Musings on being "robbed" of our second rounder and why we do not need to trade back (necessarily)

The dictator has taken our second rounder. Fine! As some of us--not me, admittedly--realized very early on, there was little chance of us getting it back. Now, that Goodell has made that crystal clear, it is time to move on.

I see a lot of drafts forecasting us trading down. Making draft-day trades are much harder than we might expect, and the chances of landing our "robbed" second rounder are very slim, unless we drop to the end of the first round/beginning of the second round.

I am not of the volition that we need to make any moves to regain the pick. Quality over quantity is not such a bad option. Even with all our draft choices at our disposal, it would be difficult to fill all our needs. The draft has a certain ebb and flow that can prevent a team from being able to target every player it needs to address weaknesses on the team. So, I do not know that Sean, Mickey and the team will approach the draft as if we have to make a trade to gain more picks. Of course, I am sure that if there are good trades available, they will consider it if it helps the team. But I do not think they will act out of desperation to make a trade.

And why should they? Eric Fisher, Jarvis Jones, Dion Jordan, Star Lotulelei, and/or Barkevious Mingo might fall to us. Should we pass on a potential impact player just to move back and add another pick? I do not think so. This draft has depth in some areas but it is not particularly strong. You can, for instance, add a NT later on in the third or fourth who might be just as good as the guy you land in the late first or second round. But that doesn't mean that the draft is strong overall.

I suspect that Mickey Loomis will be busy over the next few weeks getting the team cap situation figured out. The good thing is that we have moves that can easily bring about significant cap relief and put us into a position to make some moves. The even better news is that outside of Jermon Bushrod, we really do not have too many "need" moves to make. And to be honest, Bushrod might not be a "need" move with other quality tackles available. With Jake Long asking for an average of $10 million a season, it might not be such a bad idea to make a move on him. Even if not, and we decide to retain Bushrod for continuity, it will not prevent us from making any moves.

I bring this up because last year, we had a ton of players to sign and we little cap space. But we were able to make several moves to find some wiggle room and make some big moves going after Ben Grubbs, Curtis Lofton, Broderick Bunkley and David Hawthorne. The way I see it, we did so because we were without a first and second round draft choice and needed to use free agency to fill some of our needs. I am certain that we will take a similar approach. I do not think we have to go out after all big-ticket players. But adding a OT, a WR, a S, and depth at LB/DE might go a long way in helping us. If we signed Jake Long and targeted Mike Wallace as big-ticket players, and then added guys like Larry Grant, Ed Reed (big time player, but not likely to carry a hefty contract at this stage of his career), and a young DE like Ricky Jean-Francois or Jason Jones, then we will be fine heading into the draft. It would also allow us to concentrate on defense.

Let's say we grab Jones, Jordan, or Mingo in the first round, we can come back and get a backup NT like Brandon Williams in the third. In the fourth, we can take a CB like Leon McFadden, a safety like JJ Wilcox in the fifth, and then another guy either capable of playing the 5-technique or another 3/4 backer. In the sixth, take an offensive linemen and move on. Does it fill all of our needs? No, but it is not the end of the world Roger Goodell wants it to be for us. We will move on, we will build, and we rise again! And there's no amount of force that taking our second rounder can do to prevent us from becoming a force of our own!