For the right price, there's a lot of guys on that list I wouldn't mind bringing back.
Paztor and Ryan Davis are easy because they're ERFAs and definitely worth the cheap deal they'll get. Davis is a nice rotational pass-rusher and Paztor, while not 16-game starter quality, would definitely be one of the better backup RT's in the NFL.
Willy T as an RFA FB shouldn't be all that hard to keep; I don't imagine any other team going out of their way to try to steal him, so I wouldn't mind him back on a cheap little 1 year deal. (That is how RFA's still work, right?) He's got familiarity with the offense (both the scheme and the players) and his blocking is decent enough. Feel the same way about Todman as an RFA; it should be cheap and I don't forsee many teams trying to snatch him away, so why not?
I'd like one of Sherrod Martin or Alan Ball back on a short term deal for cheap-ish. The team is young and most likely only going to get younger with new additions at the safety and linebacker spots (most likely from the draft) so the team will need
some veteran presence behind the front four. The team definitely won't need both of them back with the emergence of McCray and Colvin, but Ball or Martin should be decent enough as a 3rd-4th option. I lean more towards Martin just because Ball had a pretty good season last year and I expect he'll command a higher contract. Plus Martin fits better in the nickel spot/has played a bit of safety (if I recall) this season. Martin seems to fit what this team will need out of the type of signing better than Ball.
J.T. Thomas is the one guy I'm worried about. He's young and shown enough versatility to be brought back as the primary backup who can rotate around, but because of his age and decent play this season, I'm afraid he'll command more than he's worth from some team. I'd love to see him back, but it'll really depend on how much he's willing to take to be a backup/how much other teams covet him.
I'm up in the air about Roy. He's really the only DT the team has who "excels" at stopping the run, but he hasn't really been doing that all that consistently. If they can get him for cheap, I'd be happy with the signing. But, I'm not sure I'd be ok with investing another couple mil into a run-stopper who hasn't exactly stopped the run consistently in his 2 years here. The issue is, if he leaves, I don't know who would take his spot as the run-stopper in the middle, while Marks/Hood does their thing rushing the passer.
I don't really want Geno back. He's definitely grown on me since his early struggles last year (especially after replacing Daryl
), but it's clear he's not in the team's long term plans. The team definitely needs to upgrade the linebacker spot, so I'd rather see a new, young, fresh face there with Poz sticking around another year to mentor him, than deal with Geno taking his playing time. Hopefully Poz and Telvin will be good enough to keep the new guy's issues at a minimal impact on the game. But better to get the new guy in there as soon as possible, especially while the team still has a leader in Poz. That said, if the team plans on dumping Poz, I think Geno
needs to be brought back, just so that there's some veteran who knows what's going on back there.
It really comes down to money for a lot of these guys. None of them are world beaters and none would be a tremendous loss (minus JT. I think he'll be a really nice piece to have if they can get him as the 4th LB who can sub in for injuries/fatigue and not need to be on the field for an entire season). But just to keep continuity and knowledge of the system, I think there's a bunch of guys who I'd like to see brought back. And if they're on cheap deals and get blown out of the water in pre-season and training camp, you can just dump them. But, why create holes at such irrelevant positions when there's cheap options already on the team, especially considering how many other, important, holes there already are that need to be addressed?