And if you're taking OTs late, make sure they are athletic freaks. Bakhtiari and Armstead had some of the best feet ever, and it showed in their superlative 3 cones and SS. I think Bartch could have been that at LT too but Caldwell had a long arm fetish at tackle. Bartch's short arms and elite feet is very Bakhtiari like. I wonder if there's a shot that Urban moves him back to his more natural position?

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https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...a-pay-cut/

A related thought came to mind when reading the article. 

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Urban Meyer's strategy is to be very active with big ticket FAs in 2021. With the plan on front loading most of the new contracts. Hence, taking advantage of the Jaguars excellent 2021 salary cap situation. 

An additional risk with this type of strategy ( besides losing interior Offensive Line continuity if Andrew Norwell is let go ) is many, if not most players and agents, have short memories. By year 3 or year 4 of a long term contract,  the perception will be their contracts are outdated.

Although Meyer has a track record of coaching and leading very well to maximize his players' efforts, much of Meyer's college success was also his ability to recruit and put better players on the field versus the teams on the other side.  He is very self-aware to this fact of his success.  I am sure he has a keen understanding of what the Jag's cap advantage can garner for him in free agency versus many of the other NFL teams, in terms of acquiring better talent.  I think the request to lower Norwell's salary has to do with maximizing the dollars to enter free agency and putting Norwell's salary more in-line with performance.  There will be less teams "bidding" with high dollars for the best free agents.  And, the true bargain of free agency will be the solid mid-tier guys that will be having to sign at a discount to play.  I believe they will be active in signing some upper talent, but also very aggressive in upgrading the roster with the mid-tier guys.

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And if you're taking OTs late, make sure they are athletic freaks. Bakhtiari and Armstead had some of the best feet ever, and it showed in their superlative 3 cones and SS. I think Bartch could have been that at LT too but Caldwell had a long arm fetish at tackle. Bartch's short arms and elite feet is very Bakhtiari like. I wonder if there's a shot that Urban moves him back to his more natural position?

I think I'd at least give the guy a shot in training camp and in the preseason. I was a huge fan of Bartch coming out of college. He and DaVon Hamilton were by far, my favorite Jaguars draft picks that year. I see big things for both guys. Hamilton proved in the short time that he started at NT, he can be a good player. The run defense was much better once he assumed the starting position and it fell back apart once he got hurt. I love Bartch as well, but coming from a small school, he might need a longer adjustment period. I just want to make sure he is ready, before we throw him into the starting lineup. Once he is ready though, no matter at OT or OG, I believe he will be a fixture on the O-Line for many years.

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Great point.

I have long argued the best GMs use the middle rounds to build the best OLs.

The great Dallas OLs of the 90s were build with mid round picks.  Walsh built the 49ers offensive lines and Beathard built the great Hogs with those mid round picks.  Your example with the Packers further exemplifies this concept.

That is indeed one of the best examples of drafting quality offensive linemen. I remember really liking David Bakhtiari and thinking that who ever drafted him would be getting a value, but with that said, I had no idea he'd end up being as good as he is. With LT though, guys like Bakhtiari are very rare. You usually don't find premier LT's that late in the draft. You definitely can find very good players at all the other O-Line positions in the middle of the draft though. Great OG's, Centers and RT's can even be found in the later rounds of the draft. That's where I'm hoping we find competition for Jawaan Taylor at RT.

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A related thought came to mind when reading the article. 

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Urban Meyer's strategy is to be very active with big ticket FAs in 2021. With the plan on front loading most of the new contracts. Hence, taking advantage of the Jaguars excellent 2021 salary cap situation. 

An additional risk with this type of strategy ( besides losing interior Offensive Line continuity if Andrew Norwell is let go ) is many, if not most players and agents, have short memories. By year 3 or year 4 of a long term contract,  the perception will be their contracts are outdated.

That would definitely be my strategy with acquiring Trent Williams. I'd sign him to a 3 year deal and front load the contract so much with guaranteed money, that no other team could compete. That would buy us at least 2 years with a "rock solid" blind side protector for our new QB.

This strategy makes a great amount of sense with an older player like Trent Williams. It will likely never reach the point that the front loaded contract signed in the present will be outdated by the time the team would be comfortable moving on from the player.

Andrew Norwell reportedly will be back with the Jaguars in 2021.  

Jaguars' Andrew Norwell agrees to lower salary - ProFootballTalk (nbcsports.com)

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