What Jerry needs to do is get on this quickly. Sign him to a fair, team-friendly deal, and as a reward sign a couple of nice FAs that will get us right back in the mix!
The problem is what Jerry thinks is team friendly and what Micah thinks. Micah has said he isn’t necessarily looking for 40 million, that he isn’t looking to break the bank, but you are kidding yourself if you think that means team friendly. Micah expects to be paid very close to what the top defensive players on the league make. Saying you don’t need 40 million is not saying you’ll take less than Miles Garrett, TJ Watt, and other top defenders.
And I don’t think he’s expecting Jerry to be super active in defensive free agency as we think of it. I think Micah realizes that we cannot afford to lose Osa, Gholston, Lewis, and Kendricks and start over with rookies or lower tier vets. If we lose our own best free agents, the defense will struggle to be as good as how they ended the year, much less improve.
Even if we bring those 4 guys back, we still need help at DT, LB, and CB.
On offense, we will continue to struggle unless we get a legit #2 receiver and a RB.