Not sure if there's a story here or not. Good luck to him though...I always love a good redemption story when they unfold.

 

Maybe he can make the practice squad? Seems like a long shot he will make it as anything.

 

I am down for a project guy, but this is starting to get absurd. We now have three project guys - Perry, Bowden, and Locksley - at one position. I am completely fine with one project guy per position. To me, that makes sense. In this case, it should be Bowden, and that is it.

What happened by the end of last year was a direct result of having multiple project guys. The longer these potential guys hang on, the more likely we are to keep them. You start investing time, and they gain experience. Look what happened by the end of the year when Parker and Williams both were out. It may have felt overnight, but this didn't exactly happen overnight.

Williams got hurt early in the season. You could go sign a vet whose skills have eroded to the point where he could not get a roster spot and hope he learns the system quickly, or you could say, "next man up," and use Perry and Bowden more. It makes sense to roll with the next man up because these players have potential and have emerging skills as opposed to declining skills, and they are further along in knowing the system. Like, on paper, this makes sense.

The problem is that these guys are super raw and are now essentially learning the position on the job. Essentially, by standing pat, we doubled down, and when Parker got hurt, the problem was magnified. I cannot think of a worse situation for a young QB that having to play with a receiving group of people having to learn on the job.

You may think to cut them in that situation, but again, you've put yourself in a bad situation. Suppose, we wanna cut Perry and put him on the practice squad at the end of the season. Another team could see the time and development that we put into Perry, and snag him up off of waivers. Do you really want to cut a guy with a few games left that you invested a lot into and think has potential with only three games left into the season?

Ultimately, what happens is that these guys turn into "sunk cost" players. You never really want to cut them because they have potential, and we have invested time and resources into them. Here is the thing, odds are, these guys are showing improvement too - they are great athletes. Realistically, I think Bowden has the most realistic chance and upside as a WR. The rest can go.

 

I disagree. Perry and Bowden played special teams, receiver, a little RB and a little Wildcat QB. I do agree that we didn't need both, but I also agree with the franchise that there was enough talent there to let the experiment play out. Going into this season, I'd cut one of them or make them the practice squad QB (remember, practice squad was protected last season and may be this year as well). That's the only way Locksley fits into the mix past training camp...and I do not think he makes the team.

My bigger worry is Grant and Wilson- I really like both but we don't need both, and they're directly competing with Bowden and Perry. Now we have another speedster receiver entering the picture (forgot his name) and things are becoming very crowded in that slot position....ultimately where Gisecki was getting the most snaps. And of course, we're all talking Pitts as well. So I think several of those names don't make the final roster...I'd say Gisecki is maybe the only lock.

 

Grant makes me nervous every time the ball is in the air. His hands are unreliable at best. I do not view him as a legitimate WR. If you wanna roll him out a few plays to give him a bubble screen or jet sweep with the hopes of him breaking a big play, fine. He is a great returner, but does that warrant his salary? I would say, it depends. If we have the extra money, cool. But if we are looking to sign someone and we need space, he becomes one of the first names on the list to cut.

Wilson is a totally different story. I think that at times, he looked good. Some of the free agent WRs that are out there had me thinking to myself, "Is this guy really that much better than Wilson at 1 year/$5 mil/$3 mil guaranteed?" Currently, I think he is the third best WR on our team behind Parker and Fuller.

In my mind, Wilson is a fallback option that gives us some flexibility in the draft. There is no doubt in my mind that we are taking a WR in the draft, but Wilson gives us flexibility at the #3 spot. We certainly could grab Sewell or Pitts there, and look to grab a WR at #18. If we went down this road, the worst case scenario would be that all three of the top receivers would be off the board at #18. If that is the case, we would not be forced to reach, and we could throw Wilson in the slot for a year.

If one of the big three do fall to us, or we use some ammo to jump back up to grab a replacement, Wilson could be traded during the draft or cut shortly thereafter.