Yes. I think you can re-sign Barnett for a fraction of Greenard and get similar production especially with Jones on the inside. Would you really rather have the other 2?
I never said to trade a first for one of them. I said to move back from #1 for extra picks for one of them.... They would make a greater impact than going from the 25th best player to 45th best. You're turning a pick into a pick and player (granted cap space too). May be better than paying top of the market for a free agent.
15 million a piece. Don't know because it would be apples to oranges because they may not play the same position. You want to be using 65 million in cap space on 2 positions not named QB? It's not ideal...
Using spotrac's figures, you could get DJ Reader AND Chase Young for the price of Chris Jones. Not saying it has to be that. There's also a concern that guys who get big contracts sometimes ease up. More players means less risk of that and with injuries.
I'm actually good if they sign Jones and draft one of the Robinson's at 1-23. Or if they choose to sign McKinney/Swift/Al-Shaair/Trent Brown with that money and draft mainly offense. There's a case to be made for going either way.
That's fine, but the concern is even if they aren't Ross Blacklock they could still take a year or more to develop into a starting caliber player. It also depends on the depth in the draft. The 3rd best DT at 40 might not be much different than the 2nd best at 23... I'm not looking for studs in the draft. We have studs: Anderson, Greenard (if signed), Stingley, and possibly Harris. I want as many competent and cheap starters as possible to fill in for pricier veterans so we can start doing things like extending Nico. Let's get a quality guard that fits the zone run so Mason can be dropped in a year.
This is the draft chess game. It's not only the best this year, but the best over years, the depth or grouping each year, alternatives available in Free Agency, etc. Valuation is extremely biased to recency and always anticipating new highs.
Not saying they all take it, but here's what I would offer them... Schultz 25 over 3, 20 guaranteed Nelson: 18 over 2, 15 guaranteed Cashman: 20 over 3, 12 guaranteed Greenard: 45 over 4, 35 guaranteed N Brown: 8 over 2, 5 guaranteed Barnett: 12 over 3, 8 guaranteed Fairbairn: 15 over 3, 12 guaranteed Singletary: 10 over 3, 8 guaranteed Bill Burr: 6.5 over 2, 5 guaranteed That's roughly 60 there depending how you structure the deals. I think a lot of the improvements will come from young players getting better, not free agents. I like keeping Brown because he showed with CJ he's capable of having big games but shouldn't cost a lot. I think we take WR in top 3 rounds and Metchie/Hutch battle for last spot.
Good point on the injury factor - imagine blowing your bank wad on Jones and he goes down with a season ending injury midway through...
Wouldn't mind DJ Reader and Chase (if Greenard isnt resigned). They can also add in a safety like Xavier McKinney; draft a CB with the first pick and WR with 2nd or 3rd and I'll be happy. They also need another RB; sorry, but Singletary isn't going to cut it by himself.
I love the energy! If we get Schultz, Cashman, Greenard, Barnett, & Singletary at those #'s = sign me the F up!
I've been preaching something similar to that on the Texans forums - it would only take a couple of good upgrades on both sides of the ball and you will be a better team. You can easily get 3 upgrades via FA and a couple more through the draft. The trick is to juggle them correctly and hit on your draftees - with a bit of luck, you can hit on a few like you did last draft. Will take time to gel, but the young guys already on the team hopefully continue to improve as well and I think we'll have a solid team next season. We'll need another WR (Evans!), an upgrade on the OL (RT), a genuine bell cow back, an upgrade at Safety and some more push in the middle of that DL. A lot hinges on who they keep and who they let go.
The idea being on a 2-3 year deal, offer more guaranteed money but slightly smaller deals to squeeze cap space.
I think a certain amount of turnover is good. I wouldn't want to keep all those guys. Singletary, Fairbairn, Johnston and Nelson. I'd let everyone else walk and replace with one or two bigger ticket guys and then draft well. Five of the top 127 picks. Need to get three starters out of that.