I think people are overestimating how many decent LB are out there. There really are not many. Pullard and Emmanuel are similar to a lot of players that most teams start at LB every day. That is kinda the problem with LB. There are not many good ones, and they are sorta becoming big DB, who cannot play the run very well.
There are a few good ones out there, but remember CJ Mosley just signed a deal averaging $17 mill per season. We are not just going to find a decent one and have to pay $10 million for some young guy who still isn't our ideal fit. Or we can play situational football, use a LB for some stuff, and a dime LB for others, and do it for the same amount or maybe even a lot less. Phillips has been doing it on a rookie deal for 2 years, and playing LB better than most true LB can.
I don't care how it's structured, they can't walk away from Mosley's contract, not without cratering their salary cap. And those are teams with very few high paid players, because those teams suck. It would be much harder, and have bigger impacts down the road for us, because we can't afford to lose our high paid players, beause we are going to need Keenan Allen, Russell Okung, Ingram and Bosa.......
The good thing is even though we just signed a high priced backup, that is what LB are. We need an LB to play in the base D, and in the goalline/short-yardage. That is situational football. No one plays their LB on the field very much if they can help it. Even the little quick LB are going to have trouble stopping WR in pass coverage. But that is where Phillips and our DB come in, and why we play so much dime. They are the starters because they are the guys that actually play.
Who cares if the LB are backups, they always were. This is something that dates back to the 1980's, so this is not some new thing.
There are a few good ones out there, but remember CJ Mosley just signed a deal averaging $17 mill per season. We are not just going to find a decent one and have to pay $10 million for some young guy who still isn't our ideal fit. Or we can play situational football, use a LB for some stuff, and a dime LB for others, and do it for the same amount or maybe even a lot less. Phillips has been doing it on a rookie deal for 2 years, and playing LB better than most true LB can.
I don't care how it's structured, they can't walk away from Mosley's contract, not without cratering their salary cap. And those are teams with very few high paid players, because those teams suck. It would be much harder, and have bigger impacts down the road for us, because we can't afford to lose our high paid players, beause we are going to need Keenan Allen, Russell Okung, Ingram and Bosa.......
The good thing is even though we just signed a high priced backup, that is what LB are. We need an LB to play in the base D, and in the goalline/short-yardage. That is situational football. No one plays their LB on the field very much if they can help it. Even the little quick LB are going to have trouble stopping WR in pass coverage. But that is where Phillips and our DB come in, and why we play so much dime. They are the starters because they are the guys that actually play.
Who cares if the LB are backups, they always were. This is something that dates back to the 1980's, so this is not some new thing.
Comment