It will be a tough decision as I'm guessing they cant afford Mario and Foster? b/c they were at the cap limit this year.....I think you got to keep Mario if he came to that...
I'd rather keep a special RB, ..solid can be cheaper but solid can be found everywhere and is honestly kinda boring...a special RB is likely at the most 3 to 5 in the NFL at any given time. plus I honestly believe Foster could have been the differance in the Saints game. Foster can punch it in like LaDanian in his prime...all the Steelers were so concerned with him, they left Owen wide open. He helps the red zone so much for himself and others, his blocking for a rb is top shelf- (an underrated trait), his cutting ability and agility is so much more than a typical 'solid' rb, and his vision is near legendary already... some players are worth $8 million plus a year for what they bring to the table, and Foster is showing that. It will be a very interesting contract situation that we have to deal with as the season progresses...
I don't think anyone is more valuable than Schaub due to his backup. I think Andre's also more valuable partly because Tate is a fine backup.
If we're talking about huge dropoffs between starters and backups as criteria, I'd like to submit Johnathan Joseph to that list.
Dare I say it: by season's end, people will start giving Foster credit as the best running back in the league. Well, maybe the best not named McFadden, but even that's debatable. He's definitely better than that guy in Tennessee and his crazy contract.
I think its Andre. Shaub cant stretch the field, Andre finds a way to get open regardless. Who's gonna come through now? They'll focus on Daniels. Its not like Shaub can hit Jones deep. At least with Leinart you might get an added deep-ball dimension introduced to the game. Andre affects the entire offense dramatically. I didn't value a #2 WR like most of you guys but now that Andre is out... maybe we should have.
The cap is supposed to go up a lot this year. That being said, I'd be working on a raise and extension now for both. They'd get a lot more in the off-season.
Don't we already know the cap numbers for next year? If so, they really ought to work on long term deals for both guys before the deadline comes. It will save them money to keep both those guys from the open market.
McNair is probably scared Mario will lose motivation. We know he already questions his fight. I agree though, Mario Williams is going to get paid big by a 4-3 team. Can we afford to pay a 3-4 OLB 4-3 DE money? Should we? I hope we keep him, but I'm worried.
I think we'll hit a number with Mario close to 10-11 million including bonuses. Hopefully we can keep Arian for 5-6 million in base salary.
pay that man, pay that man his money. i know everyone is saying that its the scheme that creates a lot for foster and tate can do close to that... but foster is just better plus he can catch a hell of a lot better than tate. opens up the play book a bit more IMO.
The great thing about these discussions is we have finally built a really nice nucleus. By adding some free agent help this offseason, we may finally have a playoff-bound squad. It's going to be difficult to keep all of our best players because we have so many good young ones. I believe we must keep Foster and Mario, though. Guys are elite.
