Eli's window is closing. We need to maximize our chances of a championship in these next 2 years. This mock offseason is geared to doing just that. I keep an eye on the long term, but make a couple short term moves to give us our best shot at a Lombardi before Eli hangs it up.
Original Cap room: 23 million
Cut Cruz and Rashad (already happened): 10 million saved
Cap room: 33 million
Cut JT Thomas, Restructure DRC: savings: 7 million
Cap room: 40 million (5 million saved for draft picks)
Spending money: 35 million
Resignings:
Let JPP walk. Great player, but if we put 50 million per year in the defensive line total, we will be horribly unbalanced and severely lacking in many other areas. We can't give him the Vernon, 5 year 85 million contract and expect to solve our much larger needs at Left Tackle, Right Tackle and Tight End,
Keenan Robinson: 2 mil/year, 3 years - Solid coverage Linebacker.
Johnathan Hankins - DT- Franchise Tag - 13 million for 1 year. This was a down year for Hankins. As a 3 technique, his job is to pressure the QB, and he barely did that. However, I'm not willing to simply let our young, promising DT walk. I also don't want to lose one half of our D Line. I'm keeping Hankins mostly for continuity and for run stuffing purposes. On this one year tag, we don't have to tie up long term money; Big Hank gets one more year to prove his value.
Free Agency
Ricky Wagner - RT - 8 mil/year, 5 year deal. It's time to address our glaring need at Offensive Tackle. Wagner was a solid player for Baltimore, and graded as one of the best tackles in the league. He's an immediate upgrade over Bobby Hart, and will allow Eli some time to survey the field and let routes develop.
Andrew Whitworth - LT - 9 mil/year, 2 year deal. We need an upgrade at LT. Period. I know he's 35. But, show me a better option at LT for the next 2 years while Eli's window is still open. I'm not willing to risk Eli's last chance with another rookie Left Tackle. Free agency is sparse. And Ereck has got to go. At his age, Whitworth comes with some risk. However, he's currently a top tackle in the NFL. Even if Whitworth falls off a little due to age, he'll still be a massive improvement over Flowers. A 2 year deal doesn't hamstring us in the future, and it's a short term play for a Lombardi.
Draft:
Rd 1: David Njoku - TE wasn't addressed in free agency, so it needs to be a priority in the draft. I would love to pencil in OJ Howard, but I don't think he'll be available at 23. Njoku's a freak athlete, and a huge weapon that'll help defeat that Cover 2 Man defense and take pressure off Odell.
Rd 2: Demarcus Walker - DE - Edge Rusher. JPP's replacement.
Rd 3: Cooper Kupp - WR - That big, athletic, outside WR we've all been crying for.
Rd 4 - Samaje Perrine - RB - Power back to complement Perkins. Thunder and Lightning.
Rd 5 - Davis Webb - QB - Developmental guy to backup Eli and learn the ropes of an NFL offense.
Rd 6 and 7: CB and pass rusher, don't care who
Missing: playmaking LB (what else is new), Defensive Line depth, true RG (Flowers, Hart, and Jones compete)
Our offense would be STACKED:
Whitworth Pugh Richburg Flowers Wagner . Njoku
OBJ Manning Sterling Kupp
(Will Johnson FB) Perkins/Perrine (3D: Vereen)
Defense is still rock solid (only downgrade: JPP to Demarcus Walker)
Vernon - Snacks - Hankins - Walker
Casillas - Goodson - Keenan
Janoris - DRC - Eli
Landon Collins Darian Thompson