mgteich

SOME OF MY EARLY THOUGHTS ABOUT WIDE RECEIVERS

This is by far the #1 priority because there are exactly zero out of six positions that we can count on as filled for more this year.

1. We should try to extend Branch before we decide what to offer Givens.

2. We should offer a third for Moulds, rather than wait for a bidding war

3. Reggie Wayne is worth more to others

4. Randel El would be a solid fit, since he returns punts. Givens or Randel El would be great. My suspicion is that Givens will get $5M a year from someone else. If we have Branch extended and Moulds, I would rather have Randel El.

5. We should re-sign Davis. We should be able to develop him. He has much more potential than Johnson, Sam or Childress.

6. We should re-sign Dwight.

7. I think Brown is retiring.

8. We should be able to get #6 from Childress, Johnson and Sam.

BOTTOM LINE

There is a lot of work to do at wide receiver. However a trade, a free agent pick up, and a couple of minor re-signs should do the job.

pats1

How can we afford Moulds and Randel El...and still resign Davis and Dwight?

tombonneau

I dont think either would break the bank. If traded for Moulds, not sure his cap #, but he could already be on a dummy year and will either be cut or restructured if so. Old "lost a step" wrs like Moulds are hardly a redhot commodity.

As for ARE, he'll command slightly above avg. #2 WR numbers, which again, will not be earth shattering. And he'll get that if he's lucky.

pats1

Moulds signed a $5.26 mil., 3 year deal in I think 2005, according to http://www.billsdaily.com/frontoffice/salarycap.shtml

Randle El had a cap numer just under $500 k, and is a free agent, but I'm sure the Steelers will want him back.

Box_O_Rocks

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pats1

Moulds isn't a free agent.

I checked for certain, he's locked up through 2007 with over 13 mil. over the next two seasons (2006-2007)

http://nflpa.org/Members/playerProfile.asp?ID=23855

Here are Randle El's career salaries:

http://nflpa.org/Members/playerProfile.asp?ID=33056

patsfan13

I think Davis will be back, BB made some comments in a post game press conf about Davis's good play on ST, alway good when you can do more than 1 thing, Same goes for Childress.

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mgteich

I guess we have the start of a Childress fan club. That's fine. I'll have him at #6 next time I post. He is preferred by most to Johnson and Sam.

dryheat44

I kind of disagree that Andre Davis has potential. The guy has been a #1 receiver in the NFL. He's proven. Unless he has some Donald Hayes-like trouble learning the playbook, he'll be fine as a #2 receiver if Givens leaves. I don't think he's as effective in the slot, where he seemed to line up most of the time this year. Randle-El, Dwight, and Johnson are redundant. If we sign Randle-El, it is good because we won't need a #3 QB, go into the season with Brady, Cassel, and Randle-El. (Chris Redman is also signed). Bethel is cheap, so he could stick around, but Dwight's a free agent I don't expect to re-sign. Sam and Childress are in the mix, and I'm not sure Brown's going to retire. He's still our best slot receiver, although if we sign Randle-El, that will probably do it for Troy, and he can be a WR coach/emergency DB. I still think there's a good possibility we'll draft a day 1 WR as well. If I had to take a guess right now, I'd say the lineup looks like:

1. Branch
2. Davis
3. Randle-El
4. Rookie (Hass/Hagen?)
5. Childress
6. Sam

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BelichickFan

I'm not an Andre Davis guy. I would like him cheap as a #4 WR. Unless I didn't see right, he looked stiff and unathletic. He didn't show the ability to do much more than run fly patterns as a WR.

I'd like to come out of this offseason with Branch at #1, Davis and Bethel at #4 and #5 and two new guys at #2 and #3. One of the new guys could be Givens as he's kind of gone until re-signed. We need a better #3 WR IMO unless we commit more to the two TE offense and they can both stay healthy.

On that note, don't be shocked if we draft another TE in the first 3 rounds. Graham is a UFA after next season and having a more athletic TE than Fauria would help the depth as Graham and Watson get dinged a lot, it seems. And, no, I'm not kidding. I wouldn't be shocked if we took a TE in the first round although I don't expect it.