Well, we can roll dice and hope one of the kids we drafted in 2013 can be an adequate substitute by 2015, tag Grimes, and draft another kid this year (hopefully with better scouting ability to nag an actually useful player).
Grimes was good but he definitely isn't one of those 'shut down one side of the field' type of players. He's not pre-injury Revis. He doesn't drop balls he gets his hand on, which, I admit, is a HUGE POSITIVE, but big receivers can box him out.
Maybe I'm underestimating his 'WAR' (wins above replacement, which is mostly a baseball term). Maybe I think other talented guys can approximate his performance for a lot less money. I'm just worried about the cap going forward. If this season shows that Ireland's work was total **** and this team has to be totally blown up, then we're gonna need that cap space REAL BAD. I'm optimistic that RT17 can take another step forward and that our offense can get better enough to get those 2 more wins, or at least one more win (which should be enough to make a playoff spot with this format) to make the playoffs. I'm confidant that our offensive line can improve enough to avoid those crushing sacks that flat-out got us beat in 4 different games last year, while allowing us just a bit more ability to run, which our passing offense needs to capitalize in play-action. Ireland just had to be the worst talent evaluator at offensive line, like, ever. Even Pouncey was over-drafted, IMO, and is better suited as a guard. Samson Satele was a starting center this year. Maybe he didn't block as well but he probably didn't tip off the exact second the ball would be snapped so that defenders got an extra half-step on us every play.
I'm just rambling now. I'm out..