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Saban23
Coaching staff - we've upgraded massively with energetic leaders who coach, teach, and are said to be imaginative.
Player talent - we've upgraded significantly with the impressive rookies plus Whit, Woods, Barwin and of course a legit #1 in Watkins.
My fear at this moment is mostly cap related. How do we manage the Aaron Donald situation? I lean towards not giving him the deal yet but he's the best player on the team. How do we handle Trumaine Johnson and his crazy salary? Tavon Austin is way under-performing his contract and now he's hurt. Robert Woods got a nice free-agent deal for him, and quite rich for us. Sammy Watkins will be seeking big money next year. Ogletree is on the horizon of a negotiation, right? Not to mention until otherwise shown we are a 4 win team and still needing more pieces along the O-Line and other units.
How would you navigate this? Capologists, is this as daunting as I describe?
I don't see it as daunting at all.
TruJ is gone. They'll get a comp pick for him.
Tavon's cap number comes way down next year. If he's productive this year, he'll be tradeable. If he's not they can still cut him and save $3 mil. If he's very productive this year, they may choose to pay his $8 salary next year.
Ogletree is overrated IMO. He's not a bad player but he's not great. I would extend him if the price is right. The salary of the top 10 ILB is exactly at $6 mil. That's not an exorbitant amount. Will he be willing to sign something in that range or will he demand much more? If he wants much more, they should let him go.
Watkins needs to have a big year to demand or deserve big money. If he's healthy, he'll probably get a big contract. If he's not, he won't...
Donald is the only proven great player on your list. You prioritize getting him signed first and then Watkins if he stays healthy.
They also have several players with big contracts that may end up being cut or taking salary reductions: Quinn, Brockers, Barron, and Austin. There's a good chance that one or more of these four will be salary cap casualties. But that's not a concern IMO because none of them have been much better than average over the last two years.
They will have to use the draft to replace Tru and fill in on the OL and other wholes on the team.