Biggest decisions looming this offseason... Guess what, 2010 doesn't look that bad...

[Rononoa3000]

A. Cut Jake Delhomme, thus being on the hook for $12.7M spread out over the next three years (yes, we have to pay him that much even if he is terminated)?

Keep Jake(no need to pay a man for doing nothing), draft or sign a young QB so that he can learn from Jake.

B. Franchise or extend Julius Peppers?

Try to extend, if not trade if possible, he is way to much to franchise again

C. Depending on the new CBA, re-sign potential UFA's such as Thomas Davis, Tyler Brayton, Josh McCown, and Keydrick Vincent?

#1 priority: resign Davis, Brayton wants back in CAR and he has done a good job, I don't see him not back here. Cut McCown, offer Vincent reasonable amount( we have very good back O-linemen so he isn't all important)

D. Depending on the new CBA, tender pending RFA's such as Matt Moore, Richard Marshall, Jeff King, Rhys Lloyd, and James Anderson?

#2 priority: resign Matt Moore, reasonable offer for Marshall (can't pay him like Gamble), let King walk (sorry I like him but we are wasting the more talented Rosario and Barnidge), resign Lloyd of course (our future kicker), I think Anderson will be our starter at LB in place of Diggs (if not then Connor looks good)

E. Allow John Fox and Marty Hurney to keep their jobs, based on the Jake Delhomme debacle alone?

I think they come back, Fox has one year left on contract

F. If "No" to E, who do you bring in to fill one or both openings?

G. If "Yes" to re-signing Moore and "Yes" to A, who, if anyone, do you bring in to backup/compete with Moore going into the 2010 season?

H. Allow Muhsin Muhammad to become a UFA or retire?

Resign if he dosen't retire.

I. If "Yes" to H, who do you bring in to help the hurting WR corps?

Just for laughs: Trade Pep for Boldin

J. What do you do with the potential logjam at DT (2 people we traded future picks for (and they could possibly be RFAs depending on the new CBA being reached) and our #1 DT all coming back from IR)?

Kemo, Leonard, Tank, Lewis, and the Rook (forgot his name)

K. What are the biggest holes we will need to fill via the draft depending on how the rest of this alphabet shapes up?

Get Matt Moore some WRs (though it could be that the team is just not using the talent we have i.e. Jarrett, Martin, Moore, Barnidge) , OL depth, backup QB, pass rushing DE if Pep leaves, OLB if Anderson leaves, backup SS.

[rayzor]

A. Cut Jake Delhomme, thus being on the hook for $12.7M spread out over the next three years (yes, we have to pay him that much even if he is terminated)?

make it obvious that you are moving forward through the offseason making him an afterthought. draft a new guy, allow mccown to battle moore for the starting gig. make the competition as rigorous as possible and make the offense as intricate and complicated as possible. the team and jake will grow apart then when TC is over release him so the cap hit is spread out over a couple years.

B. Franchise or extend Julius Peppers?

get in communication with the cardinals. let them know that you are interested in boldin and see what they would want in turn...mention that you know they have several needs like ROLB. talk with peppers in the small window you have to get a deal worked out and tell him that they are talking with the cards about boldin and they are interested in getting help at OLB. tell him he is getting franchised one way or another and if he wants to leave he should make a cap friendly deal that the cards will bite on. if he wants to stay then we will look elsewhere for WR and get him to go cap friendly.

C. Depending on the new CBA, re-sign potential UFA's such as Thomas Davis, Tyler Brayton, Josh McCown, and Keydrick Vincent?

keep all of the above. mccown competes for the start but intention is for him to stay as backup. i'd much rather have him than jake given a choice. he has more long term upside. key becomes depth.

D. Depending on the new CBA, tender pending RFA's such as Matt Moore, Richard Marshall, Jeff King, Rhys Lloyd, and James Anderson?

keep all of them. sign them to cap favorable deals. none are liabilities. i would look to see who is available that can handle kickoffs and FGs but with the problem so many teams are having finding a good kicker i think i'd rather stay with what we have for the moment.

E. Allow John Fox and Marty Hurney to keep their jobs, based on the Jake Delhomme debacle alone?

already decided that they are staying. reports are that the call to give jake the extension came from higher up than them. lots of other reasons to move on but keeping them isn't going to bring the apocalypse. just get better with what we have.

F. If "No" to E, who do you bring in to fill one or both openings?

considering we have to wait one or maybe two more years...try to get jim harbaugh from stanford after he's been there a couple more years. let him pick his own staff. get a GM from the ravens staff.

G. If "Yes" to re-signing Moore and "Yes" to A, who, if anyone, do you bring in to backup/compete with Moore going into the 2010 season?

draft BPA, keep mccown, get best FA possibility or make small trade for troy smith since he wants out of baltimore. open competition for the starting gig. remember we are pushing jake out.

H. Allow Muhsin Muhammad to become a UFA or retire?

work a deal with the cards getting boldin for pep or try to get jason avant and some tall WR form somewhere. draft another WR on day one or early day 2. let moose stay if he signs for the vet min.

I. If "Yes" to H, who do you bring in to help the hurting WR corps?

see above

J. What do you do with the potential logjam at DT (2 people we traded future picks for (and they could possibly be RFAs depending on the new CBA being reached) and our #1 DT all coming back from IR)?

NT: kemo (without giving him the option), hollis, louis leonard

UT: Tank, Irvin, lewis (if there is room for him on the roster). give lewis only what he is due next year ($755k) and don't exercise the option. peppers (or best FA/draft pick available), johnson, brayton, brown at DE.

K. What are the biggest holes we will need to fill via the draft depending on how the rest of this alphabet shapes up?

WR, QB, return specialist, SAM, maybe safety depth (though not really a necessity), maybe DE if we lose peppers.

..

[holycrikey]

Do you:

A. No, hopefully Delhomme realizes his value is done to almost nothing now. Try to get him to restructure and come back on a two year deal as a backup. Let him retire with the Panthers. If not, I would give him a salute and say "Thanks for the good times" (aka, my avatar).

B. Extend him if he truly wants to be here. If he does, give him a 3-4 year contract, depending on how much he wants. Weren't there extension negotiations between Peppers and the Panthers before the deadline or whatnot? I heard he actually wanted to extend. If he is unwilling to extend, we go into last season mode. Franchise and try a trade. If not, just let the jerk walk. I'm sure the management (as well as all of us fans) are absolutely sick and tired of his crap.

C. Thomas Davis is a MUST re-sign. Brayton is solid, if unspectacular. We've found that we now have decent OL depth. Keydrick is not required, let him walk if he won't sign cheap. McCown is worth re-signing if the contract is right. He probably knows the playbook better than Feely and is worth a backup slot, nothing more.

D. Tender RFA's : Matt Moore (ab-so-freaking-lutely), Richard Marshall (yes), Jeff King (possibly. He's a good run-blocker but only a mediocre receiving TE. Plus, Barnridge has shown he is a much better receiving threat), Rhys Lloyd (not nearly as many touchback's this year, but he still drills it around the endzone each time. Yes) and James Anderson (given his performance as a fill-in, I don't see how you can't at this point, if he'll accept a somewhat lower offer)

E. I'm not sold on Hurney, but I think Fox is solid and if he were to enter the market, he'd be scooped up by another team within days. As I've said before, if he can remove his love for Delhomme and possibly expand to be a bit more liberal with his playcalling, yes, absolutely, yes.

F. If Fox isn't around, I'd have to say look young. I'm not sold on Cowher, I think Shanahan is interesting, but maybe even go with Marc Trestman of the Alouettes. Lots of NFL guys think he deserves an NFL head coach spot. His players love him. I know a lot of people will give me grief, but I really liked Mike Nolan and thought he just inherited an awful 49ers team.

G. I'd bring back Delhomme as the veteran leadership, keep McCown, and given our draft situation, draft unusually high (2nd/3rd round) for a QB, should one still exist at that position.

H. I love Moose, but his time is done. Hope that he sees it too and retires a Panther. If not, we've got to let him go. I know he hasn't had a good QB for the majority of the season, but it's just time to say bye. We've got to start young again at WR to help out the (now) aging Smitty. Smitty is our key and we need talent immediately to maximize Smitty's success.

I. Our draft is looking paltry. If we draft high for QB, that leaves only a mid-draft pick for WR's. Always draft a young WR. They may develop (let's not think of Jarrett...). Anyone have a list of WR's that have their contracts running up in the offseason?

Skip J.

K. Depending on all other issues, QB and WR will be lingering sore spots. It'd be great to bring in a mid to top level veteran WR (but still young... think 4-5 years in NFL) while drafting a rookie WR later in the draft. FS position still has me scratching my head. Martin or Godfrey? Who knows? SS seems solid with Harris, so long as he is healthy. I have never liked Na'il Diggs and think that Anderson should replace him, alongside a healthy Thomas Davis.

Let's not forget. Kasay is up there in years. How long does he want to continue to play? A new kicker is always a possibility, depending on what Kasay decides to do.