And please, I don't want anyone replying by saying "Reggie would never do that" or "Gruden is too stupid or set in his ways..." This is what I would do, not what I think THEY are going to do.
My philosophy in today's NFL is precisely what Fred mentioned in one of his posts: Since you can't play intimidating defensive football anymore, you must win with explosive offense. With the rule changes THIS year in particular, the most important positions on the field are now, in order of importance:
1. QB
2. WR
3. TE, RB
4. DE/Pass Rusher
5. LT
6. DT
7. CB, MLB
8. C, OG
So my plan begins here:
I'd fire Greg Olson and hire someone who could help me adapt my scheme to a rookie QB who's been playing in a joystick shotgun offense for 3 years.
I'd trade Carr for whatever I can get, which will probably be next to nothing, given his contract. There will be coaches out there who believe they can get a lot more out of Carr than Gruden can - and some of them will be right. Carr will go somewhere else and be a good QB, possibly even a great one. The problem with him here is that Gruden is forcing him to think WAY too much, and it's killing him.
I keep Cooper and have Nelson for another year, I believe. Keep McCarron at backup QB. let Jared Cook walk, he's too old to re-up.
I sign DE Trey Flowers, DT Sheldon Richardson, S HaHa Clinton-Dix, CB Ronald Darby, WR Stefon Diggs and TE Jesse James. That will put a HUGE dent in the available cap space and instantly make our team TEN TIMES BETTER than it has been this season. And every one of these guys should be signed to 4-yr deals.
Draft Justin Herbert. He's it. He's the fuckin' guy. Massive arm. Great athleticism. Unbelievable accuracy. Great timing. Impressive pocket presence, able to make a play out of nothing, confidence to burn. If we don't lose out the rest of the season we may have to package some picks to move up. But it shouldn't be too hard because the other teams that are as bad as we are have franchise QBs already - 9ers, Cards, Colts, Bills. The only threat would be NYG, who might be picking high enough to entice someone at the #1 spot to trade down with them. They'd have to give up the farm tho. But it doesn't matter, we'd make them a better offer, because this must be done. So I'd get it done.
After Herbert, best available WR. Either low 1st rd or high 2nd round. We've been dicking with this position long enough.. Time to commit serious capital to it.
After WR, best available RB. Not necessarily in that order, depending on how the value shakes out.
After that I'm looking hard for a smart - read: WHITE - LB, preferably MLB. Also OT. Then depth on the lines and some CBs and WRs to play with.
I'll add more thoughts later.