A. Thomas vs. L. Fletcher

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

By the way, this business of "knowing the system" is really overrated. London Fletcher "knows the system" in Buffalo but they are not falling all over themselves to keep him. Guess that shows how critical "knowing the system" must be.

Yet another brilliant point that seems to have been overlooked by many, including me. I've generally been in favor of the idea of bringing in Fletcher -- he's a veteran, he knows the system, he makes a lot of tackles, and seems to be an affordable upgrade. Yep, I've fallen in line with the "conventional wisdom" on him.

But it doesn't take a football wizard to ponder the question of a player's actual value when he's no longer wanted by his own team. Barring a personality conflict with coaching or the organization, have we fallen into the trap of thinking that we can solve all of our problems by sifting through the trash cans of other teams? Not saying that Fletcher is "garbage" in the literal sense, but ... the question has to be addressed.

When a franchise like the Redskins makes 'dumpster diving' a chief form of personnel acquisition, how good do you honestly expect your team to be when you've stocked your roster with players from teams that aren't any good, and aren't desired by anybody else?

Maybe Fletcher will be the exception to the rule.