Snakebitten: A Real-Time MP FOF thread

[QuikSand]

Rookie sneak peeks are mixed - Mr. Wonderful looks every bit the real deal, while our DE Ethan Anthony was probably too good to be true... those "possibly maxed" bars in PRTech and Special Teams look like they'll max out at 75, not 100, making him close to useless, and a 40 personality isn't going to help. Meh.

[QuikSand]

Okay, I put in an offer to lock up Teddy for $36m/yr. Hopeful, but not certain that he'll take it.

S McGee... not sure what to do. He's basically the case study for why doing what I'm trying to do is so hard. To re-up with us, he demands $107m/5y - absurd. And I know what will happen... if I cut him, he'll go sign for 1yr minsal for an AI-roster-filler, maybe be a part time starter, and then he'll be back on the free agent market looking for $6m. Fucker.

[Olsson]

I really enjoy your write-up Quick!

Been following for a while and just wanted to let you know I’m following closely!

Keep them coming ��

[QuikSand]

glad to hear, I have been enjoying getting a bit deeper into the thinking here of late, too...

[QuikSand]

Late free agency is basically unexciting. In some offseasons, I take my usual filtered looks through the wastebins, and sometimes there are some legit treasures. In a league with a number of AI teams, you never know when one of them will suddenly click into its "cap trouble" routine and start cutting guys like their 2nd round 44/53 guy in his 3rd season. It actually happens here. Or, more frequently, a guy who was signed and got playing time for a year or two just doesn't get re-upped and becomes a 2nd or 3rd year free agent with legit potential. Or, in any league, some guys who didn't really impress during the draft suddenly look attractive once we get a fuller look at them in late free agency (pet peeve alert).

So...I have put in a wave of modest offers, but I don't think there's a single player out there whom I am twiddling thumbs awaiting the Monday morning note of whether he signed with us. The thumb-twiddling is basically confined to Teddy's contract renewal, which I do hope goes through (for 4 years), with my usual bonus-heavy, longer-term, lower-value approach that makes a ton of sense in a no-injury league without a cap adjustment.

[QuikSand]

The position that might be most intriguing right now for us, as we think about both 2110 and 2112+, is running back. Here are our current contributors, and let's say for my purposes, I have 5 things I want from the RB position... how do these guys stack up?

Roger Harden
1st-and-10 rushing: He's got the right skills, mostly, and one good season
Special teams skills: Very good, 88
Chemistry contribution: Oof, Personality 4 XXXX
Receiving/pass blocking: Not really his thing
Cohesion contribution: Into 4th season with us

Dashawn Lindsay
1st-and-10 rushing: Decent ratings, right? (HR 60/78, End 65/84, Brk 20)
Special teams skills: meh, 67/82 not active for us
Chemistry contribution: solid, 62 pers
Receiving/pass blocking: solid, 50-ish in key receiving stats
Cohesion contribution: 3rd year now

So, it's not absurd to think these guys could remain our 1/2 punch in 2112. But, after this year, Harden is going to want to get paid. So he won't be a cheap rookie-contract guy anymore, he'll be a $12m (?) guy whose commitment puts pressure onto other important positions. And presumably a year later we'd be paying these two, what, $20m per year between them?

I would be really happy if I could land a minsal, low-talent guy who could just check a couple of those boxes. I'm always looking at the post-draft rookies for that, sometimes with some luck. We'll see if we have a change in store. My leaning is - Harden will go, mainly because of his low personality. If he had posted two good YPC seasons in a row, maybe I'd be thinking otherwise... this year I will be careful about their roles, but I have no real idea what to expect from them this year. Will they combine for 4.2 or 5.4 ypc? Either seems very possible.

[QuikSand]

Well, the league simmer has declared a two week respite, so I'll have plenty of time to gripe and groan about our offseason and the year ahead. Hope my momentum with this team doesn't lose too much steam, but so it goes.

[QuikSand]

Okay, the late free agency roster moves - picked up a few guys, missed on a few, but we locked up Teddy.

= = = = =

C Marshall Keith
Late FA Stage 1
re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

He's merely a chemistry gimp, but w 89 personality and minsal, could stick

LCB Ray Fargas
Late FA Stage 1
signed as a free agent: 3yrs, $24,000,000.

The more you look, the less you like... semi-promising, but a likely cut

QB Derrick Camara
Late FA Stage 1
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,510,000.

84 personality in the 4-5 group, 79 sense rush but looks like a cut

RB Gabriel Wolfe
Late FA Stage 1
turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $4,510,000.

Hmm, I offered a bit extra and lost. Maybe a RB-to-WR convert...

RB Taylor McCormack
Late FA Stage 1
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,510,000.

Meh, punt return and mostly nonzero bars, but not a serious hit

SE Clyde Linquist
Late FA Stage 1
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,510,000.

combine skipper, not sure what I liked here

RT Timothy Wilkerson
Late FA Stage 2
re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

we'll keto him into, hopefully, a pos switch - possible TE/FB leader

RB Mickey Willis
Late FA Stage 2
turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $4,900,000.

should've bid more, possible RB2 guy, low End but solid Brk/HRec

TE Darnell Barrett
Late FA Stage 3
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $7,140,000.

He's back, angling for the TE3 affinity gimp job...Pers 32 but ST 80/92

RB Rick Gilmore
Late FA Stage 3
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,900,000.

Okay, legit potential here... ST 76/93, End 20/27, HR 49/56, Brk 31

RG Alexander Mayes
Late FA Stage 3
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,900,000.

Yet another chem fit OL, yawn

LT Winfred Roberts
Late FA Stage 3
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,510,000.

85 BlStr portends some bump, but likely not enough to stick

FS Jeremy Chandler
Late FA Stage 3
turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $4,900,000.

Seattle gets all three of the guys I wanted but missed... grrrr

[QuikSand]

...we still doing this? Beats me.

Sims re-start tomorrow, apparently.

[QuikSand]

So, tomorrow is the training camp stage. We're already at 68 players, it's not like I really need to load up. Looking over everything, I'm recalling all the stuff that was forward in mind 10-15 days ago... yeah, I see it.

My "Position Distribution" report is a joke, of course. We have 20 skill position players (need 10)... 14 OL (7)... 15 guys for the D7 (11)...and 11 secondary (70). So, yeah, cuts are coming. We knew that already...the 20 skills is just silly, though.

One thing that strikes me is my chemistry problem looming at WR/TE. Right now, I have a neutered long snapper as my chem gimp, he's only a 62/80, meaning he will lose control of the leadership in the group soon. Specifically, it will go to TE2 Teddy Carr (70/86) in a couple years, give or take. And the bench out there in the 2-3 group for becoming good leaders is pretty thin...it's gonna take this stiff a long time to become a group leader if Carr stays around.

So... there's the clause. If Carr stays around. Zero injury league. Last year I inadvertently just slotted my TE1 into the "tight end who gets the targets in that formation" roles, and it ended up being Weydahl 158, Carr 3 for the season (targets). Well, shit, if that's the case... why bother with a TE2 who can do anything but block, play special teams, and maybe make convincing fart sounds in his underarm? Carr is making $8m the next two years to be out TE2... maybe we just shove him out of the way for chemistry reasons, and plug in somebody else who can just make oblique contributions (cf the list above) for minimum salary, and hopefully for huge chemistry value?

Among the rest of my "long term assets" in the group, we have a number of low leadership ratings:
TE1 Weydahl 0
TE3 Barrett 5
WR1 Lester 32
WR2 Franz 13
WR3 Bernal 15

...so, in theory, we could push a guy like WR Norman into the leadership role within two or three seasons, if we get him starts and his 77 towers over the rest of the group. Limits my ability to go out and find veterans, but it's not off the table at all here.

[QuikSand]

Training camp is uneventful, I guess. The "reveal" is not revealing to those who understand the sneak peek angle. So, my rookie class is what I expected.

So, with 71 players (I guess I mis-calculated something, likely will suffer a penalty for exceeding 70) here are some decisions I see lying ahead for us:

RB3? In this league, I have been just riding two RBs, the minimum. Now, I sorta like the looks of rookie RB Rick Gilmore, as he bring to the table some valued intangibles - a 95 personality, and a 78/92 special teams skill. That says, to me, he could be a long term asset, possibly as our RB2 and on the active roster. So, I guess we keep him and get him "starts" this year. Does that mean we carry him as a RB3, or do we pare down one of the guys ahead of him in the queue? Maybe even Harden?

RB4? And then there's the rookie wildcard guy Taylor McCormack, who will almost certainly have a ratings bump in preseason. But if it's just 5 points, he's worthless... if it's 20 points suddenly he's in the picture, too. And if he bumps enough in punt returning to look like a viable piece to use there, even more intriguing.

Quick note - I think Harden's Goose is cooked. Comes off a bad season, low personality, special teams really not special enough for this team. Tough to overcome all those demerits, despite having a bar profile I rather like.

S McGee - he's holding out, as I more or less suspected. We'll have to decide whether he makes sense as a $12-15m/yr guy. 88 personality and 4 years on the roster - this is the sort of guy I should be keeping as part of the 2112 thing. But can I really justify it? He's really not great, and even this year he's already projecting to be our third, "utility" safety. So, on the field for maybe 250 plays? I've got CB Wordehoff on hand already, and he's totally up to that job, and is cheaper, special teamier, and chemically pretty good.

QB Jimmy Mc. You've heard this before. I really cannot justify paying $12m a year for a backup QB, when I have a high personality mentor and it's a zero-injury league. The only argument for him is that he could step in with cohesion if Teddy were to retire abruptly.

Young OL. Okay, we're shifting to a 4/5 leader guy - that means C Guthrie is an easy cut. C Borrelli still looks like a promising run blocker, possible future C starter... but on the bench with a mere 12 personality, ugh. The right play seems to be to hold onto C Castillo as long as possible, and assume we can fill the role when we need to, maybe with a guy on the roster already at guard.

[QuikSand]

Update: file submitted, RB Harden has been released in this batch

[QuikSand]

S McGee ends his holdout. But now he's a haughty "past injustices" guy. Not sure if that would abate if he just plays out this year under his $4m rookie deal. I suspect he's history.

Okay, preseason is done. This is the big file, the regular season. The final cut to 53, and the stage to decide who gets to play this year. I'm basically in "go for it" mode now, I might find some time for marginal guys here or there, but in the main I'm looking to march ahead with what I've got from here on.

Mr. Wonderful remains wonderful, even though my scout dips him to a mere 67/73. Build-around talent, we'll see if he's a trade bait guy in year 4 or a long termer.

DE Anthony bumps in camp, should be a long term asset, will get a part-time starting gig this season in hopes of notching 8 starts to click in.

RB Gilmore -2 in preseason, dang. Bubble guy for longer term, but by cutting Harden I pretty much have to use him this year, since my other rookie McCormack was a mere +2, now 28/33. McCormack is up to 43/44 in PR by my scout... geez, could that get him a roster slot and fake starts? Ugh.

I'm tired. File sent. We'll see. Ten wins?

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm tired. File sent. We'll see. Ten wins?

Well, nope. How about 7 wins.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2110

Quick notes from the Team Summary:
Teddy was okay... 6.8ypa, 30/18, 82.8 - okay but not a serious advantage
(Context - 287 yards/gm passing ranks 2nd, 6.8 ypa ranks 6th)
Targets split three ways, basically- not enough for Lester, dumbass
WR Vecchio again performs... sinister look at that high endurance bar
RB Lindsey in full time role is fine - 4.5 ypc not great but okay
We're -2 on turnovers... mainly since we don't intercept anyone
We allowed only 5.8 ypa passing... t3rd best there
Not a great pass rush, again not enough defensive playmaking
S Riley Douglass is prob the team MVP, coverage and tackling machine

This honestly doesn't look like a losing team, by the numbers. Pass well, stop the pass, to me that's a really good and important start. Blame the patch?

Ugh. Major setback. Felt this was the season for us to feel like it was coming together. Instead of feeling like the D is "done" I feel like we're "stuck."

[QuikSand]

Wow, dumb blindspot move. Started my defensive lineups with Otto, and he just benched LB Jermaine Tanner. Got 9 tackles in spot duty, and is now HOT about it. Won't be able to extend him next season, he'll be a free agent. Dumb.

[QuikSand]

Interesting twist... our sack leader with 8 wasn't even visible on the in-game team summary, since he only had 12 tackles. Fun "ears pinned back" ratio for him.

http://gml.fof-belco.com/playercard.php?playerid=85358

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Interesting twist... our sack leader with 8 wasn't even visible on the in-game team summary, since he only had 12 tackles. Fun "ears pinned back" ratio for him.

http://gml.fof-belco.com/playercard.php?playerid=85358

I love looking at the "ears pinned back" page from time to time...

http://gml.fof-belco.com/pinned_ears.php

I had forgotten about this thread...glad you haven't.

We've got the Brown's defense clicking and we need to get the rookie QB another WR and then we'll hopefully be back in business.

[QuikSand]

Set up for heartbreak.

We pick at 1.9. The draft has moved to 1.7, there are two picks ahead of mine. My top two players in this draft, incorporating team need and chemistry focus, still remain on the board.

What are the chances that they both get taken, somehow, at picks 7 and 8?

[QuikSand]

Well, heartbreak avoided. A nearly maxed-out TE from my affinity group was actually available at pick 7, and that had me daydreaming about him in our TE-friendly offense.

But... he gone. At 7 to the last human team ahead of us.

We end up with a consolation prize: T Tyrus Shepherd

Now, once I recover from the TE-induced swoon, I can put this into perspective. I am not sure how position value in FOF parallels with the NFL, but if you had my roster in the NFL, you would 100% be saying "all this team really needs is a serious left tackle!"

Honestly, the correct play for me when seeing this fairly crappy draft overall, would have been to try to deal away assets to move up to pick 3 or 4 in order to get this guy. Instead, we luck out and land him by providence. Perhaps by divine intervention? Not my style, honestly, hope this doesn't offend

So, a quiet moment please...Mr Teddy Tightends has something to say...

My left tackle is Shepherd. I shall not want.

He keepeth me from having to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the other jerseys.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of first down markers for his game's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the pressure of the edge rushers of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy bod and thy technique they comfort me.

Thou preparest a pocket for me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with proper reads; my backs runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the plays of my career: and we will dwell in the endzone for ever.

[johnnyshaka]

I had dreams of the TE falling to me at 1.10...silly, silly dreams.

[Chas in Cinti]

Nice... now a couple of balls bounce the other way this season and I'm hoping to see a nice rebound to 10-11 wins...

[QuikSand]

Okay, C Castillo re-signs. Major sigh of relief there. I wasn't sure whether he'd get other offers... submitted a file with $35m/yr, then doubled back and did it again for $41m to be more certain. He accepts - zero competition. Dammit.

CB Diego Wordehoff is back, too, no shock. He's just worth more to us (cohesion, chemistry, and maybe he can even play a little) than anyone else.

We miss out on a nice-looking RT. Rats. $25m/yr gets him, I offered him $14...had no clue what the market would be for a 63/63 8th year guy slotted at RT.

We've got some cap space, but I really don't have a great plan to spend it - likely will just re-up with guys already aboard where it makes sense. We need to be getting really good FAST. It's now a Rush 'til 2112.

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Chemistry note... as of right now, if I look at my roster and sort on Chemistry, the "Exceptional Affinity" list carries all the way to and beyond the bottom of the visible page. Whoa.

Ooh yeah

I've felt this

[QuikSand]

Late-ish night. Crazy work day. Punctuated by drinks. And more.

Draft seems over. Okay, that was fun.

We apparently signed some guys. WR Bernal back on minsal deal, nice. He's super-low RR so maybe trash, but he plays nicely with the others, so that's cool. Another affinity WR stiff and a pretty affordable rotation-caliber DE. Decent haul.

Blah

[QuikSand]

Missed a stage, just busy. Not bad timing, at least.

Late stages of free agency, a little news:
-tried to land a decent veteran RT, failed, no crisis
-re-signed QB Jimmy Mc because I can't quit you (one year, maybe cheap next season?)
-another year with PR Matthews at WR, because 18 yards per PR is good
-re-up with minsal affinity guys, per usual

Boring.

[QuikSand]

Rookie T Tyrus Shepherd does look very good, so that's encouraging. He's a little better as a run blocker than pass protector, but we'll just plug him in for a decade, I hope.

[QuikSand]

So, are we ready to go someplace soon? 2112 is knocking at the door.

Late free agency pickups... not much to report.

-Re-up with CB Metzenbaum, WR Vecchio,
-One of those big-blocking-strength no-other-bars OL
-Lots of pretty hopeless-looking URFAs

...and I'll likely pay a draft pick penalty for going over 70 players (76). So it goes. All for nothing, too, since I don't see much of anything among the chattel here that looks keep-able on this team.

[QuikSand]

Hmmm. Gonna have to make a call. WR Vecchio took over my chemistry leader role, and that's not ideal. He has been productive, but I don't want to have to wait two or three more seasons to max out chemistry there. He might get cut. Dang.

[QuikSand]

So, I decide to release TE Teddy Carr. No shock. With no injuries, we're already paying TE Weydahl, paying a second quality guy just detracts from Weydahl's targets. Plus, he was messing up our chemistry short term.

So, meet our new chem leader: WR Norman Hoover, your prototype affinity gimp. He'll hopefully ride the bench for 10 years and anchor chemistry the whole time, and never ask for more than minsal.

I think this means an undrafted rookie TE will make the roster - and he might turn out to be more than a chem guy after all. Ronald Austin will likely make a solid bump in preseason (my scout rates him +8 in potential, a very good sign) and perhaps can slide into a useful TE2/3 role. TE Barnett is the special teamer of the group, who really shouldn't be on the field much. Cameron Robinson is the fall-back if somebody falls apart. While I prefer having a more well-rounded talent as my TE2 (like this fella in another league) we'll play the hand we've been dealt here. Sadly, I really should have seen this coming, especially when the set of potential 2/3 group leaders was so weak... I should have known Carr was a goner and planned accordingly, to have a cohesion guy in there by now. This "peak at the right time" shit is really hard.

[QuikSand]

File is in. Life is busy. Forecast is unclear.

I'd really like this season to come together, and

(meant to submit this yesterday... heh, that's how busy)

[QuikSand]

So... did we make the jump back into contention? That's basically my "ask" for this season...

Yup.

12-4. Well okay then. What went right?

Well, Teddy was a solid 8.3 QB, I guess, with an 80 passer rating and 29/15 ratio
Running game was strong - Lindsay for 5ypc as the main threat
Our conservative air game was efficient (but only for mid-pack 6 ypa)
Defense was top 10 in both ypa and ypc, I like that a lot
Our top 3 LBs each has double digit passes defensed (whoa)
Pass rush kinda weak, but opponents still couldn't pass that well (5.7 ypa)

Happy overall. Probably overachieved in the win column, but it's hard to acclimatize to the new atmosphere of the much-changed FOF game.

[QuikSand]

Been a while since I look at this closely, but:

Punt returns: 20.7 (1st)
Kick returns: 24.9 (11th)
PR Allowed: 7.9 (t9th)
KR allowed: 19.0 (1st)

I'm pretty happy with that. We still don't have a legitimate kick returner on the roster, so I'm sending out a 40-rated guy to do that (for league-wide lack of a single chem-fit guy who can do it well). I think my decent but not great punter is the main reason we're not near the very top there.

Regardless... I'm pleased with our special teams as the team is coming together overall.

[QuikSand]

Nice run to win the conference title, but lose in the championship game

We're in the elite tier, that was the plan/hope. Need to keep it going.

[Chas in Cinti]

Ack... so close

[johnnyshaka]

Thank you, sir, may I have another?

Ouch.

[Pyser]

great maneuvering quik - fun to see how you built this

[QuikSand]

Thanks, fellas. It's my busiest time of the year for work, so that timing isn't ideal... but I do want to keep this thread and team going. The new year has dawned... it is upon us.

[QuikSand]

General offseason thoughts:

I have a trade offer to take my 2-7 picks this year...I'm a motivated seller. -There are some guys who will go top-12 or so in this draft for whom I'd offer a lot...will float an idea or two, but more likely I'll just use 1.31 on a BPA and deal the rest.

-Goal this season is to max out. Cohesion, chemistry, talent. Kind of in that order.

-We still have a few positions of relative need, where a serious talent bump might override our other goals... RT (!) and RB the most notable. C is looming as a need, but Castillo is back at least for this year, so we're good for now.

-Pass rusher is a pinch point, where I have to decide whether [url=http://gml.fof-belco.com/playercard.php?playerid=84539]DE McCormick is worth a premium contract. He's been okay (25 sacks on 6.3 PR% in 3 seasons as a starter) but he's got a bad chem combo (95/24) that could be a liability down the road. Ratings say he's good, not at all great. He wants phat lewt, too. So, I need to weigh my thoughts about the DE position, and cohesion especially, here. DE Humphrey and his 2 personality is waiting next year for a similar fork-in-the-road setup.

-I think I will have more to say about the salcap and my offseason grand plan after a couple stages. Should have more focus then, I reckon.

[QuikSand]

Okay, first stage of free agency, and two HUGE signings for us.

First...we HAD to re-up with LB Jermaine Tanner. Odd blunder put him on the bench in his penultimate contract year, meaning I couldn't extend him... but he's back with us for 4 more seasons. Starting caliber player, great chem leader... essential piece of the puzzle. Whew. (Massively overpaid, though)

And... my musing earlier about pass rusher was about the top such guy on the market, DE DeAndre Banks. 5th year guy with 90+ PRTech - let's just say that on our team, he will be expected to blow right past the 6-7 sacks per season clip he established in Jacksonville. Nobody else even bid on him, so I guess I overpaid, but he was the one guy good enough to make me say goodbye to one or two of my veteran cohesion types, in the name of gaining in talent.

So... two fat contracts, and that basically defines my offseason for this year. We will be filling in pieces here and there as we can, but we're basically done with big moves.

[QuikSand]

So, from here on out, it's just minor pieces of the puzzle. I think my biggest issue will be where I am willing to actually pay.

34 players signed right now
13 players we are lead bid on right now
7 draft picks at the moment, trying to deal that way down
4 RFAs I intend to re-sign (P EdFred, RB Gilmore, T Roberts, WR Slade)
--
55 players, more or less

We have $110M in cap space... veteran minsal is 3.62M

So... money-wise, here's my thinking:

-have some guys who are not great players, but are great fits...NT Neill, LB Shockey, LB Brotzmann -- I figure I have to pay these guys 2x minsal or so, where I might not be willing to do so, absent this weird peak-right-now plan

-I have real offers in on a few new free agents, but really want cohesion guys out there mostly... so this year won't be much for the 8th year 52/52 guy, beyond the DE we just signed... I'll be trotting out my familiar faces wherever I can this season

-So, the obvious play, I think, is to target high-personality chemistry fits who already have starts enough to activate their effects... and sign those guys to sit on the bench this year. My guess is I will have 3-6 such guys this season, more or less taking the place of the bottom side of a standard rookie class.

-This season is supposed to be "it" but realistically, it's also the start of a window... maybe one that we can keep open as long as Teddy sticks around at QB (remember, he wasn't a rookie when he signed with us, he's now a 10th year player)

If Banks can help inject some real life into our pass rush, this team could actually be pretty serious on defense. Stay the course, pretty conservative (even through we do pass a lot) on offense, and play good D... and just let the era of good feelings carry us to the promised land.

[QuikSand]

So, here's a guy sitting out there in free agency. Let's say that I have $15m or so that I more or less don't have a place to spend this year, and that a one-year deal for around that amount would probably get him to join up.

PRO:
-quality player, would be a good fit in a CB3/S2/S3 rotation
-good special teamer, likely would be encouraged
-high personality, so strong chemistry effect with our leader

CON:
-putting him out there means a high-cohesion guy sits down
-older player, so no long term future with him

So... under ordinary circumstances, I would likely be all in to try to get this guy on a 2yr deal, leaving my options open. But I am trying to max out both chemistry and cohesion here... and he frustrates the second of those two goals. And if he's mostly on the bench, then hell, I can get a high-personality cohesion guy cheaper than that to ride the pine, I assume.

[Chas in Cinti]

Stick to the principle... Only way to balk would be for someone higher in the depth chart IMO...

[QuikSand]

[QuikSand]

Fun twist with the draft. I made some effort to trade up to get an apparent superstar OT, since that was a major need. Couldn't pull it off without three 1sts.

So... I instead deal away this year's 2-3-4-5-6-7 to get a 2+4 next year. Just buying a clean sweep this season, and maybe getting some more ammo for a trade-up next season.

Anyway... with just pick 1.31 left, I sit back and... well, my oh my, my top two players on my board as the draft sits at pick 1.30 are both tackles. Not superstars, but similar-looking players - very high endurance and blocking strength, and decent other numbers. One is more highly developed but interviewed as VO, the other less developed but no interview result.

Well, I guess I get to target a need area after all. We'll draft a guy to slot right in at RT, I suspect.

[QuikSand]

So, big blunder, I suppose. RB Dashawn Lindsay wouldn't listen to anything shorter than two years, so I offered him a bonus heavy fat two year deal to stay. Turns out I got beat by AVAILABLE, and... in all fairness... I'm supposed to be better than that. So, we let our 5-yards-a-clip affinity/cohesion running back walk, and now we have only one returning back, an undrafted stiff from last season. Just a bad call there, all on me.

I honestly don't feel like Lindsay is a particularly good player, but leaving something as important as 150+ carries to the absolute random breeze seems stupid AF in a "go for it" season like this. Just dumb.

[QuikSand]

Tight End Update

First, we have extended Arturo Weydahl, who figures to be a top target for the long haul. I wish he had some BPR skills, but we're committed, he's the guy.

Second, last year's misfit toy find is going to be a very solid TE2 for us, I think. Ronald Austin is a guy we can target occasionally, but who will otherwise just crackle with chemistry, and do some scut work. If he were a special teams guy he'd be my favorite player on the team, prolly.

Now, we have added 7th year veteran Kennedy Oliver on a "we'll see" deal. What does he bring to the table? Most of the same stuff as Weydahl. He'd be a TE1 on most of my teams. Here, he's a bubble guy... with no injuries I don't really need a plan B for TE targets. So, low cohesion, solid chemistry, and solid skills that would go unused. We are likely better off just sticking with a guy like Barrett for cheap, at least he'll go out and truck somebody on special teams.

And Wilkerson is just a chemistry chesspiece. I think I now have three such guys on the roster (2/3 group, decent leadership and high personality) so two will presumably be on the final 53 to anchor the happiness factor.

[QuikSand]

Semi big deal, update. I have traded away CB Donnell Small, who had been our CB1. I wasn't going to be able to extend him, and likely wasn't going to be able to re-up with him in free agency, so we get a 1st and a 3rd for him, not a bad haul. We'll need to bring in another credible CB, but I think Slechta will be good enough to play CB1 for us, and we have a rotation of cohesion guys who should be okay surrounding him. Potentially a ding, but he wasn't a long term solution for us, with an upside down chemistry pairing (100 leadership, 31 personality)... we're selling high, I think.

[QuikSand]

...tried twice to deal for a RB in this draft, but failed. Alas. Will sift through the flotsam in the after-draft. I can usually find a RB3-caliber guy there. Just that he'll have to be RB1/2 instead. Dammit.

[QuikSand]

So, several signings in this FA stage (8-9)... and the roster is starting to come into focus. I did a couple capouts to clear cap space this year which I think I'll need. And we moved fairly quickly at CB, and I think I'm in okay shape here.

SS Thomas Thomas
FA Stage 8
re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

affinity gimp, had to pay over minsal to beat out opposition

LCB Sammie Metzenbaum
FA Stage 9
re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

decent veteran, special teamer, good enough to play some

QB Richie Bryant
FA Stage 9
re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

great backup

RCB Alexis Montano
FA Stage 9
signed as an unrestricted free agent from Philadelphia: 3yrs, $18,600,000.

the most meaningful signing here, he's likely our CB2

RB Taylor McCormack
FA Stage 9
signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $6,080,000.

just trying to find cheap options at RB for the immediate future

[QuikSand]

So, right now we are sitting on:

45 players signed
4 free agents we're pursuing, with no competition
1 draft pick on his way in
--
50 players more or less in hand

We still need another RB, a punter, and a long snapper. So, that's much of the path ahead, already spelled out.