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Originally Posted by SmootSmack
Nice thread.
My thoughts are that OL and LB will, and should, be higher priorities this off-season. Here's my take on each player
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I agree 100% and said expressed the same idea in another thread. Your player analysis for these guys was spot-on as well. a very nice read.
A few responses to some interesting points you brought up:
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Originally Posted by SmootSmack
Andre Carter: Until his restructuring, I thought 2009 would be his last year with the team. Now I'm not as sure.
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For what its worth, cap-wise, the restructure actually makes it easier to cut him after 2009. It also reduces the cap hit for keeping him so if he suddenly starts performing at a higher level, we can keep him at a lower rate (short-term, atleast).
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Originally Posted by SmootSmack
Jason Taylor: I think last year was an unfortunate fluke health-wise. He showed though in the few games that he was healthy how disruptive a force he can be. He's not getting any younger so that has to be taken into consideration. There's been a lot of speculation of playing him at linebacker and if the season started today I'd say he's the starting WLB (with Rocky moving to the strong side). I think he and AC can be effective on the field together, just not at opposite ends of the same line.
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a very very interesting idea... if we could restructure Taylor to lower his cap hit to 5.5M/year or less, i would be all for it. It would certainly allow us to postpone addressing LB for another year or two and focus more of our draft picks in 2009 and 2010 on the lines. However, if we cant get sign him to an extension with a lower cap figure, i think the cost vs. age vs. health vs. new position (4-3 OLB) makes keeping him too risky of an option.
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Originally Posted by SmootSmack
Lorenzo Alexander: If nothing changed between now and the start of the season personnel wise I'd start this guy next to Montgomery. That's as much an indictment of the lack of quality along the interior as it is a testament to Alexander's hard work and underrated skills. I was very impressed with him last year and think he's a solid 3rd DT.
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If Griffin is on the roster and healthy, theres no way i'd start Alexander over Griff... but id certainly consider allowing him to compete with Monty for the role. On the flip side, if we decided to cut ties with Griff, id be very comfortable with giving Alexander a shot there. One other move id consider (if we are able to keep Evans, Monty, Griff, and Golston) is moving Alexander (gasp) back to offensive guard. He seemed to be doing well there when he was a flex player and we only moved him to DT because, at the time, we had more depth at guard. Now, things are completely reversed. I'm not sure if its something Alexander would even want to do, but id atleast explore the option if we felt Alexander could start at RG for us in 2009. Otherwise, we're best suited to keep him on defense.
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Originally Posted by SmootSmack
DeMetric Evans: Here's another overachiever who has been a solid part of this team for a while now and has stepped in admirably when needed. That said, I'd let him go. He's a 30-year old jack of all trades, master of none and it's time to start cutting the cords on some of those guys.
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This is the only place where i semi-disagree with you. If we cut Evans, who do we have to take his place opposite Carter? We certainly dont have anyone in-house who can do the job and the FA market for DEs is very slim this year. Cutting Evans almost necessitates we use our first pick in the draft on his replacement, and id rather see us use that pick on an OT. If Evans is wanting an obscene amount of money, of course we have to let him go. But he's certaily productive and versitile enough to warrant extending (if the price is right).