I have to think Welker/Wallace/Colston/Wayne/Robinson are staying put. I think I'd pass on Desean Jackson. Between the drops, the attitude and the poor contract year, I'm really leery of him. Bowe and VJax are unlikely to come play 2nd banana. Better off acquiring a 2nd receiver through trade or draft.
Did he and AJ cross paths at the U? That might be something to keep an eye on, assuming the Colts dismantle (which I think they will - keep in mind: Wayne turns 34 next season). He's a quiet, hard-working dude with great hands and a great route-runner. Not sure how he has held up physically - and I wouldn't break the bank for him - but he'd definitely be on my radar.
Exactly. Next year we play. Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Matt Stafford need all the pass rush we can get.
If the price is right they would. I don't mind Desean here, but will be under utilized with Schaub throwing him the ball .
Would you mind listing the pro bowl receivers that have signed with another team with a pro bowl WR? Jerry Rice signed with the Raiders who had Tim Brown. Of course Jerry Rice was the GOAT and 40.
I don't think this is an either/or proposition, but based on relative importance of the positions, you resign Mario. A front-four on passing downs of Mario Williams, Antonio Smith, JJ Watt, and Conner Barwin would give quarterbacks night terrors. Dwayne Bowe would be awesome on this team, but he wouldn't make as much difference as Mario Williams.
Agreed. You know who really wants Mario Williams back? Antonio Smith. He was good all year, but he looked like an All-Pro with Mario in there.
You can say that he might be injury prone but the guy averages 100 yards per game like it's clockwork.
I see your point but, T.O. didn't fall over the hill until he was 36. We definitely need an upgrade at W.R. but I don't think we should be worrying about who will supplant AJ80 just yet.
I feel AJ is in decline, but that is not a slam against this great future hall of famer . . .At some point you have to say his past seasons will be better than what we can expect going forward...I think we are there... But he is still better than 90-95% of the WR's out there and will continue to be.. I would love to pair up a young top flight WR with Andre sooner rather than later..so who knows? - I would love to keep Mario, but not at hurting our chances to improve the WR big-time.
There's really no real figure regarding Mario's cap hit if he gets franchised. If it's based off the top 5 DE' contracts it shouldn't be more than what he's paid now, definitely true if you count his as an LB. If it's 120% of his current contract that means 16.8 million. But there's just as many articles saying Mario franchised would cost 20+ million, but not showing the math. If only Bimathug would honor us with his presence. Having said that, there's plenty of WR talent coming off the books this year. Ranging from big name losers like Desean to very underrated contributors. Meachem has size, Royal has returner's abilities, Doucet is tough as nails, and Steve Smith should be healthy enough and mad cheap. Also, would they be looking for a long term #2 or someone who could take over AJ's spot? \ They're not going to go for guys like Bowe or Wayne. They're going to look for other studs in waiting like Antonio Smith was. Maybe they don't have a knack for it, because all those WRs they tried to stash don't look that great, but that's what they'll keep trying to do.
They were both drafted by the Cardinals. When Boldin became a FA, he left to go be top dog in Baltimore instead of playing 2nd fiddle. I'm asking for a FA star WR that signed with a team that already had a star WR. Every star duo I can think of aside from Rice/Brown was due to developing your own star WR, or traded for them. The Vikings drafted Randy Moss when they had Chris Carter. The 49ers drafted Terrell Owens after they had Jerry Rice (though Owens didn't really become a star until Rice left). The Patriots traded for Welker and Moss. The Colts drafted Reggie Wayne after already having Marvin Harrison The Rams drafted Torry Holt to pair with Issac Bruce Just this year we saw the Falcons draft Julio Jones to pair with Roddy White I think it is clear that you need to draft the 2nd WR.
I think Doucet would fit well. I'm sure they could also trade a 3rd round pick for a Nate Washington caliber player.
He's actually never done that. I don't think he's on the decline; I think that talk is wildly premature. I just don't think he was 100% healthy this year and/or going full-throttle for fear he'd blow out another hamstring. Given a full offseason to recoup, I think he'll be just fine next year.
