What positions?

meatface said:

How is running back not a need? Blount is a free agent but even if they resign him they may try and upgrade.also the team isn't cutting lafell, he is signed for cheap and amendola's contract matched his production this season. Wilson and ebner are both free agents and both should avoid the field as often as possible, I don't think safety is much of a priority with Harmon and Richards behind Chung and mccourty but maybe there is another Rutgers db coming out this off season.

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I don't have RB as a need due to my opinion that we will sign Blount for 2 years 1M just like last time and Deion Lewis and White are really the Key to our RB situation.

I get your point tho. Definitely a possibility Blount is gone. That would make Rb a possible need.

jsull87 said:

I don't have RB as a need due to my opinion that we will sign Blount for 2 years 1M just like last time and Deion Lewis and White are really the Key to our RB situation.

I get your point tho. Definitely a possibility Blount is gone. That would make Rb a possible need.

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I wouldn't be too let down if they let Blount walk. He was too slow when he got the handoff, there was no explosion to him at all, and he didnt really run with power. I think that's part of the reason he was stopped so many times as soon as he got the ball and the fact that he danced around too much( also the poor play of the Oline didn't help). I wouldn't be too upset on very team friendly deal because he does have experience and knows the playbook. But I'm hoping to see if montee ball can give us anything cause he is talented.

I wouldn't trade Chandler Jones unless I absolutely KNEW that I had a similar & less-expensive replacement ALREADY in-house.

captain stone said:

I wouldn't trade Chandler Jones unless I absolutely KNEW that I had a similar & less-expensive replacement ALREADY in-house.

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Isn't sheard as close to that as you will find?

captain stone said:

I wouldn't trade Chandler Jones unless I absolutely KNEW that I had a similar & less-expensive replacement ALREADY in-house.

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I agree. I wouldn't trade jones unless we have someone coming in to replace or we have someone to bridge the gap for us until we find the replacement. I would hate to see our defense go back to the type of defense we had a few years ago where we couldn't come close to pressuring the qb.

captain stone said:

I wouldn't trade Chandler Jones unless I absolutely KNEW that I had a similar & less-expensive replacement ALREADY in-house.

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So you get him for one year at 8M and then franchise him for a year at what will roughly be 16M. 2/24 for Jones vs 2/13 for Sheard is such a value mismatch it's not funny. You keep Ninc at LDE and slide Sheard to RDE and have Grissom and Flowers in the rotation. You pick up a first and a third and pick up an OT and a RB to fix those positions. Vollmer is 32 at the start of next season and Solder has started to rack up the injuries and concussions. The other OT's are JAGs.

I like Jones but not at the money he's going to command.

Chandler Jones is a good player, and I want him here, but for what hes going to get paid on the open market, hes not worth it, im sorry.

I have been at the forefront pushing a Chandler Jones trade, but I would be quite leary dealing him as well.

He has been incredibly durable the last few years, has gotten better each season, has increased his athleticsm each year as well, is incredible at gap control and sealing off the edge. He has the perfect frame, in both body type and length. He is quite legimiately the prototype of what BB wants from his ends.

On top of that, you will get to the point shortly where Ninko playing at a starter level will become untenable. If you are trading Jones, you better be sure that Flowers/grissom could in fact become starter level talent eventually, and that you are investing high picks soon to make sure that pipeline continues.


On a side note, how about this as a trade

Chandler Jones

Tennessee
2017 1st
Taylor Lewan

Tennesee is almost guaranteed to draft Tunsil, and have much cheaper and effective RT options on their roster. Lewan hasnt been what they were expecting, while still be a decent player. He could be a very effective swing tackle at a low cost. The cap hit for us would be 1.7mil, which would make replacing Cannon simple, and we would have a ready made Vollmer replacement.

I.M. Fletcher said:

I have been at the forefront pushing a Chandler Jones trade, but I would be quite leary dealing him as well.

He has been incredibly durable the last few years, has gotten better each season, has increased his athleticsm each year as well, is incredible at gap control and sealing off the edge. He has the perfect frame, in both body type and length. He is quite legimiately the prototype of what BB wants from his ends.

On top of that, you will get to the point shortly where Ninko playing at a starter level will become untenable. If you are trading Jones, you better be sure that Flowers/grissom could in fact become starter level talent eventually, and that you are investing high picks soon to make sure that pipeline continues.


On a side note, how about this as a trade

Chandler Jones

Tennessee
2017 1st
Taylor Lewan

Tennesee is almost guaranteed to draft Tunsil, and have much cheaper and effective RT options on their roster. Lewan hasnt been what they were expecting, while still be a decent player. He could be a very effective swing tackle at a low cost. The cap hit for us would be 1.7mil, which would make replacing Cannon simple, and we would have a ready made Vollmer replacement.

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I'm not really thinking about a Chandler jones trade - I try to suppress any hopes/thoughts about dramatic free agency signings or trades just because I don't really expect BB to do much that is overly dramatic. In the space of five years we've had, what, two big free-season moves (trading Seymour, signing Revis)?

But just on the idea of Tennessee. Something i've been thinking about. If Chip Kelly goes there, does anyone else think that puts Buckner in consideration for first overall pick? Kelly doesn't really prioritise OL and tends to play a 3-4 which might rule out Bosa. I still think Buckner is a little underrated and I think is borderline a blue chip prospect.

One more thought. With all the speculation about what happens to Amendola, if Josh McDaniels goes elsewhere, I wonder if he'll end up sending us a pick for Amendola.

manxman2601 said:

I'm not really thinking about a Chandler jones trade - I try to suppress any hopes/thoughts about dramatic free agency signings or trades just because I don't really expect BB to do much that is overly dramatic. In the space of five years we've had, what, two big free-season moves (trading Seymour, signing Revis)?

But just on the idea of Tennessee. Something i've been thinking about. If Chip Kelly goes there, does anyone else think that puts Buckner in consideration for first overall pick? Kelly doesn't really prioritise OL and tends to play a 3-4 which might rule out Bosa. I still think Buckner is a little underrated and I think is borderline a blue chip prospect.

One more thought. With all the speculation about what happens to Amendola, if Josh McDaniels goes elsewhere, I wonder if he'll end up sending us a pick for Amendola.

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I have gotten to the point where I think Josh either goes to New York, tennessee or stays home. Tennessee makes an awful lot of sense if they do get Jon Robinson as its GM. Plus, you get the top player in the draft while already having a franchise QB waiting to be formed. It really is a dream situation for a guy who is offensively focused, while also getting full reign of a total rebuild. In regards to the trade, he could come out of the draft with his blind side tackle for the next 15 years, franchise QB, a top 5 defensive end, and keeps his own mccourty twin.

I am thinking Chip in San Fran makes a lot of sense if he can clear out the psycho GM in the process. Thats a team that can be rebuilt any direction you want since there are no pieces to really mess with. He could get the full 5 year buffer by virtue of having zero long term incumbant players to placate. Buckner at 10? Could make some sense

I.M. Fletcher said:

Isn't sheard as close to that as you will find?

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Then who replaces Sheard's rotational snaps & production?

everlong said:

So you get him for one year at 8M and then franchise him for a year at what will roughly be 16M. 2/24 for Jones vs 2/13 for Sheard is such a value mismatch it's not funny. You keep Ninc at LDE and slide Sheard to RDE and have Grissom and Flowers in the rotation...

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Ninko is near the end, Flowers has potential but also hasn't proven anything yet, and Grissom is Garbage.

captain stone said:

Then who replaces Sheard's rotational snaps & production?

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Thats a fair question, but I think I have a more hopeful view of Flowers, Grissom and Rufus. There is no replacing someone like Jones with backup late round picks, but I do wonder if that will be necessary with the rest of the front 7 we have. Brown and Easley a year older, Collins and Hightower on the field together, Sheard and Ninko holding down the majority of the outside responsibilities.

I think that front has a lot to offer, and if you add in an ilb/olb draftee, you have a ton of moving pieces as well. Its not perfect, but I think the rebuilding of the defense is near its completion, and choices are going to have to be made on how much money needs to be allocated for every positional group.

At the end of the day, no one really *wants* to trade Jones. The problem is that in 2017 you could be looking at very large contracts for the following:

- Brady
- Gronk
- Solder
- McCourty
- Hightower (currently unsigned)
- Collins (currently unsigned)
- Jones (currently unsigned)
- Sheard (currently unsigned)
- $5.5m in cap hit for Edelman
- Butler as RFA could be valuable enough to require franchising.

I'm assuming Mayo / Amendola are cut or significantly restructured as they currently have very large 2017 cap hits. Assuming Vollmer will not make as much as he is now on his next deal.

Can the Pats fit contracts for all of these guys? In theory, yes. In practice, that's not how they operate; that's how teams like Indy operate. The Pats would rather limit the number of top dollar guys so they can have more mid-level players in rotational roles and as injury depth.

So knowing that, who doesn't get resigned? That's where the idea of trading Jones is intriguing - because he likely has the biggest gap in trading value versus how much the team actually values him. Of course, another option is just playing out 2016, let him walk, and get pick 97 or 98 in 2018; that could be reasonable too.

I would not re-sign Hightower if it meant that I could re-sign Jones.

captain stone said:

I would not re-sign Hightower if it meant that I could re-sign Jones.

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Its a great problem to have, and we are really spoiled that this is even a conversation. Losing either HT or Chandler would decimate most teams.

For me, Hightower is the one guy I sign at all costs. DEs like Chandler are so rare, but this defense cannot function without elite linebackers. HT has shown me enough in the last two years to put him as the perfect fit on our team, and one of the best at his position in the league.

Nothing to say we cant keep both, but IF i had to choose, give him Hightower.

I.M. Fletcher said:

Its a great problem to have, and we are really spoiled that this is even a conversation. Losing either HT or Chandler would decimate most teams.

For me, Hightower is the one guy I sign at all costs. DEs like Chandler are so rare, but this defense cannot function without elite linebackers. HT has shown me enough in the last two years to put him as the perfect fit on our team, and one of the best at his position in the league.

Nothing to say we cant keep both, but IF i had to choose, give him Hightower.

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This 100%. We don't have a ready made Hightower replacement, but Sheard can replace much of Jones' production.

Wow.