One of the things i find about being slightly detached from the team and especially the draft is it gives you a different perspective on cap/draft ... Sometimes that's helpful, you get less attached to your own ideas or feelings on players and can collate other opinions (you wouldn't believe how often this is successful especially in the first two rounds of the drafts) ... And at other times of course it's a massive hindrance due to a simple lack of knowledge on cap limits and later round prospects. I'll try and stay out of the more technical debates, others are better equipped, but one or two sketchy thoughts, and apologies early if this has already been covered and for the length of this post.

One area which might start playing into Baalkes decision making as we (hopefully) transition into a successful team is the compensatory draft formula. I'll not pretend to know the exact formula, (in fact it seems sketchy at best depending on which source you read... Here's a link to the nfls official version for anyone who's interested (grain of salt with that))


https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-compensator...ed-to-know


Most other sites seem to think it's simply a bunch of fellas slinging out picks based on who they like. From what I can gather the only hard and fast rules seen to be if you lose a decent O-lineman your likely to get a decent pick and Bill Belichick could trade his dog, his cat, an out of date can of beans and swap his pool cleaner and still receive two thirds and a fourth! However, as a better record is likely to start meaning were losing a better calibre of player in FA with a bit of luck we'll start picking up those extra picks. I'm sure Baalke will start playing that as it seems to have been an area other teams have been successful in targeting in recent years. And worth noting this year if we are likely to lose a starting tackle and one or two decent contributors to better contract offers. 

For what it's worth in terms of individual players I'd mirror a lot of what seems to be board consensus, (and therefore stands a decent chance of being good common sense)

Griffin just hadn't worked out and there's a reasonable possibility we lose Key or Smoot or both due to simple finances despite most wanting them back. Just gonna have to take our lumps on that. Similarly itits lkely to come down to Jenkins or RRH ... Interesting call because they both seem like leaders within the locker room, well liked, decent players, but with flaws, the general consensus which i'd agree with is, lean towards RRH if it comes down to a straight decision.

Agnew you can cut and save 4m ... But again he's liked in the locker room, sets high standards for himself, is largely reliable, dependable and productive... Is the 4m worth what he brings to the table, and on a basic level can you replace him for less than that because it does boil down to getting better players. Personally I hate that bet. I'd need a better reason for cutting him.

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