I personally believe in working on one unit thru the draft at a time and trying to add parts to the other side via FA as best you can. For instance, if we were to cut Pouncey and Julius, use that money on Def, be it a CB, or another LB, or even help at DT/DE, whoever happens to fit the best. Add getting Rake back, and that's a helpful start for the defense.
Then thru the draft, I go OG, OG, maybe sign a cheaper C, and then TE/RB/OT in the mid rounds, and I re-sign Landry and James. And of course, Tannehill comes back and whatever anyone thinks of him, he's better than Cutler/Moore.
In fact, I know it will never happen, but maybe a guy like Mark Walton falls in the draft because of injury + positional bias against RB's, and we could land him late, 3-4 round range. Kamara was a 3rd, David Johnson, we pulled Miller in the 4th, Ajayi in the 5th. And ironically, his teammate Chris Herndon IV would be a solid fit at TE, and he too could drop because of injury. Neither injury are life altering, or career ending or anything like that, so they could come back just fine. And let's face it, RB and TE from The U happen to have nice track records in the NFL. Getting these guys in the middle rounds, while still adding much needed talent to the Oline would be a massive upgrade.
Swing it the other way, if you wanted to spend in FA on O, and draft for Defense, same kind of idea, draft another DE, CB rounds 1-2, two most important positions, we're set at Safety it seems, so then rounds 3-4 you go LB, DT, and extra DE or CB with the Ajayi pick.
Then spend money on a new TE and 2-3 Olineman, and still hopefully sign Landry and James to come back.
Bottom line, we have maybe 12-15 players worth keeping, + 5-6-7 decent guys like Drake/Williams. Not studs, but capable. We need to hit on 3-4 contributors asap, + sign 3-4 more and then hope 1-2 extra players round out the offseason. Be it trade, or UDFA, or maybe a camp cut from another team in June that lands with us, etc. That would get us to almost 30 decent bodies on the roster. Another offseason after that adding 3-4 each grouping would get us closer to 35-40 solid pieces, with luck. Not gonna be easy, but it's doable. Not to mention, our schedule could be a little easier next year if we finish 3rd-4th this year.
Then thru the draft, I go OG, OG, maybe sign a cheaper C, and then TE/RB/OT in the mid rounds, and I re-sign Landry and James. And of course, Tannehill comes back and whatever anyone thinks of him, he's better than Cutler/Moore.
In fact, I know it will never happen, but maybe a guy like Mark Walton falls in the draft because of injury + positional bias against RB's, and we could land him late, 3-4 round range. Kamara was a 3rd, David Johnson, we pulled Miller in the 4th, Ajayi in the 5th. And ironically, his teammate Chris Herndon IV would be a solid fit at TE, and he too could drop because of injury. Neither injury are life altering, or career ending or anything like that, so they could come back just fine. And let's face it, RB and TE from The U happen to have nice track records in the NFL. Getting these guys in the middle rounds, while still adding much needed talent to the Oline would be a massive upgrade.
Swing it the other way, if you wanted to spend in FA on O, and draft for Defense, same kind of idea, draft another DE, CB rounds 1-2, two most important positions, we're set at Safety it seems, so then rounds 3-4 you go LB, DT, and extra DE or CB with the Ajayi pick.
Then spend money on a new TE and 2-3 Olineman, and still hopefully sign Landry and James to come back.
Bottom line, we have maybe 12-15 players worth keeping, + 5-6-7 decent guys like Drake/Williams. Not studs, but capable. We need to hit on 3-4 contributors asap, + sign 3-4 more and then hope 1-2 extra players round out the offseason. Be it trade, or UDFA, or maybe a camp cut from another team in June that lands with us, etc. That would get us to almost 30 decent bodies on the roster. Another offseason after that adding 3-4 each grouping would get us closer to 35-40 solid pieces, with luck. Not gonna be easy, but it's doable. Not to mention, our schedule could be a little easier next year if we finish 3rd-4th this year.
