Quote:I'm not stressing over it, I'm just saying it was worthy of discussion. I'm not happy with what they got for Monroe and it seems like he didn't test the market which is concerning to me, but it is what it is.


I agree. I was all for waiting on QB this draft in 2014.


I don't think the RT's where old or expensive though so that is my problem there. In fact players were complaining about the ow offers so much so they accused the owners of colluding. Anyways, I think it was a missed opportunity, but like the Monroe trade it is what it is at this point.


I agree on Daryl Smith as well and I think this is probably the most agree upon criticism of Caldwell so far. He was cheap and could have played a few more years here.


I agree with going young and the complete gut of the team. I do hope they make some agressive but smart moves in free agency next year. Build through the draft yes, but you can't do it all in the draft. One thing that irritated me about Gene Smith is he would rather pay cheaply for a bad player then pay more for a really good player. Vincent Jackson and Laurent Robinson immediately come to mind. I'm not talking Mario Williams type of over paying, but I didn't think VJ's deal was crazy and he was still young.

 

If you're not privy to what their plan is for the long term, there's no way to know for certain why they didn't get into the free agent market for the high profile RTs.  Vollmer signed a contract that was nearly $30 million.  Andre Smith signed a $20 million contract, and never intended to leave Cincy.  Again, hardly chump change. 

 

What we do know is that after they drafted Joeckel, they made it clear he was the starting RT the day after the draft.  At that point, the need to grab a costly free agent evaporated.  They weren't planning to trade Monroe at that point, or ever for that matter.

 

This notion that Gene Smith negotiated the contracts is pretty funny.  Especially when the reality is we had one of the highest payrolls in the league last year, so I wouldn't call them cheap.  They didn't spend that money wisely, but they weren't being cheap.

 

The fact that they decided not to move on with Smith probably had more to do with what they had in their plans long-term.  He isn't a young player, and regardless of the price, bringing him back would have indicated he was part of the long term plan.  I don't think that was the case, and based on the decision they made, that seems to be correct.  Whether we like it or not, he's in a better place, and we will see how things unfold here without him over the long haul. 

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