Where do we need to improve

[p8ryts]

Yeah, I am generally in agreement there. The cost to upgrade some spots is not worth the squeeze vs. just riding with what we have.

WR - I would mainly focus on the young guys already here: Williams, Boutte, Chism. Extend Boutte, and probably keep Hollins too. Douglas is likely worth keeping for the final year of his deal. Only splash opportunities I see would be a trade for AJ Brown or if (big if) Mike Evans shakes loose in free agency from Tampa Bay.

LT - Just keep Campbell. I get it, he had a bad end of his season, but there's a lot at play there - the injury, the rookie wall, conditioning, etc. If he can get healthy and bulk up going into year 2 to help deal with power rushers, I personally believe he can at least be average. It's not easy to find even average LTs in this league, and the cost to upgrade there is very high. Keep trying him at least another season there.

TE - There are actually several free agent options here and it is a sensible spot to try to upgrade as the cost is not usually very high. I'd be fine with moving on from Henry for cap savings and signing someone such as Likely as TE1 and seeing if they can get anything out of Dippre as TE2, who they carried on the 53 this year to keep, presumably with an eye towards 2026.

LB - I'd hit this position in the draft. I may try to sign a LB in free agency. Spillane probably has some tread left but I don't know if I want to count on him as a full time player. Tavai and Elliss are also worth keeping but they need one more plus guy there. Devin Lloyd?

DE - I'd definitely press hard to get Crosby. Would instantly make such a difference. Get him and also re-sign Chaisson - pass rush solved. But if that doesn't work, it definitely becomes difficult. Trey Hendrickson might be an option in free agency but obviously he is getting pretty old. Big need, I'd be hitting it in the draft too.

C/G - I'd be in on both Linderbaum and McGovern at C, both are big upgrades. Onwenu hasn't been too bad but his postseason was not the best. I'd probably consider just moving on from him with how much cap savings are on the table. Maybe move Wilson to RG, where being between a new plus C and Moses (assuming he plays one more year) will allow him to play well. Then play Brown at LG, who also would benefit from a better C, but generally was fine in pass pro.

RB - I'd be "big time in" on the free agent RB market. Several great options: Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams. Bring in a third guy to form a three headed monster of Stevenson-Henderson-Option C. Why the hell not?

S - Honestly I would just re-sign Hawkins and maybe throw a pick at the position late. They held up OK. He could be better, but the team has much more pressing needs, and if Woodson improves (I assume he will) then Hawkins will probably be good enough, at least for now.

They will likely make one or two big time splashes. Pick two.

 

[jal]

A lot of experienced offensive linemen out on twitter-sphere defending Will Campbell and saying his problems largely stem from technique issues that are fixable. Way over my head but thought it was interesting to see. Either way I think you need another tackle regardless given Moses' age, and I would certainly be looking at guards in the draft as well (perhaps to kick Wilson inside if he starts at all).

 

[NFL Mystique]

There was a massive gap in production between Denver & Seattle's punters and NE's.

That probably needs to be upgraded

 

[Rob0729]

If you can find people for half the initial cap hit. I mean is doable but you have a limited pool of players to choose from and then that pares down to a much smaller number of those who will fit the culture.

You do realize that many or most contracts are structured so the cap hit is lowest in the first year? The reason why Diggs' contract is so high in 2026 is because he was given a two year deal that was backloaded into the second year.

 

[upstater1]

There was a massive gap in production between Denver & Seattle's punters and NE's.

That probably needs to be upgraded

Something was wrong with Baringer this year. He used to pin people inside the 10 and he has a bomb leg.

 

[ViperGTS]

You do realize that many or most contracts are structured so the cap hit is lowest in the first year? The reason why Diggs' contract is so high in 2026 is because he was given a two year deal that was backloaded into the second year.

I do. And thats how you get in trouble down the road if you aren't careful. We shall see how good the new crew is at the cap manipulation etc. Got Mayes deal coming up in 2 years as well and that has to factor in even now.

 

[scott99]

Twin Diggs is under contract.. and H. Henry will resign.. those guys were big parts of the offense this season.. Diggs started getting doubled is why his production dropped off...

Both lack explosiveness, we need guys who scare defenses. Neither do. If Diggs is a big cap hit, cut him. All the key guys did nothing in the playoffs. Need to get younger and more explosive at TE & WR. These guys are easy to shut down. One of the few weaknesses the Seattle defense has is vs TEs, and the current talent wasn’t able to exploit that.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I do. And thats how you get in trouble down the road if you aren't careful. We shall see how good the new crew is at the cap manipulation etc. Got Mayes deal coming up in 2 years as well and that has to factor in even now.

I think you're right to look at it with this mindset, but I think we're pretty far off from having enough contracts on the book that this is a real problem yet. You're talking about a Drake Maye extension that would kick in for the 2028 season. All of the contracts we gave last year to Diggs/Landry/Moses/Spillane/Davis expire after the 2027 season and how many of them do you think will realistically be worth retaining beyond that considering their current ages. Milton Williams and Barmore have no guaranteed money in either of their deals for 2027. Nor does Stevenson or Marcus Jones. We don't have a single non rookie contract dollar of guaranteed money on the books for 2028 unless I'm missing someone.

Not saying we will, but if ahead of the 2028 season we released all of Milton Williams, Stevenson, Barmore, Marcus Jones it would be a combined dead money charge of just $13.8M total for all 4 and we'd have 10 players under contract. We are soooooooooooooooooo far away from being over-committed to guys salary wise.

 

[Rob0729]

I do. And thats how you get in trouble down the road if you aren't careful. We shall see how good the new crew is at the cap manipulation etc. Got Mayes deal coming up in 2 years as well and that has to factor in even now.

As long as the cap keeps on going up over $40 million a season, it is hard to get in trouble two years down the road unless you mismanage the cap like teams like New Orleans do.

 

[NFL Mystique]

I do. And thats how you get in trouble down the road if you aren't careful. We shall see how good the new crew is at the cap manipulation etc. Got Mayes deal coming up in 2 years as well and that has to factor in even now.

If he plays well next year, he will get 75-70 million per year. If not, the Patriots can just make him play through the 5th year option.

 

[Ross12]

That is the free agent market today. Many of these players may not be available.

For sure, some will be re-signed or tagged. But some will come thru.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

As long as the cap keeps on going up over $40 million a season, it is hard to get in trouble two years down the road unless you mismanage the cap like teams like New Orleans do.

And even they are almost out of cap hell! They're only about $5M over the 2026 cap right now.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Overthecap has us with $42.7M of cap space. I'd make the following roster moves to start...

Restructure Milton Williams' $21M base salary and $2M roster bonus to signing bonus. This saves $13.4M. He's obviously a core player so I feel comfortable going the renegotiation route for him.

Cut Anfernee Jennings to save $3.9M. I'm assuming he'll be upgraded/replaced.

Trade Demario Douglas for a late round pick/pick swap to save $3.6M. He earned playing time escalators in his rookie contract so it's just too much for a 4th or 5th WR in the last year of his deal while we already have some other guys in that caliber (Hollins, Kyle Williams though obviously developmental potential for more, Chism). I think they need one more established piece in the WR room.

Those three moves get you up to $64.1M in cap space. After that, I'd look into some extensions that lower cap numbers:

Onwenu is set to make $16.5M nonguaranteed cash compensation this year ($16M salary and $500K workout bonus) plus up to another $1M in per game roster bonus incentives. Many have suggested cutting him but the OL is really in a lot of flux over the next 3 years. Moses will eventually be gone at RT. Bradbury is a stop gap center. Jared Wilson may or may not ever develop enough at LG or C. Will Campbell might eventually have to switch positions. Onwenu is solid enough to just keep and avoid that being one more hole on the OL. If you cut him you save $17.5M of cap space, but an extension that lowers his cap number is reasonable instead.

Hunter Henry is set to make $7.5M nonguaranteed cash compensation this year (%7.15M salary and $350K workout bonus) plus up to another $1M in per game roster bonus incentives and another $1M in reception incentives ($250K each for 50/55/60/65). If you cut him you save $9.25M but an extension that lowers his cap number by $3-4M instead and ties you to him through next year is reasonable instead.

Those two extensions probably get you up to $70-75M or so, maybe even a little more depending on how aggressive you structure the Onwenu deal.

Not suggesting these moves specifically, but if they wanted to go for an upgrade at center (Linderbaum? McGovern?), they can cut Bradbury and save $5.7M. If they traded Morgan Moses, his new team would be taking him on for 1 year, $6.5M ($4.5M of that guaranteed) and then $2.5M in incentives which is very reasonable deal for a starting RT. We'd save $7.6M in the trade (assuming it would happen before June 1st). If we wanted to sign a younger option (Braden Smith?) then this would make sense. Those are guys you only let go if you're specifically signing their replacement.

I would be looking to be pretty aggressive again with that $70-75M to spend. Most of the guys they signed last year were 3 year deals (Diggs, Davis, Landry, Spillane, Moses). Wouldn't surprise me if all of them are cut or had their deals reworked ahead of 2027. Our books are entirely clear for 2028 right now with basically no guaranteed salary on the books. Obviously Maye and Gonzo extensions have to fit in but those deals will be backloaded like usual and a lot of the players we sign this offseason will be similarly structured to the ones we signed this past year where all the guaranteed money is in the first two years (2026/2027) so we can clean things up. We're soooooooooo far away from being in any sort of cap hell so we can still be aggressive.

 

[gtfanboy]

A lot of experienced offensive linemen out on twitter-sphere defending Will Campbell and saying his problems largely stem from technique issues that are fixable. Way over my head but thought it was interesting to see. Either way I think you need another tackle regardless given Moses' age, and I would certainly be looking at guards in the draft as well (perhaps to kick Wilson inside if he starts at all).

I saw that too. Its almost like they were begging the Pats not to plug and give him another year of full blown training.

 

[gtfanboy]

We have to strike when the iron is hot.

Get AJ Brown and Max Crosby in trades. Get Alec Pierce, Linderbaum, Pitts and Breece Hall in free Agency.

Restructure and bring back who we should from our team. Sign Gonzo to a deal like no other.

Draft LG and other projects with leftover pics.

Win Superbowl 26.

Pata GM no need to thank me since I have done your job.

 

[Sorrynotsorry]

I think our oline wasnt great... but they never got a "win" because we couldnt run the ball.

Allowing the pocket to collapse and running the ball would have opened up the pass game.



Ive said it before and ill say it again...

Draft this dude... trade diggs and a pick...(idc)

We need a running back...

We will get a receiver... it will happen.

I was disappointed in some of the individual games this season... but not the season as a whole.

This draft and free ageny will impact this franchise more than any other.. this is only a few key pieces to fill... but a lot to retain.

I hope Maye is our Elway(maybe not so much time to win one would be nice

We have some very smart members here and I cant wait to see the changes made and the endless banter that goes with it.


(I bet you anything diggs would go to the jets. Just saying.)


23 yards by Stevenson was pitiful...

This was our weakness and will forever be next to this performance...

 

[Ross12]

Overthecap has us with $42.7M of cap space. I'd make the following roster moves to start...

Restructure Milton Williams' $21M base salary and $2M roster bonus to signing bonus. This saves $13.4M. He's obviously a core player so I feel comfortable going the renegotiation route for him.

Cut Anfernee Jennings to save $3.9M. I'm assuming he'll be upgraded/replaced.

Trade Demario Douglas for a late round pick/pick swap to save $3.6M. He earned playing time escalators in his rookie contract so it's just too much for a 4th or 5th WR in the last year of his deal while we already have some other guys in that caliber (Hollins, Kyle Williams though obviously developmental potential for more, Chism). I think they need one more established piece in the WR room.

Those three moves get you up to $64.1M in cap space. After that, I'd look into some extensions that lower cap numbers:

Onwenu is set to make $16.5M nonguaranteed cash compensation this year ($16M salary and $500K workout bonus) plus up to another $1M in per game roster bonus incentives. Many have suggested cutting him but the OL is really in a lot of flux over the next 3 years. Moses will eventually be gone at RT. Bradbury is a stop gap center. Jared Wilson may or may not ever develop enough at LG or C. Will Campbell might eventually have to switch positions. Onwenu is solid enough to just keep and avoid that being one more hole on the OL. If you cut him you save $17.5M of cap space, but an extension that lowers his cap number is reasonable instead.

Hunter Henry is set to make $7.5M nonguaranteed cash compensation this year (%7.15M salary and $350K workout bonus) plus up to another $1M in per game roster bonus incentives and another $1M in reception incentives ($250K each for 50/55/60/65). If you cut him you save $9.25M but an extension that lowers his cap number by $3-4M instead and ties you to him through next year is reasonable instead.

Those two extensions probably get you up to $70-75M or so, maybe even a little more depending on how aggressive you structure the Onwenu deal.

Not suggesting these moves specifically, but if they wanted to go for an upgrade at center (Linderbaum? McGovern?), they can cut Bradbury and save $5.7M. If they traded Morgan Moses, his new team would be taking him on for 1 year, $6.5M ($4.5M of that guaranteed) and then $2.5M in incentives which is very reasonable deal for a starting RT. We'd save $7.6M in the trade (assuming it would happen before June 1st). If we wanted to sign a younger option (Braden Smith?) then this would make sense. Those are guys you only let go if you're specifically signing their replacement.

I would be looking to be pretty aggressive again with that $70-75M to spend. Most of the guys they signed last year were 3 year deals (Diggs, Davis, Landry, Spillane, Moses). Wouldn't surprise me if all of them are cut or had their deals reworked ahead of 2027. Our books are entirely clear for 2028 right now with basically no guaranteed salary on the books. Obviously Maye and Gonzo extensions have to fit in but those deals will be backloaded like usual and a lot of the players we sign this offseason will be similarly structured to the ones we signed this past year where all the guaranteed money is in the first two years (2026/2027) so we can clean things up. We're soooooooooo far away from being in any sort of cap hell so we can still be aggressive.

The Williams restructure is a no brainer. There are a few other easy restructures like Barmore, Landry and Carlton Davis. If they keep Diggs, a restructure there makes sense too.

I probably keep Douglas, he showed some good things in the postseason. Jennings is probably expendable assuming they can find upgrades.

On the OL - yes, extend Onwenu; yes, cut Bradbury. Replace Bradbury with Wilson and sign a top end free agent LG. Keep Moses at RT but get a young player ready to start taking over at some point in the year. I think Moses can generally still manage though, he is kind of an iron man. Campbell isn’t going anywhere at LT for now.

I am probably fine with giving Henry a short extension too but I would still like to add a player there. Isaiah Likely is who I would target.

I would keep Hawkins at S for semi-cheap and try to get a premier top end DE. Let Chaisson go get his bag. Sign an LB like Devin Lloyd. Trade for AJ Brown. The free agent RB market is also pretty hot, I would get one of Hall/Walker/Williams if possible.

At that point I would pretty tightly focus on DL, OL, LB, S in the draft. Probably also draft a new punter.

 

[n1997y]

Come on there was not much Josh could do if Maye does not pick up the intermediate passes. Only thing which I feel he could have adjusted was having rham in for the blitzes . The problem I feel is the offensive line just could not hold 4:rushers despite outnumbering them by 1 .

Maye missed too many throws. His heave ho throw looked so off. I believe his shoulder mechanics were of and he has some injury. His throws did not seem correct.

I think Maye has a bad attitude about flexibility and the short passing game. His Checkdown Charlie comment expressed it too well. He needs to embrace Brady’s death by a thousand paper cuts style of offense, without totally giving up his deep ball threat.

I think you may be right about his shoulder being more affected by injury than we realized. I also think he may have started to regress or have problems with his mechanics just from the length of the season and fatigue. This is the first year he’s played a full season as a pro, so it’s his first chance to hit the rookie wall even though he’s not really a rookie this year.

 

[n1997y]

For Defense, we need 2 DEs, or 1 if Chaisson leaves. Landry is the biggest disappointment this season, but his contract makes it easier to cut him next year. Id go after stopgag guy for a year or 2, and we all have the same name in mind. I think this makes our line ferocious

Then Woodson really showed up in the Playoffs, while Hawkins got exposed more than once. Safeties are still cheap in the Market so id like some with bigger coverage range to play alongside our sophomore, but everything else looks good.

Id throw in that we could improve at LBer to play alongside Spillane, but even Ellis did ok late

I pretty much agree with all you said here. Landry is my big question mark, will he recover when he has time to heal, or is he just cooked?

Safety, Hawkins made some plays but he’s not elite. So maybe look for a FA upgrade and draft another good prospect to develop. We hit a home run drafting Woodson, maybe lightning strikes twice. Our scouting this last drafted seems to have been very well dialed in, so hopefully that bodes well for our next draft.

I think we should always be looking to improve at every position all the time, but I don’t see LB as a big problem. I’d view CB depth and LB upgrades as about the same level of need.

We might also have some players in the development pipeline. I’m wondering about how much Leonard Taylor might be able to step up, for one.

 

[Sorrynotsorry]

Just going to put this here.