After reading numerous posters say that there are "plenty of options" if Talib goes elsewhere, Lewis is really the only player I'd be comfortable with being a #1 CB.
Here are almost TEN options. As much as I'd love to resign Talib to hang out in his big puffy jacket during the season's biggest game after playing in only 5 plays again for big money, I'm going to assume they don't come to terms and that someone else overpays.
If he can actually play by staying healthy, out of trouble, and contribute on a regular basis (none of which have been proven) then great... I agree with you that I'd like to see him stay too, however his recent media comments screamed at the fact that he realizes he probably won't be here, which are in direct contrast to what he was hinting at about a week ago.
He took advantage of going from practically a team's outright cut in the middle of the season, to coming back from a suspension and playing in a highly televised and highly competitive place where he was very limited in his reps. That said, he did look improved from what he had been doing, so he and his agent must realize that this short stop to NE worked highly in his favor.
There isn't any way that Belichick is going to shell out a longer term deal for him though, so he would have to play the role of "good team player," which I do not believe he'll do. That all said, here are almost 10 options.
I have listed them in order of what I personally think will be reasonable, and how I would see the priority of actually coming to fruition.
Options:
1.
Take a safety in FA, such as:
--Moore
--Delmas
--Reed
--Byrd
--Delmas
--Goldson
Any one of these guys would be an immediate and obvious upgrade, and the cost difference compared to Talib may not be that different. If it came to Talib vs 4-5 of these safeties, I'd take the safeties every time.
2.
Draft a safety in a supposedly deep draft class. We've been hearing for a long time now about how great this safety class is. It's a good opportunity to jump on a cheaper rookie deal, and shore up the position.
3.
Draft another CB Certainly a possibility...what the hell, they're only draft picks, right?
4.
Keep DMcC at safety and try any one of a number of players opposite of Dennard. Goes hand in hand with any of drafting a CB, signing a FA CB, making a draft day trade, using a UDFA, a practice squad player such as Williams (what the hell, right?), or selecting another team's castoff from 90 players in TC down to 53.
5.
Hope for Dowling to finally become healthy, after all he's still on the team and he's still the 33rd player chosen two years ago. It's possible that he's been on the wrong side of the injury bug. It's also obviously possible that he'll never amount to anything. At the moment, he's certainly a candidate though.
6.
Move McCourty back to CB opposite of Dennard. Use either a FA, a draft prospect, a UDFA, or another teams' castoff at safety in his place.
7.
UDFA's.....this team makes the most of them. We've seen a solid portion of our roster filled out with UDFA's. This shouldn't be overlooked.
8.
The unlikely possibility exists (although it shouldn't be ruled out) of a draft day trade to help the secondary position. It's still an option, and Belichick will surely address the issue on some level. While it's not a likely choice (and that's why it's #8) it's still a possibility.
9.
With the TC roster rules changed last year, there are now 1000 players in the league who become castoffs due to cuts. There are some possibilities in there, and it has certainly been done before. The 2013 Patriots will have some members on their team who are castoffs. The option exists that it could certainly be in the secondary.
I'm just covering all the bases and pointing out that there certainly are other options. The team would be better than they've been in awhile by retaining him, so that's what I hope happens....however, I have my doubts to this one. Time will tell, and I hope he stays. However, if he leaves, I don't think that they will abandon what they achieved down the stretch with him here (and on the bench a lot of that time). There are other guys in this world who can play press man coverage at the position besides Aqib Talib. Maybe the downgrade is more significant, maybe it's not? I trust Belichick to make that assessment and put the overall team + cap situation first and above all else.
We just have to agree to dissagree.
