He is a guy who started two years in a row. We do not know why he didn't make the active roster in 2014. Before this year, the Pats probably could have gotten a third rounder for him. So him getting a fourth or fifth isn't out of the question.
As for the off the field incidents, they are relatively minor compared to what is going on in the league.
People act like this guy is a total bust. If the Pats dangled this guy for a 7th, there would be 10-15 teams lining up to take a shot at him. A seventh rounder for a guy who was a pretty good starter his first two seasons coming off down year after shoulder surgery. GMs would be drooling over this guy for a seventh.
Seriously, this is a what have you done for me lately fan base. People ignore everything Dennard done before this year. This time last year, people were bragging that Belichick drafted a second round pick in the seventh round, now people are saying that the Pats would be lucky to get that seventh round back. They might not because they know the Pats may cut them, but I bet there will be a team to jump at him.
And when did $1 million for a starting caliber CB become too much to spend? Hell, when did it become too much for a back up?
Nobody's claiming that he's a bust. We're recognizing the relative value of players in contract years vs. draft picks. There are CBs who can fetch a fourth rounder in the last year of their rookie deal. Aqib Talib is one. I think it goes without saying that Alfonzo Dennard is not in the same league as Talib.
No, even generously spekaing, he's more like Alan Branch, LeGarrette Blount, and Akeem Ayers. All of those players came with a similar story to Dennard: potentially starter caliber, but they sure as hell weren't starting.
You keep stating it as a matter of fact that Dennard is a starting-caliber corner, which I find strange because last time I checked he was sixth on the Patriots' depth chart. Are you claiming that we have six starter-caliber corners?
The most optimistic comparison that I can make for Dennard using recent comps is that he's similar to Ayers. A player who has flashed some starter-caliber potential in past years at a high-value position, but in the past season could not get on the field for reasons unknown that may or may not have been related to past health concerns.
Now, with that comparison in mind, go back and review what Ayers fetched in trade, and remember that the Titans were operating from a position of (slight) leverage since the Pats had so few alternatives at that point in the season). Or go look at Blount, who had flashed not just starter ability, but fringe Pro Bowl ability, albeit at a lower-value position.
It's not that I'm undervaluing Dennard or think he sucks. He was a good pick who, even if he's cut before next season, delivered a lot of value for where he was drafted. But that said, I understand what a player of his profile is worth on the trade market. Not based on feelings or loyalty or a willingness to ignore how buried he was on the depth chart, but based on actual comparables. Front offices aren't in the business of trading mid-round picks for one year of a guy who, best case scenario, got knocked off the roster for a whole year for no reason at all. In that best case scenario, he comes back 100% healthy and motivated to be... a low-to-mid-grade starter for you, in which case he commands a pretty hefty price tag in free agency one year from now. Even if you can guarantee that best case scenario, most teams would still rather just draft someone like Ronald Darby, Doran Grant, Lorenzo Doss, or even Nick Marshall in the 4th/5th, and have him locked in for four years at a cheap price.
You're dramatically overvaluing the fact that Dennard used to be a starter, and dramatically undervaluing the fact that he couldn't crack the top 6 CBs this year, and that teams actually care about getting four years of cost control out of their draft picks. Trading a pick for just one year of production is a major concession in its own right; nobody gives up a mid-rounder for a player surrounded by question marks unless the upside is
much greater than what Dennard possess. Every comp of a player in a similar situation clearly indicates that he's worth a whole lot less in trade than you're claiming he is.
