Free Agency 2017

[Draft Crazy]

Marshawn Lynch has asked the Seahawks to release him. Good indication that he is coming out of retirement.

 

[cdumler7]

Did the prospect of Romo being released keep Denver from being more aggressive in FA or do you think they executed the plan they wanted to execute?

A little of both. I do think it maybe kept them from offering maybe another million or two to a couple of the guys they were interested in. At the same time the focus for this offseason was fixing the issues in the trenches and well they have made 4 moves to try and do that.

I will keep saying this. The OL was never going to be fully fixed this offseason. Weak FA and draft class was going to make that a difficult challenge. They added 2 guys though that fit well with what I think they are wanting out of the offense and that is guys willing to get into a dog fight. We didn't have anybody that could just destroy the guy in front of him this past season other than maybe Garcia. So adding some nice Beef to the OL and guys known for being very aggressive makes a lot of sense.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Seahawks met with Ryan Clady today.

 

[Mingo]

It is very interesting that Watson is a zone blocker and Leary is a power blocker.

1st thought - there is no rhyme or reason to the Oline plan.

2nd thought - the interior of the Oline - will be power blockers and the TEs and the OTs will pull in support of the running game making them zone blockers. This solves the NFL craving to have inexhaustible edge rushers by running away from them or at them. It also punishes defenses that try to find lighter, more athletic interior rushers - by bulldozing them out of the way. It might also be why the Broncos resigned Stephenson - as he is a better run zone blocker.

 

[CEH]

Who knows
They thought they solved it last year and here we are again
Without waiting for Romo, they could have had Campbell, Wagner and Leary and let Stephenson walk. That would have been a tremendous haul. Now it about coaching up the sub par players.

 

[SpringStein]

Who knows
They thought they solved it last year and here we are again
Without waiting for Romo, they could have had Campbell, Wagner and Leary and let Stephenson walk. That would have been a tremendous haul. Now it about coaching up the sub par players.

A nice theory. However I ain't a buyer. If they had had a shot at a LT, I don't think they would have hesitated to get him. If $$ gets tight and Romo became available and they wanted him, there are plenty of restructures they could do to massage the cap.

 

[LGM]

Who knows
They thought they solved it last year and here we are again
Without waiting for Romo, they could have had Campbell, Wagner and Leary and let Stephenson walk. That would have been a tremendous haul. Now it about coaching up the sub par players.

And setting Romo up to fail like he did behind all those crappy Dallas olines that got him rattled, and injured.

It's like McCoy never coached up a sub par, young qb before in his life or something...

 

[Draft Crazy]

Could have had Campbell?

Hell, we made him an offer, he just chose another path... Not like we waited on Romo to offer other free agents. Let's relax here fellas. Wagner never appeared to be in our price range either. He signed very quickly.

We have no idea if we could have had these guys. We attempted Campbell, we don't know what we did with Wagner.. He got his offer early and jumped on the money. We have no idea if these guys even wanted to come to Denver. Obviously Campbell didn't want to too bad. We can't just have anyone we want, there is more to it then that.

 

[cdumler7]

It is very interesting that Watson is a zone blocker and Leary is a power blocker.

1st thought - there is no rhyme or reason to the Oline plan.

2nd thought - the interior of the Oline - will be power blockers and the TEs and the OTs will pull in support of the running game making them zone blockers. This solves the NFL craving to have inexhaustible edge rushers by running away from them or at them. It also punishes defenses that try to find lighter, more athletic interior rushers - by bulldozing them out of the way. It might also be why the Broncos resigned Stephenson - as he is a better run zone blocker.

Not sure I agree with these thoughts.

1) Both Leary and Watson are power blockers. Just go watch some of his Raiders games and he is a people mover. He doesn't have the quickest feet so not sure why he would be a good fit in the Zone Scheme. That is in big part why I like both of these signings as we finally have some people movers in Leary and Watson. Garcia is a people mover too so now 3 guys that just love to knock people around. Nick and I talked about this earlier this week of not having to worry about those 3rd and 1 plays as much anymore because we can finally get enough push to give our RB's the room needed.

2) I don't think Stephenson is the end game at the LT position. We changed up his contract so that once we do find his replacement he is cut much easier with little dead money. In case things don't work out of actually finding a better option though need a back up plan. His contract being redone just gives the Broncos more time as he had a bonus coming up if they didn't get something done.

My guess is though they will get a LT that can move people. It is why it wouldn't surprise me if we did go to the draft on this one and get a guy like Robinson, Bolles, or Lamp to play that LT position. All of them love to get into a dog fight and move people. They won't be perfect by any means but not sure we can get much worse than what we had last year for an OL.

Also just kind of cool on the NFL Network they were talking about the most improved OL's in football after the first wave of FA and they have the Broncos listed among the top-3. Detroit and Cleveland are the other 2.

Which team has the most improved offensive line?

 

[Mingo]

Not sure I agree with these thoughts.

1) Both Leary and Watson are power blockers. Just go watch some of his Raiders games and he is a people mover. He doesn't have the quickest feet so not sure why he would be a good fit in the Zone Scheme. That is in big part why I like both of these signings as we finally have some people movers in Leary and Watson. Garcia is a people mover too so now 3 guys that just love to knock people around. Nick and I talked about this earlier this week of not having to worry about those 3rd and 1 plays as much anymore because we can finally get enough push to give our RB's the room needed.

2) I don't think Stephenson is the end game at the LT position. We changed up his contract so that once we do find his replacement he is cut much easier with little dead money. In case things don't work out of actually finding a better option though need a back up plan. His contract being redone just gives the Broncos more time as he had a bonus coming up if they didn't get something done.

My guess is though they will get a LT that can move people. It is why it wouldn't surprise me if we did go to the draft on this one and get a guy like Robinson, Bolles, or Lamp to play that LT position. All of them love to get into a dog fight and move people. They won't be perfect by any means but not sure we can get much worse than what we had last year for an OL.

Also just kind of cool on the NFL Network they were talking about the most improved OL's in football after the first wave of FA and they have the Broncos listed among the top-3. Detroit and Cleveland are the other 2.

Which team has the most improved offensive line?

Disagree on Watson - he grew up playing Bball and he is athletic and his best blocking - by my observations - comes on the 2nd level downfield - where he is devastating - that is the description of a zone blocker. At 315 pounds - he is big - no doubt, but his value is his athleticism.

 

[CEH]

Watson staying healthy is the key to this free agent class.
Luke Richardson has his work cut out for him. He does have some nice highlights when he is on the field. The best ability is availability

 

[Mingo]

Watson staying healthy is the key to this free agent class.
Luke Richardson has his work cut out for him. He does have some nice highlights when he is on the field. The best ability is availability

Luke Richesson says to himself: "What do they think I am - a magician?"

That said - I do think the Bronco's state of the art training program is something that they successfully leverage in FA recruiting and with guys they can work with over time to make them better athletes in better condition.

JE works the fundamentals of a good organization to the highest levels.

 

[fightinredantz]

In Watson's press conference he said he is learning how to take care of his body for playing football. The more he learns hopefully he can stay healthy.

I would say a pretty raw lineman at this point since he has played only a handful of years.

 

[cdumler7]

Disagree on Watson - he grew up playing Bball and he is athletic and his best blocking - by my observations - comes on the 2nd level downfield - where he is devastating - that is the description of a zone blocker. At 315 pounds - he is big - no doubt, but his value is his athleticism.

I guess I would say he could play in either scheme. The Raiders have run more of a power scheme the last few years and I still think he fits well when asked to just run somebody over.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Sounds like Saints may be on verge of signing Malcolm Butler to offer sheet.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Colts- Kamar Aiken

 

[cdumler7]

Colts- Kamar Aiken

Good value signing. I thought he was underutilized by the Ravens this past season.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Agree- I was surprised he wasn't signed within the first few days let alone nearly two weeks after FA.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Other recent signings not noted in here yet.

Kevin Minter- Bengals (Guy LGM and I pimed out coming out of college)
Sean Spence- Colts
Antwon Blake- Giants
Josh McCown- Jets
Jelani Jenkins- Raiders (Raiders are going after Florida players in recent years )
Knile Davis- Steelers
Coty Sensabaugh- Steelers
Andre Holmes- Bills
Andre Smith- Bengals (again)

 

[LGM]

I never pimed anyone coming out of college, and I have no idea who you are. Leave me alone.