Yeah it's the YAC that I liked. Guy is like a RB once you get him the ball, it's just getting it to him. As you say, probably redundant with who we now have but if he flames out and it's a later round pick for a trade, cool, go get him.

This is my biggest reason against spending for a WR.

We've got Mahomes and Andy. They're gonna have to cover some warts so to speak there because the LT and DE spot is just really important.

In a scenario where you need to buy time to find a WR1, why not? These would be stopgaps. With slayton you get a decent WR2 who can play WR1 until a rookie is ready. This is purely for a scenario where you aggressively draft a WR1.

JuJu won't have a year 1 hit of $20 million.

Maybe a 2-year average at/near $20 million after accounting for some dead money you absorb on the back end, but that 2 year average is realistically spread over 3 or 4 years depending on how you manage said dead money.

But I suspect a LTC for JuJu yields a year 1 figure of around $8-10 million; about half of what we'd pay for Hopkins.

Yeah, and I wasn't really thinking about it that way, but that makes a ton of sense to me. If my choices are pay JJSS $18+M for what he brings/doesn't bring, vs. paying DHop $20M plus a 3rd/4th, when he's so obviously a much better WR across the board, there's no comparison. You take DHop.

Btw, DHop has only missed 8 games in his career due to injury. he missed 6 games this season due to suspension.

Okay, say i agree with you on all of that (no reason not to, just not going to do the due diligence myself), then how were we going to afford paying JJSS close to $125-$18M/yr? Or maybe you're saying that we were never going to do that either?

Already answered ya in my response to JPH.

He'll have a year 1 hit that tops out at $10 million if he returns, IIRC. That's a pretty big chunk of your remaining space left in play, no?

Ah, got it. thx.

Toney being on the roster kinda changes my feelings on how to attack the WR position going forward.

As of today, i'd like to see the WR room retain Hardman and replace JJSS with a 1st or 2nd round proto-type WR.

Again...we coulda done that during the last draft but...****, some day i'll get over it.

Just like last season....give me a 6-0" to 6-3" ish, 220lb WR that can run a 4.40-4.50 with a large catch radius and a knack for the difficult, spectacular catch. Someone who can be a physical presence and can bail out Mahomes on occasion. We need to draft and develop one of THOSE guys.

this.

Eh - I don't really care about 'physical presence' much anymore. At least not while we have Kelce, who's always going to be Mahomes jam guy.

Give me 4 guys who are 5'10''-6'1'' who can run 4.4s and make speed cuts without losing their momentum and I'm gonna be happy.

Crisp, quick route runners with plus speed are what I'm after. Brandon Aiyuk is about as much of an explosion for size trade as I'd be willing to make. If I'm looking at a bigger guy, it's still more of a late round/UDFA flyer like Marquez Callaway who has plus body control to make contested catches rather than just someone who will body guys off.

Physicality is for teams that can't scheme guys into space or don't have a QB who will go through his progressions adequately. We don't have to worry about that. Our biggest issues with size don't surface until the red zone and that's when Kelce and the RBs come into play. I mean it's not like JuJu's 3 TDs have made him some red zone monster or anything; dude has 1 red zone score this year.

In our offense, size really doesn't matter. Unless you're talking about the hog that Kelce has to lug around out there...

So long as that guy can play big. Toney is a smaller guy who goes up and snags that shit. Plays bigger than he is when the ball is in the air. There's been a number of guys to come out of the draft the last few years who fit that mold.

DeVonta Smith, Jaylon Waddle for example. Size isn't so much the pressing issue for me, as it is the ability to go up and snag an imperfect throw, while still having the speed to be a true deep threat.

Man...a prime Odell Beckham....something in that mold would be outstanding too.

As much of a Hardman stan as i am, i'm tired of seeing receivers who can't come down with the ball unless it's perfect throw.

Tyler Lockett has never been accused of 'playing big' and I'd take 4 guys just like him.

I don't want a bunch of Albert Wilson's out there alligator arming passes, but I can live with my WRs making the occasional business decision if they present explosive options in space.

I think one team will pay Hardman more than we care to bc of his speed. Juju on the other hand will probably get around $15-17 million avg, which on a 3 year Sammy Watkins type deal (2 fair cap hits; cut in year 3) you get a nice set up.

But we shouldn’t keep both. And honestly I think we should draft an MVS type WR in rd 4 or 5 to replace him in 2024.

Ah yes I see. DJ wants to go the full 2017 Patriots route. Elite TE (Gronk) and 4 WR’s that can be incredibly explosive in space:

Julian Edelman
Brandon Cooks
Danny Amendola
Chris Hogan

I respect it. Would be quite fun