[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by ukcolt

Based on Smith's performance he wasn't significantly better than Goncalves, but i know Smith is capable of being a top 5-10 tackle in the league, he has already been that. He was playing with a bum knee most of the year, and yet still played as well as Goncalves.

I am not saying i dislike Goncalves, i thought he played really well for a rookie, and you would like to think that he will develop, but into a true top tier RT, like Smith has been, who knows? I just don't think you discard players who are amongst the best at their position, unless you know he has other issues that are not likely to get better, hopefully that is not the case though, but we don't know.

If we do release Smith, and start Goncalves at RT, i for one am not happy going into the season with Blake Freeland as the primary backup to both tackle positions. We would need to luck out on another mid round gem. And i think we have other holes that we desperately need to find draft picks to fill. Such as TE, Safety LB, and backup RB. As well as CB, backup NT etc.

Both of our starting interior defensive linemen are on the wrong side of 30 now, and the only player on the roster on the interior that i can say i am still happy to keep on the roster is Adetomiwa Adebawore, and he hasn't exactly proven to be reliable either. Davis and Bryan, are both unlikely to be back. Yeah you can bring back Dayo, and use him more to backup Buckner and stop trying to use him on the outside where he really hasn't been that affective, that might be one solution with the new defensive co-ordinator.

We have a lot of holes that we need to fill/upgrade.

I agree that we have many holes to fill, which is why I would part ways with Smith. It's better to get out on a player a year early than a year late, and having Goncalves means we have a starting caliber RT at a fraction of the price, and the money saved can be reallocated to address some of those roster needs. Backup OT is also a much cheaper position to fill than starting RT. I'd be willing to draft a rookie and let he and Freeland battle it out for the swing tackle spot if it meant Jevon Holland and D.J. Reed/Charvarius Ward were shoring up the secondary.