Originally posted by Gore_21:
Originally posted by NCommand:
Man, I hope he signs a reasonable contract that doesn't affect our ability to keep other players such as Bowman but this is EXACTLY what I was thinking as a perfect comparison. He wants his pay day (above reasonable/fair) and he'll play well again this year behind the best front 7 in football and leave for the big pay day...only to go to a team that isn't half as good up front and his play will come into question. Will he come back again in a couple years like the Franklin talk now? Something to think about...
Still, does it really matter how they play in other systems. If they are doing well in ours why not reward them? Sure Goldson wants more than he is worth but you can blame all the other teams way overpaying their players. If we would have signed Franklin to big bucks we would have moved on and probably done just as well. I guess it depends if you are willing to risk a top defense to save some money. We've had bad FS in the past. It isn't fun and I really don't want to have a great defense with a FS that gives up TDs left and right. It will really bring the defense down. I'll say if we don't sign Goldson then we better plan on getting a FS real early. I like Spillman and who knows what we got with Robinson I just wouldn't want to miss a beat. Even a late 1st round rookie FS would be a risk. I think Bowman is the better player (or will be) but I think it's a lot easier for us to find an ILB than FS. Also, We have Bowman for 2 more years and can tag him for 2 more years after that. That's 4 years... so I'm not too worried about losing him because we pay Goldson big bucks.
Well, obviously it mattered for Franklin. Remember, ppl on this board, in a very similar fashion were screaming to pay him and now we see that he wasn't half as good as some originally thought. Goldson played very well for us last year but he's got some big time issues as well and I agree with PFF's assessment and ranking of him. Who's to say a guy like Spillman can't come in (or Robinson) and do just as well esp. in year 2 of this VERY stable defense. We already have a great SS in Whitner...but the coaches have made a point that they are looking for shorter, faster, quickly S's with more range and coverage ability to match today's spread offenses. If you can put a guy like Culliver or Cox or a rangy FS (Spillman or Robinson) on the field more to match these high powered offenses and still have that stud at SS in Whitner, we could end up better off...like with Franklin's (or Lawson or TKO or Clements,' etc.) departure. I don't think anyone wants to lose him but we want to see marked improvements and a more complete game for one more year before we consider the salary cap ramifications for the rest of the key players that need to be signed LT as well. I loved the initial contract of 5 for 25 but if the Niner's are willing to pay him 7 and he d' not sign that, he's insane. No WAY does he play behind a better front 7 in football and a front 7 that is almost locked up LT (need Sopoaga/Bowman). There are many great points on this topic...just hope it works out as a win-win for both Goldson & the Niner's LT. If HE chooses not to sign, fear not...you just might be surprised and we may not see a drop off at all (maybe even an improvement by the end of the year or next year). We'll see...
[ Edited by NCommand on Jun 28, 2012 at 4:14 PM ]