thanks for the link.. i knew the DEs, but that seems to have a good rundown of every other position too. Too bad it doesn't have stats and such though :/
If we sign howard I think it might end up like hugh douglas, where he'd only work on 3rd downs, he'd be useless on counters and against many running plays and he'd be retired in a year.
fiore, vaghn, barrow, harris, springs, noble... those are the injury history guys we've gotten in the last few years. first 3 never played a down, next three had a great 1st seasons and very spotty 2nd seasons (noble never played, harris was awful, and springs was still good, but missed a good amount of playing time). Also once coles got injured he went from a great #1 to an average #1 (kennison level).
Its just a risk I wouldn't take on an older player. If he were 25 it'd be different. Lavar has missed 2 years due to an injury and just now is starting to look like he can be effective again. Daniels missed a year and came back to play the best ball of his career (while slightly out of shape) though, so there's always a chance he could be good. If he's near vet min its much easier to justify it cause if he sucks it up in camp he can be tossed without much thought. He's had 4.5 good years out of 6 though.
I'd want this guy:
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/302065
how many DEs get 80+ tackles in a year?