2024 Free agency and draft thread

[Xeliou66]

I think as long as Mahomes is healthy the Chiefs are a major threat.

 

[Clayton]

I think as long as Mahomes is healthy the Chiefs are a major threat.

Agreed to a certain extent. Its just that in the AFC almost everyone has a QB. What happened with the Bengals last year could happen to any team in the AFC with a QB that lacks depth.

Chiefs just run into a number of regression factors from age, to winning a ton of close games last year, to not having the draft resources of a team like the Raiders, etc.

The Chiefs could absolutely contend for a Super Bowl next year but it would likely mean that they draft 1 or 2 elite players picking all the way near the bottom and fix the LT spot with a veteran.

 

[PDay8810]

Injuries remain a huge part each season.

 

[dtgold88]

Agreed to a certain extent. Its just that in the AFC almost everyone has a QB. What happened with the Bengals last year could happen to any team in the AFC with a QB that lacks depth.

Chiefs just run into a number of regression factors from age, to winning a ton of close games last year, to not having the draft resources of a team like the Raiders, etc.

The Chiefs could absolutely contend for a Super Bowl next year but it would likely mean that they draft 1 or 2 elite players picking all the way near the bottom and fix the LT spot with a veteran.

Yep....and issue for Cincy last year was defense was jus awful. Does not seem like that's been an issue for KC for a while but that could change for sure.

 

[Clayton]

Yep....and issue for Cincy last year was defense was jus awful. Does not seem like that's been an issue for KC for a while but that could change for sure.

Its all a bit of a blank slate right now. Chiefs receivers going into next year are Xavier Worthy and Skyy Moore. Rashee Rice maybe at some point but there will likely be a suspension. Chiefs currently dont have a LT.

 

[Battlelyon]

 

[fastforward]

The Eagles model will have them paying for 2026 and 2027 a few years later. The Eagles will still be paying guys like Jason Peters and Jason Kelce this season.

Technically they will finally be accounting for money they paid them in previous years rather than still be paying them.

 

[fastforward]

A more legitimate concern is the position he plays. Elite RBs only have so many carries in them before they hit that wall. The Eagles are now committed to him through the next 4 seasons instead of the next 2.

The thing that I like best is the message that it sends to the locker room. If you outperform your contract, the Eagles will step up for you. Barkley outperformed his contract in every way. We can point to the 2,000 yard season and his exceptional play on the field but his biggest impact was felt as a leader in the locker room.

The Eagles have a ton of good players locked up for a long time.

View attachment 390867

The Eagles have a ton of talent. The issue isn't locking players up. The issue is that the Eagles can't get away from some of the players due to the cap consequences even if their play falls off a cliff. It's like a trapeze act without a safety net. The market is forcing it with QBs, but the Eagles have gone further.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Seahawks are releasing Tyler Lockett I see. He was a stellar receiver there for a long time, wonder who he’ll sign with now, I imagine he still has something left in the tank even though his productuon has dropped the last couple of years.

The Raiders

 

[DJ Fieri]

Maxx Crosby highest paid non qb after his extension. I think both he and the Raiders got sick of all the to the Lions crap.

Staying put while rumors swirling we are dealing him.

LOL.

 

[fastforward]

Seahawks are releasing Tyler Lockett I see. He was a stellar receiver there for a long time, wonder who he’ll sign with now, I imagine he still has something left in the tank even though his productuon has dropped the last couple of years.

He has very little from what i've seen. He's lost a little bit of speed and agility and he's a low/no compete WR when it comes to contested passes. He's smart and runs good routes so he can find holes in zone, but otherwise he's a jag. Spotrac has his estimated value at $7.7M which is $1M+ more than i'd want to pay him.

 

[Iggloo]

Baun was much more than a LB in the Fangio scheme. He was basically a jack of all trades who could play as an edge rusher, cover LB, etc. on any given play as called. I suspect more guys can do this, but it was pretty remarkable what he could do when Fangio entrusted him.

Fangio could show the same look pre-snap and rush 4, but sometimes it would be Baun, or sometimes Nolan Smith, etc. Other times it looks just like 4 from before, but it's 5, and the 5th is Baum. That's a typical zone blitz concept, but the same is true in the secondary--players always show the same two-high safety look, but it masks a million wrinkles, who's coming and who's going, and with guys like Cooper DeJean, he could basically be a safety or a corner. All of which makes the QB have to hesitate to read what he's seeing.

This guy who analyzes Eagles film basically said Zack Baum was by far the most important defensive player on the team due to this ability to let Fangio conceal his rushers, since he was basically the joker of the defense, the wildcard.

 

[Iggloo]

The Eagles have a ton of talent. The issue isn't locking players up. The issue is that the Eagles can't get away from some of the players due to the cap consequences even if their play falls off a cliff. It's like a trapeze act without a safety net. The market is forcing it with QBs, but the Eagles have gone further.

It's working. We have some Dallas fans who have been sounding like Chicken Little for the past decade, saying Howie Roseman is running a Ponzi scheme that will eventually collapse. The result has been three SB appearances and two wins.

To me, the biggest risk with Howie's scheme is injuries. If, say, Jalen Hurts had suffered a career-ending knee injury, the Eagles would have faced financial troubles due to all the money they owed him that was heavily backloaded. Same with a guy like Lane Johnson, who has extended his contract numerous times to give the Eagles cap space.

But, if you have smart front office people taking calculated risks about which members of your roster are really ballers who are likely to be key pieces of your foundation, guys who are driven and are not going to be changed by money--like, say, a Jalen Hurts--it's a reasonable risk to assume.

They just extended Saquon in a move that was essentially part extension, part cap move to balloon payments into future years. If he gets hurt, that would potentially be problematic.

 

[Iggloo]

I like Sweat but I think whoever signs him may be in an overpay situation, my team included. He’s coming off a high profile playoffs and a Super Bowl with 2.5 sacks. He had a rough 2023 but a nice bounce back 2024.

I may be wildly wrong, because some teams are stupid, but I would be very surprised if there is as much FA interest in Josh Sweat as the media thinks.

The guy is basically a miracle comeback story, but he had a devastating knee injury in high school and is basically living on borrowed time.

He was considered one of the top DEs in the country coming out of college, had freakish get-off off the snap, was talked about as the next Jadeveon Clowney. He committed to Florida State, but suffered a brutal knee injury in high school that reportedly almost cost him his leg and nearly ended his career. He only started really coming on near the end of his college career, and Philly got him in the late fourth round.

He was pretty good overall in Philly, but completely disappeared the season before last during that long Philly swoon, and had to take a pay cut to even remain on the Eagles a year ago. I see him as a likely FA bust candidate to be honest.

Milton Williams on the other hand--his best ball may be ahead of him. Very toolsy player.

 

[bksballer89]

I think as long as Mahomes is healthy the Chiefs are a major threat.

Fuck them

 

[bksballer89]

 

[Clayton]

Baun was much more than a LB in the Fangio scheme. He was basically a jack of all trades who could play as an edge rusher, cover LB, etc. on any given play as called. I suspect more guys can do this, but it was pretty remarkable what he could do when Fangio entrusted him.

Fangio could show the same look pre-snap and rush 4, but sometimes it would be Baun, or sometimes Nolan Smith, etc. Other times it looks just like 4 from before, but it's 5, and the 5th is Baum. That's a typical zone blitz concept, but the same is true in the secondary--players always show the same two-high safety look, but it masks a million wrinkles, who's coming and who's going, and with guys like Cooper DeJean, he could basically be a safety or a corner. All of which makes the QB have to hesitate to read what he's seeing.

This guy who analyzes Eagles film basically said Zack Baum was by far the most important defensive player on the team due to this ability to let Fangio conceal his rushers, since he was basically the joker of the defense, the wildcard.

Bolton I think has been that guy for KC but isn't quite good enough in coverage to fully do it.

 

[Battlelyon]

Chargers release Joey Bosa

 

[Battlelyon]

 

[Battlelyon]

You just know the Bosa brothers are going to play together