Requesting your input on Jonathan Casillas

I am going to use this

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-...5/bengals-jason-campbell-free-agent-breakdown as a template to look at the 15 free agents that the Patriots.

Would like the best reasons
for why the Pats will re-sign Jonathan Casillas
for why the Pats will not resign him

Of course, I will credit you unless you state that you wish to remain anonymous.

Why they wont:
Other teams might offer more money
replacable

Why they will:
played well
good on special teams

A description of the player's 2014 role would also be really helpful. Sorry for not mentioning that sooner.

2014 Role
Casillas was a starter as a base LB, a set only used about 1/3 of the time. Before he arrived, the position was filled by UDFA's. Casillas did a fine job, and was also used a bit more when one of the other LB's was injured. Casillas was also a top special teamer.

WHY WE SHOULD RE-SIGN CASILLAS
Casillas is probably worth more to the patriots than to other teams. I would expect him to receive about $1.5M - $2M a year. In any case, we should re-sign him because he provides great value as a backup linebacker and as a special teamer. His is the perfect Belichick backup linebacker.

I like Casillas but I don't want to go over board on needing to sign him. He would be nice to sign sure but the Pats don't use the base much as is and you already have 3 probowl quality LBs on your team as is who will be fighting for time. If they are all healthy accept for blowouts Casillas will not see the field much.

The reason you keep Casillas is for STs and in case of injury. How much is that worth? Hard to say. I think if he wants 2M a year he is probably gone but 1.5 or lower be managable. He played well here but lets not turn his play into something it wasn't. He looked good compared to the other 3rd LB options we had.

I want to keep him but if some team is willing to pay him 2M I don't see the Pats matching it cause he is frankly not worth it to us with the guys we already have.

Keep him for 1.5-1 which is what i think he will probably cost in the end.

BobDigital said:

I want to keep him but if some team is willing to pay him 2M I don't see the Pats matching it cause he is frankly not worth it to us with the guys we already have.

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And who do we have that you wouldn't pay the additional 500K to Casillas?

We have starters Hightower and Collins. They have not been available 100%. We have Mayo, who we have no clue as to whether he will be available in 2015. Even if he passes a physical, the team would not be likely to keep up without major reduction in compensation.

We usually carry 5-7 LB's. We have 2, may be 3. I don't see who we have that would cause you not to want Casillas as our 3rd or 4th, or even 5th LB.

mgteich said:

And who do we have that you wouldn't pay the additional 500K to Casillas?

We have starters Hightower and Collins. They have not been available 100%. We have Mayo, who we have no clue as to whether he will be available in 2015. Even if he passes a physical, the team would not be likely to keep up without major reduction in compensation.

We usually carry 5-7 LB's. We have 2, may be 3. I don't see who we have that would cause you not to want Casillas as our 3rd or 4th, or even 5th LB.

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You made some fair points. Let me give you my answers.

#1 I don't think we cut Mayo. Too much guaranteed money left for that and though he has been injured back to back years he does not have an injury history and it was 2 different injuries and not 1 nagging injury so I am not too worried and view it more as a fluke. Also i expect him to take a pay cut and if not I doubt we cut him this year anyway. Maybe next.

#2 Hightower in the last 2 years has missed 2 games. Collins in the last 2 years has missed 1 game (he missed 1 his rookie year but i think it was a health scratch. They may get nicked up but don't have what i call injury histories.

#3 Mayo will be available for 2015. Why wouldn't he be? In the past 10-15 years it has been rare for injuries to knock players out for more than 1 year.

#4 We usually carry a decent amount of LBs but a few of those are STs players usually do IDK how much they count in the way you mean.

#5 I did not say I don't want Casillas on this team. I do. I simply am not willing to over pay for him particularly when we have 3 top tier LBs already. If we want another Casillas I think we can get one. He is a good back up and not irreplaceable. I am just unwilling to invest too much into a backup when that money can be used on starters.