[stkelly52]

2031
As we head into another season, I think that we are going to be in a better situation than we were last year. We lose two starters on defense to retirement, and four other starters are free agents. One of those free agents is my superstar RT Jerry Blanchard. He is widely considered to be the best tackle in the NFL. There is no way that we can afford to let him go, so we slap the franchise tag on Jerry. We are going to have to negotiate a long term deal with him before the year starts, but for the time being, we cannot afford to let any of our key linemen go. Other than Jerry, none of the players were stars, and I don't think that it will be a very big loss.

I make it through free agency with out any major news. I made an effort to pick up a few new starters, but I was not able to make any significant new signings. I wind up resigning two of my former starter who tried to test the free agent market.
The draft is one of my best ever. While I don't pick up anyone who looks to be a superstar, I do have some breakout players. Of the 7 players that I drafted, 5 look like they will develop into decent starters in the next couple of years. In the final free agency period I pick up a new QB to lead my team. I am reunited with the greatest QB in league history, Moe Swift. Swift is the QB who led my former team to the Super Bowl. He has thrown for over 60,000 yards and 441 TDs. He 95.7 career QB rating is the best in the game. While his ratings have declined over the years, his stats have not. Last year he threw for 4200 yards and 25 TD with a QB rating of 101.9. He is a big step up for us in the QB position and I think that this will be the final piece that will return us to the playoffs.

In the preseason I go 3-1, mostly using backups. As we prepare for our first game of the season, I trim down our roster to just 53 players. Mostly I let go of a few projects that I had hoped might blossom over the years. They don't work out and they are sent packing. Leland decided to end his holdout and has returned to camp.

As I head into the regular season I have much more confidence than I had last year. I have not made many changes, but I really don’t think that I needed a lot to make this team into one of the better teams in the league. The addition of Gearhart, as well as another year of maturing for some of my key players should be worth at least another win, if not two.

So my goals for the year:
Win 10 games and reach the post season
Have Leland Nixon run for 2000 yards and 15 TDs
Have Nixon average 4 yards per carry.

I think that all of these should be very attainable. The one big question to me is Nixon's rushing average. His average has declined each of the past 3 years, and only once in his career has he run for more yards than he did the previous season. Nevertheless, I believe.