[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Catching up on this one. Here's my .02 on several of the things being discussed:

Ballard - No question that Ballard is a MUCH better GM that Grigson, but damn near anybody would be b/c Grigson was completely incompetent.

I think we need to pump the breaks pretty hard on this Ballard is a better GM than Polian talk. When Ballard's teams start reaching Super Bowls (or have any playoff success at all) then I think we can maybe start having that conversation. As far as just drafting goes - I mostly agree w/ Chaos that you can have the conversation, but I do not agree that it's an absolute fact that Ballard is a better drafter. On top of just the amount of all-pros and HOFers that Polian drafted, you have to consider that most of his HRs were at premium positions. Whereas Ballard's haven't been. Something else that you have to consider is that during Polian's tenure the salary cap was more restrictive w/ no rookie salary limits in place, which made it much harder to keep your own and likely led to really good players like Mike Peterson, David Thornton, Steve McKinney being allowed to walk. Something else about Polian is that he tended to be more proactive is drafting replacements 1-2 years ahead of time (Diem and DeMulling in '01 are really good examples of this) while Ballard tends to wait until the vet leaves and tries to replace them w/ a rookie.

Overall though I do think Ballard is a good GM. He definitely drafts well. I do think his reluctance in FA and the fact that he gets scared shitless anytime another team is involved in pursuing a player is concerning. Let's say in a couple of years we're 1-2 players away and could fill that need(s) via FA. Based on his history I doubt Ballard will actually go for it and end up trying to fill the need(s) via the draft as always, which could lead to us missing our window.

Sneed - I'm pretty disappointed that he ended up at Tenn and not here, especially considering that they got him for peanuts w/ draft compensation. He did get signed to a big contract, but it wasn't outrageous. $19M AAV is tied for 7th most at CB and $55M guaranteed is 5th most at CB, which IMO isn't unreasonable considering his production and how much the cap went up this year.

Offseason so far - I would give us a C/C+ so far. It's great that we re-signed most of our own and added some depth at NT. But as of now arguably our weakest area (secondary) is actually weaker w/ the likelihood of losing Blackmon. We really need to replace him w/ a vet and IMO sign a vet at CB as well. Relying on mostly projects, 2nd year guys, and rookies in our secondary is a recipe for disaster IMO. We also need to add weapons in the passing game on O, but I suspect those will come in the draft.

Regarding Sneed, I heard two Nashville media personalities express concern about the fact the trade has not been officially completed, as Sneed has not yet inked the contract. Their concern is that the knees are a bigger issue than what was known, and that the Titans want a waiver as an out of the guaranteed money, and Sneed is not willing to sign it. if so, I am glad we passed on him.