Deus Irae

Ok, it's dead time around here, with the combine happening and pretty much nothing else. So, I thought of an idea to pass the time.


Jason has the Patriots sitting at about $11 million once all rookies are signed and bonuses are paid. According to some rumors about the cap out there, he could easily be 1-2 million on the low side. Now, here's the game....

We'll call the above 12.5 million, and add 3 million from a Mankins restructure. Looking at who's currently on schedule to be a FA (Walterfooball has a list, for example) and those who are rumored to be getting cut, build the team with that $15.5 million and give your money spent (i.e. Sign Jennings to his $14 million per year demands ). Be reasonable with your numbers, as no veteran minimum contract for Aqib Talib is going to happen, if you get my drift. Draft picks are allowed and encouraged, as long as the current "general consensus" has them available when you're making the pick.


Anyone interested, fire away:





2/26 mod edit: with the contract extension for Tom Brady, you can now use a figure of $20.5 million rather than $12.5 million


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nzahir

Re sign talib for 5-6 mil a year average 4 years or maybe a guy like derek cox, keenan lewis, or grimes(though he will be 29 or 30 and just came off a huge injury).
Sign amendola for 3-4 mil a year average 3 years
Sign gosder cherilus for 4 years 4 mil a year average
So now lets say we have 2.5 mil left, maybe if we cut or restructure some guys to save us a million or 2, we can sign a guy like desmond bryant

Draft:
Round 1: Tavon austin
Round 2(traded up, round 3 pick was used): matt elam
Round 4: The honey badger
Round 5-7: depth at db's, o line,..

I wish this team could get another big playmaker except for talib, such as woodson, reed, goldson, or melton; but that means somebody wouldnt be signed(such as cherilus) and maybe other contracts would have to be restructured. Maybe instead of cherilus, this team can draft o-line in round 2 and sign a guy like reed or woodson.

signbabybrady

Seems like a real low number? I thought we were in the 18-20 range? How do rookies take us to 11?

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PatsWickedPissah

Where do we get picks in rounds 4, 5 and 6? We don't have any.

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ivanvamp

So assuming that we haven't got Welker, Vollmer, or Talib in the fold, here's one way to approach it.

Premise #1: The Patriots' offense is historically great with Wes Welker. Without him, they would drop from historically great down to merely being tremendous (top 2-3 in the NFL). I estimate that they would score about 28-30 points a game without Welker, as opposed to the 34 they score with him. His overall contributions are worth 4-6 points a game, IMO. But can a team with a 28-30 ppg offense win the Super Bowl? Absolutely positively yes.

Premise #2: The biggest area of need the Patriots have is on defense (pass rush and DBs, specifically) and wide receiver. Obviously if you let Welker go you create an even bigger need at the WR position.

Premise #3: The defense, full of young players, will probably improve *some* just due to increased experience. But not enough for my liking.

Premise #4: I have to assume that Dennard will miss some time due to his conviction. I have to plan on him not being around in 2013. If he is here, bonus. If I plan on him being here and he's not, it cripples my defense.

So here's the deal.

(1) Here () lists the highest paid corners in the NFL in 2012. Based on this information, I think the Pats re-sign Talib to a 4-year, $26 million contract. He can't expect to be a top 5 guy, but I think making more of it guaranteed entices him (say, $18 million of it). If you have to go an extra year at that rate to make him bite, so be it. So there's $6.5 million of the $15.5 million available, meaning I've got $9 million left.

(2) Sign either Reed or Woodson to a 3-year, $13.5 million deal to play safety. This is for two reasons. First, if Dennard is out, you can move McCourty to corner and have Reed/Woodson play with Gregory. And if he's there, you have Dennard/Talib at CB, and McCourty/Reed(Woodson) at S. That's a very, very strong defensive backfield. All four guys can cover and hit. And second, they draft a S and having Reed/Woodson serves as a great mentor and placeholder until that new guy is ready. That leaves me with $4.5 million left.

BTW, you can structure the contracts for Talib and Reed/Woodson in such a way that instead of $4.5 million left, you actually have about $7 million left, so I'm working with that number.

(3) Sign Freeney or Umenyiora (preferably Freeney) to be a situational pass rusher. I hope you can get one of them for $5 million a year over 3 years. This gives the Pats added help getting after the quarterback.

So I'm down to $2 million. With that, I'd re-sign Edelman and add a couple of depth moves to fill out the roster, especially on the OL where Dante can coach up a couple of JAGs into useful players.

So my pass defense looks like this:

DE Jones
DT Wilfork
DT Armstead
DE Freeney/Umenyiora
LB Ninkovich (in for Spikes in passing situations; he can cover better and rush the QB better)
LB Mayo
LB Hightower or Fletcher (Fletcher is better in coverage)
CB Talib
CB Dennard
S McCourty
S Reed/Woodson

That is, on paper, a MUCH improved defense against the pass. And it takes care of their biggest need on the entire team.

Now, that's it for free agency. And it brings me to the draft. They have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 7th round picks. I would use the 1st and 2nd round picks, and trade the 3rd rounder for a 4th and 5th rounders, just to add depth, unless there was a guy I wanted that's available in the 3rd round.

Round 1 - Tavon Austin, WR. The more I think about this guy the more I like him. He is unbelievable. Blazing speed (4.39). Can play RB or WR. Very good hands. Incredible playmaker. He not only helps you right now but he becomes the best WR target on the team for years to come.

Round 2 - DJ Swearinger, S. Per my comments on Reed/Woodson, the Pats will need a new young safety. I think Tavon Wilson has potential, but a guy like Swearinger has more, IMO. I think other possibilities could include Datone Jones (DE, UCLA), Jamar Taylor (CB, Boise St), Eric Reid (S, LSU), etc. Go with the best available safety here.

Round 4, 5, 7 - the best available D-linemen and DBs. I might even trade my 4th for a 5th and a 6th, meaning instead of 3 picks in this group, I'd have 4, thus increasing my chances of landing someone good.

So my offense, would then have a good player in Edelman plus a dynamic stud in Austin replacing Welker. Austin, Lloyd, Hernandez, Gronk, Ballard, Edelman, Vereen, Woodhead, Ridley, Bolden, Demps....that's a LOT of firepower to give Brady. Hope your OL holds up - that's the one big question mark, but again, I'm counting on Scarnecchia to do his work.

There's not enough money to get everyone you want, but this fills in the biggest holes and sets the team up not just now, but longer-term as well. I *think* they can do it with the budget you've allotted. (obviously nobody knows for sure)

The_Riddler

Just off the top, I would spend the first 2 picks on WRs (Tavon Austin to play the slot at 29 and Robert Woods in round 2 on the perimeter to play with Lloyd).

Then trade down in round 3 and pick up some additional depth picks that were lost in rounds 4 and 5. Use those picks for a coverage LB and a developmental OG OT.

Let Welker walk and use those saved funds to bring back Talib at slightly above market rate and then Vollmer at market rate, whatever that market projects.

Then in FA, focus all allocated FA funds on the defensive side of the ball. Goldsen or Reed and/or Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie.

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Hey Rex have you met our new Tightends? Say Hi to Aaron and Gronk !

Nehalem

So how exactly do you get

Gronk - Hernandez - Austin - Woods - Llyod - Ridley on the field at the same time?

And why are we spending a first on a slot receiver when we have Gronk and Hernandez (and possibly Ballard) to work the middle of the field? Hasn't everyone been complaining that we have to many players to work the middle of the field?

The_Riddler

First of all why couldn't you get the aforementioned all on the field at the same time?

The Pocket Rocket, Tavon Austin, just ran a 4.25 in Indy. He is worthy of the slot WR pick because from a financial and age perspective, it would help the team out tremendously, not to mention Tavon's dynamic ability as a returner, which is a huge need for us. It's time to move on from Welker, he gave us a great five years, but it's time to get an explosive kid like this. He would make our offensive absolutely deadly. Woods in round 2 is the guy we would draft for the perimeter.

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Hey Rex have you met our new Tightends? Say Hi to Aaron and Gronk !

AndyJohnson

Rather than signing big contract guys until the money runs out, I will look at it from the reverse perspective, that is, after the basics are handled, what is left for the big money guys.
I'll break it down into 3 posts, offense, defense, then conclusion.
I'll start with what we have, filling in 'jags' or draft choices (I will use WR, S, DL as the top 3 picks for the sake of example, and not heavily rely on any in year 1 because we don't know who will be on the board at 29, and therefore which position we will add a player who can contribute)

OFFENSE
QB- All set, no moves needed
RB- Ridley, Vereen, Bolden, Demps. I'm good with this group, and I think Woodhead is now a luxury because Vereen can fill his role.
WR- We need a boatload. Lloyd staying, IMO is a no brainer. Add a draft choice. Here we must spend at least 2 mill (note here that I am using the 51 rule, so that is really 3 mill in first year cap hits, and it is for JAGs). in first year cap hits to just fill in bodies. This will require more money because Lloyd a pick and 2 JAGs won't cut it.
OL- 4 of 5 starters under contract. As is, Cannon becomes the starter, Zusevics and McDonald are the only players under contract. 2 JAG OL to fill the roster equals net cost of 1mill. At the least we need either a starter at RT or a strong backup than just a JAG.

So by filling in the offense with JAGs at OL and WR, we have spent 3 mill of cap space. When we revisit and say, sign a FA WR, we will only address the INCREASE over what the JAG cost we already accounted for is.

ctpatsfan77

Well, you could. . . . if one of them is playing quarterback.

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