purpletide

Do you know when Watt is projected? I don't see Humphrey sliding to mid second.

I don't think so, I remember that the way his contract was structured was a little bit safer than Flacco's. This is what I was looking for. Doesn't leave us in a bad situation if he starts to become a nuisance.

I think we easily find that in Claiborne or in the draft. Sure Claiborne's re-injury chance is a threat but that's where the draft comes in.

I don't think one bad play is a good indicator of a player at all, but I still don't see Butler being as good as Claiborne. I think we could get more out of Humphrey.

Psh... sounds like he could have played better to me. I bet Ozzie's striking a deal with the Pats right now and shipping off everything we got for the GOAT Butler.

I haven't seen much of Reddick/Riddick so I can't say anything in that regard, but I think Foster will make teams hesitate to come his way.

Expanding on the veteran thing, I also like that we can get guys like Weddle to teach the defensive rookies we bring in. I think we'll try our best to keep Lewis at G if we can though, but it has yet to be seen that we can spare that.

"Weaken our rival" in what way? By sending them a 16th overall pick that we could put to better use than taking Butler anyway? The Pats could take BPA in the first and become EVEN BETTER if they strike gold (less likely to happen with the 32nd pick in the second), while replacing Butler with the depth at CB in this draft being so rich. I'm still not sure that Butler's play isn't just because of the talent he's surrounded by.

No way AP touches our rosters with his past. Keep in mind our salary cap too, we can't afford to take just anyone and everyone in FA that could fill a hole. Ozzie himself said our main method of filling holes this year will be through the draft, I strongly doubt we take a CB besides Morris in FA (even if we don't grab him, we could afford to only take from the draft) unless there's a good deal on a player. Some of the guys mentioned (specifically Revis) probably won't live up to their past ability, and we could use younger guys.

Oh man I hope he drops. Great safety and LB tandem at that point, as well as probably getting a good CB given the draft depth and Claiborne in FA.

If Foster falls then absolutely I'd love him on the team. I just don't think it's such a desperate need that we need to spend an early pick on it, especially considering the holes that really need filling. We'll get a guy late/as an UDFA if we don't feel like Correa can perform, but he's still young.

Howard would give Flacco a freak of an athlete that he could definitely use. He's also a great blocker, I really don't think anyone can go wrong with him, as long as he's utilized better than we used him at Bama.

Like @hn68wb4 said, OLB is the biggest problem as of now. I really hope Judon steps up, I like what I see in terms of potential. But back on topic, we have zero reason to trade for Butler, let alone give NE a first rounder. Claiborne makes Butler obsolete given the current situation, and with the CBs in this draft I think we can hit gold in the first round, corner or not. Also consider that we don't have to talk about first round CB vs. Butler in terms of who improves us the most, BPA could be someone incredible.

I also think Peppers wouldn't be bad as a FS. That's what makes his stock so high, we can throw him in a lot of places and I don't see him having many issues.

I think we're still possibly going to resign Webb. I didn't see a timetable given as to when, but it doesn't completely take Peppers out of the equation.

I honestly think Barnett and Davis have a pretty legitimate chance at sliding to us (compared to others). If they did I'd take Barnett in a heartbeat.

Exactly why our offense struggles, and that'll be furthered by those we lost in FA. It's fun to look at guys that make big plays and are fun to watch, but we have to remember why our run game isn't near peak performance. Sad too, I feel like Dixon showed big playmaking potential.

(This assumes he's going in the second round) I've heard people exploring trading back if Jones falls to us in the second, hoping to get him on the second round pick we got in the trade, then using the later pick(s) to fill more holes. We'd still probably get another CB anyway just to have one if we need one to play in a heartbeat, but it also depends on the content of the trade. I'm not too sure about this scenario however, I think some teams might have even gained interest on him if they could afford to wait on his recovery and then use the first pick on someone else and capitalize on a first round talent in the second. I couldn't tell you how I feel about this though given all the possibilities that could ensue with different pick value in the trade, who we trade with, Jones being picked after we already traded, what's available besides Jones when we're on the board, etc.

However, I'm also still going off hearing that he might miss 8-12 months. Not sure that it changes much though, he'll miss training camp and preseason definitely as well as probably missing some regular season games.

That's why I still like taking an early CB. Further insure that we don't get torched constantly after even one guy goes down.

I don't see the point in letting the Patriots get 16th pick just for Butler. Not to harp on his skills but if we pick up a CB early in the draft, that's a better scenario than getting Butler with just a possibility of picking up Claiborne either way. As I'm sure you've heard, this is a very deep draft class and we could even afford to take a CB in rounds 1 through maybe even 3 while addressing other needs such as edge, WR, O-line, or just grab a game-breaking BPA in the first round in place of Butler's trade. This proposed trade gives NE 16th pick for a non-upgrade, with us further hurting at other positions. Not to gang up on you and I see that ATM you only have 2 posts, but that's the good thing about the forums I guess. Get to challenge your perspective.

Not sure when he's projected after that injury, but I strongly doubt we take him. Good player but we have other needs to address early, and when picking up a CB, we'll need someone that could jump in immediately, whether it be at the start of the season or the middle or wherever. A team with less important needs at holes to fill or a team with a strong secondary will likely pick him up in the second. I don't think we can afford to pick him up just to wait on him if we need him and wait on other positions that could use some work as well.

Also projected late rounder/UDFA if I'm not mistaken, so we're not taking a big risk either way.

You know how much we got for spending?

I don't want a WR in the first round, but I'd make an exception for Davis. Dudes got hands.