hawk45":1agcy92g said:
Jimmy struggling early is the best thing that could happen to us IMO. My worst fear is that we re-up him somehow instead of using that money on the OL where it is more sorely needed ....
When people ask where the money for OL is supposed to come from, it is their "easy button" offensive signings like Harvin and Graham. We are doing just fine at the skill positions with home-grown players.
Hate to bear ill news, but just throwing money at the position is a really poor idea this upcoming year.
The list of potential UFAs for 2018 looks absolutely awful. Joeckel is listed as the 2nd best UFA heading into the year. It's incredibly bad at this point.
You can have all the cap room in the world, but if there isn't talent there to spend it on it's just wasted money. There are no impending TJ Lang/Keleche Osemele's in next years' group.
Weston RIchburg is likely to be extended by NY. They are in the same boat we were (even down to the position). Richburg is an OC and like Britt, a fringe pro bowl talent. Don't see the fit there.
One name that intrigues is James Hurst (OG/OT - Ravens). He is a versatile OL but quite honestly he's kind of just like Odhiambo except further along in experience. Inconsistent but young who suffered a gruesome injury heading into the NFL. He is 25 and fits Seattle's age profile in terms of UFAs they pursue.
Also am a fan of Andrew Norwell (OG Carolina). The Panthers just broke out the checkbook for Trai Turner. They tendered Norwell with a 2nd round tender this year. He's a decent OG both in pass pro and run. Young (25). Probably will command 9M+ on the open market. Maybe upwards of 12M considering the demand and supply. I'd consider him an upgrade to Joeckel straight up. Panthers won't have a lot of cap room next year and will be difficult to keep him.
There seem to be just a bunch of Odhiambo/Aboushi level talents out there. Most of those in the 28-31 year range.
Seattle is probably better off trying to get OL via trade. But you'll be trading guys like Graham for guys that are barely upgrades for what we have right now. And probably wouldn't even factor in to the team this year coming in at this late date.
Will and available cap spend won't result in fixing what we have. If Seattle wants to really begin to address the OL, we either need to have some losing seasons, or we need to be willing to part with the likes of Wagner, Sherman, Baldwin to get quality in trade. It'll take dealing a core guy to get quality in return. Graham doesn't really fit that criteria now. His trade value is extremely low.