Quote:
Originally Posted by O.city
Yeah, Ford is gonna get broken off. He's gonna be right there with the upper echelon guys I'd think.
You might get him to do a deal similar to Melvin Ingram and if so, you've gotta do that.
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Gotta get it done in-season.
If he sees FA, he's a tag or he's gone.
Here's the thing with the tag - it's just a bad decision generally here, IMO. Either you trust the guy or you don't.
To the "make him prove it" crowd - If you don't trust him to play well next year, don't spend $18 million keeping him here for another year because that's money that can go into keeping Jones and/or Fuller. That's gonna be his tag cost and if you don't think he can go out there and be a premier pass rusher again, you simply don't do that.
And if you DO trust him and think he'll be worth that $18 million and then he
plays to that level, you find yourself in a situation where he's gonna cost $22.5 under the cap to keep the following year. Now you're $40 million into him over 2 seasons.
Meanwhile, I think you can keep him at $45 million over the first three.
I've waffled on this one but ultimately I think I trust him. I think I'd go ahead and approach him with 4 yr deal for maybe $65 million and $45 million in the first 3. And if I can't make that work out, then I'd tag/trade him as Crow suggested.
Kicking the can doesn't make sense with him, IMO. Either you think he'll continue to be this kind of player or you don't. And if you don't, the $18 million guaranteed you're going to give him this year is money wasted (and enough to set him for life so the 'get lazy when he gets paid' thing has triggered at that point, no?)