenses when they actually have to play honest
Colts meeting with ILB Kevin Minter (Merge)
in NFL Draft, Scouting, and Free Agent Talk
Posted
Anyone know what happened to the visit? No reports of him being signed or going to other teams.