...alllll the way back around to "Is He Worth It?"
I like your last line, Mo... "not sure any CB is."
When Ty Law's deal got crazy, off he went. When Lawyer Milloy became too expensive at safety, ditto...
Of course that means that we have to cope with the Ellis Hobbses of the world, or watziznane Richardsons, or Eugene Wilsons, etc. etc. etc.
But you know what we saw with Asante? He didn't really even "become" a coveted player until 06.
It seems that by the time a player is providing that kind of stat set with our D, it's his bloody contract year already. (We've talked about that preference for veteran linebackers, but the D-backs often are hit and miss draft prospects.)
At any rate, that seems very much like we just always have a young defensive backfield.
I.e., if your name is not Hester or Cromartie, and you came out in the last 5 years at D-back, people will have something negative to say about you, as a D-back. You're not proven yet... the only reason Hester and Cromartie seem so great is the return game.
And everybody gets torched sometimes... so "names" aren't worth dollars yet.
I'm not saying there's a rough equivalency among all CBs, but I think when we as fans do turn up a guy we think of as "distinctive," we should be very careful in measuring just how "distinctive" we believe the guy is.
Finally:
With VERY few exceptions, you can not simultaneously bemoan being "old" at defense, and scream about how badly we treat guys after their rookie deals are over - and after all, the whole Asante thing is about that first big splashy deal, the tagged year notwithstanding.
You want solvent? You want young? You put your foot down with Samuel, and don't ink a deal anywhere near this neighborhood. For that matter, get him down to half that guaranteed money, and get him down to the six-year range, so there's some semblance of reality here.
If he can get better money elsewhere, the Pats do not go in with a "beat any offer" mindset. They'll go in with a "we'll beat any team that makes that offer" mindset.
(as in, worth anything to ya to be on this team?)
I don't think that's likely to be the case for Asante Samuel, even if he never sniffs a SB again.
So yeah, I am ready for the long goodbye, but it's fine if the sides come to terms. I feel fine about the guy going out and making what he can. Not tearing out any hair... but we have to figure out how to patch that hole now, of course.
PFnV
