The Front Office: Adam Peters and Roster Construction

I think there is still room to really fix WR. We could make a trade and sign Aiyuk. We could sign Jennings and Aiyuk. Both of those would give us a really solid top 4. But I think we need to make two moves and I don’t see them doing that.i can’t help but wonder if contract length is the road block with Jennings.

And if Aiyuk IS the primary plan at WR 2, just give up the 7th and get him here for mini camp.

We may just be screwed at CB. I don’t know what other decent options there are.

And I can’t help but feel like Peters doesn’t see either of these positions as code red.
I think there isn’t only room to upgrade but almost every piece of it is replaceable. Terry included with his contract. The only one not replaceable is Williams at this point.
 
I think there isn’t only room to upgrade but almost every piece of it is replaceable. Terry included with his contract. The only one not replaceable is Williams at this point.

I 100% agree. I was just saying that we still have options to upgrade at WR, whereas CB looks like very slim pickings.
 
With what Luke did last year, I anecdotally remember a number of busted coverages. He had his chance to step up when Terry went down but Robbie Chosen came off the street and made a bigger impact than him as a receiver.
I remember one, really, plus a couple of big catches.

Was Chosen's use more an indication of McCaffery or Kinsbury's preference for veterans? How was Chosen used vs McCaffery? I was also only 1 game where Chosen was "more impactful"
 
With what Luke did last year, I anecdotally remember a number of busted coverages. He had his chance to step up when Terry went down but Robbie Chosen came off the street and made a bigger impact than him as a receiver.
Yeah this has left me thinking through the off-season:
was Luke on the brink of something special
did he never have a good trust with Jayden and he injury removed that opportunity
was he just not reliable to be where he should be in route running
was Chosen that reliable just coming off the street over Luke and Lane?
 
I’m sure teams are looking to shift veterans players post draft, AP needs to be on the phone tracking down some WR and CB options.

Solid draft with Sonny landing for us, still plenty of work to be done for AP to win me over.
 
I had high hopes for McCaffery, midway through his rookie season he was part of the offense and making plays. One of my favorite plays of 2024 was Jayden going to Luke as his 3rd option and whipping a pass to him on a crossing route for a big play. Of course the highlight was Jayden but Luke was on the field and producing.

But from that point on his snaps were limited and last season given every opportunity he failed to shine. I think the jury's in on Luke McCaffery. He gets the most of what he can on kickoff returns but he never appeared to be a threat to take it to the house. IMO he is on the bubble.
 
With what Luke did last year, I anecdotally remember a number of busted coverages. He had his chance to step up when Terry went down but Robbie Chosen came off the street and made a bigger impact than him as a receiver.
One busted coverage for sure on the pump fake to the flat that turned into a wide open stroll into the end zone for him (I’ll give him some credit for selling his block well). Had a 2nd that could have been, but I think he just found the right hole in the zone on what looked like a deep out. He had the really nice diving catch on a deep post (helluva ball), 3 wr screens, a sit route, the qb scramble drill catch with the nice catch on the sideline, and what looked like a good route to the back of the end zone.

Sort of to your point though, besides the post route and one of the receiver screens that was almost picked, he was pretty wide open in NFL terms on his other catches. Tough to tell how much of that was scheme, route running, poor coverage or a combo.

Overall, he did well with his targets, but it’s such a small sample size. I’m hopeful that he’s kind of a throwback to the past - due to his position switch and lack of experience - where the light would come on for receivers in their 3rd year.

Unless I’m missing something, I’m not sure I agree with your comment about Chosen. He recorded stats in 3 games: 4-4 for 36 yards, 1-4 for 17 yds, and 0-1.
 
With what Luke did last year, I anecdotally remember a number of busted coverages. He had his chance to step up when Terry went down but Robbie Chosen came off the street and made a bigger impact than him as a receiver.
Part of me wonders if that was a Kliff thing just based on Kliff's absolute refusal to play Hartman even when the season was clearly over. Hell, Kliff decided he wanted to sign people off the street ahead of playing Hartman. Maybe he was just risk averse and thought Chosen being the vet was the safer bet.
 
Part of me wonders if that was a Kliff thing just based on Kliff's absolute refusal to play Hartman even when the season was clearly over. Hell, Kliff decided he wanted to sign people off the street ahead of playing Hartman. Maybe he was just risk averse and thought Chosen being the vet was the safer bet.
Are we certain Hartman not playing was strictly a Kliff move? I was under the impression DQ was invloved
 
Part of me wonders if that was a Kliff thing just based on Kliff's absolute refusal to play Hartman even when the season was clearly over. Hell, Kliff decided he wanted to sign people off the street ahead of playing Hartman

Did you watch him play in the preseason?

I think someone off the street randomly might have been a better choice, like hey you psssst you ever play football before, come here have i got an offer for you.
 
I had checked out by the time we were awful and had no CB’s last year.

Did Viggers get any play? I’m assuming that if he did, he sucked, since we were so bad, but does anybody recall?
 
I had checked out by the time we were awful and had no CB’s last year.

Did Viggers get any play? I’m assuming that if he did, he sucked, since we were so bad, but does anybody recall?

Viggers struggled in the preseason, struggled in the joint practice against NE.

But he was lights out against this team's scrubs at WR during camp, I saw that in one practice myself back then and commented on it in real time.
 
The thing that I hope this negative press does, is to get ownership to start asking questions and applying some pressure.

If I’m Josh Harris and I’m about to drop a $70 million dollar per year contract on a guy, I want him to have the weapons he needs.

Yeah its starting to become a bigger narrative. lol, not that i was first on this but I was on this point last summer and I got some pushback on it, still do a little. But its becoming more of a converstion now and i like it.

i don't think Peters is dumb. And i don't think he would love being tagged as a dude who won't take care of his QB.
 
Yeah its starting to become a bigger narrative.

Because we're eating it up so of course they're gonna feed it to us, thats how they get paid figuring out what we want to gobble up.

Had we drafted Tyson we'd be hearing the talking heads say we passed on an elite talent on a defense that was worst in the league last year for an injury prone reach and there would be total crickets on the "did we do enough to help jayden" front.
 
Yeah its starting to become a bigger narrative. lol, not that i was first on this but I was on this point last summer and I got some pushback on it, still do a little. But its becoming more of a converstion now and i like it.

i don't think Peters is dumb. And i don't think he would love being tagged as a dude who won't take care of his QB.

You know who I think would be the perfect complement across from Terry, with Williams in the slot? Tee Higgins. That would a really diverse and talented group.

I wonder if the bengals suck again this year, if they might give him up. I feel like they potentially got worse in the offseason. Boye Mafe is no Trey Hendrickson, and they had no 1st round pick.

Edit: Just for clarification, I was talking about in season, before the trade deadline.
 
You know who I think would be the perfect complement across from Terry, with Williams in the slot? Tee Higgins. That would a really diverse and talented group.

I wonder if the bengals suck again this year, if they might give him up. I feel like they potentially got worse in the offseason. Boye Mafe is no Trey Hendrickson, and they had no 1st round pick.

Edit: Just for clarification, I was talking about in season, before the trade deadline.

I might be up for a Mid-season trade for Higgins if its looking like its going to be a late first rounder. 😁
 
Because we're eating it up so of course they're gonna feed it to us, thats how they get paid figuring out what we want to gobble up.

Had we drafted Tyson we'd be hearing the talking heads say we passed on an elite talent on a defense that was worst in the league last year for an injury prone reach and there would be total crickets on the "did we do enough to help jayden" front.

Maybe. But speaking for myself, this doesn’t feel like some artificial narrative.

It’s more like preparing for a long drive through the desert—you don’t pack evenly. You overload on what keeps you alive. Water. Not food. When you’ve got a young QB you’re trying to turn into a franchise guy, you should overweight the offensive line and pass catchers. That’s the lifeline.

To me, Peters has only gone halfway there.

The best contrast is the Chicago Bears with Caleb Williams. They’re relentless about surrounding him with help. They already have Cole Kmet, and they still go get another weapon like Colston Loveland at TE. Then they add more depth. They don’t sit back and say, “we’re good enough at TE.” They just keep stacking. They draft Rousch. Same thing at receiver—they invest premium picks, repeatedly. And at the same time, they’ve built one of the top offensive lines in football, including adding the best center in the draft.

It’s an obsession with making life as easy as possible for your young QB.

Now, to be fair, Peters hasn’t done nothing. He deserves credit for improving the O-line and working through a weak roster he inherited. But some of the current holes are also self-inflicted—the Lattimore trade, and a 2024 draft where he had real capital and didn’t maximize it, especially at the top.

Peters clearly builds the roster holistically. He doesn’t treat a young QB like a special case—he treats him like the rest of the roster, like he’s already a finished product. So if WR ends up thin, it’s just “how the board fell or how FA worked out”

That’s the part that bothers me.

Because if you look at someone like Ryan Poles, it’s the opposite mindset. He’s not leaving anything to chance with Caleb. If there’s another weapon available, he adds it. Period. It’s aggressive, almost obsessive—and that’s exactly IMO how you maximize a young QB’s development.

Peters has done some good things, and overall I like a lot of this offseason. But he’s not operating with that same urgency when it comes to supporting Jayden. He’s not treating him like a fragile, high-value investment that needs to be insulated and accelerated.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 5, Members: 0, Guests: 5)

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.

    You haven't joined any rooms.
    Top