Lawson to Cincy for one year...

Urgent said:

Who was impressed by Cunningham's numbers?
Or Ninkovich's?

Clearly Lawson was not an All Pro.
After the release of TBC the team is left with Cunningham, Ninkovich, and potentially Markell Carter.
If Cunningham ever misses a snap this season, someone like Lawson could be very valuable.
Given the depth on the roster, a Lawson could reasonably compete for a starting spot with Ninkovich.

There were few folks comparing him to DeMarcus Ware.
However, the 3-4, should the Patriots use the system that their defense and coaching staff is most experienced in, relies upon depth at OLB. McGinest, Vrabel, and Colvin was when it really thrived here.
The argument for Lawson, at its simplest, is Cunningham-Ninkovich-Lawson is better than Cunningham-Ninkovich-Carter. Not quite McGinest-Vrabel-Colvin.

Click to expand...

Did I not say that I'm fully aware that numbers don't tell the whole story? Did I not say that I don't know much about the guy? I'm pretty sure I did, good sir.

My point was that if the Pats really wanted Lawson, he would be a Patriot today. Obviously they didn't.

Personally, I would take Light over Lawson. Protecting Brady is the biggest priority of this team. If Brady is out for the season due to getting hit from his blindside, who cares if the Pats have Manny Lawson?

farouche said:

I love Manny Lawson, but he's a classic 3-4 outside linebacker - light, rangy, suited to rushing the passer and playing pass defense in space. Ironically, Cincy had him targeted when Lawson was a rookie in the draft, and reports at the time said that if he had fallen to them (one more spot, if I remember correctly) they would have transitioned that year to a 3-4.

In other words, mark this down as another small bit of evidence that the Pats are moving to a 4-3 (of some sort).

Click to expand...

Correct me if I am wrong but the Niners play quite a bit of 4-3. I think the F.O. is playing poker again to see if the agents blink.
Big mistake. This bites them guaranteed. Someone said he is no better than Ninc. I sure hope that Cousin is right. I am not confident in any of our OLBs....not one of them!

I giggle when I see a player that would make sense go bye bye (but I think our F.O. is very lazy. Unless it falls in our lap like Ochocinco and Haynesworth. Look what the Eagles have done? The Falcons have done some good things as well), and then the posters always say "well he was NFG anyway".

Nope, like OLB Wimbley last year and many more (DE Carriker was a decent pick up on the cheap and proved out to be a solid starter). Nick was sleeping. Two players that we could use this year, were cheap but now we are kicking tires again but not stepping up to the plate.
DW Toys

Marqui said:

Glad the Pats stayed away from that overrated stiff.

Click to expand...

I don't care how overrated he is. I still wanted him over Maroney /rant

DW Toys said:

I think the F.O. is playing poker again to see if the agents blink.
Big mistake. This bites them guaranteed.

Click to expand...

Do you have any kind of information suggesting the Patriots were interested in Lawson but were outbid?

I would think that this minimal deal with a undesirable team shows exactly the the opposite -- that BB & co. just weren't interested.

I think this shows that almost no one wanted Lawson. His own team didn't want him back, and the only team that would give him a chance was the Bengals at 3 mil for a year. Seems like the general consensus around the league was Lawson just isn't that good. Yet people here are mad at Bill for not signing him??

Lawson was a name, not a talent. He's not a pass rusher, has a slow first step, and has never played at a particularly high level. As a result, the 49ers let him walk away, and he wasn't able to find a better situation for himself than a one year exile to Cincinnati. Teams like the Patriots and Chiefs, who could certainly use good OLBs, didn't offer enough to keep him from the mighty Bengals.

I wish him well in Cincinnati and, for his sake, I hope he can take his game to a whole new level.

I am not too bummed out on losing out on him. I watch many nfl games and know many lesser name players but I rarely get to see west coast games so barely knew him anyway. From what i seen of him on youtube he played like nink but with long arms. Those long arms helped him tackle better than nink though.

But the best thing for our pass rush was the cutting of TBC. I am really hoping someone signs him so Bill is tempted to do so.

lovsn said:

Fancy answering the question or are you too busy surveying the land from atop your high horse?

Click to expand...

Wow. When rookies run wild. You dumping on Rbo is the equivalent of our new sixth round rookie LB dumping on Mayo.

No thank u.

Rob0729 said:

Manny Lawson was the best 3-4 OLB in a very weak class of 3-4 OLB free agents. The guy has had less sacks in the last two years than TBC had in 2009. He is an above average 3-4 OLB, but nothing special...

Click to expand...

Right now I'll settle for Nothing Special, which beats the hell outta what we currently have,
which is Nothing At All.