Ok, so when the dust begins to settle here, It seems like Miami is retooling with some guys that will not break the bank but seem to be decent replacements for what we have lost.
DL and OL seem to be what Miami will draft and/or trade for once the draft is over.
Back to the QB discussion: Miami is still in discussions with Tua's camp for the extension, and considering the way Greer has worked in the past with these situations, I think a deal will be the type Miami has used in the recent past with some players: It will look huge on paper, but have some decent "outs" if Tua takes a step backward ala the X Howard contract. If Tua excels then he will be one of the "restructure guys" to make Miami cap compliant. In any case, I don't think Miami goes QB shopping this year. More likely 2025 or 26 (figure no matter what this QB room will have one of the two backups off the roster to bring in a draft guy in 2025)
Back to the "scorecard"
Offense
QB: Waiting on Tua's extension. Backups seem in place
RB: Ahmed resigned. RB room unchanged as of now.
WR: Top 3 guys still here. Other 4 pending.
TE: Upgrade with J Smith and Fortson. 1-2 spots still up for grabs
Oline: Some guys brought in, but more guys still needed.
Defense:
LBs: retooled. Maybe still need one more in the draft
DBs: well, what a difference a day makes. The secondary looks improved vs what we had last year.
DLine: We've added some pieces and depth. Still likely a position of need.
So: Draft looks like Oline, D line, and maybe LB/pass rusher (maybe a guy who can be both).
I kind of see Miami going Defense with this draft. They need to considering some of the defense is going to have to be on rookie deals when Holland and Phillips get extended. I see either a LT that can play guard or a developmental guy later in the draft. This line needs guys who can move.
You have a couple of these posts, I thought I would use it since these kinds of posts are usually productive
QB: Forget about Tua for a minute, why is Mike White on this team? $5M in 2024...we have Skylar, we could draft another back up, White is terrible.
$5.2M right there, wasted resources IMHO
-BTW: Why did Ross tamper with Brady which ended up costing us picks if Tua is really a franchise QB? "You don't have to answer that"
RB: They don't spend $ here, I'll give them that. Mostert and Achane were fun to watch but I'm not sure Miami should continue to bank on 32 yr old Mostert and Achane so far does not look like a workhorse RB, Mostert was injury prone throughout his time in SF, Miami has been very lucky so far. Ahmed and Jeff Wilson will be here again. Injury prone RBs can disappear quickly. We spend less than $8M-$10M for the whole lot
WR: $31M on Hill, $8.6M on Waddle, not all rookie contracts are cheap but I outlined his mkt value right now is over $27M and rising...not many WRs have ever gotten an extension after 3 seasons but Waddle cost 2 first Rd picks and most people like him, I felt the injuries slowed him down a lot last season, would like to see him have a true Pro Bowl level year but if that happens his stock rises even higher. Is Waddle worth $25M per year right now? Hear me out because no matter what, extension/no extension, he must play out the 4th year of his rookie contract so the money wouldn't kick in a lot until '25 and '26 and since we lost Wilkins and Hunt, You can guess which way i lean here but since Miami is in a partial rebuild, I'm not sure I want to commit money anywhere right now. Who is No 3 on this team? To compound the problems, Miami is top heavy and has little depth
TE:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJo01.htm
He won't be getting as many targets here, not sure what everyone is so excited about. He had 8 TDs in 2020, his avg is about 2-3, his targets went from 45 in '22 to 70 in Atlanta last year
He might be better than Smythe but he had 28 and 27 catches in the 2 seasons before Atlanta, I would say his run blocking is welcome, but he doesn't move the needle for receptions.
He helped block for Henry in Tennessee and then Stephenson looked pretty good at times in New England the last couple years
OL: LT and RT seem like they are in decent shape, yeah we need a good back up or swing type that can fill in when either of them misses time.
I was shocked at Austin Jackson and still would like to see him remain consistent since he has Tua's blind side. Armstead has started 23 games out of 34 possible starts.
Odds are high he won't play 16-17 games at LT this season.
-The IOL is all over the place right now. I'm not convinced that Brewer will 100% play Center, he logged a lot of snaps at RG/LG, Miami could still draft a Center,
Connor Williams has not been scooped up yet, maybe he'd like to come back for a 1 yr deal and rehab that ACL, maybe he starts the year on the PUP, I'm keeping an open mind
Your Defense...i would break it up into one more Sub category
Edge: 2 starters down with injury, AVG is gone, Shaq Barrett replaces him and this year there is only $1M salary difference, granted Shaq is a 1 yr deal.
DL: Depends on the scheme but Sieler is your entire starting DL right now, don't consider the scrubbs they are signing much more than camp fodder if they make the team.
Actually Benito Jones did start 15 games for the Detroit Lions last year, only 1 sack, 6 QB hits but I am betting he is a pure NT and at 335-350 lbs(I looked it up), he's there to stuff the run
They need a few more bodies here for sure.
LB: I didn't think Baker was that bad last year but I spotlighted him when i went over the cap numbers last couple pages, knew he was on the cut list with Ogbah and X
Long and Brooks should do pretty well inside at LB, Duke Riley is still hanging around somewhere, maybe he's the AVG fill in at Edge/OLB, he cannot cover well.
DB-Ramsey and Holland should be enough to put a lot of pressure and force QBs away from them, that does make it somewhat easier to know who needs help in double coverage
Fuller that was signed, some seem to think he's pretty good. Kohou and Needham are both back, slot WRs should not find it easy to throw and catch on us.
Miami needs IOL/Swing Tackle and DL help in the Draft or anyway they can find it, it's not good when both sides of the line look shaky at best.
I also think they need Edge help but this isn't the Draft for that IMHO, there will be someone at 21, Grier got burned on Harris in the 1st Rd, I doubt he picks Edge
There are several DL prospects, whether they are there at 21, who knows?
21-55-158...