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Hightower will not be given the tag, now a free agent

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I actually think it is a good sign if he leaves rather than us overpay him. Us overpaying him would seem desparate, like BB was leaving soon or something. The guy was good, but you can't take a 14mill cap hit on the franchize tage.

He made 2 huge plays in Super Bowls. So did Adam V. I love High and hope he takes the discount, but the discount is what it would take.

EDIT: Also, if you have a guy on his rookie contract, and he starts to look like the second coming of Lawrence Taylor (not saying High was that good)... negotiate a a decent pay raise on year 2for like 5 or 6 years that will end up being a bargain... a lot of second year players (Gronk?) will take a "big" pay raise that actually ends up making them underpaid in the long run. BB would have done that if High was the once in a lifetime LB. Obviously he was not.
 
I actually think it is a good sign if he leaves rather than us overpay him. Us overpaying him would seem desparate, like BB was leaving soon or something. The guy was good, but you can't take a 14mill cap hit on the franchize tage.

He made 2 huge plays in Super Bowls. So did Adam V. I love High and hope he takes the discount, but the discount is what it would take.

Agreed. Remember that article about BB and negotiations a while back. He asks the agent if the player cares more about money or winning. That's it in a nutshell, internal or external.

I just hope Butler stays. He deserves being paid and mediocre corners are something I don't feel like going though again.
 
HT may not be gone, but if he is it is because BB chose to pay Butler. And that was the right choice - #1 CBs do not grow on trees - and the league has huge WR talent. BB really seems to be fond of Butler - I think he likes his motor and drive. And he never causes any tumult on the team.
 
Agreed. Remember that article about BB and negotiations a while back. He asks the agent if the player cares more about money or winning. That's it in a nutshell, internal or external.

I just hope Butler stays. He deserves being paid and mediocre corners are something I don't feel like going though again.
It has been written in this thread already that the strategy may be the secondary and the D Line. You may be able to get by with depth at LB without super star if the DE DT and DBs are solid.
EDIT: It has been "written"
 
It has been written in this thread already that the strategy may be the secondary and the D Line. You may be able to get by with depth at LB without super star if the DE DT and DBs are solid.
EDIT: It has been "written"

With the cap, you are going to be strong in places and weaker in places. And those places might not be the same every year. The cap really favors a coach like BB, who is not wedded to any scheme or strategy and will adapt year to year (as well as game to game).
 
With the cap, you are going to be strong in places and weaker in places. And those places might not be the same every year. The cap really favors a coach like BB, who is not wedded to any scheme or strategy and will adapt year to year (as well as game to game).
the way I look at it that Hightower was not the difference in 12, 13, 15.... Gronk and injuries on the offense and bad or injurred secondary did not help.
Hightower was big in our 2 most recent SB wins for sure.. But BB and Brady can win SBs without him. Would it be great to have Hightower.. but how long have we all been saying that they have a system that you really can't break. A LOT of favorite players have left over the years.
 
We have 60 million in cap space. Pay butler and Hightower.

Chiefs had only 5 million in cap space and just gave berry a record deal.

Clearly paying Hightower and butler won't cripple us whatsoever long term.
 
For weeks I've felt Hightower was going to go the route of McCourty.. Test free agency...come back to Bill give him a shot to come close and if its respectable enough he would stick around.

So far that's on course...

The Patriots should be in the mix for him until the final hour .. I'm not concerned about that aspect ..

The great unknown is who Hightower is as a player/person... Until this year I would have sworn Hightower was cut from the cloth of a Bruschi or Mayo...team first guys, foundation guys...but ever since the Collins trade...I just don't know.

At times he sounds like he wants to leave town.. .... Other times he states how dissapointed he would be if NE let him go...

One of the more interesting FA stories of recent memory. I can't imagine we'd let him go but.... We let Revis walk for butler and LOTS of people lost their heads over that... Could they see something in Eladon Roberts that makes them ok with walking away from Zeus..
 
We have 60 million in cap space. Pay butler and Hightower.

Chiefs had only 5 million in cap space and just gave berry a record deal.

Clearly paying Hightower and butler won't cripple us whatsoever long term.
What have the Chiefs won? Nothing.
 
For weeks I've felt Hightower was going to go the route of McCourty.. Test free agency...come back to Bill give him a shot to come close and if its respectable enough he would stick around.

So far that's on course...

The Patriots should be in the mix for him until the final hour .. I'm not concerned about that aspect ..

The great unknown is who Hightower is as a player/person... Until this year I would have sworn Hightower was cut from the cloth of a Bruschi or Mayo...team first guys, foundation guys...but ever since the Collins trade...I just don't know.

At times he sounds like he wants to leave town.. .... Other times he states how dissapointed he would be if NE let him go...

One of the more interesting FA stories of recent memory. I can't imagine we'd let him go but.... We let Revis walk for butler and LOTS of people lost their heads over that... Could they are something Eladon Roberts that makes them ok with walking away?
He has two rings... really really liked Collins.. (called him the best player he has known) he wants out.
 
What have the Chiefs won? Nothing.

That doesn't matter. I just outlined my point that we easily have the cap space to give butler and Hightower nice contracts while still having plenty of money left.

The chiefs just gave a record long term deal despite having far less in cap space.
 
Well, that sucks.

Not over yet. but its looking more probable than not he's going to get paid elsewhere.
We need to hope he does not go to a reasonable rival, unless of course they over pay him and cripple their team cap wise. The major place I don't want him is Pittsburgh or Miami, though I think Miami will have a worse year next year even with Hightower.
 
That doesn't matter. I just outlined my point that we easily have the cap space to give butler and Hightower nice contracts while still having plenty of money left.

The chiefs just gave a record long term deal despite having far less in cap space.
it matters quite a lot actually

EDIT: If you have been paying attention over the years, none of this has anything to do with whether you have other money left over. It is about not ever breaking your "rules" of not over paying.. It does not matter if they have 1 trillion in cap space.. they break their system by doing it.
 
What have the Chiefs won? Nothing.
They maintained status quo (and lost Charles). Nothing to improve. Denver will get a QB and KC will be lucky to make playoffs next year.
 
I'm really hoping that the Patriots resign Hightower and maybe I'm a dreamer but I think it can happen.

Maybe the other 31 other GMs are starting to realize that Belichick is way smarter than they are, and maybe they'll start thinking "Hmmm...Bill has coached this guy his entire nyjfl career, and Bill didn't want to tag him for $15 million. Perhaps this guy isn't worth that much. Do we really want to get burned by Belichick like the Jets did with Revis?"
 
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