Albert Haynesworth

It's a mistake. Get over it.

It's not going to be easy to replace 14.5 sacks at one spot, much less adding talent across the line to make up for it. But can we be a better team? Sure. The franchise isn't going to fold in April if Peppers becomes a Bronco.

I like how disagreeing is "pretending to be stupid". You have no idea what moves the team will make so you can't say they'll automatically be less talented or have a worse ranking.

 

Nor would the franchise fold if Steve Smith demanded a trade, but pretending that it doesn't make your team worse is silly. And you're not just disagreeing, you're saying stupid things because you're intent on furthering an agenda. Clearly and unquestionably the defense will be less talented without Peppers simply because the guy is arguably the most talented defensive end in the NFL. It doesn't end the franchise, no, but it makes the job of competing far more difficult when you lose a player of that caliber. The defense would clearly be better with Peppers than without him. The team would clearly have a better chance to win with him than without him.

 

it alone makes you worse. Things don't happen in a vacuum and the team will try to improve. To say definitively they will not is foolish.

oh, so we're going from you deciding what I really believe, to telling me about a conspiracy I'm involved in. What conspiracy is it I'm furthering?

 

yes!

another thread, fucked!

 

right?

 

Saying that they won't try to improve certainly would be foolish. Thank god I never said anything remotely like that. In fact, I was very clear that they will try to improve what they can, but it's not like there's a Peppers clone available in free agency or the draft that we can just get instead. You don't replace that kind of loss, you just try to minimize the damage with the additions you can make.

 

perhaps we get two players a little less talented that Peppers to net an overall gain in production, wherever you choose to allocate them (de, dt, db).

he's a great player, and a superb talent. i think we're all still a little emotional about our golden child looking around at other options. we'll see.

 

you said they would not improve. I never intimated that you said they wouldn't try. I don't think that saying definitively what the big picture will net, before anything's happened, is worth having this hardassed "there's no question" stance on.

 

As for talent, with no first round pick and losing Peppers (along with potentially losing Lucas for salary cap reasons), yes you can go ahead and say that the defense will not be as talented in 2009. Whether or not the team will give up fewer points is at least debatable, but the idea that you can lose Peppers and improve your defensive production is highly unlikely.

 

About as unlikely as Arizona getting to the Super Bowl.

Hey wait a minute.