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Quote:

Originally Posted by VeveJones007 (Post 53227)

Agree with pretty much everything, Sherck, except I'm not paying $10/MM a year for Melvin. He was good in 2017, but not elite. I would have a limit of about $8MM/year on him. If he finds a better deal elsewhere, then I move on.

That is fair; there are a number of free agent CBs hitting the market this season so if Ballard offers at $6m - $8m a year contract to Melvin and he declines in order to test the market, we could find someone else.

Full time starters who are UFA and have had pretty good careers so far:

Prince Amukamara, CHI, 29 years old
Malcolm Butler, NE, 28 years old
Aaron Colvin, JAX, 26 years old
T.J. Carrie, OAK, 28 years old
Ross Cockrell, NYG, 27 years old
Kyle Fuller, CHI, 26 years old
Trumaine Johnson, LAR, 28 years old

Full time starters who are UFA with more "up-and-down" success or "one year wonders:"

Bashaud Breeland, WAS, 26 years old
E.J. Gaines, BUF, 26 years old
Rashaan Melvin, IND, 28 years old
Nickell Robey-Coleman, LAR, 26 years old

If Melvin wants to test the waters, there are a lot of other options out there for a veteran leader for our secondary.

Walk Worthy

Shutdown corners are going to start getting contracts in the $15 mil + range, given how high the salary cap is these days. $10 million for a solid starter is not that much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatDT (Post 53217)

We might do more even front looks but I am guessing there will still be odd front packages. Eberflus followed Rob Ryan to a couple different jobs so I'm sure principles from that defense will factor in. You can compare Pagano's defense to that in some ways, and our current players are familiar with it, so it seems logical they'd run a hybrid with perhaps more emphasis on 4 down linemen and less two-gapping.

Hoosier, no, I haven't seen a single thing in Sheard's game that makes me think he could play MLB. Honestly the idea seems pretty bizarre to me, to the point that I wonder if maybe you meant someone else.

I think our DL has a fair bit of talent and will transition fine. Though Ridgeway seems like the weakest link there. We could really use another edge player, I like Chubb for the #3 pick.

Agree that Simon can probably play a SLB role, though I expect it would be closer to the role Bruce Irvin played for Seattle than anything we ever saw in Indy. He plays well away from the line, but he has pass rush skills and would be a dangerous blitzer or on the line in Under formations.

We don't have a Sean Lee-type on the roster so I'd look for the Colts to draft one of the top 3 ILB/MLB prospects this year. Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds (really like that dude), or Rashan Evans. Some have mentioned Leighton Vander Esch, who we could probably get for way less of a pick than the other three, and supposedly this new DC is a great talent developer at LB.

I'm not certain what to expect from the 3rd LB in a base in this new defense, and as strong as our DBs are I think we could see a lot of nickel anyway, with Geathers or whoever moving down when we have 5 on the line. I suppose that guy Griffin you guys are talking up could fit that kind of role but to me that is one of the least-simple positions to project.

I am really high on our DBs regardless of what scheme we move to. I do wonder a little if Melvin is a contract-year performer, can he play near that level once he gets paid? But overall I like the starters and depth a lot.

It has been a while since our defense had an identity, hope we get back to something positive there.

There are some impressive one gap interior linemen in this draft. Starting with Maurice Hurst. I would not be surprised to see us go after one in the 3rd or 4th. Depending on what we do at the top of the draft.