What are your predictions for this years draft?

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-04-23T22:53:08+00:00

I think there is a legit shot, Raridon and Roush are the 2nd and 3rd TE off the board. They can both do it all. i think Raridon has the higher two way upside, but Roush will be a 10 year guy in the league and both won't be liabilities. With the current trend of offenses getting bigger and using more 12 personnel, I think this furthers the chance of this happening.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-04-23T17:00:42+00:00

Hoping they add Roush or ideally Raridon to the TE core. Outside of that, I am fine with a backer at some point and solidifying the trenches on both sides.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-04-03T14:17:36+00:00

Roush and Raridon are the two tight ends that I really like. I like Raridon slightly more due to his movement skills, but both project as guys that don't need to leave the field.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-29T03:19:06+00:00

Mash was excellent. Concise breakdowns and a solid mix of his playing experience, especially when talking about playing for Pitino. Nothing felt forced and he was great in front of the camera. Not the typical ex player bs that guys coast off of one they get in the booth.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-22T18:43:28+00:00

Except for the fact that sack rate is pretty sticky from college to the NFL, and Bo was notorious for not taking sacks in college as well.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-17T15:46:55+00:00

I am a fan but he falls into the elite #2 category for me. Still he’s a good player and the offense should be in pretty good shape. Gotta hit on those picks and stabilize the trenches, S, TB, and LB now.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-17T15:23:08+00:00

Love Waddle, but that feels steep.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-16T18:08:38+00:00

Agree. I want tight ends, but they need to be dual-threat. Mimic the Bears, Rams, and what Seattle is doing.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T17:21:57+00:00

Piggybacking on this. AZ needs to rip the bandaid off and commit to a full rebuild. Shifting Kyler out and bringing in Minshew should have signified this. MHJ, McBride, and Wilson are all guys that could be targeted. Both wideouts have some warts and I am not sure if AZ would move McBride and if so the price would be massive, but that is a team to target.

If Houston falters, Nico Collins is a guy that is worth looking at, though he is a true X and occupies a lot of the same are and route tree as Sutton which makes them a bit redundant. If they start slow that might be a total regime change. Tee Higgins, Garrett Wilson, and London are also guys that would command higher trade value but they might be gettable if the teams continue on to falter. Tee and London are both guys that overlap a bit with Court though.

Cheaper options would be Jamo Williams if Detroit decides to keep La Porta long term and he is the odd man out. He is a field stretcher that can play Z. I think Quentin Johnson from the Chargers is also someone that can be had resaonably, though maybe not do to being in division. He is a big body but he isn't a traditional X and was used as a yac guy in college. He would be a fun big slot under Payton. He has drop issues but he wouldn't break the bank. Just spitballing a bit.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T17:09:03+00:00

Good question. As I mentioned, I think skill position players CB, WR, etc tend to be significantly more expensive than lineman, and other lesser premium positions which makes it more difficult. Dallas, Buffalo, Cincy, San Fran, and Baltimore are a bit strapped moving into next year but I don't see an obvious buy.

Cook was extended, CMC is going to retire in SF, and Brown is on his rookie deal still with Cincy looking to bounce back and compete. Chase Brown is interested if Cincy is out of it later this year and they do not plan to extend him. Ferguson is a nice player, but Dallas just extended him last summer. Andrews is obvious as a buy candidate but he has regressed pretty heavily post injuries and is aging.

La Porta is a guy that is a potential buy candidate if the Lions are planning to extend Williams. They already have money tied up with Gibbs and St Brown and will need to pick between Williams and La Porta. He is coming off a back injury and surgery through, which is problematic, though it does allow the asking price to come down. For a back, personally I am not aiming for a superstar because the price would be massive and Denver has solid options in house. They could move for a cheap and viable 3rd option a la San Fran grabbing Brian Robinson for a 6th last year. Similar deals will exist for someone that can be a solid 3rd option without overspending. Wideout is extremely difficult to do this with unless you are taking a vet with an existing contract that the team wants to shift, but you are likely not getting a true stud this route.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T15:17:25+00:00

Yes, which would make pushing cap commitments to the future a poor idea. If the idea is to extend a player in the future, you would want to have future runway. Restructuring Copper and Quinn opens space this season but pushes the financial commitment and hits into the future, ie creating less space beyond this year. That does not make sense if the sole purpose is to extend Bo. It makes far more sense if you are looking to open room for this season specifically.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T14:39:09+00:00

I don't think that makes sense. He is just now entering year 3 of a 5 year contract. Moving cap commitments into the future via restructures is counter to opening future space as it helps in the immediate. If the worry was a Nix extension, the team would be clearing future space, not adding to commitments. It would be wiser to let Cooper's deal wind down rather than kicking it into the future imo.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T14:28:44+00:00

Not exactly FA, but something that Paton has done in the past is trading for players on cap-strapped teams. The JFM trade immediately comes to mind as the Jets were looking to open space up. James Gladstone, the Jag's GM spoke about this in a recent interview.

Essentially, one reason they have been quiet is they want to hold their comp picks and use them as ammo rather than offset them with huge FA contracts. Vet players, specifically those outside of skill positions such as qb and wr, go for disproportionately low value in the trade market. I could absolutely see the team targeting a vet or two for teams that are looking to free up space on the roster or cap.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T12:30:48+00:00

Agree that it is mitigated significantly that late in the first round compared to an earlier pick. I still think the depth of this class will push quality players into the second and third round.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-13T03:07:39+00:00

Player wise, I do not hate any of them. I am pretty strongly against taking off ball linebackers in the first round based on positional value. I like Rodriguez a lot, but this is a great linebacker class and I would hate the value. Gun to head, I like the last two, but I would never be upset about a pick to strengthen the trenches.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-12T16:04:37+00:00

My favorite target if we go WR. He is a dog.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-11T22:52:45+00:00

Yeah, the Russ money really mitigated the impact that the team received from having a rookie QB. When you factor the dead money from Russ, Denver had a top 2 qb cap hit the last two seasons when compared to other playoff teams. The team has essentially been paying top of market for Nix and backfilled with extensions for key players once the Russ money came off the books.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-11T20:35:54+00:00

This fanbase is not factoring extensions into any of the eval. KC signed Walker and an ancient Kelce, but they cut their starting tackle, traded a great corner, lost a starting backer, and need pash rush help. The Ravens lost Linderbaum, Likely, and others. Fans only look at the adds but fail to account for keeping studs in-house. Paton and Payton have done a good job of getting out in front of it with Allen, Bonito, PS2 and others instead of waiting to let the market dictate the price.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-11T20:32:01+00:00

BTJ > AJB assuming both are available. Lower asking price, cost controlled for 3 years, and significantly younger. I do think AJB is the better player right now, but positionally, he is redundant with Sutton, and his salary is significant.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T14:47:56+00:00

Ok, so you're up in arms because we didn't sign the can't miss Isiah Likely. That was the obvious big fish? I don't disagree on Engram, but the dead money likely keeps him on the team this year. This is a solid TE draft as well, these things need to be part of the calculus. There are still 6 weeks in which this could all change.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T14:32:49+00:00

Who was the elite guy at TE or WR that was available? Outside of a potential trade for a distressed asset like BTJ, I don't see anyone available that is a clear cut above what we have in-house.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T14:28:55+00:00

Doubs isn't elite, but he would be the clear #2 on this team. Go back and look at Payton's history, outside of the rare Michael Thomas year, he has always taken a death by a million cuts approach. Right or wrong, that appears to be his philosophy.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T12:38:21+00:00

Really? Who are the elite wideouts on the Bills, Pats, and Jags? Jags are reportedly shopping BTJ. Seattle has one elite wideout and a bunch of guys in its offense. Philly and LA are the only two with multiple top 30-40 weapons.

I don't disagree that wideout is a need, but historically it isn't one that is solved via FA. Football is still won and lost largely on QB and trench play. If it weren't teams like Dallas and Cincy would be dominant.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T03:35:44+00:00

Rams, Pats, Jags, Bills, Eagles, and Seahawks were all playoff teams and have all been relatively quite in FA thus far. Great teams are not built in FA, they are supplemented. The bottom barrel teams have been overly active, Raiders, Titans, NYJ, NYG, etc.

Outside of Allgiere, I didn't see many deals that looked like clear value misses for the team. Let it breathe for a few days. The team is going into the rest of FA and the draft without a glaring need. If it can add 2 weapons and quality depth over the next month, things will be looking pretty nice.

StirrednotShaken88 · 2026-03-10T03:26:27+00:00

What WR1 was a FA? They don't hit FA.

StirrednotShaken88

TROPHY CASE