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I do not expect TT to be very active in FA which is OK with me. I expect prices to continue to be outrageous. TT has draft to plug fewer holes.

However IF he decided to plunge like he did with Woodson & Pickett...

IMO Packs two biggest weaknesses were
nickel back
left guard

also right guard and maybe safety were shaky but we have options there.

We need CBs to develop
and depth at LB especially at MLB.

IF we could fill LG and Nickel/CB with vets it would be awesome.
Then use draft for depth at CB, MLB, TE, etc.

I realize this is dreaming but... a couple interesting FAs

Gs
Indy both starters Lilja & Scott are FAs and only 26.
Seattles Floyd Womack is probably too large for ZBS?
Tennesee's Bell is only 26.

Getting a vet LG would strengthen line. Spitz & Costin compete for RG.
College and Barbre develop at LT as well as LG. Moll at RT.

CB/Nickel
Of course getting a guy to accept being nickel back for 2 yrs until Wood or Harris age is ulikely but maybe?

Great to weaken Dallas -
Trufant is 27, Reese & Jones are 25.
Grab one of them.

Or NE's Gay at 25
Or maybe Chargers Florence IF he's cheap.

Then let Tramon, Blackmon, etc and draft picks develop.

Finally the most unlikely chance is a trade. But they do happen.
I'd rather have a young vet who has shown ability than unknown rookie.
I'd glady trade a 2nd to get another Al Harris who was perfect age when we got him from Philly.
Also gladly trade a 3rd for a mid 20s age starting G - even a 2nd if he had successful experience with ZBS team.

We're in a position to spend selectively. Fill a hole or two but don't overspend.

eagle13 wrote:and depth at LB especially at MLB.

I agree with you and many posters here that we need to start grooming replacements at CB and OT and try to get better guard play wherever we can find it (I'm still not writing off the possibility of our current guards stepping up though). But as for LB, it seems to me that we are especially thin at OLB.

At least Desmond Bishop, our MLB backup, has made a couple of memorable plays as a linebacker this season. At OLB, however, I cannot for the life of me remember any non-special teams plays by Tracy White or any other OLB we may have on the roster even going back to preseason ( I don't even know the names of any other LB backups, off the top of my head). Maybe I'm just being forgetful, but I was particularly alarmed during the last regular season game versus the Lions when we were trying to rest players and still had to play Poppinga the whole game for lack of a viable replacement. To me that screamed "we're too thin at OLB".

I dont see us going after anybody in FA regarding the CB position. I hope TT decides to fill that through the draft. Would love either Talib or Jack Ike. Both I think would be a very good fit in our system

SugarRay34 wrote:I dont see us going after anybody in FA regarding the CB position. I hope TT decides to fill that through the draft. Would love either Talib or Jack Ike. Both I think would be a very good fit in our system

Talib I'd love to see at CB here, not sure about Ike. I love that he played his best against the top competition, but I don't know if he's got the physical ability to play with the better NFL WRs.

Maybe he turns out to be another Marlin Jackson. A guy who plays centerfield for a couple years while learning the nuances of the NFL before settling back down at CB.

MickeyDavis wrote:We're in a position to spend selectively. Fill a hole or two but don't overspend.

We'll be i believe about 22-24 million under the cap, why not spend some of it? Plus, odds strike me as high that next year will be the last for Brett meaning that will clear another big chunk of cap space the following season.

I'd love for Ted to target an impact player in free agency if possible regardless if that player is expensive and then call it a day for free agency. The team is good and now is the time to add a top shelf veteran player if possible, it's one benefit of getting far under the cap.

As for needs, i agree with what you all have noted. One other thing i worry somewhat about is interior pass rush. It seems very likely that Corey Williams will be left to sign elsewhere. My concern if that happens is where will the pass rush come from the defensive tackles?

Williams looks beat up and worn down to me and what we've seen since is the interior pass rush has nearly vanished entirely. The rest of our DT's are either strictly run stuffers or mostly run stuffers with a small amount of pass rush ability. Given that Sanders would almost prefer getting stabbed in the eye with an ice pick than to blitz, our front four has to supply the pressure. If next year we get very little inside pass rush, offensive coaches are going to slide extra protection at our defensive ends.

Of our DT's, Jolly is the only guy i see who might be able supply some pass rush, but even he is more a run stuffer than pass rusher.

El Duderino wrote:Given that Sanders would almost prefer getting stabbed in the eye with an ice pick than to blitz, our front four has to supply the pressure.

Just a small note, but our blitzing is up a ton since the Dallas game. JS ran a story about it a couple weeks ago, and the trend has continued. I can't find the article, but the number of plays we sent more than 4 had nearly doubled.

El Duderino wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



We'll be i believe about 22-24 million under the cap, why not spend some of it?

The potential problem is you are not signing guys to one year deals. You can't just look at the 2008 cap space and say let's spend $22-24 million since we have it to spend. You have to take a 3-5 year approach. Signing a Joe Johnson type guy might be fine for this years cap but could kill us down the road. Certainly we should (and will) spend some of it. But we have to be careful.

MickeyDavis wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



The potential problem is you are not signing guys to one year deals. You can't just look at the 2008 cap space and say let's spend $22-24 million since we have it to spend. You have to take a 3-5 year approach. Signing a Joe Johnson type guy might be fine for this years cap but could kill us down the road. Certainly we should (and will) spend some of it. But we have to be careful.

When Sherman signed Johnson, the team was pretty close up against the cap, not 20+ million under it. So Sherman had to structure the contract in a fashion that ended up pushing a lot of the money to the back end of the deal with a big signing bonus.

With the current Packers being way under the cap, Thompson could sign a quality free agent and structure the contract with say a big reporting bonus so that money counts on that years cap vs it being prorated over the life of the contract like Johnson's was. That way it's not some situation like Johnson where there is potential big harm to the cap in future years.

I'm not say Thompson has to sign a high quality free agent or should overpay regardless the price tag, just that having this much cap space would allow the team to do it without harming the cap going forward.

[quote="MickeyDavis"]-= original quote snipped =-

The potential problem is you are not signing guys to one year deals. You can't just look at the 2008 cap space and say let's spend $22-24 million since we have it to spend. You have to take a 3-5 year approach. Signing a Joe Johnson type guy might be fine for this years cap but could kill us down the road. Certainly we should (and will) spend some of it. But we have to be careful.[/quote

Dude explains but the short phrase for TT's strategy as been pay as you go - minimizing pushing dollars out.

But your still correct - carehas to be taken - but TT and our cap guy - Brandt is it? are among the best. I have zero worrry about mis-spending.

so lets not go back to exageration like last year. Promoting signing one impact FA is not throwing mnoe around or putting our futurre in cap hell.

Team is solid. A strong vet would have more impact now. Imagine our offense with a solid mid 20s experienced starting LG.