Who should we go for in Free Agency?

Guard isn't a position smart teams pay top FA money on.

I would probably agree but remember who we have at guard. Chester and Shawn L. Just awful...

Lauvao wasn't too bad but there are better G's out there.

Chester on the other hand was a major liability. Old, slow and terrible at protecting.

When you got a dominant road grader, you do.

This year's superbowl had a first round pick, a 7th round pick, and 2 undrafted free agents starting at offensive G.

Hopefully Long can step in for Chester and improve the unit.

Would love to have Iupati, but we would be better off spending the money on a higher impact position:

CB, pass rusher, DT.

Even a top tier safety or TE would have more impact than a top tier G.

Lauvao wasn't too bad but there are better G's out there.

Chester on the other hand was a major liability. Old, slow and terrible at protecting.

Agree. He played below average but showed consistent improvement throughout the year.

Thought he was fair near the end of the year.

This year's superbowl had a first round pick, a 7th round pick, and 2 undrafted free agents starting at offensive G.

Hopefully Long can step in for Chester and improve the unit.

Would love to have Iupati, but we would be better off spending the money on a higher impact position:

CB, pass rusher, DT.

Even a top tier safety or TE would have more impact than a top tier G.

I don't care about Iupati either way -- but to your point -- getting a 7th round pick & 2 undrafted FA to start on your Oline really just means:
(A) you can develop players
(B) your QB gets rid of the ball fast,
(C) you are just really lucky.


Since we have none of the above AND we've tried & failed with low draft picks (remember Gettis? Hurt? Capers? Cook?) -- I'd suggest we finally develop or invest in O-line AND get blocking TE/RBs. I trust McLoughan.

I think every QB does much better with protection, but I'd wager Griffin could still be a top 10 QB if he had a great Oline.

This year's superbowl had a first round pick, a 7th round pick, and 2 undrafted free agents starting at offensive G.

Hopefully Long can step in for Chester and improve the unit.

Would love to have Iupati, but we would be better off spending the money on a higher impact position:

CB, pass rusher, DT.

Even a top tier safety or TE would have more impact than a top tier G.

In theory this is all well and good but the high impact positions you're talking about don't see top tier talent make it to free agency very often, and when it does the cost is exhorbitant.

Justin Houston and Ndamakung Suh are very high impact, the only ones really at their positions, but we don't have the cap space for them.

If you drop down and start talking about the Jason Worilds and Byron Maxwells of free agency, that level, I'd rather have Iupati. I want somebody, anybody, who can provide a matchup advantage. Doesn't matter what position.

Iupati makes us a red zone threat to run the ball.

This year's superbowl had a first round pick, a 7th round pick, and 2 undrafted free agents starting at offensive G.

Hopefully Long can step in for Chester and improve the unit.

Would love to have Iupati, but we would be better off spending the money on a higher impact position:

CB, pass rusher, DT.

Even a top tier safety or TE would have more impact than a top tier G.

Safety will be the best use of their cap money:
McLeod, Gibson, Searcy, Moore, and Johnson Seattle should be decent additions without breaking the bank.... about $3.0 per year
CBs Culiver, Thurmond etc. again could help for about $3. -$3.5

Iupati might be a good short term solution....The Skins reportedly could also go after ex Cowboy tackle Free with a 3 year contract

I don't care about Iupati either way -- but to your point -- getting a 7th round pick & 2 undrafted FA to start on your Oline really just means:
(A) you can develop players
(B) your QB gets rid of the ball fast,
(C) you are just really lucky.


Since we have none of the above AND we've tried & failed with low draft picks (remember Gettis? Hurt? Capers? Cook?) -- I'd suggest we finally develop or invest in O-line AND get blocking TE/RBs. I trust McLoughan.

I think every QB does much better with protection, but I'd wager Griffin could still be a top 10 QB if he had a great Oline.

A team like the Pats can seemingly get a dozen guys a year to contribute on the offensive line at various positions while only paying the LT any money.

If we can't, the solution isn't to break the bank on a guy who will be over priced. Instead we should change the people who:
a. find the undrafted and 7th round talent (we have)
b. develop the talent (we have)
c. game plan with the talent (we have)

Unloading a brinks truck on a guy who plays the most easy to fill position on the offensive line doesn't make any sense on any level. Too many teams fill this position with good talent on the cheap. There is really only one exception and that's Green Bay. They pay their G.

NFL Salary Rankings | Spotrac (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/guard/)

The highest Pats guy on the list didn't play in the superbowl.

There is a reason why the average salary of an NFL offensive guard is lower compared to C and T.

The main thing is for Scot McCloughan to make the offensive and defensive lines better...up front is where it counts the most.

Again, the one position where we must add someone in FA is FS. There is nobody to be had in the draft and we have nobody on our roster. This is a must.

That said, I have no problem with signing the right type of FA at any position of need. We just need to sign young players who can be had at reasonable prices.