Free Agency Talk Thread 1/1/12 - 1/15/12

free agency folks are not Pioli’s strong suit. But if I were him, OL would be my focus.

resigning McClain Carr and Bowe
signing a backup center
signing a tackle
and a good veteran Mlb

I will be really upset if Bowe, Carr or McClain leaves.

Then, I like the idea of getting a couple of mid-level FAs (as Pioli usually does)

I would be VERY happy with:
RB: Ryan Grant or Green-Ellis
NT: Solai or Shaun Rogers
And maybe a decent G/C or RT at least for depth

That would really open up the options for the draft

Kareem McKenzie and Shiancoe and Ryan Grant would be a nice start.

That is all!

After signing him, outside of Safety Depth, OG, and OT, we should be somewhat solid.

We Lack Depth

Wide Receiver Depth – Copper, Urban, Horn are nothing more than Special Teams Players
Tight End – Chiefs might have had the LOWEST tight end rec yards this year
Offensive Line Depth – If one lineman had gotten hurt this year the Chiefs would have had a higher draft pick
Linebackers – Cory Greenwood, DeMorrio WIlliams, Sheffield are all special teams at best.
Safety – McGraw is too slow. Washington, Langford are not true safeties.
Corner – Is Jalil Brown ready to start of Carr leaves? If Flowers is injured who takes his place?

He’s the Saints fastest lineman, despite being 350 pounds. If you watched the Saints game today, you’ll see why I wanted him. He lays people out when pulling or on a screen, he’s a big and good blocker face-to-face, and he fits perfectly. Even for ZB, he’d be good.

is an offensive Coordinator. Preferably one not named Josh McDaniels.

If Nicks gets locked up, goes elsewhere, or we just decide to be dumb and not pursue him, DeCastro in the 1st becomes a priority. Otherwise we should draft Jonathon Martin and let B-Rich ride the pine as a swinger.

FA I only want:
-Nicks OG
-Garay NT
-Craig Stltz/Jim Leonard S (not happening, but its always fun to hope)

I’d like to find another ILB (although we do have Siler still so maybe that can wait another year), I don’t think Belcher is cutting it personally.

1. Carl Nicks – OG – New Orleans: We need some power along the interior, and Nicks gives that, but is also athletic enough to adjust to our system. He’s a top 5 G right now, 26 years old, and almost certainly will be a casualty of the Saints spending big on the line last year and trying to retain Brees this year.

2. Antonio Garay – DT – San Diego: He has the ability to penetrate and get after the QB. I think we need that somewhere along the d-line. I’d like to see him in a rotation with Powe. Not as big a name as Soliai or Franklin, but that’s why he makes sense to me. We’re not going to be able to just add all of the top dollar guys.

3. Ronnie Brown – RB – Philadelphia: He’s not a premier back anymore. In fact, he probably only has 3 or so years left on him. But he can take it up the middle and still has big play ability. He already plays a similar role for the Eagles as the counter-balance to LeSean McCoy.

4. Tony Gonzalez – TE – Atlanta: Bring him home. After the Falcons fall flat this year, Tony might want one more shot at making some playoff noise. It’s doubtful any of the premier teams are going to have a need for him, so a homecoming is not out of the question. He still has some game in him and it would be fitting to end his career where it started.

5. Kerry Colbert – WR – N/A: Still scratching my head over why we cut him loose. I thought he played very well as our #4 WR. Copper has done pretty well these past couple weeks, but Colbert should be able to beat out Horne and Urban.

The only way I’d want him is if we brought Tom Clements(GB quarterbacks coach)in to be the OC.

Here are free agents I think could help, and are, for the most part, more of that 2nd and 3rd tier of guys Pioli usually goes after. This is mostly depth with some starters mixed in.

Starting backwards here:

S Tom Zbikowski (Bal)
S Jim Leonhard (NYJ)

NT Paul Soliai (Mia)

DE Chris Hoke (Pit)
DE Igor Olshansky (Mia)

OG Ben Grubbs (Bal)/ Carl Nicks (NO)

TE Visanthe Shiancoe/ John Carlson

WR/KR Tedd Ginn (SF)
WR Legedu Naanee (Car)

RB Mike Tolbert (SD)
RB Michael Bush (Oak)

QB Josh Johnson (TB)

I’m for re-signing as many of our own FAs as possible, if only for depth or training camp fodder.

Now I’ll go post the same thing in the draft talk thread to explain my picks….

1. Brandon Lloyd WR- I have Josh Mcdaniels being the Chiefs OC, and Brandon Lloyd flaat out said he will practically go wherever he goes. and whether bowe is re-signed, or not, he’d be able to help. some disagree but i like it.
2. Visanthe Shainco TE- Yes, Tony Moeaki is comign back, but he couldn’t stay healthy in college, and got hurt this year, so i have worries about him. Pope didnt get the job done with him on IR this year, but Shainco can, and even if Tony M. Is healthy, We’d have a great TE duo.
3. Cliff Avril DE-- Avril, on the lions is a great pass rusher, and since Jackson and Dorsey aren’t playing that great and making tackles and getting to the QB, Avril would be a great pickup. (And we could trade either Dorsey or Jackson for more picks!) The Lions have a lot of young d-linemen so he may not be on the top of their off season players to sign.
4. Chad Henne/Matt Flynn QB- Now , this is only if Orton is not brought back. If the staff is a bit not confident in Cassel, they would be smart to bring in Flynn. He may not want to come to a place where he may not start, but I think he’d be able to easily win the job over Cassel with what Flynn has shown. If Orton is re-signed, I see the Chiefs trading/releasing Cassel for money reasons, and Cassel wouldn’t want to be the backu since he can be a starter somewhere else. Then if that happens, They should bring in Henne, who would be a great, quality backup if anything goes wrong with Kyle Orton.

Then, if you told me that we signed, a top 5 RB, with blazing speed and who is young, and very explosive. A 3rd year safety who is good in coverage, the run game, brings in a ton of upside, and is arguably the best Young, Safety in the league, and who has the potential to be a star in the NFL, and then A young 3rd year tight end, if who can stay healthy, can be someone you can throw to over the midle, or on any play when you need a sure completion. If you told me that we signed these three players, I’d be feeling pretty good about our team. I’m big on signing free agents, but really, the only HUGE need we have is at The Offensive Tackle. I do think that what I said before, above this post, on who we should sign, would be very smart, and i do still think we should sign them, but im just looking at this from another point of view. So we all (including myself) may be a little too ahead of ourselves. -——————-But psh, i still want Brandon Lloyd, a LOT!

I think that only increases the chances that Bowe is gone. Although could you imagine a 4WR set of Bowe, Lloyd, Breaston and Baldwin with Moeaki in the middle? Damn, I think that would rival any team in the league.

but I just dont get it. Throughout his whole career which begun in 2007, Soliai has only 97 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 FR. Now in 2011 Soliai only had 27 tackles and 2 passes deflected. Those are not very impressive numbers. Also I hear a lot of people saying get Kelly Gregg out of here. Well my friends Gregg had a better year that Soliai. Gregg ended the year with 39 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 pass deflected. (Stats from ESPN) Now I do agree we need a NT but why this one? what do you guys see in him? I think the Chiefs should sign a very good vet NT this offseason and bring him, Powe , and Bailey in to spring training and let them battle it out

hes a patriot…pioli loves him some bean boys