My Ridiculously Early Start on a 2026 Offseason Plan

[manxman2601]

Here is my current full plan.

Cuts/Trades

Cut Onwenu (I toyed with maybe extending him, but given his recent play I doubt they find a contract which works as it be too much of a pay cut... he is better off taking his 7.5M and walking. So that is what he will do)
Cut/Trade Jennings (hopefully trade)
Cut Dobbs (I don't think he gives more value than Tommy D).
Cut Lowe.

Those moves save 26.2M (I thought about cutting Bradbury, but i don't think you cut him and Onwenu the same year).

Now your cap is at 78.5M with 43 players rostered Your draft will be about 12M when (some will be traded away or combined)

They sign the following in FA

Tonga - 3/17 4/5.5/7.5
Hooper 1/5 5
Chaisson 3/36 9/12/16
Hawkins 2/6 2.5/3.5 (back up money)

21.5M

Gonzo EX 4/120 20/27/33/40
Boutte EX - 3/39 9/13/17

They will eat some of that signing bonus early. Call it 15.5M

Total spent on our own guys 37M.

They then hunt for other guys. They should sign a high end guard with some of that Onwenu money. Lock down one of these spots with a good youngish vet. This will cost 10M

That is 47M spent before the draft which brings us down to 31.5M

Draft the following... more or less
1 - Lemon - WR (no LB or DE here will be value by the time we pick. RT is a need long term but not next or maybe even the year after. Go with a premium position where there will be value. One of the top WRs will be here. And good one don't come up as free agents often. You need to typically trade for them. It is cheaper to use the pick and get that rookie contract locked in too.)
2 - CJ Allen - LB
3 - Greg Crippen - IOL (They have been super fortunate with the OL so far, but they need depth)
4 - Kilgore - S
4 - Saka - EDGE
5/6/6/6/6/7/7 - BPA - find interesting RBs OT prospects and pretty much anything on defense, though DT seems okay. But damnit, get Eli Eli Heindenreich - RB. And they really need to try to find a diamond in the rough at CB in this potential future.

The roster looks like this.

Offense 23
QB 2 - Maye Devito
WR 7 - Diggs LEMON Boutte Douglas Hollins Williams Chism (You're now set for when Hollins and Diggs walk after this year)
TE 2 - Hunter Hopper
OL 8 - Campbell Wilson Bradbury UKNOWN VET Moses - Bryant, CRIPPEN Brown
RB 4 - Henderson Stevenson Gibson Larison (Hopefully Heindenreich)

Defense 18
DT 4 - Williams Barmore Tonga Farmer
Edge 4 - Landry Chaisson SAKA Ponder
LB 3 - Spillane ALLEN Elliss
CB 3 - Gonzo Davis Jones
S 4 - Woodson KILGORE Hawkins Pettus

This gives a decent core moving forward into Maye's rookie contract. I am very weary of what this offense will look like after 06 when Diggs, Hunter, Hopper and Hollins all possibly walk. I want a young star rookie he can start to build a bond with now to ease that transition into years 4 and 5.

Some thoughts:

1. I like your re-signings. The more I think about it, the more I lean towards re-signing Tonga, Hooper, Chaisson and Hawkins. It serves two purposes. Firstly it provides continuity to a team that has gelled quickly. Secondly, the 'must have needs list is reduced significantly. Without it, safety and EDGE are draft priorities.

2. I like CJ Allen a lot but he's too similar to Spillane for my taste. I want someone to compliment Spillane, not replace him.

3. No-one likes Lemon more than me but I just don't see the need at WR. I can see it if you want a Diggs replacement, a role for which Lemon is perfect, but you are reducing the playing time for Chism and Kyle Williams long-term and I'd like to give them a try first. I think we can wait a year on a WR.

4. I've yet to watch your other guys although Saka fits the Vrabel edge profile.

5. I agree with Mayo. As far as I'm concerned, all roads lead to Mesidor on the edge. I think he can be had on early day 3 because of his age but he's almost as productive as Bain, is excellent against the run, plays violently and you just won't want for work ethic from him.

6. If we re-sign the three defensive players above, we really aren't desperate on defense and can focus on depth and high upside developmental prospects.

7. Which leaves OL as the only part of the roster that really needs to be fixed. However, I am reluctant to put three rookies on to that OL. I think we can wait a year on RT, depending upon how they feel about Marcus Bryant, but the right side of the interior needs to be fixed desperately. We can probably go with Bradbury for another year if we really need to but I would like to get his future replacement in place.

 

[manxman2601]

EDGE is the biggest question mark for me. The 2026 class is not good, and the FA options underwhelm as well. We might have to make do in 2026, and address the position more definitively in 2027.

The class is fine for speed rushers, it just sucks for traditional 3 down guys.

 

[stelfans]

I can definitely see a WR being a value pick in the first. But i dont know how Lemon fits, he's also going much higher than we are picking hopefully!
I could see a bigger guy though, Sadiq or Bell maybe, that could help Maye get the ball out faster and wouldnt take Diggs snaps away.

And im in agreement that the oline wont see a complete turnaround. Moses will be here for another year and having a rookie center its probably not in the best interest. That leaves overpaid Onwenu to be replaced. With the depth at IOL in this draft, thats where my chips would be. If they want a vet there then why cut Onwenu? Get a starting IOL and developmental tackle to battle it out with Bryant.

 

[mayoclinic]

My dream is to re-sign/extend the key people discussed above and then get as many of the following 2026 prospects as possible, in any order:

- OT Monroe Freeling or Niki Prongos
- OL Austin Siereveld or Cayden Green
- IOL Kade Pieper or Brian Parker
- S Jelani McDonald or Zakee Wheatley
- DB Keionte Scott
- LB Jake Golday or Sonny Styles
- EDGE Akheem Mesidor (all roads lead to Akheem Mesidor)
- WR Chris Bell or KC Concepcion

That would just about do it.

Get 4/8, you gave a great draft.

Get 6/8, you have a home run.

 

[mayoclinic]

I can live with Blake Miller as an alternative to Freeling/Prongos.

If I were Vrabel, I'd literally tell Eliot Wolf to get as many of those guys as possible, and throw in Jardarian Price.

 

[manxman2601]

My dream is to re-sign/extend the key people discussed above and then get as many of the following 2026 prospects as possible, in any order:


- EDGE Akheem Mesidor (all roads lead to Akheem Mesidor)

 

[mayoclinic]

This is what my dream team would look like:

Offense:

QB: Drake Maye, Josh Dobbs, Tommy DeVito. Fine with a late round flier if it works out.

RB: TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stephenson; Gibson/Larison off PUP; Jennings depth; fine with FA RB (Breese Hall, ) or Jardarian Price if he slips.

WR: Stephon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins, Pop Douglas, Efton Chism; fine with adding one in ghe draft if they slip

TE: Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper. Find some depth.

OT: Will Campbell, Morgan Moses, Marcus Bryant; Monroe Freeling/Niki Prongos/Blake Miller as starting RT for 2027.

IOL: Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury; Austin Siereveld/Cayden Green as starting RG; Kade Pieper/Brian Parker as starting C in 2027; Ben Brown

Defense:

DL: Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Khyris Tonga, Josh Farmer, Cory Durden, Eric Gregory

EDGE: Harold Landry, K'Lavon Chaisson, Akheem Mesidor (all roads lead to Akheem Mesidor), Bradyn Swinson, Caleb Murphy, Elijah Ponder

LB: Sonny Styles/Jake Golday, Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens, Marte Mapu

S: Craig Woodson, Jelani McDonald/Zakee Wheatley, Keionte Scott*, Jaylinn Hawkins, John Saunders

CB: Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, Marcus Jones, Keionte Scott* some dudes (like the late round big CB options in the draft)

Special Teams:

K: Andreas Borregales

P: Bryce Baringer

LS: Julian Ashby

Specialist: Brendan Schooler

 

[mayoclinic]

This draft is so deep.

I would add Carter Smith as a 3rd RG option after Austin Siereveld and Cayden Green.

I also really like Omar Cooper as a WR option.

 

[manxman2601]

This is what my dream team would look like:

Offense:

QB: Drake Maye, Josh Dobbs, Tommy DeVito. Fine with a late round flier if it works out.

RB: TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stephenson; Gibson/Larison off PUP; Jennings depth; fine with FA RB (Breese Hall, ) or Jardarian Price if he slips.

WR: Stephon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins, Pop Douglas, Efton Chism; fine with adding one in ghe draft if they slip

TE: Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper. Find some depth.

OT: Will Campbell, Morgan Moses, Marcus Bryant; Monroe Freeling/Niki Prongos/Blake Miller as starting RT for 2027.

IOL: Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury; Austin Siereveld/Cayden Green as starting RG; Kade Pieper/Brian Parker as starting C in 2027; Ben Brown

Defense:

DL: Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Khyris Tonga, Josh Farmer, Cory Durden, Eric Gregory

EDGE: Harold Landry, K'Lavon Chaisson, Akheem Mesidor (all roads lead to Akheem Mesidor), Bradyn Swinson, Caleb Murphy, Elijah Ponder

LB: Sonny Styles/Jake Golday, Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens, Marte Mapu

S: Craig Woodson, Jelani McDonald/Zakee Wheatley, Keionte Scott*, Jaylinn Hawkins, John Saunders

CB: Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, Marcus Jones, Keionte Scott* some dudes (like the late round big CB options in the draft)

Special Teams:

K: Andreas Borregales

P: Bryce Baringer

LS: Julian Ashby

Specialist: Brendan Schooler

I have one or two minor differences to you (Ioane, Logan Jones, Jacob Rodriguez, Julian Neal) but we're pretty much in lockstep. It makes me think we need to broaden our search a bit more.

 

[mayoclinic]

Julian Neal has near-binky status for me.

 

[mayoclinic]

In my scenario my core defense would likely be:

DL: Landry - Barmore - Williams - Chaisson, with Tonga, Farmer and Mesidor getting heavy use.

LB: Styles/Golday - Spillane

S: Woodson - McDonald / Wheatley

CB: Gonzalez - Davis

DB: Jones - Scott

Keionte Scott would be used all over the place as a chess piece.

Styles/Golday, McDonald/Wheatley and Scott would be my force pieces that could be moved around to create disguise and disruption.

 

[Clonamery]

The Road Not Taken (or an Ode to Mesidor)​

By manxman2601

Two Edges diverged in an ACC wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where he bent past the OT;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because he was sassy and a Bain;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two Edges diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

[mayoclinic]

Bravo!

 

[manxman2601]

The Road Not Taken (or an Ode to Mesidor)​

By manxman2601

Two Edges diverged in an SEC wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where he bent past the OT;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because he was sassy and a Bain;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two Edges diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Brilliant!

One nitpick. An SEC wood?

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Some thoughts:

1. I like your re-signings. The more I think about it, the more I lean towards re-signing Tonga, Hooper, Chaisson and Hawkins. It serves two purposes. Firstly it provides continuity to a team that has gelled quickly. Secondly, the 'must have needs list is reduced significantly. Without it, safety and EDGE are draft priorities.

2. I like CJ Allen a lot but he's too similar to Spillane for my taste. I want someone to compliment Spillane, not replace him.

3. No-one likes Lemon more than me but I just don't see the need at WR. I can see it if you want a Diggs replacement, a role for which Lemon is perfect, but you are reducing the playing time for Chism and Kyle Williams long-term and I'd like to give them a try first. I think we can wait a year on a WR.

4. I've yet to watch your other guys although Saka fits the Vrabel edge profile.

5. I agree with Mayo. As far as I'm concerned, all roads lead to Mesidor on the edge. I think he can be had on early day 3 because of his age but he's almost as productive as Bain, is excellent against the run, plays violently and you just won't want for work ethic from him.

6. If we re-sign the three defensive players above, we really aren't desperate on defense and can focus on depth and high upside developmental prospects.

7. Which leaves OL as the only part of the roster that really needs to be fixed. However, I am reluctant to put three rookies on to that OL. I think we can wait a year on RT, depending upon how they feel about Marcus Bryant, but the right side of the interior needs to be fixed desperately. We can probably go with Bradbury for another year if we really need to but I would like to get his future replacement in place.

On #2... Spillane is 30 years old. I wouldn't be "looking" to replace him, but certainly open to drafting a guy to eventually take over.

History is littered with teams who had big one year turnarounds like we're having on the back of a new/improving QB like we have in Maye and a ton of solid FA signings like we made. But a LOT of them take a step back in year 2 or beyond because free agent signings tend to have shorter shelf life because a lot of guys don't age well on their 2nd or 3rd contracts. Just the reality of the NFL. So lots of times FA signings flame out pretty quick after giving you an immediate boost. There were there issues, but that was a part of what happened with us earlier this decade where we improved for the playoffs with a rookie Mac Jones and then gradually fell off as the team built on those second and third tier FAs aged and guys' play dropped off from the immediate boost they gave us.

Out of the GREAT haul we got in free agency this past year, Milton Williams is honestly the only guy that I still don't expect all of us to be pushing for the team to cut before they see the last years of their deals (and I guess Bradbury too since it was only a 2 year deal). That's just how I operate with free agent signings other than rare, in their prime type guys like Williams. So Spillane, Carlton Davis, Moses, Landry, etc.... all are playing well but I'm fully on board drafting a replacement with the idea that they'd take over as soon as 2027 because it wouldn't surprise me if any or all of those guys fall off hard.

 

[manxman2601]

On #2... Spillane is 30 years old. I wouldn't be "looking" to replace him, but certainly open to drafting a guy to eventually take over.

History is littered with teams who had big one year turnarounds like we're having on the back of a new/improving QB like we have in Maye and a ton of solid FA signings like we made. But a LOT of them take a step back in year 2 or beyond because free agent signings tend to have shorter shelf life because a lot of guys don't age well on their 2nd or 3rd contracts. Just the reality of the NFL. So lots of times FA signings flame out pretty quick after giving you an immediate boost. There were there issues, but that was a part of what happened with us earlier this decade where we improved for the playoffs with a rookie Mac Jones and then gradually fell off as the team built on those second and third tier FAs aged and guys' play dropped off from the immediate boost they gave us.

Out of the GREAT haul we got in free agency this past year, Milton Williams is honestly the only guy that I still don't expect all of us to be pushing for the team to cut before they see the last years of their deals (and I guess Bradbury too since it was only a 2 year deal). That's just how I operate with free agent signings other than rare, in their prime type guys like Williams. So Spillane, Carlton Davis, Moses, Landry, etc.... all are playing well but I'm fully on board drafting a replacement with the idea that they'd take over as soon as 2027 because it wouldn't surprise me if any or all of those guys fall off hard.

That's why I suggest going BPA within reason. You're right, over the next 2-3 years they're all replaceable but there's too many to focus on replacing them individually. If you consider the FAs generation one of the rebuild, just draft generation two without being too specific about which position. Obviously you have to pay some attention to need and how a prospect fits the roster - I wouldn't draft a DT or a CB in round one for example.

I wouldn't be upset if they drafted CJ Allen, he's excellent. I'd just rather draft Sonny Styles or Anthony Hill because they're equally worthy of a pick and suit the roster better.

 

[mayoclinic]

The nature of the NFL is turnover and change. Stability is a relative illusion. It's a very Heraclitan league.

The salary cap is designed to facilitate change. We see teams overspending terribly, then dump players and get in cap hell.

Really only about 20% of the roster has long-term stability (> 3-4 years) for even the most stable teams. Successful teams see FO and coaching staff turnover as well.

We already likely have better long-term stability than most teams. Vrabel, Maye, Campbell and probably Gonzalez are cornerstones, Williams and Barmore close. Most of the roster will be on 4 year rookie contracts, or 2-3 year FA rentals.

Draft failure is built in. If a team hit on all of its picks, it could not possible afford to keep them. Teams like the Ravens and 49ers let players go, then use the extra comp picjs to keep the process churning.

Except for those few truly foundational players, almost anyone is upgradeable or expendable. It's mostly a matter of matching opportunities and value to immediate and expected needs.

 

[mayoclinic]

Brilliant!

One nitpick. An SEC wood?

Miami is in the ACC.

 

[manxman2601]

Miami is in the ACC.

I know. That's why I raised it.

 

[mayoclinic]

Chaisson and Tonga extensions not getting any cheaper.

Hope the Pats lock up both during the mini-bye.