[The Goat]

I think the plan exists and sort of is a two-phase concept. We saw phase one within about 48 hrs of FA. Al and Hall were preconceived and then Dock just fell into our laps like a gift from the Almighty... like Hall did last season. I bet that if Dock wasn't cut we'd have signed a different OL guy rather quickly, maybe the kid Willis. As it turned out I think we did the right thing.

Phase two requires patience. We don't have oodles of cash to spend and frankly there isn't a plethora of coveted talent on the market anyway. We'll get Daniels or another serviceable LDE, however I'd prefer big D back. I feel very confident we sign at least one more OL guy in FA; however, it won't surprise me if we wait till after the draft as it's predictable more quality vets will be cut due to their salary and the simple fact teams will have drafted franchise OTs. Where I see uncertainty is at OLB. Contrary to some of the talk I don't think there's a ton of depth and talent at the position in this year's draft. That means we have less to choose from, it also means other teams have less to choose from so they're less likely to part w/ expensive veterans we could sign and get a few productive seasons from. For this reason I think Vinny's smart move is to take an OLB w/ our first pick. Maybe a tweener OLB/DE as GTripp has mentioned.

As to the long-term... pfff, there's no plan. We've got an unproven HC and a QB yet to establish his franchise status. I think JC makes big progress via Zorn's tutelage this season, which obviously helps the offense. But the question mark(s) at WR are undeniable and w/o serious improvement from that group we won't be a contender for anything. Success allows for a plan. Continued struggles probably engender another changeover at HC/QB. As the Zen master says...