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The 2021 Offseason Thread

Grim

Ravens Ring of Honor
In regards to the BPA thing, I'm certainly not saying that we absolutely need to target a guy in round 1 to replace Brown, but I also don't think we can wait until like round 6 if we don't get a guy in FA. Just puts a little added pressure and really requires the board falling almost perfectly in order to fill the holes. I'm sure they have a plan though.
I think if anything the hope would be to pick up some dude cut by another team and roll with upgrades on the interior. I wouldn’t be surprised if we even expected this based on our claims of prioritising the OL. Yeah, you probably don’t ideally want to wait until the 6th but there’s got to be someone we like before the 5th who would be good enough.
if we lose orlando and don't replace him with a high pick we'd be completely condemning that position...

we don't even have a backup tackle of even below-average replacement level right now - we'd be running it back with Tyre Phillips at RT... which is a horrible thought

so we would be basically forced into making a high pick at that position... because we'd only have 1 actual tackle on the roster...
I just disagree with you here and I don’t think we’ll convince each other otherwise. I see no reason to be forced to take a tackle with our first or second pick if we traded Brown Jr. I can see a third round pick but that’s not my definition of “high pick”. That’s more of a mid round pick to me—albeit high mid rounder—and we found Orlando in the third as well. I think 3rd or 4th would be the sweet spot but hey you never know if there’s some elite talent available in the first or second go for it. I just disagree that we’re required to do it though.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
I think after seeing deals like Buckner last year teams with cap space could be way more inclined to trade first rounders or some seconds for players like OBJ or in his situation. The old NFL advised everything against it
But from this perspective and I'm a chargers fan at 13-
You can either reach for Christian Darrisaw and hope (with probably what, a 25% chance) of him ever being a pro bowler, wait for him to develop and risk Herbert getting murdered, and hope he progresses and doesn't get injured constantly.
Or you could trade of OBJ, have a 24 year old 2 time pro bowler, know he is a leader, starts day 1 at left tackle, and never has had an injury issue.
I do really understand the traditional love for draft picks. But the league does evolve for a reason.
I mean... those aren't your only options though.

You can do neither and draft Tackles later in the draft. You could sign somebody in FA, or you could trade for somebody who's cheaper. There's also no shortage of Chargers fans who would tell you interior Oline, namely Center, are arguably a bigger need for them than a LT is. Especially when you consider that Bulaga can and has played LT in the past, though I'm sure they'd prefer to keep him on the right side.

I don't think teams put as much stock in "injury issues" as fans do. We see guys getting very large contracts who miss multiple games every year. Heck, we just paid our LT who's done similar to that. He's a Tackle. He's going to miss games soon. Everybody does. Just because he hasn't in the past doesn't mean he won't in the future. Every team knows this.

If I were committed to getting a Tackle early, I'd be asking myself if Brown is going to be $15M a year better than whoever I can get in the draft. Because that's basically what the price is.

Hence why I've been suggesting that these discussions about high first round picks or multiple first round picks was a bit of lunacy in my eyes. I may ultimately be wrong, but I doubt it.
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Why wouldn't the Chargers just take a Tackle at 13 and save themselves like $20M a year in cap space?
First round tackles have an absolute shit hit rate and the chargers have been HORRIBLE drafting OL for quite some time and haven’t had a quality LT in years and if ever a team should maybe consider ponying up for the sure thing, it’s the chargers right now, while their roster is strong and their year 2 franchise qb is on a cheap deal
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
I think if anything the hope would be to pick up some dude cut by another team and roll with upgrades on the interior. I wouldn’t be surprised if we even expected this based on our claims of prioritising the OL. Yeah, you probably don’t ideally want to wait until the 6th but there’s got to be someone we like before the 5th who would be good enough.

I just disagree with you here and I don’t think we’ll convince each other otherwise. I see no reason to be forced to take a tackle with our first or second pick if we traded Brown Jr. I can see a third round pick but that’s not my definition of “high pick”. That’s more of a mid round pick to me—albeit high mid rounder—and we found Orlando in the third as well. I think 3rd or 4th would be the sweet spot but hey you never know if there’s some elite talent available in the first or second go for it. I just disagree that we’re required to do it though.
I don't think its required. BUT...I don't think you can go into training camp or the preseason, after stressing all offseason about how you need to improve in pass protection, and all you have to show for it is an elite Tackle that you've traded away, and replaced with a mid-round pick or very cheap veteran (like a Fluker). That's not reflective of what your offseason objectives were.

I don't see many paths to getting a competent replacement in FA. Maybe they could swing a trade for a middling veteran, but none come to mind at this point and you can't go into the offseason expecting that either. So your replacement is coming from the draft, regardless of where you take him. And unlike a lot of our draft picks, that pick is going to be expected to start day 1 and play well, regardless of whether he's a 1st, 3rd, 4th, etc. round pick.

That's why I'd be targeting a combination of picks. Like a late round and an additional, or if its an early 2, I want maybe two more picks with that or something similar. If nothing else, I'm taking a volume approach to it. I'd draft 2 or even 3 lineman and have a competition.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
I swear some of ya'll think this is Madden, and we can just force a trade through lmao

To be fair EDC has been playing Madden these last couple years getting guys like Calais and Marcus for only 5th round picks lol.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
First round tackles have an absolute shit hit rate and the chargers have been HORRIBLE drafting OL for quite some time and haven’t had a quality LT in years and if ever a team should maybe consider ponying up for the sure thing, it’s the chargers right now, while their roster is strong and their year 2 franchise qb is on a cheap deal
True, but I'm not giving up #13 for it. Maybe I give you a 2022 pick, but I'm offering like a 2 and some other picks. I don't think any team in the league is going to value Brown, including the compensation, as a like top 15 first round pick player.

I think they'll take their chances in the draft market or in a cheaper trade market than do that.
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
True, but I'm not giving up #13 for it. Maybe I give you a 2022 pick, but I'm offering like a 2 and some other picks. I don't think any team in the league is going to value Brown, including the compensation, as a like top 15 first round pick player.

I think they'll take their chances in the draft market or in a cheaper trade market than do that.
That’s fine, it could happen, and it very well could not, just giving the potential why
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
If a top half of 1 pick is too much for Zeus, how about a pick and A player? Are there any players they might wanna unload and they take an extension? Melvin Ingram and mike Williams come to mind.
 

BoredMarine13

Ravens Ring of Honor

Deebo813

Hall of Famer
I mean... those aren't your only options though.

You can do neither and draft Tackles later in the draft. You could sign somebody in FA, or you could trade for somebody who's cheaper. There's also no shortage of Chargers fans who would tell you interior Oline, namely Center, are arguably a bigger need for them than a LT is. Especially when you consider that Bulaga can and has played LT in the past, though I'm sure they'd prefer to keep him on the right side.

I don't think teams put as much stock in "injury issues" as fans do. We see guys getting very large contracts who miss multiple games every year. Heck, we just paid our LT who's done similar to that. He's a Tackle. He's going to miss games soon. Everybody does. Just because he hasn't in the past doesn't mean he won't in the future. Every team knows this.

If I were committed to getting a Tackle early, I'd be asking myself if Brown is going to be $15M a year better than whoever I can get in the draft. Because that's basically what the price is.

Hence why I've been suggesting that these discussions about high first round picks or multiple first round picks was a bit of lunacy in my eyes. I may ultimately be wrong, but I doubt it.
What youre really suppose to ask yourself is if the tackle you pick in draft will ever reach brown level.. or is the risk gonna be worth the reward.. or if its safer to trade for brown or to draft a tackle. Maybe chargers arent even gonna draft a tackle, who knows... brown for the 13th overall isnt really too far than you think.... me personally, i wouldnt do it lol cause id rather grab a guy out of free agency
 

Deebo813

Hall of Famer
If a top half of 1 pick is too much for Zeus, how about a pick and A player? Are there any players they might wanna unload and they take an extension? Melvin Ingram and mike Williams come to mind.
Idk how good dan freeny and lamp are but i think theyre free agents also
 

JPPT1974

Practice Squad
Well need to find people that can be there in the long run. To fill those positions asap.
 

Deebo813

Hall of Famer
Man F that keep brown here... we need that stanley, brown, andrews. Dobbins and brown connection to be here forever.. its how we are gonna stay contenders year after year
 

Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
Man F that keep brown here... we need that stanley, brown, andrews. Dobbins and brown connection to be here forever.. its how we are gonna stay contenders year after year
But he's adamant on playing LT though. Even if he plays as a Raven this year, what's the chance that'll he remain a Raven for years to come?
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Idk how good dan freeny and lamp are but i think theyre free agents also
Both turned out trash from my understanding. I was REALLY high on feeney back in the day.

chargers are basically desperate for 2 quality tackles and at least 1 quality guard, they’ve been hurting on the OL for years.
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Man F that keep brown here... we need that stanley, brown, andrews. Dobbins and brown connection to be here forever.. its how we are gonna stay contenders year after year
Again, it appears we aren’t gonna have a choice.

and then you just shouldn’t overpay a RT, bookend tackles sound great but it’s just a poor use of resources, don’t allow blind pressure or inside pressure, use motions and TEs and backs to help offset right side pressure, Lamar can do the rest. It’s when he’s getting hit from behind and can’t step up in the pocket that you start seeing trouble.
 

ravenslord

Ravens Ring of Honor
Well the Bucs dominance over the Chiefs told us two things. You must have pass rushers and you wont win with backup offensive tackles . We played without Ronnie and the Chiefs played without both of their starting tackles.
 

Grim

Ravens Ring of Honor
I don't think its required. BUT...I don't think you can go into training camp or the preseason, after stressing all offseason about how you need to improve in pass protection, and all you have to show for it is an elite Tackle that you've traded away, and replaced with a mid-round pick or very cheap veteran (like a Fluker). That's not reflective of what your offseason objectives were.

I don't see many paths to getting a competent replacement in FA. Maybe they could swing a trade for a middling veteran, but none come to mind at this point and you can't go into the offseason expecting that either. So your replacement is coming from the draft, regardless of where you take him. And unlike a lot of our draft picks, that pick is going to be expected to start day 1 and play well, regardless of whether he's a 1st, 3rd, 4th, etc. round pick.

That's why I'd be targeting a combination of picks. Like a late round and an additional, or if its an early 2, I want maybe two more picks with that or something similar. If nothing else, I'm taking a volume approach to it. I'd draft 2 or even 3 lineman and have a competition.
I don’t disagree with the idea it means we will definitely need to draft more than one OL. I just don’t think it necessarily means first or second round.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
What youre really suppose to ask yourself is if the tackle you pick in draft will ever reach brown level.. or is the risk gonna be worth the reward.. or if its safer to trade for brown or to draft a tackle. Maybe chargers arent even gonna draft a tackle, who knows... brown for the 13th overall isnt really too far than you think.... me personally, i wouldnt do it lol cause id rather grab a guy out of free agency
OK, but price also factors in there. For starters, drafting a player, even in the first round, is going to save you probably north of $50-60M over that contract term. A first round pick may only make like $20M over 4 years, at most, and Brown is going to make closer to like $80M over the same period. So even if I get a player that's like half as good as Brown, that's also discounting the extra $60M I have over a four year period. If I'm a team I think I could do quite a bit with that money.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
I don’t disagree with the idea it means we will definitely need to draft more than one OL. I just don’t think it necessarily means first or second round.
True. But the further down in the draft you go, the likelihood of that player succeeding dwindles.

And there aren't many paths where I can see us significantly downgrading our offensive line and still being an actual SB contender. Doesn't mean we can't upgrade at like Center or even Guard, and so maybe the unit itself is fine.

But overall, if the offseason emphasis is improving pass protection for your soon to be highly paid QB, I'm not certain that trading away one of his best protectors, with no obvious replacements, is a great way to do that.

Its inevitable that he won't be here in 2022, and I understand the desire to "get value". But I better make sure that "value" includes a reasonable approach to make the whole line better.
 
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