Tells me they had some blinders on w/r/t Thuney at LT.

They weren't alone in that regard...

I think the best combination of outcomes is to go short AND long.

And I think we went long with Kingsley. And could still continue doing the same over the next year or two.

Which means that you can focus on the NOW this off-season. If that means that Stanley comes at a reasonable number, he's STILL only being signed as a 2-3 year option in all probability. Or Armstead. Or hell, if Noteboom ends up being the best you can do.

Because I see no reason to doubt at all that over the next 2 seasons, Stanley and/or Armstead will be the absolute best player reasonably available to us at that position.

Anybody else is some willingness to trade immediate productivity for long-term benefits. If you're signing Robinson, for instance, you're getting a lesser player for a longer period of time. And perhaps that has some merit.

But it doesn't mean that shooting short-term in FA with a different idea for the long-term is without merit either.

It's silly to just dismiss the possibility out of hand. There is absolutely a strong case to be made for maximizing the next 2 seasons while you still have Jones at a high level and McDuffie/Karlaftis at reasonably low cap hits.

And if that's the approach you take, Armstead or Stanley is a distinction without a difference.

Now if you take a look at Jackson's tape and decide that he's not just a product of easy assignments created by McVay's offense and that he presents both a viable long-term answer AND strong short-term answer -- cool, do that. Provided he doesn't extend prior to FA (and he might).

But now ain't the time to be closing doors.

Any of the options might not work. That's just a reality that everyone needs to get comfortable with.

Yeah - it is.

But by the time FA gets here, it might be one of the only remaining options available to us. And if that is the case, there's definite surplus value in the contract we'd be trading for -- $25 million for a guy who's been one of the 5 best LTs in football over the last several years is a damn bargain.

I'm not saying it's the only path forward. I'm saying it's one that absolutely should be considered.

But Clay's a ****ing halfwit and can't understand that sort of nuance.

Maybe he could even rebuild his confidence playing guard, and eventually plat OT again.

It's February, numb-nuts.

"Best" doesn't exist at the moment. We have no idea WHAT options will be available. There may be options out there we haven't considered. And several that we have considered may dry up before we get a chance to so much as make a phonecall.

You're the idiot operating in absolutes here.

I think playing OG could create some crutches and/or habits that simply get in the way of a successful transition back to OT.

If you want the best possible path to Kingsley at OT, I think the way to do it is have him playing OT. May not even be possible in the short term to find those reps for him, but I think you're more likely to end up with him at OG for the next 6-8 years than at OT if you make the conversion after a year in the league.

I wonder if they see enough in Hicks to roll the dice a little on him replacing Reid.
They really need to draft a real ball hawking FS to go along with whichever one it is too.

That makes sense too.

I don't think they really have a choice but to move on from Reid.

Spags is gonna hate it, but with Cook and Hicks being so similar to Reid in may ways, it just seems silly to dump $12-15 million/season into retaining Reid at this point.

You got your money's worth on Justin Reid. I think the move now is to bank your winnings and get up from the table. Especially with the draft capital we've put into safety over the years.

It’s going to be Jackson or Robinson

all I know is we need some tackles and guards up in here..
Like Easy said, get some players and let them compete...There wont be any answers for awhile...dont reach in the draft and lets roll

I think that's what I would do. This team needs to save money, and I think SS is a place we have some depth at. Including Jaden Hicks who I believe has the potential to be even better than Reid eventually. Gotta trim the fat somewhere and Hicks playing a bunch doesn't really worry me at all. I think he's going to be a very good football player.

I've mentioned this as a stop gap player who if you look at what he did last season was top 5 tackle production.

He played 15 games last season and while I agree he is not a long term solution, his pass blocking skills is exactly what we need while Kingsley develops.


https://i.redd.it/30za09cekytd1.jpeg

I'd be pretty surprised if Nourzad isn't starting at OG for us this year or next.

And I'd be 100% comfortable with Morris starting at OG for us tomorrow. I really don't see any reason he can't do that well.

I don't see that much of a 'need' for OG. But should the board come to us in a way that a great one is available (not dissimilar to how we got Trey) then sure, do that.