We won't be players in FA again in my opinion

[Sydla]

Yes. People ***** about our free agency haul but they forget Irving was a free agent. Collins was a free agent. Cooper was a free agent. Leary was a free agent. Romo was a free agent. Miles Austin was a free agent. McClain was a good free agent for a while.

I think Beasley and Heath were also free agents. Butler has been a good pickup for us. McFadden was a good, cheap pickup. I'm no Morris fan, at all, but many of you love him and he was a free agent.

We have been a lot better than most of you think.

UDFAs don’t really count as FA.

 

[Sydla]

But is he the 4th LB?

It's a racing certainty Lee will miss games due to injury, and we don't yet know if Smith will ever be the player he was at ND or will he be able to handle a full load.

After that who have you got?

It strikes me Hitch will start a few games for us if he's here next year.

If not then well have to invest a high draft pick in an LB because we sure won't pay for an adequate replacement in free agency.

Its not wise paying Hitchens 6-9MM a year like someone above suggested to start a few games a year.

They absolutely should invest draft pick(s) in the linebacker position this year anyway.

 

[rkell87]

Hitchens is replaceable. We spent a 4th, he should net us at least a 4th next year. No need to pay him.

 

[conner01]

But is he the 4th LB?

It's a racing certainty Lee will miss games due to injury, and we don't yet know if Smith will ever be the player he was at ND or will he be able to handle a full load.

After that who have you got?

It strikes me Hitch will start a few games for us if he's here next year.

If not then well have to invest a high draft pick in an LB because we sure won't pay for an adequate replacement in free agency.

You have a point. Much like swing tackle, the backup is very important because the likelihood of playing significant time is high. That’s why I’ve said he’s worth more than the avg backup lb not only because he is likely to play, but is the backup to 3 spots
But you still can’t pay him starter money. I know you can manipulate the cap and open up money but as of now we really don’t have a ton of cap. We have Dlaw and Irving to deal with, and while Martin Likely saves money this year by signing him going forward it adds money. And we really need to upgrade the swing tackle spot I think
I think hitch is a valuable player and better than many think but what do you pay him? At what price is he too expensive? That’s the real question

 

[conner01]

Its not wise paying Hitchens 6-9MM a year like someone above suggested to start a few games a year.

They absolutely should invest draft pick(s) in the linebacker position this year anyway.

I agree on both. But I also see the value in a guy that plays all 3 spots. The question is what is the limit?
I sure don’t think you can pay him 6-9 mil and I want to keep him

 

[IrishAnto]

Its not wise paying Hitchens 6-9MM a year like someone above suggested to start a few games a year.

They absolutely should invest draft pick(s) in the linebacker position this year anyway.

This draft isn't deep at LB so if you need to replace Hitch then you'll need to spend a 1 or 2.
Quite frankly I'd prefer to spend them at different positions.

Finally I'd rather spend 6m on Hitchens than 4m on a bum like Nolan Carroll.

 

[cej757]

Hitchens is a distant third consideration to resign for me, especially if you are going to have to pay him starting ILB money to keep him.

He'll be in Washington D.C. for sure. Dan Snyder loves signing former Cowboys.

 

[IrishAnto]

You have a point. Much like swing tackle, the backup is very important because the likelihood of playing significant time is high. That’s why I’ve said he’s worth more than the avg backup lb not only because he is likely to play, but is the backup to 3 spots
But you still can’t pay him starter money. I know you can manipulate the cap and open up money but as of now we really don’t have a ton of cap. We have Dlaw and Irving to deal with, and while Martin Likely saves money this year by signing him going forward it adds money. And we really need to upgrade the swing tackle spot I think
I think hitch is a valuable player and better than many think but what do you pay him? At what price is he too expensive? That’s the real question

Agreed the money is the main issue but my limit would be higher than many around here.
And let's not forget what the defence looked like without Lee and Hitchens.

 

[JW82]

Those draft picks are a good thing! Im fine with not being players in FA, except instead of signing half a dozen scrubs Id prefer we sign a player or two of merit.

Agreed give me 2 impact players in free agency. So you are not 100% reliant on the draft falling perfectly for us to fill the team needs. They failed so many times that they and some fans are afraid of free agency. Just get better at it, don’t ignore it.

 

[jazzcat22]

He is not a free agent.

Yes I know that. I guess I should have added the disclaimer...if he is released...

 

[waving monkey]

I couldn't know how set the FO is in their FA spending ways but we all saw how sorry the BU swing tackle was.
A rookie takes too long to become reliable.If there ever was a time to jump the shark this is it.

 

[Stash]

Thomas is past his prime.

I'm not sure that I can say either way, but what I do know is that he's so much better than our current starting safeties that he would still be a huge upgrade.

 

[Sydla]

I agree on both. But I also see the value in a guy that plays all 3 spots. The question is what is the limit?
I sure don’t think you can pay him 6-9 mil and I want to keep him

Let me be clear.......... I would like to have Hitchens back myself. But if I have to pay him $7MM a year for 3-4 years, that's cap insanity to me because 1) he's not that good 2) he may not even be a starter for you.

I just don't understand the Hitchens love where people are perfectly content handing him what would essentially be an "elite" level type ILB contract. $7MM a year? He'd be the 6th or 7th highest paid ILB in football. Yeah. No.

 

[Sydla]

This draft isn't deep at LB so if you need to replace Hitch then you'll need to spend a 1 or 2.
Quite frankly I'd prefer to spend them at different positions.

Finally I'd rather spend 6m on Hitchens than 4m on a bum like Nolan Carroll.

Except you wouldn't be spending just $6MM on Hitchens, you'd be spending $6MM on him for multiple years.

Again, $6MM a year would make him a Top 10ish paid ILB. He's not nearly that good.

 

[tm1119]

For sure. The philosophy has been to save cap space for our own guys. That will get tested this year with D Law and Hitchens set to hit the market. Martin is set to get paid too. IMO-- they need to keep all 3 guys and then continue to draft well. After next year we can clear Romo (and probably Witten and Dez) off the books and have some decisions to make about Dak/Zeke long term.

IMO-- for 2018, we need to protect ourselves at OT, LBer, S, and get some new blood in at WR. We can accomplish doing that without over-paying for a high priced FA. The two positions I would consider spending on would be a quality vet OT or a legit speed #2 WR.

Tell the Eagles, Patriots, and Jaguars that being big players in free agency doesn’t work out...

 

[Sydla]

Now after saying all of that, I did some digging and I think I could live with a deal like AJ Klein got in New Orleans.

4 years, $24MM, $9MM guaranteed. The fourth year is a wash year with only $1MM in dead money. Cap hit in Year 1 was $2.8MM, then grew to $5.2M in Year 2 and $6.0MM in Year 3. Year 4's cap hit is $10MM but you can cut him and save $9MM.

This might be my limit with Hitchens.

 

[Verdict]

Let me be clear.......... I would like to have Hitchens back myself. But if I have to pay him $7MM a year for 3-4 years, that's cap insanity to me because 1) he's not that good 2) he may not even be a starter for you.

I just don't understand the Hitchens love where people are perfectly content handing him what would essentially be an "elite" level type ILB contract. $7MM a year? He'd be the 6th or 7th highest paid ILB in football. Yeah. No.

Agreed. You have to figure out what he is worth to the team relative to the cap and not exceed that number. He is a quality backup/marginal starter right now that is a little bit limited by his lack of overall speed.

He does have the ability to read a play though and his functional speed is slightly better than his actual timed speed. Just don't pay him starter money unless it is low end starter money. If they want to pay him low end starter money, he might be worth it for his ability to play any LB position and not suck at any of them.

Then again theoretically you can find another similar player in most drafts in the 4-6th rounds.

 

[Verdict]

Now after saying all of that, I did some digging and I think I could live with a deal like AJ Klein got in New Orleans.

4 years, $24MM, $9MM guaranteed. The fourth year is a wash year with only $1MM in dead money. Cap hit in Year 1 was $2.8MM, then grew to $5.2M in Year 2 and $6.0MM in Year 3. Year 4's cap hit is $10MM but you can cut him and save $9MM.

This might be my limit with Hitchens.

Personally I think that is too high for what he brings to the table.

 

[Sydla]

He'll be in Washington D.C. for sure. Dan Snyder loves signing former Cowboys.

As the highest paid ILB in football. LOL.

 

[Sydla]

Personally I think that is too high for what he brings to the table.

What Klein got would be the upper limits of what I would even think about paying him. Ideally, I'd like to get him for less than what NO got Klein for. However, $9.4MM in guarantees isn't that tough a pill to swallow. What I fear is a deal where they hand over like $14MM in guarantees and back load the hell out of it and three years from now, he has like an $8MM dead hit and is basically our 4th or 5th LB.