Keep Manny Lawson or part ways?

I think we will be making a mistake by letting him go without a chance in Jim's system, this may be another Julian Peterson type of situation. Even though Julian was better but i see us regretting it some day if we cut him.

Lawson is a beast in coverage for a converted DE and is an incredible athlete who has made big plays for us. Not necessarily sacks but we brought in Aldon Smith to fix that and we still have Ahmad Brooks who's shown flashes and was once consider a top flight prospect! Haralson is the odd man out IMO.

Originally posted by sf49ersx11:
Lawson is a beast in coverage for a converted DE and is an incredible athlete who has made big plays for us. Not necessarily sacks but we brought in Aldon Smith to fix that and we still have Ahmad Brooks who's shown flashes and was once consider a top flight prospect! Haralson is the odd man out IMO.

I agree, i've watch some videos on haralson whiffing on tackles he should have made. i think lawson can play but then take him off on 3rd down like we did last year. if we keep haralson and cut lawson, it would be a stupid move.

I'd rather see the numbers before deciding. I want to keep Manny, but not on a 7+ mil a year contract.

Ever since he was drafted the coaches tried to put this round peg into a square hole. So while it was a mistake to draft him as a pass rusher, it would be an even bigger mistake to just let him walk without creating options to take advantage of his skill set. Good coaches find ways to use a talented player like Lawson in productive ways that help the team. Unfortunately, both Nolan and Singletary appeared to be married to their own ideas and did not appear to have any idea of how to access his talents.

Of course all that has to do with what Lawson will want, along with the rumors that he was very upset with management for not even beginning talks for an extension. While I would like to see what he could do under Fangio, I expect him to accept an offer from a 4-3 team like Chicago and go on to have some very good years.

Manny's great but not that good at what he was drafted for. He was supposed to be a great pass rusher and weak in coverage; but, has turned out to be better in coverage than getting after the QB.

I think we let him walk due to $$$ and a greater need for QB pressure/sacks from the OLB position than an OLB that drops into coverage well...

Originally posted by D_Niner:
Manny's great but not that good at what he was drafted for. He was supposed to be a great pass rusher and weak in coverage; but, has turned out to be better in coverage than getting after the QB.

I think we let him walk due to $$$ and a greater need for QB pressure/sacks from the OLB position than an OLB that drops into coverage well...

Problem is; the 49ers do not have anybody to do what he does well. Allowing him to walk will leave an empty spot in the quiver of options.

Keep him, not every good lb has to be a sack monster. He has a role to play on this team, and I am not sure who could take his place.

keep

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
Keep him, not every good lb has to be a sack monster. He has a role to play on this team, and I am not sure who could take his place.

I hope that the front office has read this post. Very well put.
This is the most important signing to me from our own Free Agents

I'd be surprised if Lawson came back. The extension talks never got that serious and we took him off the field on passing downs last year. He's better off getting a clean start elsewhere and he knows it.

I'd like to see what Fangio could do for him, but he supposedly wants a contract like Calvin Pace got. It would be stupid to pay him that much. You guys keep talking about the need to have options, well overpaying a guy is a great way to limit your options. Not only at OLB, but everywhere else on the roster as well.

Why does everyone want to cut Haralson as if we have someone way better to step right in? He's the only one of our OLBs to ever get more than 6 sacks and he's already locked up for a reasonable 2 mil a year

Originally posted by SFL49ER:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
Keep him, not every good lb has to be a sack monster. He has a role to play on this team, and I am not sure who could take his place.

I hope that the front office has read this post. Very well put.
This is the most important signing to me from our own Free Agents

This. He should be on the other side from Smith.

He's a free agent, so even if the team wanted to keep him, he could still depart. I expect this to be the end of the road.

He's going to be a terrific 4-3 OLB for some team, especially if they run a Tampa-2 defense.

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
He's a free agent, so even if the team wanted to keep him, he could still depart. I expect this to be the end of the road.

He's going to be a terrific 4-3 OLB for some team, especially if they run a Tampa-2 defense.

Yup. The guy can't get to the QB for s**t. Laboy came in and showed him how its done, and he's not elite either.

We need a serious 3-4 OLB.