Sorry Dolphins fans, this Free Agency thing has left me deflated and disappointed. To be fair, Free Agency isn’t over yet, but up to this point, I haven’t seen anything that to make me feel optimistic about our chances for the playoffs this season. It’s not about grabbing big names, if you know me, I’m not that provincial, but I’m very uninspired with what I’ve seen from Chris Grier and Co. as so far. We re-signed a bunch of players, and I’m thrilled we got a contract done with DE Emmanuel Ogbah. He was an absolute necessity, a huge part of our defense and having him along with Jaelan Phillips should be an even more dangerous combo this season as Phillips learns and grows. After Ogbah though, I feel like we almost got complacent. Plus, Ogbah was here already, we just managed to retain him. So where are the upgrades we desperately needed?
We got some feel good re-signs like Elandon Roberts, Sam Eguavoen, Brennan Scarlett and Duke Riley, but if I sure wouldn’t have minded instead of re-signing every single LB that was on our roster that maybe subtract 2 or 3 or 4 of those guys and get Bobby Wagner. Wagner would be an immediate upgrade over any and every LB we re-signed. I want to elevate, not levitate. It’s not like we had the best defensive unit in the NFL and just had to keep it intact. Far from it. We were a decent defense, better than average, although right in the middle of points allowed. At the moment, Bobby Wagner is still available. He’s such a quality individual, he would have to be one of the captains, a guy teammates would look up to. He would make our defense better, and while #55 Baker had a fine season again last year, he’d be ever better with Wagner, everyone would.
Time for the meat and potatoes. Ah yes, the O-line. So far we have Connor Williams, who is a a talented yet flawed player, not too unlike 4/5 of our O-line before he got here. He’s further along than our current crop perhaps with the exception of RG Robert Hunt. He did have a propensity for flags last season and that needs to be fixed. He’s a very good run blocker and fits what we want to do here. I still feel like Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg will be our LT and RT respectively. Unless of course we sign Terron Armstead, but I don’t see that happening. I still feel like we need an upgrade on the interior, specifically C. It’s possible that upgrade come via the draft in Tyler Linderbaum, but would be willing to trade up to get him?
We had a bunch of re-signs for position players too, Preston Williams returns for a show me season. Former Dolphins (and 49ers) RB Raheem Mostert also returns. We gave former Cardinals RB Chase Edmonds a nice 2 year contract. He does however scream RUNNING BACK BY COMMITTEE, and that’s fine, but we seem to pine for an upgrade every single season but it never seems to come. Besides that, I feel the need to point out that we have been just atrocious in our record of free agent running back signings, beyond awful really. Jordan Howard, Matt Breida (He was a trade), and Malcolm Brown. The production of those 3 probably doesn’t add up to what Myles Gaskin gave us last season. Now to the WR’s. Cedrick Wilson. He could be a decent player but upgrade? I mean big upgrade? Wilson played primarily on the slot but can play outside as well. He had two 100 yard games, but take into account that Dak Prescott threw for 4449 yards last season, not impressive. He was #4 in targets last year, behind Cee Dee Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup. He finished the season with 602 yards and 6 TD’s on 45 receptions. Not bad, but like most of the signings except Ogbah and Gesicki, is not bad what our anemic offense needs? It’s true that this draft is chock full of WR talent, and one of them will undoubtedly be available at #29, but then you kiss Tyler Linderbaum goodbye. My point is, unless we fix either the WR situation in FA, or the O-line in FA, it’s going to be difficult to expect both of those to be addressed properly via the draft with our current draft position. Do we trade away future assets, or players in order to do that? It’s possible.
We definitely upgraded our backup QB situation signing QB Teddy Bridgewater. I always liked Bridgewater, he’s a gamer. He’ll be a good guy for Tua to lean on. I like the FB signing of Alec Ingold although he is coming off an ACL tear November 16, 2021. He’s a team captain and a guy that will be a spark in the offense. We also signed former 49ers WR Trent Sherfield who is mostly a ST’s player. Remember, we lost WR Mack Hollins to the Raiders. If you’re looking for positives, OG Connor Williams is a very strong run blocker. FB Alec Ingold is also a strong run blocker but again, we need to add more talent on the O-line and in the RB corps. Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Gerrid Doaks. Which one of these guys does the opposing defense worry about running the ball? I’d like one guy that the defense thinks about before the game “Man, I really hate tackling that due, he’s physical”. That guy isn’t on our roster.
If you subtract the re-signs, you have to be underwhelmed by what we’ve done. I like the Connor Williams signings and while I have a La’el Collins chiffon robe that has never been worn, I don’t think I’ll get that opportunity. He’s probably going to the Bengals to win. Speaking of winning, the Bills signed Von Miller to a monster 6 year contract. Think we need to fix the O-line? Let’s just play in fantasy land for a moment and say La’el Collins doesn’t feel the love ($$$) from the Bengals and we somehow snatch him up. My guess would be the O-line would be as such:
LT Austin Jackson
LG Connor Williams
C Michael Deiter (Or Tyler Linderbaum?)
RG Michael Hunt
RT La’el Collins
That wouldn’t be bad, especially if you sub Linderbaum for Deiter. Back to the defense for a second. Now that we have every single LB we had last season after re-signing THREE, how about getting Bobby Wagner?
LDE Emmanuel Ogbah
NT Raekwon Davis
RE Christian Wilkins
WLB Andrew Van Ginkel
LILB Bobby Wagner
RILB Jerome Baker
SOLB Jaelan Phillips
CB Xavien Howard
CB Byron Jones
S Jevon Holland
S Brandon Jones
Doesn’t that look, and feel good? Seriously, give Bobby a nice front loaded contract and if his play declines after a couple of years, it won’t hurt at that time. It’s NOT about making a splash, that would legitimately be a big upgrade on defense. He’s such a smart, instinctive player and a high character, high motor individual. I would really like that.
Now for the bad? news . . . The WR corps.
DeVante Parker, Jaylen Waddle, Cedrick Wilson, Lynn Bowden Jr., Allen Hurns, Preston Williams, Trent Sherfield, River Cracraft, Cody Core and DeVonte Dedmon. Isaiah Ford is a Free Agent. Can you ever really expect DeVante Parker to play healthy for a full season? NO! I love to watch Parker when he’s healthy, he’s a game changer. Maybe that happens 5 or 6 games a season. Will Allen Hurns survive cutdowns? Probably not. Preston Williams is a DeVante Parker in clone healthwise, he can’t stay healthy either. In other words, it’s Waddle, Wilson and who????? I feel like our 1st and 2nd RD picks have to be used on C/WR/RB. But that’s THREE! We only have 2. Say we traded one of our future 1st RD picks from 2023, where we have two. We pick up Tyler Linderbaum at 29, then trade up to the next spot and take Jameson Williams and then with our next pick we take either Kenneth Walker or Breece Hall. Now you’re talking, right?! Don’t bet on it. There’s still a chance to improve this team, Free Agent C’s J.C. Tretter and Bradley Bozeman are available. Bobby Wagner is also out there. Make us smile, make us better!
#stangerstrong
GO DOLPHINS!!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
NCAA woman’s swimmer found in possession of performance enhancing testicles.
That shit is just ridiculous.
Lol
https://www.miamidolphins.com/video/miami-meet-fullback-alec-ingold
Ingold seems to be a good person along with being a good player. Proper FB.
I feel like we get Armstead, then what happens to Jackson or Eichenberg? One of them is probably out, either warming the bench or traded possibly?
I think it depends on the length of contract we sign him to. I can’t see them trading them after 1 and 2 years.
Probably keep them as depth since we almost know Armstead is going to miss some games.
Since we haven’t signed an OT yet, I went into a trade down frenzy.
41. Tyler Smith OT Tulsa
50. Christian Watson WR North Dakota State
90. James Cook RB Georgia
97. Channing Tindall LB Georgia
102. Jeffrey Gunter EDGE Coastal Carolina
121. Troy Andersen LB Montana State
126. Nick Cross S Maryland
143. Cole Strange OG/OC Chattanooga
153. Zach Tom OT/OG/OC Wake Forest
158. Matt Henningsen DT Wisconsin
183. Matt Araiza P San Diego State
224. Skylar Thompson QB Kansas State
227. CJ Verdell RB Oregon
Yeah, that many picks. It allowed me to get better players to fill out the 90 player roster instead of, as New Age would say, shopping at the Good Will (UDFA) for a big job interview.
I’d love to get Tindall and gunter might be a sleeper great pick.
Mike
Keep the pair of them. TA to LT and Collins to RT. They just need some decent coaching.
To find the money cut some of surplus, like Davis, Rowe etc. Always redo some deals.
I agree. You can never have enough OL.
I hear that. I do feel like both of those players are starters though, I just hope they don’t get tossed aside and ruined. I feel if we bring in 2 tackles you wasted 2 high picks on Jackson and Eichenberg
Agreed. Sign one and let’s try to develop the others.
That wouldn’t be a bad deal having Eich and Jackson as 2 of your backup OL. Jackson just needs to play angry.
I think we are making FA mistakes of the past if we sign Armstead and a little bit less so with Collins. I couldn’t imagine signing both of them.
That’s generally speaking, but it also depends on the contracts and how they are structured. The guys we’ve picked up so far are basically similar to what we already had on the roster, but at least the contracts are structured where we can get away from them if they don’t produce as upgrades.
Why? Because of his injury history?
Injury history for Armstead and La’el’s personal problems.
IMO we get one of TA and Collins. AJ and LE just need to get some decent coaching. As I said before I would prefer cheaper ones like Eric Fisher and coach the kids up. Same reason I don’t want Wagner. His stats have been declining the last 3 years. Not worth the money he is looking for.
I can’t help but want to draft QB Thompson late to stash on the PS and groom to be our backup. He is a gamer, plays tough and got a lot of good traits to work with.
BBM
I prefer Carson Strong, he had a poor showing either at the Senior Bowl or the Combine. I like his arm.
Mike E. says:
March 20, 2022 at 10:43 am (Edit)
I feel like we get Armstead, then what happens to Jackson or Eichenberg? One of them is probably out, either warming the bench or traded possibly?
—————-
Who cares what happens to them. They suck
Wrong!! The organization sucks if they don’t get anything out of their high draft picks. You keep missing on high picks, the team will never take that step up, you tread water, or drown. It’s not a winning formula. We spent #18 on Jackson and traded up and used an early 2nd and another pick to get Eichenberg. You coach these guys up and turn them into good starters.
I’m hoping they really don’t suck as bad as they have so far. One thing is for sure, they need some more talent on the OL if they are ever to develop into solid starters. The recipe we’ve had for the OL hasn’t exactly worked.
Ken – also keep in mind how we got those extra picks. We traded very good LT to get those picks so to waste the picks we made to replace him makes that trade so much worse. You have to get value from these players, both were considered very good prospects. You have to develop and coach them
Also, we traded an all pro safety for Jackson. You HAVE to get value back from that.
Might make the Tunsil trade not as good if the guys taken don’t work out, but an eventual 4 1sts, 2 2nds and a 3rd is still a pretty great haul, especially when all those players combined get paid as much as Tunsil.
Stanger – My point is you get four 1st RD pick and blow all of them, the trade kind of works out poorly, yeah?
At that point I’d say the trade was great but the drafting poor. Lost track of exactly which other players, but isn’t Waddle in the Tunsil trade tree? We turned the #3 from Houston into him and the 2023 San Fran first.
I think signing an OT provides an opportunity for Jackson or Eichenberg to develop
We really had no business throwing jackson into the fire like we did
Some picks are great
Some are Busts
But there is a grey area too where draft picks are just sort of a part of your roster
We need better protection in 2022. That’s why we are making these moves (if we make them) but there might be a place for those young players beyond 2022
Forget Armstead, get Collins, draft a center, let Jackson and Eich compete in camp so the new staff can evaluate them.
And change the logo to a throwback.
This I fully agree with!
New logo
Keep Jackson he is young and has upside. Eichenberg blows. I don’t get why everyone feels so attached to these 2. I don’t care what we gave up for them. They are not good. Cut our losses and move on. Keeping them and more importantly playing them without any significant influx of talent on the OL is a recipe for disaster
I don’t think we know if they are good or not. I don’t think we should give up on either of them. JMO
We fired Flores, and we hired a new OL coach, as well as other former O-line coaches like Frank Smith and one other, can’t think of his name at the moment. We did that for a reason, a few reasons really, but one glaring reason was the failure of the O-line. When highly ranked prospects fail, it’s not just on the players, it’s on the coaching. These new guys are going to work with our young talent, so don’t be surprised if one or both are starting by the time the season begins.
AND, don’t sleep on Larnel Coleman for MikeE’s reasoning above. 😉
uwantwat says:
March 20, 2022 at 11:41 am
BBM
I prefer Carson Strong, he had a poor showing either at the Senior Bowl or the Combine. I like his arm.
———————-
Like him, but don’t care to use an early pick on a QB.
You spend it now guys now will call me stupid, but here is what GM stanger would do in this draft if could find willing partners — trade every pick (leaving out the extra one in the 4th and 7th for simplicity).
I’d trade our first for a 2022 2nd and 2023 1st, our 2rd for a 2022 3rd and 2023 2nd and so on all down the line.
We’d trade our first for us picking in rounds 2-6 this year with additional picks in each round 1-5 next year on top of our normal slate. Do the same trades again in 2023 we’d again have extra picks in rounds 2-6 for 2023 and the same slate of additional picks (1-5) for 2024 Do it every year and those extra picks are forever. Yeah I’d do that.
Unrealistic exactly as that in a fast moving draft, but that is basically chart value. So while no team could ever do it, makes a case for trading for future picks when the chance comes up. Like getting interest.
I can see doing it in this years draft if who you want is already off the board at #29 which is happening to me on every mock I do lately. Though, when I have been turning down trade offers offering future picks just because I want to see who I could get now. In reality, I would take the future picks.
So let me ask you this . . . Do you just want to have a lot of draft picks, the equivalent of a a bunch of stocks, stocks that are unknown, or would you rather have a few, even a couple of blue chip stocks? We’ve seen that having lots of picks doesn’t translate into anything unless you draft well and coach well. I’d trade our entire draft this year and next year for 5 great players right now. If we ever want to win in this league, we can’t keep waiting for next year and next year and next year.
I’d trade the next two drafts for five great players too, but don’t think we could get them. Watson just went for three firsts. Plus couldn’t fit them under the cap unless willing to go into cap hell and have to do a complete blow up in 2023 or 2024 that would keep us down for at least two years. You saw what Ogbah, who I wouldn’t call great, got.
I am sure coaching was an issue but our OL was historically bad last season and I see no reason why we should have any confidence in the same group. Also while we have a new OL coach last year’s OL coach was retained as part of the current staff so I don’t think it is all on the coaching
We’re not going to have the same group, we already have Connor Williams at LG and I’d love to get Tyler Linderbaum at C. and sure wouldn’t mind getting La’el Collins. That would basically leave LT for one of either Jackson or Eichenberg and the other as depth.
Or BBM’s guy Larnel Coleman. 🙂
Gonna make a prediction that we see a lot more Playing time for Noah Igbinoghene next year
And it will be a wake up call about how bad the coaching was
DC is the same
I think with B. Jones recovering from offseason surgery, you could be right for increased playing time. I can’t say that coaching was bad when Needham was able to show improvment as well as Justin Coleman. Maybe coaching politics and the fact that they didn’t want him playing the slot and was behind two stars.
https://www.nfl.com/videos/baldinger-s-ideal-draft-prospect-for-dolphins-after-2022-combine
I would not be mad at this.
BBM
I should have added, Strong in 6th or 7th round. I think he really hurt his stock.
Wow, that far, huh? I was thinking someone takes him by the 3rd.
I think we need a C and another T free agency wise, maybe even another tackle. Let the young guys battle with the vets. I understand the notion that our rookies and young guys were not coached well under Flores, but it doesn’t leave room for the notion that it could be that these guys aren’t that good and that we drafted wrong. No one should feel comfortable just going into the season with these guys having the job handed to them when they didn’t actually earn it.
^
How does it not leave room for them not being any good?
If they weren’t coached well, it screams give them another chance, to see what they can do, on a short leash
Asinine would be, if you felt they weren’t coached properly, then getting rid of them
Just so all of you know, Terron Armstead has NEVER played a full NFL season. NEVER! Oot of a possible 145 games, he’s started 93 and played in 97. Sure you want to plunk down $20M per year for that?
I know.
That was a Canadian “out” BTW. lol
I am not crazy about TA. I prefer to sign Collins although he has some red flags too. I would be okay with Trent Brown or Eric Fisher as well
Don’t get me wrong I won’t be upset if we sign TA. He is a stud when healthy but you will need depth behind him so maybe keeping Jackson in that case is alright
This is what I’ve been saying. No to Armstead unless the contract is structured well.
Just waiting for that first domino to fall and set the market, Collins or Armstead, then it’ll probably happen quickly after that. I feel pretty confident we’re going to get one of them, or a 2nd tier guy like Brown.
This should give y’all some idea of what’s in store for our Offense this year…
Makes you think having a FB in there will cut into Gesicki and/or Wilson/Parker/Bowden playing time next season. Waddle will always be on the field unless needs a breather.
What’s a Fullback? LOL
Lol! So sad….
How was our OL coaching last year? Eich spent most of camp at LG and then put most of his season time in at LT and RT. Pretty harsh thing to do to a rookie. You could say that was cause Jackson crashed and burned or they didn’t see it in Eich at T in camp, but why didn’t they catch onto that from the start?
Could have similar discussions about Jackson and Kindley (who was so good the year before).
Yes Mike, Armstead has missed 32.7 percent of games since 2015. That said, he’s still better for 12-13 games a season that the shit we’ve been calling OT’s since we traded Tunsil.
Not mentioned much is about us going for a CB in the draft.
*** Byron Jones is 31 and will have a cap hit of $16 mil in 2023 with only $4 mil in cut cost.
*** Howard is 29, has a similar contract (even if will probably want more this year),and has trade value.
Get a young one up high and he would be waiting to replace one of those while contributing on the field. Guess that was the plan for Iggy but he’s a bust at this point and two years later the move makes so much more sense at CB.
Byron Jones is 29 turns 30 in September and Howard is 28 turns 29 in July.
Shows what you get for taking the first hit for name and age. But point remains.
That is a good point also.
I have looked at some who would be there around pick #102 who have really good potential in Tariq Woolen, UTSA or Alontae Taylor, Tennessee.
I just haven’t taken any in my latest mocks.
This is actually a good draft for CB’s. One who could be there at #29 is Elam from UF.
I haven’t seen any signs that Jones or Howard have lost a step. Athletes can play well into their 30’s these days. RB is the position you worry about because of the punishment they take. I do not think CB should be a priority this year.
ABSOLUTELY, that was the plan in drafting Iggy in the 1st round. While he hasn’t panned out thus far (far from it, actually) it generally takes 2-3 years for a rookie CB to adjust to the NFL. What’s more, we drafted him at a very young 20 years old.
There’s still hope for him yet, but he’s got to start showing some promise now in his 3rd year with the team.
If he truly does become a bust, it will be killer… knowing we passed on the likes of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Tee Higgins, Michal Pittman Jr, and D’Andre Swift.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been okay. I thought he was going to be better than he is.
The other thing about Iggy is that he was a converted WR and had little experience playing CB in college. He was a project and now we know he was drafted too high.
Mike, the other OL coach we have is we retained Lemuel Jeanpierre as Asst. OL coach.
I know that, I was talking about new coaches. I know Smith had O-line experience, thought another new hire did as well.
Mike Person is a first year coach who was a former OL and last played with the 49ers in 2018-19.
Pretty sure between Armstead and Collins, one signs here and the other ends up with Bengals… at least how it seems at the moment …
I agree.
Stanger, why would we want to release Jones or trade Howard? I mean what would we be doing if we did that? Let’s just keep pushing becoming a good team down the road. I don’t get that type of thinking.
Was talking maybe in 2023. And reason would be money. They are the two highest paid on the team this season. Even if keep them to end of contract that is in 2024. A CB taken could be valuable as a 3rd one in the slot and a back-up till then.
Okay, it sounded like you were saying this year. Worry about 2023 in 2023. 😉
Unless a team is willing to give up a 2nd rd pick to match the tender we put on Needham, we have 3 really good corners. Some teams don’t have one.
Iggy will get another chance this year and we have some other corners competing for depth.
For both said “will have a cap hit of $16 mil in 2023 with only $4 mil in cut cost.” Makes no sense to cut either this season so not sure where you got that from.
Wasn’t saying CB was a first choice just that it is in the BPA mix for me. Right now goes for all positions except S, OLB, DE, QB, TE.
I thought you were saying take a CB high in the draft this year to be a replacement down the road. Not saying the team won’t do that, but I wouldn’t do that this year unless a corner was clearly the BPA at #29.
But you know how I feel about the approach we should take this year. Target prospects that can make an impact this season and in the future. That’s why I’d use 2023 picks in this draft to do as much.
“Okay, it sounded like you were saying this year.”
“I thought you were saying take a CB high in the draft this year to be a replacement down the road.”
Now you have me confused, but this year is what was talking about as far as selecting.
^ Every touchdown from NEW Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert’s NFL Career
He’s got some major jets. Hope his knee is good to go.
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
Sources: The #Seahawks are in agreement on a 1-year deal with one of their own — RB Rashaad Penny. The former first-rounder turned down more money elsewhere to build off his stellar second half of 2021. He gets $5.75M with ability to earn up to $6.5M.
There are a lot of reports that we are pursuing Terron Armstead. I think money and the length of contract is the sticking point.
I’m sure they want to make it a team friendly contract, and he wants as much as he can get. He’s 30 with an Injury history; they want to protect themselves and he probably know this may be his last chance at a big contract.
Agreed. 30 is not old for OL but his injury history is a concern. Do you know off hand what his injuries have been? Meaning anything serious or he just seems to get banged up with this and that?
Good question Tim when I dug deep years ago into the notion that Anquan Boldin was injury prone it was literally a series of flukish type injuries that were all unrelated to each other.
It’s important these days to assess whether a player is breaking down with chronic issues from wear and tear or of they just had a run of bad luck.
Right! Over the last few years everyone was concerned about Howard’s knees yet he’s played 32 of 33 games the last 2 years.
Tim,
He missed a bunch this year because of a knee injury.
2019 a few games because of an ankle
2018 he missed a lot because of a pec injury
2017 he had a torn labrum and missed some time
No doubt he gets banged up. But he did start in 15 and 14 games in 2019 and 2020. Last year just 8 games. I don’t know how I feel about us signing him other than he’s a really good tackle and even with a history of injuries teams chase talent. But if it wasn’t for that, he probably would have signed with some team by now.
See below
Collins signing with the Bengals
That’s not surprising, he’s been linked to them and is familiar with their OL coach.
And he said that he wants to go to a winning team
You know what’s funny about that. We know the Bengals had a magical season, but they were 10-7 during the season. We were 9-8. That’s why you have to make the playoffs. You never know.
I know that some people don’t think that Grier fucking up and giving Philly our pick is a big deal, (don’t we always seem to come out on the wrong end of the deal with them?) but if we were picking at 15 there would be some pretty tall ended OL available.
It was to get Waddle. Or Chase or Pitts.
I think Xs knee is a perfect example of am I jury you can’t be sure if it’s manageable over the long term or degenerative in nature where eventually he won’t be able to run well enough to play his game. I personally am hopeing/leaning toward the former.
I think no matter what I say, I know the main reason why I don’t want Armstead is because we have 2 young tackles that should be able to handle it. You bring in Armstead and he’s got to be starting at LT, and then that leaves Eichenberg and Jackson in a battle for RT. Not the worst thing in the world, and our depth would be pretty solid with the loser of the Eichenberg/Jackson battle as depth, along with Kindley. I was hoping more to bring in a C, or draft one and see how things went. I also feel if we do get Armstead that don’t really believe in those guys (Eich/Jackson) which is a shame.
I’d trade our entire draft this year and next year for 5 great players right now. If we ever want to win in this league, we can’t keep waiting for next year and next year and next year.
So would every coach in the league, every 2 years Mike
I would think so. So if that’s the case, why not trade up to get Tyler Linderbaum who projects to be an All-Pro C and give up a future pick if you have to get him? It goes back to what Tim was saying, no one wants to trade those precious picks, but if you bring in Linderbaum and he’s an all pro C 6 out of 10 years he’s here, that’s not worth and extra pick from either this draft or next?
That’s what I’ve been saying. Tua is in his 3rd season and before some of our good players are no longer here, what are we waiting for? It’s not like we’re a 4-12 or 5-12 team.
If Tua’s not the answer okay we have to look for another QB in a couple of years. But why not see if we can get to another level now? If we were to sign Armstead, does that mean we’re looking a couple of years down the road? The FA signings we’ve made do not scream 2-3 years from now. I’m tired of that shit! Go for it!!! Use what we have as draft capital to get really good now. We started the rebuild in 2019. It’s 2022.
Exactly how I feel. What’s the point of saving everything? We’re at the point where we should be competing, you can’t keep building forever, you have to make your move. That’s part and parcel why I’m disappointed so far with free agency, I like our re-signs but we need to upgrade the talent too. We were obviously not good enough as currently constituted so to stay pat to me is foolish. Why would you expect a big difference, unless you think McD is a super coach and can be successful with anyone. I mean maybe he is, but talent is important anyway.
Signing vet OL does not mean the young OL have to be thrown to the curb. Just that we find the best 5 this year and maybe moving forward they settle in.
Garbage gets thrown to the curb
LOL – Ken just hates Jackson and Eichenberg
I kinda agree with this. We are scared to lose top draft picks and redirect this fear on Flores being a terrible HC. He was a terrible HC but we don’t know if these young OL will be good, but we do know that Collins and Armstead are good. I look at Cincy who went the SB with a better OL…and still signed 3 new players to start. Isn’t that how you really fix your OL? How could we do less and say we’ve done better?
You know how I know Grier is a terrible GM? Jesse Davis has started for us the last 5 years. The OL is of primary importance and Jesse Davis still started lots of games. How do you explain this as a GM? I hope we get Armstead and the young guys finally get it. It would have been nice to have some insurance for that though. Instead of signing all our backups and fringe players.
Ken is brutal, lol
Hulk brutal lol
Mike, you and I are on the same page along with a few others. If we’re 2-3 years away like some always think we are, why re-sign Ogbah and keep the defense intact? Why sign the other offensive players we did in FA? To waste more time? It doesn’t make sense. Why sign 29/30 year old Mostert at RB if that’s the plan?
Maybe we are trying to win now and FA is the first phase. I don’t see Grier/McDaniel looking at the future. I see it as now. We might make a trade that nobody sees coming. You can’t rebuild 4, 5, 6 years in the FA era. At some point you have to say let’s get after it.
Yup! No question we feel the same way on this
I think we are trying to win now
If we sign armstead in the next couple of days it’s completed that picture to me
The one thing that we needed to do this off-season in terms of personnel was being in OL
Everything else just kind of has to mature and come together
But we are poised to have a lot of players come into their own in 2022
We drafted 3 players last year that made all rookie teams. When is the last time that happened? We still have a solid draft this year. #29 and #50 could change the outlook without any wild trades. That could be two impact players. Why not?
As for how the OL is configured I look to the new coaches. I don’t care who plays left or right side. Just block the FUCKING plays!!! LOL
New Age – If we do bring in Armstead here, you kinda have to figure that if there’s a strong competition between Eich, Jackson and Coleman, that one of those guys should be able to handle the job. Both of them have played tackle and played well. I know they haven’t done it on the pro level, but once again, who you have next to you on the line affects the way you play. If you have a good player next to you, it makes your job easier. I’m not worried about bringing in 2 tackles. I honestly don’t think La’el had any intentions of coming here at all.
Probably right on Collins. I hope so. We haven’t had a good OL in way too long.
That much is 100% true, and believe it kills me every year that Jesse Davis was the best we could do as well. Like John McEnroe says, “You cannot be serious!!!!!!” lol
We act like we have no skill players on offense. Really?
I know not everyone agrees with me but our defense can be a top group. There is something to continuity and guys who feed off of each other. We’re an aggressive group that makes game changing plays. Sometimes the offense has to win 38-35. We’ve seen that. We were not equipped to do that last year. I like our offense much better today than I did last year.
Whether Armstead signs with us or another team, all the remaining top T dominoes should fall once he does.
At least Terron Armstead is visiting with us. If he thought nothing of our team he wouldn’t be. 🙂
I know, I know… it’s all about money. 😉
To be very honest, I’d rather sign Bobby Wagner than Terron Armstead at this point. I mean, Armstead isn’t going to protect Tua’s blindside, and for the money, I’d rather field the best Defense in the NFL with Wagner playing our MLB position… but that’s just me.
But watch us lose BOTH Armstead and Wagner…
I’d be thrilled with Bobby Wagner, and I’m not really dying to sign Armstead either. If it happens, so be it, but I’m not going to be disappointed if he doesn’t sign here.
We could sign both. A dominating D would be great, but we have to shore up this OL somehow, or it won’t matter what kind of defense we have .
I hear ya, man… but Armstead is an LT who won’t help to protect Tua’s blindside.
Both tackle positions are important. Not all pressures and sacks come from the blind side. Come on Man! 😉
Think about how we play defense with our blitz schemes. Is it all about the blind side? It’s not the old pro set with the RT with a TE on his shoulder and a weak side pass rusher one on one. Both tackles have to protect the QB from outside rushers. It’s also about run blocking.
One other thing. Tua is the only left handed QB in the league. How many RTs are big time pass protectors on the weak side?
Read me below to Hulkster
M – Every OL protects the QB, I mean I know you know that. It’s more important on the blind side but you can still get killed by the RDE, even though you can see him. We need quality players at every spot on the O-line.
Read me below to Hulkster
Correct . We need at least one quality OT in FA. Hopefully Eichenberg or Jackson can be developed this offseason.
Hulkster,
I do not understand why you think Liam Eichenberg sucks so badly, man. I mean, he was a rook, our coaches not only mismanaged him but played him out of scheme, and he’s a natty LT from Notre Dame who hadn’t given up a sack in forever.
Give him a true offseason (Covid wreaked havoc on yet another offseason), and he’s likely to be our future LT for the next decade.
I FIRMLY believe in Eich. Austin Jackson? Not so much… but he could become a keeper yet.
There is a knock in Eichenberg in regards to his arm being short for the position. Not sure if there’s anything to that.
We’re about to find out this year if Eichenberg is truly worthy of the LT position, what with Mr. McD being our HC. I think Eich is going to be fine, but that’s just me.
But if we sign Armstead then he will play LT, and Eichenberg and Jackson will battle it out for the RT spot.
Fair enough, but Armstead is better than both Eichenberg and Jackson regardless of which side. There are ways to keep Tua from getting killed on his blind side. Like quick passes, play-action, roll-outs, bootlegs and waggles off the running game. A good running game slows down the pass rush.
I don’t want to have to run gimmick plays just to keep Tua safe… we did that last year and it held him back.
It’s not a gimmick, it slows the rush. We ran the ball so well last year to gimmick our pass pro? Really?
I think what M13 is saying that he doesn’t want to HAVE to run plays like that just to keep Tua safe. It would be nice to be able to run them simply to keep the opposing D off balance.
Then he should want Armstead. The running game sets so much up for an offense instead of having your QB dropping back and vulnerable play after after play. The run game calls the dogs off. It’s not a gimmick. It’s football 101.
Since Armstead is coming in tomorrow, I brought in some homer-aid.
Tim Knight says:
March 20, 2022 at 7:45 pm
Then he should want Armstead. The running game sets so much up for an offense instead of having your QB dropping back and vulnerable play after after play. The run game calls the dogs off. It’s not a gimmick. It’s football 101.
————-
Yet you SAID, the blitz comes from both sides of the O-Line these days. You are quite correct, Tim. Say we sign Terron Armstead for $20M/per as our LT… BUT WHO IS GOING TO PROTECT TUA’S BLINDSIDE?
You seem to forget that Tua is a southpaw, Bro. I’ve never once seen a Tackle on the non-blindside make such money.
That’s akin to paying a RT elite money to protect Dan Marino’s non-blindside. Is it worth it?
Armstead has missed more games than DeVante, for crying out loud! REALLY?
I think that notion has changed . The gap between LT and RT has closed significantly in recent years. Armstead was slated to make $13 million this season, why do you think he wants $20 mil?
Eich or Jackson. We can’t fix it all at once. Maybe he can help those guys get better.
That has to be our hope at this point. And if everything comes as advertised (COACHING), then I can understand why we didn’t break the bank for a Tackle via FA.
I don’t know, if we don’t sign Armstead on the left side, who is going to protect Tua’s blind side? This isn’t all about the blind side, it’s naive to think that way. As if one half of your OL can be weak.
Bro, it’s NOT naive to think that way when Tua had his ribs fractured from a blindside hit in game 2 of last year’s season.
Let’s be honest about that play. Jesse Davis whiffed and I thought a defensive player is not allowed to put all his weight on the QB into the ground which is what happened. No flag which wouldn’t have mattered after the injury. But it was one bad play.
Running the football helps minimize that sort of stuff. Yeah we had some good runs and rushing games, but not consistent. Armstead is not just a pass protector. And yes I worry about his durability too. But if Collins goes to Cincy and we don’t sign Armstead, who protects Tua and helps the run game?
I like Ford. I guess we aren’t targeting a WR @29 or 50…
Bc we signed Ford? I don’t think he’s expected to be too 3 on our depth chart. It doesn’t tell us a thing about the draft IMO
Waddle, Parker, Wilson, Williams, etc. doesn’t seem like WR will be a priority this year.
Brian, Gesicki too because we know he’s mostly a receiver.
Seems like the end of Hurns or at least insurance in case we release him, but we won’t know anything until his guarantee is reported
mf13ss says:
March 20, 2022 at 7:22 pm (Edit)
Hulkster,
I do not understand why you think Liam Eichenberg sucks so badly
————-
Because I have watched him play
Hahahahaha!
I wonder if Zion Johnson can play center.
I think that was talked about. There are several other prospects who can play several positions on the OL. Both in my last mock Cole Strange OG/OC and Tom who has played OT, OG and OC at Wake Forest.
He’s considered to be more of a phone booth guard, not an athletic on the move Center. Just going by what scouts say about him.
He looks like a mauler from what I’ve seen of him
Can we allow our new HC to see things in his vision or do we always have to look at the past? If we can’t run the ball who is the first guy that will be pissed off? I think that would be coach McD.
The answer to that is no Tim, we cannot! I’m pretty sure a few people on this board will be pissed before McDaniels …
So we fans care more than our HC?
I think the fans can be just as emotionally invested. We’ve been dealing with this shit OL a lot longer than he has!
Why would the Raiders HC be pissed?
I have a feeling Hurns and Carter could be on their way out.
I think they should be
They would both give us $5+M in cap space with less than $1M in dead cap.
Hurns and Carter have really not done much with our team. It almost seems obvious.
🐕
I’m ok if we sign Armstead, he is an upgrade.
Tim Knight says:
March 20, 2022 at 7:21 pm
Both tackle positions are important. Not all pressures and sacks come from the blind side. Come on Man! 😉
No one thinks all the sacks come from one side, please stop saying this
You seem to forget why an LT makes more than a RT with a rt handed QB
Maybe you missed the first Buffalo game, when Tua got hurt
Why did he get hurt? He was blindsided
I already addressed this. Come on man, give me more credit than that.
That’s what I get for posted without reading up
Owe you a beer MF
Buffalo was getting pressure from both sides consistently in that game. If we can’t upgrade RT right now, hopefully we can upgrade LT with Armstead .
Because they had no fear of us running the ball on them. You have to call the dogs off.
Well, the rub there is that we couldn’t run the ball because it OL sucked at run blocking too
We do need better play at LT, bit that has never been the point
You don’t pay a non blindside OT 20+m
If we can get him for 15m or less I’m all in
Where is it reported he wants $20 million? He was slated to make $13 million this season .
We will definitely be clearing money, SOON. We only have 16.5 left in top 51 player cap space. That’s with none of the below players we have signed showing up on the books yet. Redwine and Sherfield won’t be in the top 51 probably. The rest will as our top 51 cut off is at 895K right now.
Alec Ingold FB – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Sheldrick Redwine S – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Elandon Roberts OLB – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Brennan Scarlett OLB – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Trent Sherfield WR – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Durham Smythe TE – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Connor Williams G – – – – – – – – – 0.00
Add Isaiah Ford to that list now.
16.5 mil
Bengals added 3 quality starting OL via FA to protect Burrow.
OG Alex Chappa, 4yr 35mil
OC Ted Karras, 3yr 18mil
OT Collins, ?
Interested to see what Collins is getting.
I must have missed this
LET’S GOOOOO! LA’EL COLLINS IS A BENGAL!
We’ve signed free agent OT La’el Collins to a three-year contract that lasts through the 2024 season.
Brian – I said $20M. I was just throwing a high number out there. I have no idea what he’s going to get
Gotcha. I don’t think we pay him anywhere near that if he signs with us .
I think that’s why he’s not signed. We’ll see.
TBH, I think he gets 15-18mil per yr. Though, his market has shrunk.
I hope not
We’ve done a good job structuring the FA contracts so far. If we sign Armstead, I don’t think it’ll hurt the team too bad.
It’s been horrible IMO
We can still sign Gesicki longterm and save on the cap
Was surprised to see guys like Ogbah count so much against the 2022 cap, when they could’ve easily pushed it forward
The cap is an easy thing to manipulate. Fans get too caught up in it. Just hope your team gets better and competes.
I know what you’re saying, and we could’ve done that this year with the huge cap increase next year, and why I’m pissed they didn’t push more money to the future
We easily could’ve brought on 2 large contracts, besides Ogbahs
Anyone think we move Robert Hunt back to Right Tackle?
I would
Yep! I’m full blown let coach McD and his staff figure it out. We can get nuts about it but they’re the ones who will make those decisions anyway. What the fuck do I or any of us know? LOL
I like our defense and our skill players on offense in 2022. We haven’t even drafted yet. Heck we’re not done in FA.
The defense is going to remain the same. The offense will be a totally different beast.
Wait until Armstead sees that we have a slide
I can’t see him turning that down
🐖 💨
LOL
The difference maker
This is just an idea of what coach McD’s offense will be based on. Look at how the movement of the run/play-action pass allows no pass rush. The QB is not sitting there in the pocket with the OL on their heels. This goes back to Bill Walsh type stuff. This is where Tua comes in.
Not sure why some think we draft another RB early
La’el contract is essentially 2 yrs 20m
That might bring down the Armstead contract
People are starting to talk about moving Hunt back to RT
For me you have to start with your tackles, get your 2 best OL to play tackle
What good does it do to have an All Pro at RG, when your RT says ole`
That’s like me saying Jackson will play LT and Eich RT. Who are these “people”? Did Matt Applebaum say that? Did McD say that?
Brian Miller was the latest
Just speculation on why they didn’t go after La’el harder
How would you feel about Armstead at LT, Hunt ar RT, Conner at LG, Eichenberg/Jackson at RG and Deiter at C
I’d like Tyler Linderbaum at C
Of course you would, but that wasn’t the question
We could then go straight non QB in draft
Maybe our panty knotters would stifle🤪
Straight BPA (non QB)
If Linderbaum is there at 29 fine, take him, but I’m not trading up
Is he some kind of superman can’t miss prospect?
What if he baums😉
He’s a very highly rated C, especially in a move type of O-line which we will be.
I think Grier might be feeling some heat on not getting a top notch OT and over pay for Armstead
steveccnv says:
March 20, 2022 at 5:27 pm
How does it not leave room for them not being any good?
If they weren’t coached well, it screams give them another chance, to see what they can do, on a short leash
Asinine would be, if you felt they weren’t coached properly, then getting rid of them
________
I thought I was pretty clear in my post. Being poorly coached doesn’t exclude them being bad themselves. I didn’t advocate for getting rid of them. I said to bring in competition and let them earn their jobs. You can’t put them on a short leash if you automatically give them the starting position and don’t have a quality alternative behind them or you’re looking at the same problem as last year.
Steve – If Grier was affected by what other people think, specifically feeling pressure to get a player because the fans think they need one, he’d be gone already.
Your Picks:
Round 2 Pick 4 (NYG): Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa (A)
Round 2 Pick 18: Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State (A)
Round 3 Pick 3 (NYG): Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama (A)
Round 3 Pick 37 (COMP): Brandon Smith, ILB/OLB, Penn State (A+)
Round 4 Pick 16: Boye Mafe, DE/OLB, Minnesota (A+)
Round 4 Pick 20: Khalil Shakir, WR, Boise State (A+)
Round 5 Pick 15: Colin Newell, C/OG, Iowa State (A+)
Round 6 Pick 20: Matt Araiza, P, San Diego State (A+)
Round 7 Pick 3: Jeremiah Hall, FB/RB, Oklahoma (A+)
Wyo
I like that sraft of yours.
Penning is “nasty”
If Williams, Dean, Linderbaum aren’t there @29 I’d trade down!
Wyo
Linderbaum is the only one of those I would stay there for. Penning is a truly nasty man.
I would consider trading up 2-4 spots for Linderbaum. We need a center badly.
In my mind, there is A 100% chance Christian Wilkins uses that slide.
I don’t know about Wilkins? But Ross did it!
Brian
If the cost was reasonable perhaps our 2nd 4th. maybe.
If so, I would pull that trigger on Linderbaum or Penning.
Sounds like he’ll be spending as much time on the assessment table in a medical as he will at the interview table today?
So Armando’s now a doctor? I mean I get the skepticism but how the fuck does he know how healthy and durable TA’s knee is? I fucking hate our beat writers
/\ /\
Tbf to Mando (who will do anything for clicks) he does cite “an NFL coach familiar with Terron”. Gives him complete deniability too!
Maybe we just stay at #29 and take Penning?
He’s played both OT positions and some OG!
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10021422-trevor-penning-nfl-draft-2022-scouting-report-for-northern-iowa-ot
Armstead ran unofficial 4.65 40 but official 4.71.
Good stuff. Sherfield was a great interview! Pulling for him.
So you guys don’t like the Connor Williams signing?
I like him as a player.
But to be honest OG was the least of my worries on the OL. So getting his deal first is a head scratcher to me.
Who says? Think it was what we needed at LG for a long time. This staff will help him clean up his penalty crap. He’s a great fit.