mayoclinic

I've thrown this idea out a few times, but no one has bitten so far, so I'll throw it out as a thread.

Now that we have cap room and a ton of draft picks, does anyone think it makes sense to do the following:

1. Sign Terrell Suggs to a long-term offer sheet. His franchise tag is $10.2M. He's 26, and arguable the best 3-4 OLB in the NFL not named DeMarcus Ware. BB reportedly loved him coming out of college. Would reunite him with Adalius Thomas. Would cost us #23 in 2009 and our 2010 1st (probably #28-32).

2. Trade one of our 2nd round picks back to re-acquire a 2010 1st round pick. This would likely be #34 or #47.

3. Be left with #34/47, 58, 89 and 97 on the 1st day to spend on draft picks.

We would presumably move AD to SILB, leaving us with Suggs-Thomas-Mayo-Woods/Crable as our starting LB corps. Not too shabby. I could see us still going for someone like Connor Barwin if we managed to keep #34 (or Sintim or English at #47), using Woods as a one year stopgap. Suggs-Thomas-Mayo-Barwin would be unreal in a year or so. We could use the remaining pick on a DB such as Patrick Chung or William Moore (presumable Sean Smith and Louis Delmas would be gone by #58).

For those baulking at Julius Peppers, Suggs is younger, has 3-4 OLB experience, and with a $10M cap hit could probably be signed to a long-term deal. The chance of getting a Suggs/Ware caliber OLB would be a rare opportunity.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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j00fek

his tag is 17m

mayoclinic

That's for Peppers, not for Suggs. Here's a link:

Ravens place franchise tag on Suggs -- baltimoresun.com

Baltimore compromised with Suggs in 2007 when they first tagged him, splitting the difference between the LB and DE tag numbers. His 2008 tag hit was 120% of his 2007 salary.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

PATSNUTme

We now have $16.6mil in cap space not including the J. Sanders signing, according to Miguel. There is still a lot of work to do.

Who wouldn't want Suggs, but it would come at too high a price.

j00fek

guess i mixed em up, but still it wont happen

Rob0729

First, you have to assume that Suggs' contract demands aren't too out of whack and the Pats can offer him a contract that the Ravens wouldn't match.

Second, you gotta hope the Ravens are willing to trade one of the Pats' second round picks to save the first next year. Besides, if the Pats have to give up the 34th this year, I would rather give up the first next year since this draft is supposed to be deep at the top.

mayoclinic

Here's another wild thought.

If the Pats knew that they wanted to sign a franchised player to an offer sheet (such as Suggs) then it would make sense to trade Cassel for a high 2nd rather than a 1st. With 2 2009 1sts they would have to give up both picks if they signed a franchised player. With only one 2009 1st and #34, they would give up their 2009 and 2010 1st, and then could trade one of their 2nd round picks into 2010 (which would probably end up higher than the Pats original 2010 pick). They would actually end up better off than if they had acquired a higher pick.

Just a thought. Suggs is the only franchised player I can think of for whom this would work - possibly Dansby, but I doubt it. Peppers could be had for less given Carolina's cap situation.

There is some rational explanation for the Pats doing what they did, and my guess is it will end up being something to do with them being smarter than the rest of the league, not dumber. This is at least a new one.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Patriot Missile

I would in a heartbeat. Young, 26 years old, experienced in the LB positions and can fill in at defensive end. Something we may need next year when we let Seymour walk to try to sign Wilfork and Mankins.

To be honest I don't know why we are talking about Peppers when we should be talking about this guy.

Rob0729

Actually, I am pretty sure you do not have to give up any picks you received in trade unless you want to and the other team wants to. So if the Pats got a first rounder for Cassel, it still would be the Pats' first this year and the Pats' next year not both the Pats' firsrt this year.

Rob0729

I would strongly consider it, but it would depend on what Suggs wants and if the Ravens were willing to trade for less than two first rounders. I don't think any OLB is worth 2 firsts.