Re: Alrerraun Verner: Pats are a "definite possibilty" & Jason McCourty told him to g
Before he was injured, Talib was the model of consistency. He shut down Vincent Jackson, Julio Jones, AJ Green and Jimmy Graham in back-to-back-to-back-to-back weeks. He was making a pretty solid case to show that, when healthy, he's one of the 3 or 4 best corners alive..
There is no question that Talib is a CB talent worthy of a $10MM/contract, as the first quote proves by the way he shut down 4 of the top receiving options in the league. The obvious problem is his ability to stay on the field. I would opine that NO team is going to sign him to the kind of contract that doesn't take that indisputable fact into consideration.
THAT's whay the Pats have a chance to keep him. I think when Talib realizes that teams are going to want to include reasonable protections against a 5 year history of missing at least 20% of his games, what the Pats are prepared to offer with then look more competitive. If he wants the last dollar, then what the Pats offer isn't going to do the trick. However if all he needs is competitive offer, then I think the Pats are willing to pay him $40-44MM on a 4 year deal, but with only about a third of it guaranteed, where all he has to do to get it all is to be on the field. I don't see other teams doing much more than that.
From an efficiency perspective, Verner's 79.8 percent success rate is right there with Revis' 81.9 percent and actually eclipses Richard Sherman's 78.2 percent success rate for 2012. However, taking raw numbers without context is a fatal mistake.
Verner - is about the size of Ty Law, but law excelled in an era where receivers over 6' tall were the exception rather than the rule. Verner, as the stats above state, his an exceptional talent....BUT. In a league where taking out the opposition's top WR is the key to successfully limiting this era's passing attacks, he might not be the kind of CB that Talib and Sherman are, but he's a good one.
I think we need more size at CB, to that end I would like to add at least Browner or Cook to the mix, and if Talib goes, I'd get both.
As to the rumors, we should all be used to the used to them by now. We will know what happens, when it happens, and not before. As Pats fans its a cross we have to bear.
