FanPost

Mak07's Off-season plan #1

This is a rough sketch of the off-season plan that I think we will follow. I really think that now that we have Coach Zimmer in the fold, we will focus our efforts during the draft on the defensive side of the ball. Without further ado, here we go. Have at it.

Cap Room: 26.7 million

Free Agents kept: Chris Cook (2 year/8 million), Everson Griffin (4/28), JaMarcus Webb (1/750,000)

Cap Room Left: 15 million

Free Agents not retained: Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Joe Webb, Toby Gerhart, Matt Asiata, Josh Freeman, Marvin Mitchell, Larry Dean, Fred Evans, Marcus Sherels, Jerome Simpson and Joe Berger.

Players under contract that will be cut: Shaun Prater, Robert Steeples, Christian Ballard, LeTroy Guion, Erin Henderson, Mike Remmers, Rodney Smith, John Carlson

Money added to cap room: About 13 Million

Total to spend of FAs: 28 million

Now for non-draft moves:
Re-sign Brandon Fusco (5/22.5)

Sign Michael Johnson (DE Cinci) to a 5 year/43 million dollar deal

Sign Eric Decker (WR Denver) to a 5 year/40 million dollar deal

Sign Alterraun Verner (CB Tennessee) to a 6 year/36 million dollar deal

Sign B.J. Raji (NT GB) to a 2 year/6 million dollar deal

Now for the draft:

(Bridgewater, Bortles, and Manziel were all taken in the top 7)

1-8 (8 overall) C.J. Mosley MLB Alabama

TRADE 2-8 & 3-8 for 1-23 (Kansas City)

1-23 (23) Ra'Shede Hageman DT Minnesota

3-31 (From SEA) (95) Zach Mettenberger QB LSU

4-8 (104) Ben Gardner DE Stanford

5-8 (136) Keith McGill CB Utah

6-8 (168) Jerick McKinnon RB Georgia Southern

7-8 (200) Tyler Larsen C Utah State

Going into the season with a roster looking like this:
Quarterback: Cassel, Ponder, Mettenberger (Let Norv work with all three, and let the best man win. If it's still a mess, we can trade up for a QB in next year's draft...)

Running Back; Peterson, McKinnon, Baynard, Line (McKinnon will be a perfect back-up to AP)

Wide Receiver: Decker, Jennings, Patterson, Wright, Childs, Thielen (Huge upgrade. Norv will make big things happen with this group)

Tackles: Kalil, Loadholt, Webb (If it ain't broke, don't fix it)

Guards: Fusco, Johnson, Baca (I feel like Johnson will bounce back. If he doesn't, we can use a higher draft pick next year or find one in FA)

Centers: Sullivan, Loeffler, Larsen (I like Larsen... Good size, and seems to be a pretty smart guy)

Tight Ends: Rudolph, Ford, Ellison (Solid group. Carlson isn't needed when you have two backups like Ford and Ellison)

Not much has changed on O, basically we added Decker, Mettenberger, and Norv Turner

Now on the defensive side of the ball, it's a totally different story

Defensive End: Johnson, Robison, Griffin, Gardner (Will get after the QB, especially with the blitzes drawn up by Zimmer... Can run some 3-4 or 4-3 with the crew)

Defensive Tackle: Floyd, Hageman, Raji, Baker (Much improved, very young, and very athletic. I think Zimmer could do big things with a group this young and talented)

Corner Backs: Verner, Rhodes, Cook, Robinson, McGill (Size, speed, and depth. A nice change for our CBs from what we've had for the past few years)

Safety: Smith, Sanford, Raymond, Sendejo (Nothing has changed here. Solid play from Smith, hopefully continual improvement from Sanford, and two capable, but not great, backups

Linebackers: Greenway, Mosley, Cole, Hodges, Mauti (another very flexible unit. I am assuming Cole can play outside in the 4-3, but in the 3-4 we could have Greenway & Mosley in the middle with pass rushers or we could run Greenway, Mosley, Cole, and Hodges out together in passing situations.. There's a lot of flexibility in this unit)

Punter: Locke

Kicker: Walsh

I think this team would have the potential to go anywhere between 8-8 and 11-5 next year, even with average QB play (Which is probably what we would get) If nobody steps up at the QB position between those 3, we have a good team around the guy we'll draft in next year's draft. I'm not a fan of trading up for a QB this year... We need to fix our defense first and then worry about QB. I'm not super high on the QBs in this draft either (Except maybe Jimmy G who will probably go in the 2nd). Next year, though, it would be worthwhile to give up 3 or 4 picks to move into the top 6 or whatever we may need to do to get our QB. There will be 5 or 6 legit QB prospects next year. This year, there's 3...

So have at it. What do you think? I know some of my ideas are out there (the Decker signing) but what are you thinking? How did I do for snowy day in January?

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.