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Fair enough. Very reasonable retort. I could see them moving one of the three Safeties if this was a normal year. I think BB might have more appreciation for Merriweather than we think. I believe he had most of the Safety snaps. He does show those flashes but inconsistent to say the least. Sanders had a good year for him. He is still the weakest of the three in ability. If he is smartest that is all well and good but in the end he costs the Pats $3m in 2011. Way too much for a third string Safety. In a normal year you might shop him or cut him to be resigned as a solid backup but too much money against the CAP. I think Chung has the most upside. He will get better.
I would have loved to see Champ Bailey here as a Safety. That did not work out. I think Weddle can be had. Is he perfect? No but he is a great DB QB as is Sanders but more talented. He had 96 tackles last year and had his best defending year of 10 P.Def. The problem is he costs us a high pick. Now it appears that the Chargers are eyeing our #28. They have #50 and #61. Maybe #50 and Weddle for #28? That is all of course pending CBA stuff.
The FA I would consider most is Michael Huff. He was a high pick and got bounced from CB to Safety for years. He was pretty bad his first few season but it was confusing. The Raiders did not use him right. He had his best year last year and is only 28. He had 94 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 FF and 3 Ints. He is 6'1" and 205. He ran a 4.3 in the combine, had 21 reps and a 40.5 vertical. This is what was said: "As a free safety, he brings excellent playmaking ability and would be a great cover man for any secondary". He does not cost us a pick.
My best option would be to pry Adrian Wilson from the Cardinals. He is one of the most underrated S in the NFL. A little older at 31 but the closest we will get to that Rodney Harrison type.
As far as a Draft pick, I do not want a Safety on the board in this class. I like big CB Dowling at 6'1" and 200lbs with excellent ball skills and a great tackler. He can cover. Seems like the right resume. Make him our FS with Chung.
If we Draft a CB how about Bodden as a Safety? Perhaps Arrington? We need a cover Safety.
DW Toys
I'm all for more competition at any position--that's without question. If Belichick feels as though Weddle or Huff can make a better impact, then I will be the first to celebrate, for it will certainly give the position more competition and also hopefully improve it. I still do not feel as though it is a position of dire need, and I think I will always hope for improvement from the LB's first, before anything else.
I too would love A.Wilson, and always have. I would've loved to somehow pry him from Arizona in 2009, but I believe they re-upped him to a very nice deal. I'm not sure about him being that 'under rated' as you say. In my opinion (and many others) he is surely a top 5 safety in the league, definitely top 10 at worst. That would've been a blockbuster signing, and likely one that we wouldn't have pursued, considering that is basically Wilfork money. He will not be a free agent again until 2014, and by then will be pushing 35. He has certainly been a top tier safety for Arizona, and his contract was a 5 yr extension worth about 37+ million, even higher including basic incentives. That's about 8 million per, pretty darn good for a safety--especially since the projected transition tag number is 7.4 million, with the franchise tag being about 8.8 million. Adrian Wilson is in the top 10 paid safety category, and that is even considering he signed his extension 2 full years ago. Not too shabby. He would be the immediate answer, but sadly is nothing more than another one of our pipe dreams.
Weddle is likely another wish that will not come true, but he'd definitely make the position pretty solid obviously. I am not sure about Huff, as I know I wanted him coming out of school, and he went high, but I also know that he had a couple of rough years there too. I think he did improve for sure, but I can't say if that would be much of an improvement from what we currently have or not.
The transition from a CB to S is an interesting topic, and always has been, at least since the days of Wilson. I couldn't say if BB would feel as though that'd be an improvement or not, but I suppose it has been talked of before.
If I had to make a prediction, it would be that the guys we have now will be our safeties again next year, but you never know with this coach and team. They are always looking to improve. You may have to wait until next year to get your different lineup, and if so, the addition of some draft picks and the return of injured starters should help make this defense better anyway. You also will have the seasoning of another year with the younger 1st and 2nd yr guys, and that should help too.