Saying Good-Bye to a Legend- The Niners should trade Patrick Willis

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by dj43:
I love Willis, however MD's proposal makes sense. Borland has been a tackling machine in college and continued at the same level in the pros. It isn't like these few games in the pros have been some unexpected revelation. The guy is a Football Player. He just gets it.

No, he doesn't have the speed Willis once had, and his arms are two inches shorter, but he has met or exceeded Willis' tackle numbers in every game. He is ready, IMO.

And Borland's injury history? He's out for the rest of this season...his first in the NFL. Not suggesting he isn't a very good rookie but if he starts and Bowman doesn't make it back...who are the next three MLBs? Wilhoite, Moody and a rookie?

From what I have read, he has an ankle sprain that would otherwise keep him out for two weeks. That does not concern me long term.

I wouldn't exchange him for a fully healthy Willis or Bowman. That is a no brainer. However, if I could get a 2nd round pick for Willis, I might make the deal.

Ha! Made me chuckle. Like a second round pick is even remotely close to adequate compensation for the leader of our defense. Not to mention we seem horrible at drafting in the second round.

I hope in a year you don't have to add Kap to the picture collogue.....

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Depends what you can get as compensation. Don't give him away for free or cheap.
~ Depends if he will lower his salary or not.

Him and Ahmad Brooks can go IMO to lower our salary cap obligations and keep more important players around like Iupati.

Originally posted by 951NINER:
Can we end this thread now until we get any sniff that he might be traded at all?

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
Watching former 49ers greats, like Joe Montana, wearing a Chiefs' jersey, or Jerry Rice wearing a Raiders' jersey, is like being part of some strange alternate universe. It just didn't seem real, or right, or __________ (your choice of words). And, yet, the Niners are on the verge of turning the page on a roster full of terrific players that deserve a spot, or at least an argument for a spot, on our best-ever roster. The one I want to focus on in this thread is Patrick Willis,

Willis will turn 30 this next month, and let's be honest, his best football is behind him. In the first five years of his career, there was no one better (better than Ray, better than Urlacher/Briggs, better than anyone). He should make the Hall of Fame someday as the dominant defender of the middle, a three-down stud. But, as we know, Father Time has a way of slowing down the best and brightest, and Willis doesn't have the same impact as he once did in his earlier days, He is not as dominant, not the best in the league anymore. He has come back to simply being very good, which is better than most rosters have across the NFL.

The problem the Niners have with Willis is that: 1) Chris Borland is also very good; 2) Navarro Bowman is also very good; 3) Willis makes about twice as much money as Bowman (who is four years younger), and a LOT more than Borland. Unless the Niners can find a new defensive scheme with 3 interior linebackers, this team has a problem: Which dude do you bench? Even though Willis has been so good to us, it doesn't make much salary cap sense to commit nearly $9 million this year to Willis, when you have a player at the same level, maybe slightly higher or lower depending on your perspective, in Borland, making a fraction of that amount.

As much as it would kill me to see Willis play for another team, the reality of the current salary cap era, the large cap number the team possesses going into 2015, and the list of free agents to either re-sign, or sign from other clubs, and the stellar play of Bowman (in 2012 and 2013) and Borland, simply makes Willis a Niners' legend that is...I hate to say the word...expendable. He, along with Frank Gore, have been the heart and soul of this team for so long, but this will be a new Niners' team in 2015, and the team has too many other needs entering the season to carry a huge cap number in a position of strength.

Trust me: there will be suitors in trades. Watching the Texans this year, they have a gigantic hole at ILB. There are numerous other teams who have the cap space (he would surely have to re-negotiate the contract down) and would love to have Willis on their roster.

All of this argument is based on the idea that Bowman and Borland will come back healthy entering 2015.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by dj43:
I love Willis, however MD's proposal makes sense. Borland has been a tackling machine in college and continued at the same level in the pros. It isn't like these few games in the pros have been some unexpected revelation. The guy is a Football Player. He just gets it.

No, he doesn't have the speed Willis once had, and his arms are two inches shorter, but he has met or exceeded Willis' tackle numbers in every game. He is ready, IMO.

And Borland's injury history? He's out for the rest of this season...his first in the NFL. Not suggesting he isn't a very good rookie but if he starts and Bowman doesn't make it back...who are the next three MLBs? Wilhoite, Moody and a rookie?

From what I have read, he has an ankle sprain that would otherwise keep him out for two weeks. That does not concern me long term.

I wouldn't exchange him for a fully healthy Willis or Bowman. That is a no brainer. However, if I could get a 2nd round pick for Willis, I might make the deal.

Ha! Made me chuckle. Like a second round pick is even remotely close to adequate compensation for the leader of our defense. Not to mention we seem horrible at drafting in the second round.

I hope in a year you don't have to add Kap to the picture collogue.....

He forgot this guy...

Originally posted by gold49digger:
So is this an annual thing now? the new "trade or release" frank gore?