Big questions on the horizon...

@"purplefaithful" said: Feels like the off-season after last night, even though it ain't yet

How do you improve from good to great for this franchise?

• What do you do with KC?  (the sure alternative is...?)
• What do you do with Cook? Who will most certainly want a new deal
• How do you improve the D and OL?
• Where do you place your salary cap bets?
• Are they fine with this coaching staff? 
• Do you still trust RS to make those decisions?

• I'm leaning towards keeping Cousins, ideally for something like 2-more years, with the provision that they draft a young QB to develop.
• When Cook is healthy, he's an elite back, and we saw what happens to the offense when the threat of a running game is removed. However, Cook has missed a lot of games, which does make extending him scary. I also think that having both Cook & Mattison out was a bit of a flukey thing, I think you keep him for one more contract, but contract negotiations will be tough.
• The D desperately needs a 3-technique/UT who is able to generate quick pressure up the middle. I also think that drafting a DE to replace Griffen in the next year or two is a becoming a bigger need. We have some nice rotational players like Odenigbo & Weatherly, but I'm not sure if either are good enough to replace Griffen. Odenigbo might be able to. Cornerback is a nightmare, our two best corners in Waynes and Alexander are FAs while Rhodes & Hughes are still under contract. Hughes may still improve, but it's likely time to move on from Rhodes so we can keep Waynes &/or Alexander. I could see them burning another 1st rounder on a CB, but I think we'd get better results out of upgrading the DL. As for the OL, I think the right side is alright. Maybe we replace Kline with Dozier or Samia, but I'm ok with that side. The left side is bad. Both Reiff and Elflein will likely need to be replaced. We could look at moving O'Neill to LT and trying to find a RT through the draft or FA and LG may need to be a lower level FA or someone already on the roster.
• I think that veterans like Rhodes, Griffen, Joseph, and Reiff will all be candidates to be cut or restructured. I think that Waynes, Alexander, Harris, Kearse, Weatherly, & Wilson are FAs that would be worth trying to keep. The hard part is that our cap situation for 2020 is still pretty bad. We could try extending players like Cook or Cousins if that allows us to save cap room in 2020. Improving through the draft would be nice, but we won't have enough picks and we likely won't have enough cap space to even add mid level FAs, It will be a tough spot unless they make some massive moves to clear cap.

We're in a tough spot where we'll need to clear cap and really need to improve through player development, what draft assets we have, & low to mid level FAs. It's not impossible, but I do worry that they haven't done enough to replace aging talent ahead of time.

@"Clanzomaelan" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: Feels like the off-season after last night, even though it ain't yet

How do you improve from good to great for this franchise?

• What do you do with KC?  (the sure alternative is...?)
• What do you do with Cook? Who will most certainly want a new deal
• How do you improve the D and OL?
• Where do you place your salary cap bets?
• Are they fine with this coaching staff? 
• Do you still trust RS to make those decisions?

• KC- I like Kirk, but I am completely clueless as to what the offensive game plan was other than... offensive.™ Obviously, his replacement needs to come from this coming draft.
• Cook- UGH. How do you let that talent go? But- If you can't rely on him to be in games that decide the division... is he worth the money?  I just don't see us letting him walk, but I'm glad I'm not the one making the decision! 
• DL & OL- Let BarrNone, MaroonBells, and FSUVike sit in the war room. Thank you.
• Salary Cap Bets- In Brez We Trust.
• Coaching Staff- It may be time for a change. From the fans perspective, and maybe even the player's perspective. We may need a change of scenery.
• RS- I like RS. He's aggressive in the draft, but his ability to pick a QB, and stack our OL is suspect. I'm not sure where the fault lies with the talent distribution, but we really need some studs on the OL.  

Great topic, Faithful.

What do you do with KC?  (the sure alternative is...?)

Unless Tua really slides, I think we spend a pick later in the draft on a QB...Maybe Fromm, maybe the kid from Washington State, but definitely someone.

Try to get Cousins to work a team friendly extension...ask him flat out which is more important to him, winning or money.

What do you do with Cook? Who will most certainly want a new deal

Transition tag? It's become painfully obvious we can't count on him for 16 games. With our scheme, the position gets devalued a bit. Hopefully another team friendly deal can be worked.

How do you improve the D and OL?

Leatherwood and Foti...Where do you place your salary cap bets?

Ant Man™ with an extension is overdue.

Are they fine with this coaching staff? 

Gray and Edwards need to be replaced. 

Do you still trust RS to make those decisions? 

More than I trust a fart at work...I think we have a winning roster that underperformed far too often...

We could trade Zimmer to Dallas on a reverse Herschel Walker trade...!  ;)

I gotta against the grain here. Signing Kirk Cousins was the ALL IN move for both Spielman and Zimmer. You don't start bailing on Year 3 of him as your Franchise QB by letting the GM who talked you into signing him also draft his successor.

I like Rick but he simply hasn't shown that he can be trusted to draft QBs. And if Kirk fails then he also hasn't been able to identify one in FA. So why trust him to take another swing?

Use that Draft Pick, which presumably would be in the first 4 Rounds, to address a weakness. I'd be OK with using 2 on the O-Line and 2 on the D-Line. Get a vet like Johnathan Joseph or a reclamation project like Bradley Roby to try and fix the Secondary.

This Defense must get push up the middle. It will help the CBs. It will help the LBs when they blitz. All Vowels and Weatherly replace Griff and are probably more productive combined than he is since he's only good for half a season. Trust Brez to make Ant Harris a deal he can't refuse. The Defense isn't that far off from being the normal bend but don't break we're used to.

Leatherwood and a 4th Round Guard to compete with Samia plus another Dozier type lottery ticket should improve the O-Line enough. Elf is bottom 5th of the League. Reiff is now Replacement-Level. Bradbury will get stronger and be fine. Diggs, Healthy Thielen, growing Irv Smith, 3 headed stable of RBs, Rudy still great in the Redzone and probably had his best season of his career as a blocker. Johnson is a legit #3 with more seasoning.

Stefanski and KC with another offseason to grow together. Yes, Kirk needs a clean pocket. So does Matt Ryan and a bunch of other good QBs that can get you to a Super Bowl. Give him a Line that can create that pocket more often than this crappy one and see how far he can take you. If he doesn't get it done you let him walk along with Spielman and Zimmer and start over.

At this point I legitimately trust whomever the next GM will be without even knowing who it is more than I trust Rick to find Minnesota's next Franchise QB.

I thought we might see Bridgewater be that franchise guy by year 3 in our system. Now I'm not sure what his ceiling is and whether it was just bad luck and/or a reach at the bottom of the 1st???

He's probably going to get a shot somewhere - unless NO's somehow retains him post Brees. 

We have two picks in the 3rd

JAKE FROMMQB, GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Georgia junior QB Jake Fromm said he has not made his decision on whether he will declare for the 2020 NFL Draft.Fromm (6'2/220) is in a trickier spot than most any other QB in this class. After a strong sophomore season, Fromm looked rather pedestrian for much of 2019, in part because the Bulldogs lost a number of key receivers and OC James Coley refused to open up the offense in any capacity. Coming back for one more year at Georgia may not fix that, either, as they will still be relying on a ton of young WRs and will be losing a couple of key OL, including LT Andrew Thomas. If Fromm declares, he is likely a Day 2 pick.
SOURCE: Marc Weiszer on Twitter

Hmmm. Tribute to Neptizzle here. Sign LT Jason Peters to a 1 year deal. He's still better now than Whitworth was 2 years ago but also 38. Sign Incognito to a 1 year deal to play LG and hold your nose. He's played much better than Elf this year but is old and out of football 2 years ago. Won't cost much.

Trade up for Kinlaw with one of the 3rds. 2nd on CB. Fromm with other 3rd. Holes filled for final run in current window plus potential QB of the future. Boom!

Assuming that we look like the 6th seed we are in
the playoffs:

I think you extend the coaching staff another year, so that they’re
under contract through 2021.  You can always
fire them, but it’s good to have them under contract and I want to see what
this team is able to do with the same offensive coaching staff 2 years in a row
and what Zimmer can do now that we can devote some resources to the defense.  On offense, we need to keep building.  We need to improve the OLine still.  We need to continue to improve our offensive
schemes.  It seems like we have one
scheme that works against bad teams, but not against good teams.  I think we just need to flesh out gameplans
against the teams that seem to have our number.   You can’t be a coach here long losing to GB
like we did this year.  I would like to
see us have enough offensive flexibility to counter any style of defense, so
that if they take away our A game, we aren’t SOL.  On defense, I think Zimmer just needs some
better pieces now.  We stocked the
defense up and then spent a long time working on the offense, and our defense
got old.  I’d love to see what our
defense looks like with a game-wrecker at DT to put next to Joseph.  I still think we need more nasty on defense.

I think Rhodes is out, unless he has a huge increase in speed
over the offseason.  There’s a good
chance that Griffen is out.  Regarding
Cook, I think you have to let him play out his contract, unless he would agree
to a pretty good deal.  I just can’t see
paying him on what he can do when healthy when he’s been injured 2/3 the time.  His playing style is going to lead to
injuries.  He’s surprisingly physical for
his size.  And 10 out of 10 times, I’d rather
pay a stud OL than a stud RB.  I’d still
keep Reiff one more year, but I think you bring in a stud for LG if you have
the chance.  I think one more high draft
pick on the OLine will go a long ways.  I’d
love to find some way to keep Harris, but I think he’ll be out of our price
range.  Who knows what happens with Waynes
and Alexander.  I think they’ve both been
pretty good , but not spectacular or anything.

My draft needs feel like this:  1)  Elite
capable QB if we have the chance.  2)  Game Wrecker at DT.  3)  LG/CB

I have a complete blind spot regarding the CBs.  I just don’t know what to do there.  It seems like we take 3 years to develop
DBs.  Hughes should be better another
year out of surgery.  You can’t trust
Hill with a starting spot.  We might be
losing our top 3 corners, but none of them are good enough to pay like we want
to keep them.  Maybe we can find another
Newman out there, that’s past his prime but cheap enough?

@"purplefaithful" said: Feels like the off-season after last night, even though it ain't yet

How do you improve from good to great for this franchise?

• What do you do with KC?  (the sure alternative is...?)

Extend him. And hopefully save a little cap money in the process. 2/3 of the NFL needs a QB this offseason. It's a little ridiculous that the team with the, what, 2nd highest rated QB in the NFL thinks it does too. 

• What do you do with Cook? Who will most certainly want a new deal

Extend him. Of course you do. He might be the best back in the NFL. RBs get hurt. It's what they do. And it's why you need several.  

• How do you improve the D and OL?

Resign Harris, Alexander and Rashod Hill. Put O'Neill at LT, Udoh at RT, release Rhodes, Reiff and Joseph, let Griffen and Waynes go. Gives us, who the hell knows...$40M or so? Sign Brandon Scherff at LG and a mid-tier corner. Elf can compete with Kline and Samia at RG. Draft CB, DT, OL, OL

• Are they fine with this coaching staff? 

I am. But if we lose to NO because of yet another game plan failure, I try to trade Zimmer and promote Stefanski to HC. If I can't trade him to Jerry, I keep him, meaning we will probably lose Stef. I replace him with the Kubiak kid. 

• Do you still trust RS to make those decisions?

Spielman is the MVP of this team and has been for about 6 years. It's shocking to me that there are still some people who don't see that. 

Oh, and I don't see us going from good to great necessarily. I see us trimming some fat, getting a little younger, putting a little more emphasis on offense and remaining competitive. 

@"FSUVike" said: Those teams all won Superbowls Greediron. That bought them time. Zimmer has been past the 1st Round of the Playoffs once. His win percentage against good teams on the road and even at home in big pressure situations is not good.

This offseason will be so interesting. If Rick loads up on the O-Line I'll be happy. If Defense-focused then I'll know once and for all that he and Mike just don't get it.

But we have been urging Spielman to load the OL for years and he only dribbles in a bit of help: Elflein and Reiff in 2017, Williams and Compton in 2018, Bradbury and Kline in 2019. And those last three are the GOOD years when Spielman paid at least a little attention to the line - we're still suffering the effects of 2013-16 when our line was "fortified" each year by Jeff Baca, David Yankey, TJ Clemmings, and Willie Beavers!!
Now there will be 2 factors reducing any further attention to the offensive line or offense:

1. They believe Kubiak and Dennison and the ZBS can spin OL straw into gold. The OL and offense improved this year, what more do you want?! Mission accomplished!!
2. Meanwhile, our defense weakened in 2019 and in 2020 it will lose players to free agency and age. Zimmer wants to have a great defense - maybe more than he wants a championship team.

I do think you're right - whether they recognize need to further improve the OL is the key issue. But I expect they will put most of their resources into the defense and the OL will need to count on improvement from Samia and Udoh and maybe some 4th-round OG that Rick is "amazed he dropped this far in the draft"...

Should I have the salad with dinner or will it cause me to get to full and cost me dessert afterwards

@"Akvike" said: Should I have the salad with dinner or will it cause me to get to full and cost me dessert afterwards

When you're my age, the salad IS the dinner.