MasterStrategist

No to all 3. I know you like these hypothetical trades/acquisitions, but doesn't make sense with any of them. Milano is the heart and soul of the defense, he's the most vital IMO to its success. Douglas is basically on a cheap cap hit this season, and he's likely gone in FA next year. Makes no sense to trade and eat a cap hit now, unless we're truly tanking in 2024. Knox, we'd be accelerating a very high dead cap hit (not like Diggs where the difference is 3-4m, much much higher with Dawson). So no to all 3

Agree, but as Beane said in presser: "that's the best we could get" Honestly, I don't see us moving up this year. Deep class, we have holes/depth concerns at too many spots where we need young/cost controlled contracts. I don't necessarily think we are throwing in the towel for 2024, but Beane is resetting the cap issue and likely won't go all in on anything right now. 2025, that's another story. We will have alot of cap room, even after working on re-signing our own young talent. With an extra 2nd round pick, that's likely to be a very good pick. I see us competing this year, getting some young guys more experience. 2025 is our best opportunity. Get a couple young WRs, a DT or DE, and a S to groom out of this draft (in no particular order)

Unless they see one of the top WRs as "can't miss all-pro", then I'm hesitant to give away picks. WR class is so deep this year, we have some other key holes (DE, DT, S) that we can get better at as well, at least with depth. I also don't like moving 2025 picks. Beane is taking "his cap medicine" in 2024, why go "all in" again for 2024? Again, if it's a can't miss prospect then maybe. But we are setup capwise and draft picks in 2025 to be very aggressive both in FA and draft. I'd rather stay patient and see who is there at 28, likely a solid WR prospect still.

100% spot on. Beane has been saying the word "reset", in terms of cap space many times this offseason. Take our medicine in 2024. If we can hit on a WR, or even 2, this draft...then we can have a very successful 2024 and setup 2025 as a chance to be really aggressive.

Agree, nice write up! At least this will be a very interesting draft. I don't think Beane will reach at 28 either, before Diggs trade I was thinking 60/40 DL in Rd 1. Now it's 100% WR, and there will be 1st round graded guys there, at least a couple. Have a chance to add more speed/size to the group. I like the idea of spreading the targets more as well. Green Bay has shown a nice model to succeed, without a true #1. Find 3 solid #2 types, and solid depth. IMO, we have: #1-nobody #2: Kincaid (potential), Samuel (2b), Shakir (2b potential) #3: Knox Depth: Hollins I think if we can find 1 more reliable WR, and 1 solid depth (with speed or size, to round out WR room). Round 1 and Round 4 or 5. Only so many targets to go around, now we can actually spread the ball like Bradys offense is designed to do. It also will allow Josh to play more freely, without constant nagging from Diggs to get him the ball.

Thanks for sharing the inside info. Diggs' ego was definitely being coddled/forced fed passes, during LY. Not saying we're better now at WR, but after the draft..perhaps we're at least even/younger/faster. This is the Greenbay model. Get 2-3 young, solid options that can all win on any down. At least Josh won't have the headache of listening to Diggs rants, on/off the field anymore

Reminds me of Greenbay. Dealt Adams and rebuilt WR room over a couple drafts. This is definitely the year to go 1/2 at WR

Exactly, even though it's flag football, he'd be sitting out if hurt. His game declined, and wasn't as integral to the offense. Shakir/Kincaid stepped up. Adding Samuels and young WRs in draft might make us better next season

Depends if Diggs was injured down the stretch, or if his game truly dropped off. He's on wrong side of 30 and once the decline starts, it usually goes fast. I think Stef will have 2 solid seasons, it's fair comp IMO (also considering his contract)

Double dipping in one of the deepest WR class, looks like a strong possibility. Rebuild with 2 young WRs, get comp in 2025 and cap relief next yr

Definitely at least as good as LY, on paper. I'd expect we get better output than Phillips/Settle/Ford. But the bar is low, those 3 guys didn't do much. I still expect a DT to be drafted. We've ignored that for years now, and at least someone to push for the backup 3T. Beane doing his thing, get gaps filled prior to the draft. Now he can focus on BPA. WR & pass rusher, still our biggest areas that we can improve/biggest impact. Going to be interesting how things play out at 28. Depends if Latu is still sitting around mid- 20s, I think they have alot of names at X-receiver that will be value at 28. Problem is what type of run on WRs will happen in early R2. If we go DE in first, I'd certainly expect a trade up into the 40s for a WR

Healthy, being the key word. Bad luck, however he's essentially not been healthy since mid-2021. Hopefully he can stay healthy for LA. Difficult to make it work, financially, when Rasul played so well for us and Benford is continuing to ascend (cheap contract). Then a backup, former 1st rounder, who flashed but inconsistent. Time to draft another mid-late rounder, coaching/staff has been solid with developing late round picks.

Probably mentioned already by others, but finding a reliable/good KR is a decent need. This could easily be a draft pick, but sure the team will be looking over available returners after draft. Not a fan of Shakir or Johnson being deep on KR or PR

Exactly. Tre is either gonna be an NFL starter OR he'll retire. He was close in 2020, he has a bright future after football. Wish Tre well, hopefully he gets fully recovered and avoids any other major injuries. We're in good hands with Rasul/Benford/Elam, but Tre was one of the best in Buffalo when healthy.

If Legette had a similar 2022 to his 2023, he'd be a guaranteed top 15-20 pick. Definitely risky, but I think that teams offense/coaching/QB situation was quite poor in early years. I'd be happy with him at 28, but it's a risky move due to 1 year production/age. Not sure I've seen Beane go for this type of prospect in past (at least on Day 1). I'd guess he has a Day 2 grade on him. I think Leggette is more of an option if we trade up in Rd 2. Another Rd 2 WR to look out for, is Tez Walker. Highly athletic/RAS score, big time downfield threat. Bounced around colleges/transfers, I think he could have had more production but he produced across his career. I think he's certainly got WR2 potential, possible WR1 potential. Vertical threat that we need

It didn't show up that day. That's not on what McD/Frazier was coaching them to do. It's that the players didn't perform. Missing Daquan and Phillips playing with 1 arm killed us there. Mixon could have ran for 200 yards, if they wanted to. That had nothing to do with McD/Frazier playing off coverage...should we need to run blitz a team with 3rd stringers on the IOL? That was lack of effort/talent, not on Coach

I disagree on first/third paragraph, but agree with 2nd point. 1st paragraph: McD doesn't go into Conservative mode in playoffs, we just into better talent. Over the past few years, there's a reason our defense is very good on wildcard weekend (except Colts game). And that's solely based on us playing a 6/7 seed (less talented team). 3rd: I don't recall McD making same mistakes year to year in playoffs Looking at who've we lost to, 2020-2023: Chiefs 3x Bengals 1x We were severely outplayed in the trenches in each game. We used our same defensive philosophies/schematics, that we did in regular season. It's just that we didn't have the talent, even against a poor Bengals OL. Key to our defensive success: 1. Generate pressure/disrupt run game with front 4 2. LB/nickle/safety play In particular against Chiefs this past year, having to play without Milano/Bernard really killed us. Then on top of that, our primary disruptive player in front 4 (Ed) got manhandled (refs also tucked away their flags). Our DL has enough to talent to be somewhere in the range of "not liabilty"-"solid", vs playoff teams. But we're inconsistent AND I think we should be able to agree that Ed is our only 1-1 disruptor. Teams like KC, Bengals, Ravens, SF, Eagles (2022), have multiple guys and its no conincidence these teams are top tier/elite.

I know what you're trying to debate, but alot of what you just said above is on Beane. Coach isn't a magician, I'd say he's a guru in running a very effective scheme and his ability to "coach up" the secondary. I'd agree Coach has his flaws/made mistakes, all coaches have. The 13 seconds has been mentioned a million times, it's about learning from mistakes and moving forward. If you want to continue holding something over someone's head, go for it. We also could have been a 1 seed that season if Daboll/offense didn't lay an egg against the Jags. Look at Kyle Shanahan/Mike McDaniel. Two very talented offensive minds. Yet, they continue to spend resources on offense, even while being called a "guru". Should they be held to a different standard? Each team/coach/staff have their philosophies on team building, schemes, ability to identify and acquire talent in the draft, etc. I think Coach is better than Beane personally, even though I agree with most of Beanes moves (except holding onto aging vets too long, poor DL ROI, missing on too many early pick). It's just that other organizations have a better GM/Coach combo. We are lacking talent on DL AND WR, plain and simple. By your and 808's arguments, should we target offense early in draft? We've been a top 5 offense, does that mean we have good enough talent? No, Josh is primary reason and we need better WRs for him. Just like we've had a very good defense, we need better DL to impact the likes of Burrow and Mahomes in playoffs.

Just because resources are spent, doesn't mean we have "talent". Identifying young talent and spending FA $s on DL, has been Beanes/Staff biggest issue. You're making a point targeted at Beane, in your post above. If MCD is driving these decisions, which I'm sure he has some say, but it's the talent evaluators, pro and college, that are failing and Beane. Beane has turned us into a contender, because he got us Josh and Diggs. But beyond that, he's been "solid" not spectacular. Horrible returns on DL and missing on too many 1st/2nd round picks, is starting to show (when we have to eat the low return on Basham, Elam).

pretty certain Gunner wasn't calling you out...instead Mrags

You're talking out of both sides of your mouth. Speaking of inconsistency...

Sure, but it's worth noting: 1. Regular season: we played 8 games against bottom 10 teams in sacks allowed, including 2 games VS absolute worst 2. Postseason: a. Steelers were top 10, in fewest sacks allowed (mostly due to quick passing attack, and got better/Top 5 during their last few games). b. Chiefs: were a Top 2 team, behind us, for fewest sacks allowed. Going against a ragtag group, non even close to full strength/regular season health Not excuses, just a complete picture. Competition matters, obviously we play better teams in postseason. Point is our team wasn't healthy this postseason AND once Ed was ineffective vs KC, nobody else was winning 1-1s. We need either Von to get back to somewhere close to his prior form AND AJE to take another step. OR we somehow find better talent than AJE this draft, which is possible in Rd 1

Worthy is my favorite WR in this draft, that we could possibly get at 28. Speed/YAC/Explosion. He's a Zay Flowers type impact on our offense. I think if the draft plays out, as this mock, we try moving up for Latu.

Alot resting on Von returning close to form. AJE got better LY, but still inconsistent. Toohill is the equivalent of Shaq Lawson, more athletic. Will depend how draft goes, but I like: Latu: if he's there in the early 20s, worth a trade up Chop Robinson: biggest bust potential, but he had a VERY good win rate/just didn't finish with sacks. Reminds me a bit of Jerry Hughes. I'd take him at 28 Darius Robinson: at 28 might be a little early, he's a tweener but he'll be a good player with some team. I'd consider him at 28, but definitely go for him if we traded back into 2nd round Isaac, Kneeland, and Trice: 3 guys who could be there at 60 and add value. Problem with them, is I don't see them much better than AJE (more insurance if Von completely falls apart) Basically 2-3 guys in the 1st, that could make an immediate impact and possibly be around when we pick. Depends what Beane sees in WR class. Could go DL in 1st, then move up for say Keon Coleman or Leggette in 2nd. OR, they might really like Mitchell or Worthy and jump on them a 28. Then see what is left in RD2, possibly DT is better value then at 60. Then go your route of FA, post draft, for a 1 year rental DE. I'm fine with any option, we have alot of potential moves and I agree with OP that DL pass rush is just as big or bigger need than WR

Good depth, likely competing with Anderson and a rookie, for 2 IOL backup spots