PRE Combine Mock with offseason and trade. Bear with me...

otherwise I’m pretty okay with it. But somebody like Seattle could take Clauson of are hands for say a 3rd rounder next year and a late pick this year.

If I had my way, we’d end up with Brockers in the 1st, and the top player at either OL or DB in the 2nd, and at some point, get LaMichael James, Demps or Rainey from Florida. I think Demps and Rainey are guys who could end up being like a poor man’s Darren Sproles on offense, but great returners, so maybe the 5th round or later. I hear Demps is training for the Olympics and might not even play football, though.

I’m also intrigued by Coples. If I was Hurney, I would be trying to decide between the best DL or OL for our pick, unless Claiborne was still available, but I doubt he will be. I could also see us taking a receiver with potential in the later rounds, but I don’t think it’s necessary. So I would go with Brockers, Coples, Claiborne or maybe Reiff or DeCastro with that first pick, and I wouldn’t think too much about trading back. The combine will hopefully separate some of these guys. I can’t wait to see who we bring to Carolina for a workout, and who’s Pro Days we visit.

Ditch Mare, too. Between the cap savings from him and Baker, we might afford to get Prater as a FA. He and Butler upgrade our Special Teams immeasurably, not to mention the 6-7th round salary for Butler.

We over-paid to keep Johnson. I’m not sure how viable a second year restructure might be but we need relief where we can get it.

After cutting TD, use minimum as a base with an incentive-laden contract. If anyone can ever come back from 3 ACL’s, he might be the one. He’s worthy of another opportunity; pay him if he can deliver.

I’ve seen mocks where either Blackmon or Claiborne fell to us. If either is available, nix the trade; otherwise, I like the additional picks. This is where I commit Panther heresy: if we get Blackmon, trade Steve Smith while he still carries value and free the cap space. I wonder if Goodson holds any trade value. {We might still get that 3 and 4.}

I still like Minnifield in the second. This is one of the deepest DT drafts in recent memory, but we may find serviceable DT’s from the 7 currently on roster; I love Shirley’s size, thought Kearse was promising, and have no idea what to expect from Edwards. I get the impression Rivera is going to make that move to 3-4 in the near future so we might already have our DT and last year’s #3’s might be capable of filling in as 3-4 DE’s; it also tracks with the DE’s he’s been picking up — the size of pass-rushing LB’s.

If Adams is still available in the fourth, take a chance on raw speed, although I prefer the versatility of Chris Rainey.

With Gross’s age and Otah’s fragility, make a run at OT’s. I don’t think Williams or Ziemba is the answer, although Schwartz might be. Jeff Allen or Nate Potter might fill the bill here.

Thomas is certainly viable as a 7th but I saw one scenario with AE as our #3 QB; it would give us one last chance to see that trade wasn’t a complete waste by way of a 3 or 4 WR. If that is a reasonable possibility for an emergency QB who already knows the system, use the 7th on another OT – Jones or Adcock; their skills may translate to OG.