How about this guy?
Much of the time, when discussing needs after a season, there is somewhat of a consensus as to which position is the biggest need. Or we are at least split on two positions. I think that directly after the season last year, cornerback and quarterback may have been number one with a bullet, which saw both addressed in free agency. That meant that going into the draft, TE took over as the new squeaky wheel for most, with a few (including myself) looking for another difference maker on defense. After free agency and day one of the draft, I would say that most fans would claim that they were happy with the needs that were filled, even if not with the players they wanted.
You know that you didn’t do a great job of filling a need, if you have to fill it again the following year. I don’t think that we are in too bad of shape on that front. If we start at CB, I think most would say that we are good, as long as Ward does not retire and Walley is as good as his draft position suggests he is. QB may still be a need, but I doubt that anything more than bringing back D. Jones is feasible? We have limited draft collateral and I think I’d take AR and Leonard over the QBs on the free agent market. We nailed the TE, so it looks like we need to look elsewhere for our primary needs.
In my humble opinion, our new needs would include a pass rusher, coverage linebackers, pass rusher, right tackle, WR, RB, and did I mention pass rusher? At the Edge/DE position, only Latu, JTT, and Nchami are on the books for next year. Paye and Ebukam are free to go and Spotrac places Paye’s value at nearly 18 million. They say Ebukam could be had for 3 million . In short, I wouldn’t pay Paye, but I’d give Samson that contract, contingent on him making the team. It is not a star studded free agent class and anyone that you might want, will come with some sticker shock, provided they actually make it to free-agency. I was wrong about Hendrickson when the Bengals paid him the first time and I may be wrong again, but I think I’d let someone else take that chance.
If we can agree that pass rush is our most pressing need, how can we add at least one? The draft has not been that good to us, as we got first crack at it in 2024, taking Latu. How upset would you be if we had taken Verse? Turner? Robinson? Paye was about as good as we could do, back in 2021. You could say that we have done okay at best and that is using a first round pick to find that dawg. The 2nd round picks have also not added to our success, as Dayo and now JTT have not lived up to that lofty status.
This year, we would be looking for “That guy”, with the 47th pick, unless we try to move up. There are some good ones in the draft, at least according to Tankathon. Not that they are the final word, or even on some fan’s radar, but they have five Edge players being drafted in round one. Not bad, but they have five more going before we pick in the second round. This means you need to be extremely lucky, rather than good in the draft.
That leaves the trade route, which for the purpose of this article, is the route I want to go. Some of you are going chuckle, some will laugh out loud, and my senses will be questioned, but here is my fix. I’m going after Maxx Crosby and I am going to try to do it with players.
The Raiders have won the Mendoza sweepstakes and will posture until draft day, but he’s the pick. Wouldn’t a sure handed receiver be a nice thing to have? I know they have Bowers, but add Pittman to the equation and you have a couple of nice security blankets. Okay, that’s not enough. How about taking Smith’s contract off their books for them? That would take 62 million off, while adding Pitts 29, for a total of 33 extra million of spending for the Raiders. Enticing? There is more.
The Raiders in this scenario have to start Mendoza on day one, which we have seen go very poorly in the past. Tell them, “Hey, we got a guy”. We will send you Anthony Richardson and his 10 million in salary for a 5th round pick. They lose a squeaky wheel in Crosby, gain a security blanket, get a lottery ticket in AR, and see themselves with 23 million additional dollars of salary cap.
There is a lot not to like for us, including only getting a 5th round pick, for the 4th player taken in the draft. We get stuck with Geno Smith and lose a reliable receiver. We also are 23 million dollars closer to our cap limit. We can save 8 mil, if we are able to trade Smith and hopefully get that 5th round pick back. As for AR, there comes a point when you have to acknowledge your mistakes. Whether it was just a bad decision to draft him, or not giving him what he needed to succeed, we have to acknowledge that he and Leonard would likely be considered equal, heading into next year’s training camp.
I choose to look at the positives and the first is that we get Maxx freakin Crosby. He would have two more years on his contract at less than 30, or he could be cut and have a zero cap hit if the whole thing went completely south. He would likely want a sweetener, but guaranteeing his contract for the next two years would carry some weight. It would appear to be a big improvement on Paye and a Latu/Crosby outside pass rush could look pretty good.
I intended to have this out last week, but I shot down a lot of ideas for adding a stud, before trying to figure out how to get Crosby to Indy. I’m telling you, there is not much out there that would provide a legit answer to our pass rushing problem. I also have to point out that I do not know all of the finer points of capology. It is quite possible that someone can shoot a hole in my plan, whether they think it is feasible, or even a good idea or not.
Is it a good idea? Do you have a better one? I’m happy to hear all of your solutions to fixing what I perceive as the Colts most glaring weakness.
Category: General Sports
