(03-13-2021, 05:02 PM)Bullseye Wrote:

(03-13-2021, 11:27 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: As for trading up, I target teams who already have an established LT who may be up against the cap and might possibly want to trade down and acquire more picks in order to re-stock  due to the salary cap with cheap rookie talent. There are gonna be some of those teams out there. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this year more teams would be willing to trade down, due to the cap. 

The Patriots just re-signed Newton, as a fallback plan. I don't see Belichik moving up to get a QB. The Patriots always seem to move back, rather than to trade up. I also see Mac Jones going much higher than people think. I have him off the board when the Pats select, so unless New England is willing to take a complete enigma like Trey Lance, I don't see them taking a QB in round 1. Currently, I have them selecting Jaylen Waddle at #15. Instead, I think they add a veteran QB that might get cut after the draft. Maybe someone like Jimmy G, Sam Darnold, Matt Ryan or Teddy Bridgewater. Signing Mitchell Trubisky could also be an option for them. 

As I said before, Reiff would be a HUGE upgrade for us at either OT position. We are in agreement on that. I sincerely hope we do. If we don't make a play for him, I believe that would be a clear sign that Meyer and Baalke have no intentions of upgrading either OT position.

---

That's why all options are open. Signing Reiff immediately, would insure the position is upgraded and would resolve this entire issue.

As I said, I'm with you regarding the need to upgrade the position.  But I forgot to add that while rookies are capable of upgrading LT, there is no guarantee they can do so (Joekel and Monroe), aside from likely having to execute a trade up to get those rookies.  Because there is no guarantee, either of a trade up, the performance of a rookie, or for that matter the performance of Reiff or another free agent, that is why the team tagged Cam. 

The new league year hasn't begun yet.  We are still outside the legal tampering period for free agents.  Urban did not trash the RT class the way he did the LT class.  This is why I'm not yet in panic mode.

Even in a worst case scenario where the team does not upgrade either T position, there's no guarantee Lawrence gets injured behind that OL.  While Foles got hurt, Minshew survived his entire rookie year with those two at T-with Robinson fresh off a knee injury. 

The fact is we are a 1-15 team.  The likelihood of this team upgrading every position of need in one off season was next to nil, even with all of the cap room and the extra draft picks.  I want us to upgrade the T positions, but it may not happen this year.

As for the first part, it's true. There's always a certain risk when changes are made, but given our situation a change needs to be made. If we draft a young OT and it doesn't work out, at least we were proactive and showed an effort to remedy the situation. The worst thing we could do is sit back and keep the garbage we have. That obviously hasn't worked, so why keep trying the same thing over and over when it has never worked before? I'd rather try to upgrade and fail, than to never try at all. 

Yes, we are outside the legal tampering period, but we can still go after Reiff right now, because he was released. As for Williams, I don't know if this team even intended on offering him a contract, but I expect him to be re-signed with San Francisco, before free agency even begins. 

No, there is no guarantee, that Lawrence would get injured behind a line starting Robinson and Taylor, but why take that risk? We know they are terrible pass blockers, so why not do everything possible to try and secure Lawrence's safety. Maybe Joe Burrow, might not have gotten hurt behind the Bengals offensive line, but he did. They knew their entire O-Line outside of their rookie LT was hot garbage, but they risked throwing their new franchise QB behind them and that gamble bit them in the butt, hard. I just want to avoid taking such stupid risks. If Lawrence is as good as advertised, we've probably only have a 4 year window max, before he wants one of these monster contracts. That will drastically hinder our ability to surround him with top talent. We got to put this thing together the right way, immediately. 

Again, I know we are not gonna fill every need right away. As I said, a 6-10 season in 2021 would be a move in the right direction, even though it would still be a losing record. You have to prioritize certain needs though. Protecting our franchise QB that we've virtually waited 25 years for, HAS to be priority #1 outside of getting Lawrence in the first place. Whether it be via free agency, the draft or a trade, OT HAS TO BE addressed. This is football 101. Simply doing nothing would be a complete failure. It's not like we have pro bowlers at any of our O-Line positions. We just need functional players on the edges and no matter what Meyer or Baalke or Warhop or Oehser say, we don't have that right now. Most of the fans know this, the people who grade O-Linemen for a living know this and the national sports media know this.

---