Which free agents do you hope to see re-signed?

Hauschka . . . sure. But I am more excited about the prospect of returning three of our mid-season signees: Marcel Reece, Tony McDaniel, and Jeron Johnson. Hard-nosed guys who bring the right attitude and do the little things superbly.

I hope hauschka is gone, he really pissed me off this year.

the others I hope all make it back especially Reece. he showed a lot.

hawknation2017":30lxdo43 said:

Hauschka . . . sure. But I am more excited about the prospect of returning three of our mid-season signees: Marcel Reece, Tony McDaniel, and Jeron Johnson. Hard-nosed guys who bring the right attitude and do the little things superbly.

Click to expand...

I agree with all three. I think Jeron Johnson we need because he can fill in for Kam or a CB. His versatility and experience in our system is welcome.

Reece for sure..

I definitely want to see Reece back. I would love to see him with a full offseason and OTA with the team.

I am 50/50 on Tony McDaniel and here is why. I really think this team needs a 3 tech DT that not only provides good run support on early downs, but also provides pass rush. My number one target would be Calais Campbell. What he would provide to the DL and defense as a whole would be so impactful. This front office has shown they will go after DL in FA, and Campbell is the kind of guy they would go after. Proven havoc maker, proven team leader, and has a ton of "street cred" that would provide instant respect from others in the locker room. So, I would first go after a guy like him. If it didn't work out I would look to bring back Tony on a 1 year deal to hedge for the draft. To me, other than big time key FA signings or re signings...FA is more about hedging your roster. The key is going into the draft without having to panic on certain positions.

Luke is gone in my opinion. He is a nice player, but I suspect he actually has a decent market and with the depth we have at TE and other holes on the roster I imagine a separation there. I would bring back Brandon Williams on a 1 year minimum type of deal (again to hedge our draft). I still think we see a TE drafted somewhere.

I would bring Hausch back on a short, small deal that is easy to get out of. It would not stop me from bringing in competition for camp though.

I think I would bring Mike Morgan back at a cheap price as well. Again, a spot you hope to upgrade in the draft but a nice hedge to have in case that guy never falls to you at the right spot.

I am OK either way on Jeron Johnson. Probably a lot cheaper than bringing back Mccrae at this point so going into the draft with him as our # 2 we could do a lot worse. But Safety is a position I am looking to attack in the draft either way. Most stacked DB class in a long time so even if he is brought back I would hope a young guy comes in and makes it hard to keep Jeron.

Reece and Johnson are the obvious two for me. A long shot would be Hester. I know he may very well retire (if he hasn't already) but if he doesn't... man. Yes please!?

Oh, and maybe this guy too. That is, if he hasn't retired officially yet as well.

Generally the UFAs are gone. We had a chance to work out an extension with them and it didn't happen, so now it opens up to the highest bidder. The winner's curse applies to UFAs and they count against compensatory picks, so it historically we very rarely resign them at this point. Reece might be an exception if we can pick up him for $760k again but he'll obviously shop around a while first. I'd wager that most if not all of McDaniel, Johnson, McCray, Thorpe, Morgan, Hauskha, Willson, Sowell are gone.

We can keep the RFA/ERFA if we want. They don't typically count in any compensatory pick calculations and we can always tag them with right of first refusal, which lets us match any offer if we want without a minimum salary like the 1st/2nd round tenders require. Shead, Terrell, McDonald, Seisay, Jean-Baptiste will probably all be resigned this way but maybe not Gilliam.

Reece, Jeron and that's about a wrap.

Truthfully, I dont really care about any of them. They can all easily be replaced.

Reece...thats it.

Yeah, I'm feeling the same. Marcel Reece is a must, I'm okay with Hauschka as long as Nolan Frese is cut. Actually, I want Nolan Frese cut either way. I'm surprised with all of the Jeron Johnson love. What's the upside? He's been here and cut before - we didn't miss him then.

Mike Morgan should be resigned. He's not perfect, but he is serviceable and will bridge the gap for an upcoming draft pick.

We're forgetting about Luke Willson.

Graham's contract is up next season, and I doubt that the Hawks would want to lose both or at least lose any leverage they might have in negotiations with Graham if Luke is on the roster. I would expect the Hawks to make a fair offer but won't break the bank for him.

Jeron wasn't cut AND he can't play CB. These threads are hilarious sometimes.

Reece would be nice, but I still think we have a 270 pounder running a 4.6 40 manning the position next year that can also play TE.

Hauschka - 1 year prove it deal (then bring in an UDFA to compete)
Morgan - Very solid ST guy and did fine playing oppo KJ and Wags
McDaniel - Great rotational run stopping DT
Reece - Reminds me a lot of Mike Rob. Our running game looked better with him in there, and just have always felt that Tukuafu isn't all that
Jeron Johnson/McCray - Whoever is cheaper. Both are pretty similar players

RiverDog":21g394gi said:

We're forgetting about Luke Willson.

Graham's contract is up next season, and I doubt that the Hawks would want to lose both or at least lose any leverage they might have in negotiations with Graham if Luke is on the roster. I would expect the Hawks to make a fair offer but won't break the bank for him.

Click to expand...

I don't even think they'll offer him a fair offer.

I think it's gonna be like Malcolm Smith, where they just straight up told him go test the market and if you get no real offers, you're welcome back at a lowball one year deal.

Sgt. Largent":27xejwn4 said:

Graham's contract is up next season, and I doubt that the Hawks would want to lose both or at least lose any leverage they might have in negotiations with Graham if Luke is on the roster. I would expect the Hawks to make a fair offer but won't break the bank for him.

I don't even think they'll offer him a fair offer.

I think it's gonna be like Malcolm Smith, where they just straight up told him go test the market and if you get no real offers, you're welcome back at a lowball one year deal.

Click to expand...

Not sure about that, Sarge. When we didn't make Malcolm Smith an offer, one of the reasons was because we had a good stockpile of young linebackers and were going to have to plop a big sum of money into keeping KJ and Bobby. The mere fact that he won the SB MVP elevated his salary expectations. With Willson, we are not in very bad shape with regards to the salary cap and we're going to be very thin at tight end if we don't bring him back and if Graham isn't with us in 2018.

Willson has expressed his preference to stay with us, so my gut feel is that he'll get a little bit more than a lowball offer.

Hasselbeck":2v6gk86i said:

Hauschka - 1 year prove it deal (then bring in an UDFA to compete)
Morgan - Very solid ST guy and did fine playing oppo KJ and Wags
McDaniel - Great rotational run stopping DT
Reece - Reminds me a lot of Mike Rob. Our running game looked better with him in there, and just have always felt that Tukuafu isn't all that
Jeron Johnson/McCray - Whoever is cheaper. Both are pretty similar players

Click to expand...

This list.

RiverDog":1y1p3oir said:

Sgt. Largent":1y1p3oir said:

Graham's contract is up next season, and I doubt that the Hawks would want to lose both or at least lose any leverage they might have in negotiations with Graham if Luke is on the roster. I would expect the Hawks to make a fair offer but won't break the bank for him.

I don't even think they'll offer him a fair offer.

I think it's gonna be like Malcolm Smith, where they just straight up told him go test the market and if you get no real offers, you're welcome back at a lowball one year deal.

Click to expand...

Not sure about that, Sarge. When we didn't make Malcolm Smith an offer, one of the reasons was because we had a good stockpile of young linebackers and were going to have to plop a big sum of money into keeping KJ and Bobby. The mere fact that he won the SB MVP elevated his salary expectations. With Willson, we are not in very bad shape with regards to the salary cap and we're going to be very thin at tight end if we don't bring him back and if Graham isn't with us in 2018.

Willson has expressed his preference to stay with us, so my gut feel is that he'll get a little bit more than a lowball offer.

Click to expand...

Right, and right now we have three TE's under contract for next year........thus Willson being expendable, and my guess is we're going to add another big blocking TE in FA or the draft.

It just makes no sense to offer Willson anything more than a one year veteran minimum or incentive loaded contract with the kind of year he had.

RiverDog":dvo7zva9 said:

We're forgetting about Luke Willson.

Graham's contract is up next season, and I doubt that the Hawks would want to lose both or at least lose any leverage they might have in negotiations with Graham if Luke is on the roster. I would expect the Hawks to make a fair offer but won't break the bank for him.

Click to expand...

I'd expect them to let Willson go. Kind of good. Not great. Not a huge loss and probably the best comp pick contract of the bunch. More to the point, I felt like Willson's fate on this team was doomed the moment we picked Vannett. In terms of style and role, Vannett is Willson's mirror on the club.

This is a fabulous draft for TEs. Probably the best since 2010. I'd expect us to dip into this pool and pre draft ahead of potential Graham loss.