As many of you already know tomorrow is the beginning of free agency. Although not as high-profile as last season's free agency period there will still be a number of very talented players hitting the streets looking for a big payoff or looking to find a great locker room and team. For those of you that are going to be looking to find their value on the open market I would like to share some things about the Orange County Otters organization.
1) Talent. The Otters have always been a talented squad. We have a number of highly active players like myself, Mike Boss, Bradley Westfield, Ian Bavitz, Julian O'Sullivan, Marc Spector, and Robert Phelps. The Otters are designed top to bottom to win games. We won the championship based on hard work and sound analytics. We want to do it again.
2) Maturity. Most of our members are all around 28-34 years old. That doesn't mean we don't have room for young players, or that they won't fit in. It just means that we are a team that takes the game seriously while also understanding that it is just a game, and people need to keep it light and have fun. We understand when work, kids, school, whatever it is gets in the way. We find ways to support each other and help our teammates succeed in the game while still prioritizing their real life. And we like a fun and sometimes a little trolly LR, but we don't tolerate people who are LR cancer.
3) Flexibility. The Otters have always been flexible when it comes to how we design our depth charts. We find a way to make sure our players get playing time and succeed even if it doesn't make much sense on paper. We were one of the first teams to start a safety at linebacker with Dominic Verns, and we made it work damn well. We happily let our pro-bowl DT transfer to LB because he wasn't having fun at DT anymore, we found a way to make it work. Don't be concerned about our roster and us not having room for you, we can make it work.
4) Loyalty. We firmly believe in drafting the best players and keeping them. The Otters usually don't trade players unless we truly believe that it is not only in the best interest of the Otters, but also in the best interest of the player. We have only made 2 trades ever. Once was Ethan Hunt (Gosh Jarden) who was not going to get playing time behind Mike Boss, so we sent him to a team where he could be a starting QB. The other was Waters who we knew was friends with loco and would be happier in the Las Vegas locker room.
5) Availability. Our front office leadership team is always there. Myself, Molarpistols, and Juosu are always ready and willing to talk strategy, builds, future games, free agents, trades, whatever. If someone shows an interest in taking on more responsibility we will happily allow them to join our front office staff and start learning more about managing the team.
Now that we've discussed the Otters and our culture and our philosophy I'd like to talk a bit about what we're looking for.
1) Activity. We want actives. Obviously the more you earn the better price you command. We're definitely willing to pick up low-activity free agents (see: Durden), but the salary would match the activity. If you're a top earner, we want you.
2) Personality. If you're a dick, we don't want you. A smattering of dickish qualities is fine (I mean, look at Clegane and myself). But really we're looking for intelligent, engaging, and overall good people for our locker room. We want someone who can hang out on our discord with us and talk about food, beer, football, music, movies, whatever. We want good people.
3) Positions. As stated above we will take just about any position out there. We firmly believe in bringing the person not the position. That being said, there are a few positions that we have a bigger need for. Defensive lineman (any type) is probably our #1 need right now. So if you like the idea of position switching to defensive lineman and want to be top of our depth chart please reach out to me at the beginning of free agency. We also have a big opening for running back. But really, we want anyone that we think embodies the Otter culture.
So, if what you read above sounds like something that matches both what you're looking for and what you can offer, than Orange County might be the place for you. I can't guarantee we can get you a ring in S5, there's a ton of great teams out there. But I can guarantee we will give it one hell of a shot. Hope to hear from some of you guys soon.
Otter Slaughter
GRADED
1) Talent. The Otters have always been a talented squad. We have a number of highly active players like myself, Mike Boss, Bradley Westfield, Ian Bavitz, Julian O'Sullivan, Marc Spector, and Robert Phelps. The Otters are designed top to bottom to win games. We won the championship based on hard work and sound analytics. We want to do it again.
2) Maturity. Most of our members are all around 28-34 years old. That doesn't mean we don't have room for young players, or that they won't fit in. It just means that we are a team that takes the game seriously while also understanding that it is just a game, and people need to keep it light and have fun. We understand when work, kids, school, whatever it is gets in the way. We find ways to support each other and help our teammates succeed in the game while still prioritizing their real life. And we like a fun and sometimes a little trolly LR, but we don't tolerate people who are LR cancer.
3) Flexibility. The Otters have always been flexible when it comes to how we design our depth charts. We find a way to make sure our players get playing time and succeed even if it doesn't make much sense on paper. We were one of the first teams to start a safety at linebacker with Dominic Verns, and we made it work damn well. We happily let our pro-bowl DT transfer to LB because he wasn't having fun at DT anymore, we found a way to make it work. Don't be concerned about our roster and us not having room for you, we can make it work.
4) Loyalty. We firmly believe in drafting the best players and keeping them. The Otters usually don't trade players unless we truly believe that it is not only in the best interest of the Otters, but also in the best interest of the player. We have only made 2 trades ever. Once was Ethan Hunt (Gosh Jarden) who was not going to get playing time behind Mike Boss, so we sent him to a team where he could be a starting QB. The other was Waters who we knew was friends with loco and would be happier in the Las Vegas locker room.
5) Availability. Our front office leadership team is always there. Myself, Molarpistols, and Juosu are always ready and willing to talk strategy, builds, future games, free agents, trades, whatever. If someone shows an interest in taking on more responsibility we will happily allow them to join our front office staff and start learning more about managing the team.
Now that we've discussed the Otters and our culture and our philosophy I'd like to talk a bit about what we're looking for.
1) Activity. We want actives. Obviously the more you earn the better price you command. We're definitely willing to pick up low-activity free agents (see: Durden), but the salary would match the activity. If you're a top earner, we want you.
2) Personality. If you're a dick, we don't want you. A smattering of dickish qualities is fine (I mean, look at Clegane and myself). But really we're looking for intelligent, engaging, and overall good people for our locker room. We want someone who can hang out on our discord with us and talk about food, beer, football, music, movies, whatever. We want good people.
3) Positions. As stated above we will take just about any position out there. We firmly believe in bringing the person not the position. That being said, there are a few positions that we have a bigger need for. Defensive lineman (any type) is probably our #1 need right now. So if you like the idea of position switching to defensive lineman and want to be top of our depth chart please reach out to me at the beginning of free agency. We also have a big opening for running back. But really, we want anyone that we think embodies the Otter culture.
So, if what you read above sounds like something that matches both what you're looking for and what you can offer, than Orange County might be the place for you. I can't guarantee we can get you a ring in S5, there's a ton of great teams out there. But I can guarantee we will give it one hell of a shot. Hope to hear from some of you guys soon.
Otter Slaughter
GRADED
Hank Winchester (S25 - Current) - Scrub
Angus Winchester (S1-S12) - 4x Ultimus Champ - #2 Career Sacks - Hall of Fame
Cooter Bigsby (S14-S23) - S23 Ultimus Champ - #4 Career Yards - #4 Career TDs - 2x MVP - Hall of Fame