Because of the draft picks we have I view this offseason being more of keeping the talent we have and adding talent through the draft. I see one big signing in free agency (Suh, Cobb, Maclin, etc). I landed on Maclin and then added some pieces and then kept key talent like Skrine. Enjoy! What do you think will happen?

Resign:
Buster Skrine-CB
Johnson Badimosi-S
Tashuan Gibson-S
Ishmaa'ily Kitchen-DT
Craig Robertson-ILB
Spencer Lanning-P

Sign:
Jacquizz Rodgers-ATL-RB
John Connor-NYJ-FB
Jeremy Maclin-PHI-WR
Danieal Manning-HOU-S

Round 1 Pick 12: Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
Round 1 Pick 19: Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
Round 2 Pick 11: Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Round 3 Pick 13: Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon
Round 4 Pick 12: Nick O'Leary, TE, Florida State
Round 4 Pick 16: Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State
Round 5 Pick 11: Robert Myers, OG/OT, Tennessee State
Round 6 Pick 13: Terrance Magee, RB, LSU
Round 6 Pick 26: Jake Ryan, OLB/ILB, Michigan
Round 7 Pick 12: Justin Manton, K, Louisiana-Monroe

QB: Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown, Connor Shaw (3)
RB: Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West, Jacquizz Rodgers, Terrance Magee (4)
FB: John Connor (1)
WR: Jeremy Maclin, Amari Cooper, Andrew Hawkins, Travis Benjamin, Taylor Gabriel, Marlon Moore (6)
TE: Nick O’Leary, Jim Dray, Gary Barnidge (3)
OL: Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, Alex Mack, John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, Hroniss Grasu, Paul McQuistan, Robert Myers (8)
DL: Desmond Bryant, Phil Taylor, Billy Winn, Michael Bennett, John Hughes, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Armonty Bryant (7)
LB: Paul Kruger, Karlos Dansby, Christian Kirksey, Barkevious Mingo, Vic Beasley, Craig Robertson, Tank Carder, Jake Ryan (8)
CB: Joe Haden, Buster Skrine, K’Waun Williams, Justin Gilbert, Pierre Desir, Ronald Darby (6)
S: Donte Whitner, Tashaun Gipson, Danieal Manning, Johnson Bademosi (4)
K: Justin Manton (1)
P: Spencer Lanning (1)
LS: Christian Yount (1)

I like Jake Ryan even though I'm a Buckeye fan, every team needs about 10 of him ... JMHO

Resign:
Buster Skrine-CB
Johnson Badimosi-S
Tashuan Gibson-S
Craig Robertson-ILB
Spencer Lanning-P

Sign:
Jerry Hughes-BUF, DE/OLB
Dan Williams-ARZ, NT
Cecil Shorts-JCK-WR

Round 1 Pick 12: Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
Round 1 Pick 19: Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
Round 2 Pick 11: Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi State
Round 3 Pick 13: Ben Koyack, TE, Notre Dame
Round 4 Pick 12: Chris Conley, WR, Georgia
Round 4 Pick 16: Ladarius Gunter, CB, Miami (Fla.)
Round 5 Pick 11: Jalston Fowler, FB, Alabama
Round 6 Pick 13: Sean Mannion, QB, Oregon State
Round 6 Pick 26: Greg Mancz, C, Toledo
Round 7 Pick 12: Justin Manton, K, Louisiana-Monroe

QB: Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown, Sean Mannion (3)
RB: Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West, Glenn Winson (3)
FB: Jalston Fowler (1)
WR: Cecil Shorts, Amari Cooper, Andrew Hawkins, Chris Conley, Taylor Gabriel, Marlon Moore (6)
TE: Ben Koyack, Jim Dray, Gary Barnidge (3)
OL: Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, Alex Mack, John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, Greg Mancz, Michael Bowie, Ryan Seymour(8)
DL: Desmond Bryant, Malcom Brown, Billy Winn, Jerry Hughes, John Hughes, Dan Williams, Phil Taylor, Armonty Bryant, (8)
LB: Paul Kruger, Karlos Dansby, Christian Kirksey, Barkevious Mingo, Benardrick McKinney, Craig Robertson, Tank Carder, (7)
CB: Joe Haden, Buster Skrine, K’Waun Williams, Justin Gilbert, Pierre Desir, Robert Nelson (6)
S: Donte Whitner, Tashaun Gipson, Ladarius Gunter, Johnson Bademosi, Jordan Poyer (5)
K: Justin Manton (1)
P: Spencer Lanning (1)
LS: Christian Yount (1)

I like your Jerry Hughes/Cecil Shorts adds. Those would be great vets to add to this team.

I don't know what is more unrealistic, passing on Cooper if he is available with the 12th pick or Cooper lasting to the 19th pick.

I am in favor of any off-season in which we get the giant fullback from Alabama.

I dig it...however Maclin is super close with Kelly (Kellys first year Maclin was always his #1 WR...however Maclin got hurt) Philly has a ton of cap and he will resign with them...I'm a huge Maclin fan and he loves that organization...I know Crabtree will hit the market, though he's a tad lesser of a WR and a lot more of a whiner..He hated being the #3 target in SF...

Also with Skrine resigned along with Haden, Desir, Williams, Gilbert, Nelson...I see no need to take a CB in round 4...probably could use that on a QB (then again you already know with our history that QB will never pan out lol) I would use that pick elsewhere IMHO...nice mock though

How about this:

Add:

Jerry Hughes: DE/OLB
Henry Melton: NT
Randall Cobb WR
Brian Hartline WR
Charles Clay: TE

Sure, that eats up a huge chunk of our cap space, but so what?

As for our own free agents,

Resign

CB: Skrine. (If we can do so without completely destroying the cap)
S: Gipson
S: Bademosi
LB: Robertson
P: Lanning

I would then go best available defensive players for the 1st 2-3 rounds. I want a defense that makes it almost impossible for the opposition to score. Did Buffalo become a 9 win team last year because they had a good, or even just an effective offense? Not really. Their offense was decent, but they were not even average on that side of the ball. They were middle of the pack in total offense. They were middle of the league in scoring. (and they had 5 TD that did not come from their offense)

They were, however, 3rd in total defense. They were 5th in scoring defense.

I think they will be our model in that regard. We must built the defense, and then even a remotely average QB can win 9 games. We want turnovers. We want constant pressure on the opposing QB. I think that this draft will be the 1st huge step towards setting that side of the ball up for a long time to come.

Yeah, who cares if we kill our team's future prospects! It's fun to not be able to sign our own players like the Steelers!

We have so much cap space right now that it's incredible. What is it, $50 million or more in cap space next year, when our rolled over cap space is also taken into account? So we spend $35-$40 million in 1st year cap. We would still have a ton of cap space to use to sign our drafted players, and then still carry over $10-$15 million to next year.

We can also structure contracts so that we can get out of them a few years down the road if we have to, and save us cap space in doing so.

Many teams play right up against the cap, and still manage to resign their most important players. There is no reason why we cannot do so as well.

The Steelers are where they are right now because their GM consistently resigns people by just pushing money further later in contracts..

He gets everyone to restructure every year, just so everyone else can restructure the next year.. Oh you restructured two years ago? Could you do that again? How about an "extension"? Sound good? Thaaaanks..

this..lol

No way Cooper lasts until 12.

Yeah I figure he won't either but in the mock draft simulator I used he did. So I rolled the dice and he ended up being there at 19.