(02-06-2024, 10:38 AM)Caldrac Wrote:

(02-06-2024, 10:32 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: Baalke said in his presser:

• the coaching staff were doing roster evaluations,
  
•  the F.O. staff had just completed roster evaluations
  
• the two sides had yet to sit down together to make some "difficult decisions"
  
• and they were literally in the middle of interviewing and hiring the coaches who would be coaching Josh Allen in 2024
  

Is it really that unreasonable that they would seek to complete these processes before entering negotiation with Allen six weeks prior to the tag deadline?

In all honesty? Yes. There really shouldn't be anything difficult about coming to the conclusion, that, regardless of roster evaluations, difficult decisions and whether or not they had their new defensive coordinator in the building?

Josh Allen fits in at the top of your list of priorities. Period. I am sure they'll eventually get something done and worked out. May not like the process. Maybe we shouldn't sweat the technique too much. But, just seems like negligence at the end of the day for most fans. 

Still, it doesn't look good when we're entering month two of the off season and neither party has sat down yet or the main component to the getting the conversation rolling is in our building and he hasn't done anything according to the player and his camp in question. Makes him look like a pompous [BLEEP].

Or - Baalke simply knows this agent and this agent knows Baalke. (and they do have plenty of familiarity - Joel Segal is one of the most influential sports agents on the scene and has been for many years) 

And it is very easy to imagine that both sides already had an understanding that Allen's camp would be letting the free agent edge market play out before getting to a number so they could use every tactic available to push the numbers up. (Burns and Hunter deals are imminent) 

Regarding priorities - Baalke was crystal clear about the priority. He must have said 6 times that Allen would be a Jag in 2024. It's not about deciding if they want him - it's about having dialogue concerning exactly how "mega" the mega-deal is going to be. That number will depend on all of that other evaluation I mentioned  - plans for other free agents yet to be determined - a Lawrence deal if it is happening this year - and a determination of cap space to carry into 2025. 

Personally - I wouldn't begin a negotiation if I didn't know my own end game yet. I can see why they needed to figure some [BLEEP] out first. 

Feel free to go see exactly behind the curve our front office is right now by perusing the long list of mega-deals getting done around the league over the past 2 weeks:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/transactions

(hint: it's all coaching hires and futures deals for PS players with a couple of waives mixed in)

Maybe I'm giving Baalke too much rope - but for the life of me I don't see anything weird about this process. I think a couple of tweets got blown way out of proportion and a fanbase already marching down Main Street with tar, feathers, and pitchforks for the GM just ran with it.

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