Objection - assumes facts not in evidence. 1. "Other players have publicicts"? The only one I know of is, or was, T.O. 2. The best 3-4 DE in the game - highly questionable. WAS, maybe, but he may not even be the best 3-4 DE on the TEAM anymore.
If you think T.O. is THE only other football player in the NFL with a publicist, maybe you should look at the QB for the New England Patriots.
"Tom Brady's publicist claims he is thrilled about the birth of his child...."
These are players that have more responsibilities now than just playing the game. They have appearances, shows, press conferences, autograph signings, etc, etc, etc. It would be pretty naive of you to think that people who sign 60 and 70 million dollar deals do not have publicists. They are superstars, and it's a common thing these days. Singling out Richard Seymour is getting to be THE thing for fans who don't pay much attention these days.
For one thing, he is a potential HOFer. For another, yes, he is the best 3-4 DE in the game right now. I posted these before, but here are some of Seymour's responsibilities for his position, and the team:
1. He is statistically the strong side (R) of our D line. Look at the numbers, it isn't even that close. There goes your argument for Ty Warren.
2. He is the only one of our defensive lineman who can and has, played all 3 positions. How's that for some positional versatility?
3. He regularly demands 2 defenders almost every single play, making it 10 on 9 for our side.
4. Despite his run stuffing numbers, and demanding 2 men, he also just had his 8 sack career yr. Yes, he can rush the QB--with force.
5. How many kicks has he blocked with his 6' 6 1/2" frame? How many times does he get a piece of the ball?
6. He has helped out on offense also, as determined by his injury to his knee blocking for our running game.
7. He has proved w/o a doubt to be the leader on this team, has started since drafted #6 overall, and has been our 'leader' on the D line. He plays every play like it was his last, and has played through many injuries. This includes playing in almost 90% of his games, for you 'injury prone' people.
So the question becomes--what else, exactly, do you want him to do? And why is it perceived that it's going to be easier to replace a beast of a 3-4 DE vs. 'other' 3-4 NT's such as Stroud, Rogers, Hampton, Jenkins, etc? They are arguably both just as important as the other one. Hell, some of us would rather keep Seymour than Wilfork, if it came down to it. And that's not taking anything away from Vince, but it's an arguable discussion at the very least. Seymour has certainly proved himself in this system.