Core players

And keep Wharton? What is Wharton worth?

What if we think he's too much, too?

 

I thought Gross was a stud as a rookie, right up until he got abused by Willie McGinest in the Super Bowl. That being said, he's been a disappointment ever since and the thought of giving Steinbach/Leonard Davis money to Gross makes me nauseous.

 

It makes me kinda sick, too.

But would giving Steinbach / Leonard Davis that same money make you happy?

The market has been pretty well laid out.

 

Bridges was okay at RT. Maybe he can get even better, and I believe the zone blocking suites him better than power blocking (even though some would disagree because of his size). I hope we have the sense not to give Gross top-dollar money. Jeremy could hold that spot down until we find a better replacement.

And yes, if we resigned him, it would be for a shit-load of money.

 

No. I wouldn't give Leonard Davis half that money. I mean, really -- other than being big, what has he ever done? He's as big a bust as Mandarich ever was, IMO.

 

Still - even IF ( big fat IF ) Bridges suddenly becomes as effective as Gross ( he is NOT currently ), we have Wharton FA as well.

I kinda think we gotta give it to Gross.

I hate it, but I don't see what we do if we DON'T keep him.

Somebody tell me what we do in 2008 if we don't.

And tell me why Wharton will be less than $6-$8 million per if he has a good year - good enough for us to really want to keep him over Gross.

And tell me what we do if we don't keep either.

Fact is - tackles cost alot of money.

 

I would do that before I gave Gross a ton of money. If you look around the league, teams can win with average RT's. The Jets won 10 games with Anthony Clement. The Saints had Jon Stinchcomb. Dallas had Colombo. Tony Pashos in Baltimore. I don't believe any of these guys are much better than Bridges. The premium should always be on the blindside. It would be a bad business decision to give a right tackle that kind of money.

But I won't be shocked if it happens.

 

Then you won't likely be happy no matter what we do, because THAT's the market now. And I agree I don't like it. Not liking it is not a solution, though.

Any pro bowl Tackles gonna be UFA next year? That are 27 years old?

Any 27 year old 5 year starters with zero injury history gonna be UFA next year? Besides Gross?

They don't just come free. Teams keep them.

 

What about LT? Pay Wharton $7 million per? They're both UFA. Both will demand big time $$ based on last year's numbers.

 

The way the talk is here, there are about 20 7 mil a year type OLs in the NFL. Hard to believe. If we have 2 of them, then they must not be that rare.