04-30-2020, 02:09 PM
The problem for me with this offseason is I have no clue WTF is their direction and goals.
First, they extend Cousins with a decent contract because it got rid of the no-trade clause. But if they do not trade him by the 3rd day of the new league year next March, then the 2022 salary is fully guaranteed and that 45 mil cap hit will loom LARGE, VERY LARGE in the 2022 offseason.
Extending Cousins signals kind of an ALL-IN move to me. But then they trade Diggs which really hurts the receiver group and forced their hand this year in the draft. But, OK, still can be in ALL-IN.
Not being able to execute the Williams trade was a huge failure and it is unknown what the asking price was. I am guessing the Redskins were still asking a lot from the Vikings and would not come down off of that price. Once the Vikings selected Cleveland and bowed out of the talks, they had to settle for what the 49ers gave. Otherwise, many Vikings fans would have given up that package to get one of the best left tackles in the NFL. Still, if you are ALL-IN then you need to get that DONE. Even #105 and a 3rd next year would have been OK with me.
So, they now have a young athletic tackle that could be the next Brian O'Neil, Taylor Lewan, Jason Spriggs, Garret Bolles, or Matt Kalil all of whom he compares favorably.
They grab another corner in the 3rd after not being able to move up for a better 3T.
From that point on it was perplexing to say the least. Heading into the draft, OG had to be a position that was looked at as needing some serious competition. I was not an advocate of drafting one in the early rounds but by the 4th round, that is where you start to see them come off the board and that is what happened this year too.
I am at a loss as how players like Lemieux, Biadasz, Dotson (who they met with 3 times), Pinter, Muti, and Adeniji were not considered before Hand and Osborn. They now are going to have an open competition between Elflein, Samia, Collins, Jones, Dozier, Udoh, and the pupu platter of players that brought in via the draft. I mean, it is hard to see how the guard position will be upgraded next season.
But, maybe Hinton and Higby will surprise? I do not believe Brandel should be put at guard as he never played there at Oregon State. Maybe he could do it but he was the best pass blocking tackle in college football last year according to PFF. Maybe their grading does not matter but it still confirms his ability at tackle.
I was not a fan of the Osborn pick either because I want the returner to be able to play their own position too. Osborn still could surprise though so I can be patient. But as a receiver, I kind of liked Peoples-Jones there.
Overall, not a bad draft.
However, I do not think they are planning on contending for a Super Bowl with the roster moves in free agency and the draft. The interior offensive line is going to be anyone's guess but an upgrade is way too much purple koolaid for me. The cornerback position is going to be very inexperienced. Too soon to say if it will be better than last year's trio who got a 42 mil deal, a 4 mil deal, and a 3.25 mil deal. The defensive end position opposite Hunter is a question mark too. Odengibo got most of his sacks rushing from the inside when Hunter and Griffen were drawing the attention on the outside. How is he going to do from the outside when he is now drawing attention?
It smells like a rebuild and looks like a rebuild. Which is fine and this draft fits into that strategy.
Why give Cousins that extension in that case? It is ridiculous. You are going to pay him top 10 QB money on a team where he probably will not be able to step up into the pocket and rarely makes any plays with his feet. It is confounding.
They likely will double and triple down on their stupidity by allowing Reiff to stay. Why pay him 11 mil this year when you can save 8.8 (or 11 mil via post June 1 designation) and use that elsewhere? Unless they really go completely mental, he will not be here next year under his current deal and with the Cleveland pick, should not be here at all.
They need to play Cleveland right away and if he struggles, slide in Hill or Udoh. Trade Reiff to the Chargers for a 5th or 6th round pick since they only have Trey Pipkins and Sam Tevi. If they cannot trade him (probably because of his 11 mil salary) then they should cut him.
If they did that they would have 17 to 20 mil in cap space after signing all the rookies. They can use that on extending Cook (the triple down part) or carrying it over to extend O'Neill next offseason.
I think the draft was solid but, as usual, they pull some picks straight out of left field. Like with Hand and Osborn. The Hand pick is curious because they gave Neville Clarker 100K to sign as an UDFA. I mean, WTF was that? You already drafted 3 corners and you signed Marcus Sayles, Mark Fields, and Kemon Hall too. That is a lot of corners.
I cannot reconcile the clear rebuild strategy employed during the draft with the Cousins extension.
There is no chance this team will compete for the Super Bowl if there is a season this year. Too much inexperience.
First, they extend Cousins with a decent contract because it got rid of the no-trade clause. But if they do not trade him by the 3rd day of the new league year next March, then the 2022 salary is fully guaranteed and that 45 mil cap hit will loom LARGE, VERY LARGE in the 2022 offseason.
Extending Cousins signals kind of an ALL-IN move to me. But then they trade Diggs which really hurts the receiver group and forced their hand this year in the draft. But, OK, still can be in ALL-IN.
Not being able to execute the Williams trade was a huge failure and it is unknown what the asking price was. I am guessing the Redskins were still asking a lot from the Vikings and would not come down off of that price. Once the Vikings selected Cleveland and bowed out of the talks, they had to settle for what the 49ers gave. Otherwise, many Vikings fans would have given up that package to get one of the best left tackles in the NFL. Still, if you are ALL-IN then you need to get that DONE. Even #105 and a 3rd next year would have been OK with me.
So, they now have a young athletic tackle that could be the next Brian O'Neil, Taylor Lewan, Jason Spriggs, Garret Bolles, or Matt Kalil all of whom he compares favorably.
They grab another corner in the 3rd after not being able to move up for a better 3T.
From that point on it was perplexing to say the least. Heading into the draft, OG had to be a position that was looked at as needing some serious competition. I was not an advocate of drafting one in the early rounds but by the 4th round, that is where you start to see them come off the board and that is what happened this year too.
I am at a loss as how players like Lemieux, Biadasz, Dotson (who they met with 3 times), Pinter, Muti, and Adeniji were not considered before Hand and Osborn. They now are going to have an open competition between Elflein, Samia, Collins, Jones, Dozier, Udoh, and the pupu platter of players that brought in via the draft. I mean, it is hard to see how the guard position will be upgraded next season.
But, maybe Hinton and Higby will surprise? I do not believe Brandel should be put at guard as he never played there at Oregon State. Maybe he could do it but he was the best pass blocking tackle in college football last year according to PFF. Maybe their grading does not matter but it still confirms his ability at tackle.
I was not a fan of the Osborn pick either because I want the returner to be able to play their own position too. Osborn still could surprise though so I can be patient. But as a receiver, I kind of liked Peoples-Jones there.
Overall, not a bad draft.
However, I do not think they are planning on contending for a Super Bowl with the roster moves in free agency and the draft. The interior offensive line is going to be anyone's guess but an upgrade is way too much purple koolaid for me. The cornerback position is going to be very inexperienced. Too soon to say if it will be better than last year's trio who got a 42 mil deal, a 4 mil deal, and a 3.25 mil deal. The defensive end position opposite Hunter is a question mark too. Odengibo got most of his sacks rushing from the inside when Hunter and Griffen were drawing the attention on the outside. How is he going to do from the outside when he is now drawing attention?
It smells like a rebuild and looks like a rebuild. Which is fine and this draft fits into that strategy.
Why give Cousins that extension in that case? It is ridiculous. You are going to pay him top 10 QB money on a team where he probably will not be able to step up into the pocket and rarely makes any plays with his feet. It is confounding.
They likely will double and triple down on their stupidity by allowing Reiff to stay. Why pay him 11 mil this year when you can save 8.8 (or 11 mil via post June 1 designation) and use that elsewhere? Unless they really go completely mental, he will not be here next year under his current deal and with the Cleveland pick, should not be here at all.
They need to play Cleveland right away and if he struggles, slide in Hill or Udoh. Trade Reiff to the Chargers for a 5th or 6th round pick since they only have Trey Pipkins and Sam Tevi. If they cannot trade him (probably because of his 11 mil salary) then they should cut him.
If they did that they would have 17 to 20 mil in cap space after signing all the rookies. They can use that on extending Cook (the triple down part) or carrying it over to extend O'Neill next offseason.
I think the draft was solid but, as usual, they pull some picks straight out of left field. Like with Hand and Osborn. The Hand pick is curious because they gave Neville Clarker 100K to sign as an UDFA. I mean, WTF was that? You already drafted 3 corners and you signed Marcus Sayles, Mark Fields, and Kemon Hall too. That is a lot of corners.
I cannot reconcile the clear rebuild strategy employed during the draft with the Cousins extension.
There is no chance this team will compete for the Super Bowl if there is a season this year. Too much inexperience.
