I dont think we have to bring back Lloyd just because we missed Sanders.
We don't have to bring back Lloyd because we missed on Sanders. We have to bring back Lloyd because the team elected to do nothing aside from bring in Amendola, two scrubs, and hinge their hopes on Sanders coming over. Further, we have to bring in Lloyd because the team now has to draft two WR's in the draft regardless. I've studied the draft and I can't see one that has experience in the offense we run. Therefore, it makes sense to bring back a guy that had 911 yards receiving for us last season and has experience in it. At the very least, he could assume the Branch role.
I do think it is a possibility and I think he could have been brought back even with Lloyd had we gone all defense in the draft. Plus I think 2 WRs in the draft and Lloyd is a little bit of overkill. If we were to draft 2 I think one would be in the 7th. I would say having lost out on Sanders make drafting at least one in the first 3 rounds an almost certainty but 2 is overkill.
I think it might bot be the perfect situation but you have two players in Amendolla and Edelman that you can count on being the week one starters.
Things you can count on with those two...
1. Mediocrity for Edelman.
2. Injury to at least one of them.
3. They both patrol the same level of the field, which just so happens to be the same level of the field our TE's patrol.
You have a player in Jones who should at least be an adequate back up and you have added insurance in Jenkins (and any other WR we chose to bring back Branch and Stallworth).
Jenkins should be cut by the end of TC unless this team has a complete failure at picking up another actual NFL caliber WR along the way. Jones has shown nothing to prove that he can man the flanker position. As of right now, flanker and split end are needs.
This is very light at the top but I am not sure Lloyd does much to change that. He adds depth and I guess due to health reasons I might rather him to Edelman at 2 but to say we have to resign him just does not seem accurate to me.
He adds a body that has experience that is capable of working outside the hashes. Without him, the two rookies need to not only understand the offense, but need to contribute immediately. With him, only one essentially needs to do that. If they both come in and contribute immediately, Lloyd provides a vast upgrade to what Branch was able to give us and the passing offense becomes that much more dangerous.
Obviously I think we are better off still trying to find another option who could be number 1 or 2 on the depth chart. Whether that be going after Cruz which like you I agree is probably unlikely. Or going after a Danario Alexander which I think is unlikely too. The real X factor that I think will be interesting is to see if we could make some sort of trade. The whole league knows we were willing to give up a 3 for a interesting but not fully proven option at WR you would think someone might crawl out of the woodworks looking for that pick now.
What are we going to use as a trade and who is open for it?
I have to imagine he had a plan B in place should the steelers match. Plan B could be as simple as the draft and/or Lloyd. Or it could be something we have no idea about. For all we know BB had a trade discussed for a WR better than Sanders but didn't like the asking price and maybe now he meets it.
I would hope that Belichick has a Plan B. Otherwise, the WR situation as it is currently constructed is totally inexcusable.
Personally I think the most logical plan B is probably the draft. And while you can pick on each option individually as whole this really doesnt look like that bad a group if we were to have Amendolla, Edelman, First Round rookie, Jones, and either Jenkins/Branch/Stallworth/Ebert or some other vet at WR5.
The team will probably go to the draft. They will also probably double dip at the WR position since it's a very deep year for that position. They can trade down/out of the first round, double dip at WR, and still acquire prospects at DE and CB/S.