NorthHawk wrote:Like it or not, our Defense is going through a transition or rebuild, whatever you call it.
Falling apart is not a transition. If Earl and Sherm are done, the defense is mostly done.
They have to change the salary structure from heavy Defense to a more balanced spending formula and we will lose some real good players from injury and FA, too.
They have to make some adjustments, but they don't need balance. They need to keep their best players like every team does. That costs money.
Mike Bennett suggested he might not be back next year citing the team is getting younger. I don't know if JS or PC suggested something or if he's just reading the tea leaves but there are others.
Bennett is getting old and slowing down. They'll assess what he still has in the tank.
Sheldon Richardson wants to test the FA market. I don't think we have the money for him.
Sheldon didn't have the same impact as losing Kam. He can walk if we can't get him for a cap friendly deal. He's good, but not irreplaceable like Sherm or Earl.
Kam and Cliff won't be playing for us if at all.
Kam shouldn't have been extended. Shows Pete and John can't make hard decisions Belichick. They need to fix that. Avril needs to think of his long-term health.
Sherman might not play much and might not be the player he was. Maybe he'll surprise us all and not miss a beat, but it's a tough injury to come back fully from in one off season.
Not from I recall. Achilles tendon injuries are fairly quick and easy as far as injuries go. It isn't a knee or broken leg.
There's talk of moving KJ Wright because of salary cap and him maybe losing a step.
KJ is good, but replaceable, especially with Norton Jr. back. We find Norton Jr. a decent talent, he'll make them a great LB.
That's almost half the Defense that's in doubt and the combination of skills and desire that these guys had will be hard to find again, so I think ET might be expendable in a
rebuilding year or two years. It started last year with all of the DB's selected in the draft and maybe some of those guys can take the next step, but nobody will ever be the combination
of ET and Kam at Safety along with Sherman at CB. With a slightly different formula, ET might be expendable in Pete's mind.
This is not a rebuild. You miss the playoffs by a game partly because a kicker was so bad he cost you a couple of games, you don't rebuild. This team is still very much in contention. They need some moderate adjustments.
Pass rusher will have to be high on the Defensive list in the Off Season. Someone will have to create pressure up front for our DBs to play their best considering the loss of talent in the backfield.
Frank Clark is becoming quite a good pass rusher. We do need more pass rush help. That's where they should focus. Pass rush help and the other half of Earl and Sherm. And another good SLB.