Joe Thomas is on the trading block, Matt Miller says we should make a call

[ctrcat]

If Thomas was a cancer I'd worry about chemistry but by all indications he's the opposite.  Not to mention he'd probably be recharged going to a winner.  Not to mention our OT unit is an injury away from disaster.  Not to mention we've never been 6-0 and the chances to win it all are real-now.

[Toomers]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

As good as Thomas is, contracts like that are what got us into the mess that we're only now digging out of.

Also, the Browns...oy.

    How is a contract with zero dead money similar to the crap deals Hurney gave out? We are already seeing that this DEF can survive without CJ. Cutting him gives an extra 11M. Other is a 4.5M hit to keep next year. Thomas is 8.3M. Not a huge difference, except for Thomas is a huge upgrade. Cutting Harper gives anothe 3.5M. There will be plenty tag/sign Norman, and Short. Allen will not be here unless it's a cheap deal. And it's a lot easier to find a DE in the draft than a LT. Picking at 20 or later, any stud LT is long gone. Then you have to hope they don't bust like more than half of 1st round LTs are prone to doing. I'd give them our late 1st for high-level LT play for a good portion of Cam's prime. And say thank you.

[ctrcat]

21 minutes ago, Promethean Forerunner said:

Norman was THE reason why our defense held it together without Luke for three games. No fugging dice.

Agree but there's a reason he was a 5th round pick and a reason Thomas was #3 overall.  There's a reason tackles FLY off the board with reckless abandon every year and corners rarely go in the top 5.

[Toomers]

4 minutes ago, thebigcat said:

do you think his agent will let him play next year at those numbers without guaranteed money? His loyalty was to Cleveland, he won't give a hometown discount to Charlotte on the tail end of his career. Jordan Gross who was widely viewed as a very good LT and our best lineman in hx hung it up at 32-33. I am not interested in giving up a 1st - 3rd pick on a 2 year rental at a high base price that will likely require a new contract

  Why would he have to have a new contract? With no dead money attached, he has very little leverage. He was fine with that money in CLE. Why would he want more money now?

[TheRed]

1 minute ago, Toomers said:

    How is a contract with zero dead money similar to the crap deals Hurney gave out? We are already seeing that this DEF can survive without CJ. Cutting him gives an extra 11M. Other is a 4.5M hit to keep next year. Thomas is 8.3M. Not a huge difference, except for Thomas is a huge upgrade. Cutting Harper gives anothe 3.5M. There will be plenty tag/sign Norman, and Short. Allen will not be here unless it's a cheap deal. And it's a lot easier to find a DE in the draft than a LT. Picking at 20 or later, any stud LT is long gone. Then you have to hope they don't bust like more than half of 1st round LTs are prone to doing. I'd give them our late 1st for high-level LT play for a good portion of Cam's prime. And say thank you.

It's interesting reading on here how easily people seem to be writing CJ off.

When we are playing the top competition in the league, which is what will happen if we want to make a deep playoff run, that is when you will see just how much of an impact there will be from not having guys like Jared Allen, and Charles Johnson on our D line.

Certainly we can draft pass rushers, but DE's typically take at least 2 seasons before things begin to completely click.

Are our fans going to wait that long? Of course not, they will be screaming for Gettleman to "do something".

[ctrcat]

10 minutes ago, thebigcat said:

if we are going to go "all in" on one position this year to get to the SB and win then LT would not be your problem. If we are "one player" away from winning it this year then it is WR, you break the bank for CJ and pay the price for it next year when you have to say goodbye to Norman and the draft pick you gave up to get him. 

 

Me personally, you stay the course, Seattle got there with mediocre WRs and the Pats won it with a 5'10 232pick WR who was acting as their #1.

 

Disagree.  In one fell swoop we'd go from the worst OL in the league to the best in one year, and with our RBs, QB, FB, TE we could literally pound and submit our way to the ring this Jan/Feb.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Seriously, we do not have the worst oline in the league and haven't for a while.

[Mr. Scot]

There's a very real possibility that Daryl Williams could get a shot on the left next season.  Plus there'll be other options available in the draft.

Lack of patience can screw a franchise up.

[uncfan888]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

There's a very real possibility that Daryl Williams could get a shot on the left next season.  Plus there'll be other options available in the draft.

Lack of patience can screw a franchise up.

Which is why Gettleman is the GM and we aren't. I'm good with whatever that fat bastard decides

[ctrcat]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

There's a very real possibility that Daryl Williams could get a shot on the left next season.  Plus there'll be other options available in the draft.

Lack of patience can screw a franchise up.

Love Daryl but he's a natural RT.  LT is the hardest position to fill behind QB.

[Toomers]

1 minute ago, TheRed said:

It's interesting reading on here how easily people seem to be writing CJ off.

When we are playing the top competition in the league, which is what will happen if we want to make a deep playoff run, that is when you will see just how much of an impact there will be from not having guys like Jared Allen, and Charles Johnson on our D line.

Certainly we can draft pass rushers, but DE's typically take at least 2 seasons before things begin to completely click.

Are our fans going to wait that long? Of course not, they will be screaming for Gettleman to "do something".

   So we should stick with CJs 15M cap hit next year? How's that helping anything? When you paying our LBs big money, and about to pay our DTs a lot, some position will get less. We are playing great DEF with not much at DE right now. What teams are going to magically torch us because CJ is out? GB? I believe he was there for the disaster last year against them. Speculation that we MIGHT have trouble later this season is just confirmation bias for your opinion.

[AceBoogie]

Only if he played defense

[TheRed]

Just now, Toomers said:

   So we should stick with CJs 15M cap hit next year? How's that helping anything? When you paying our LBs big money, and about to pay our DTs a lot, some position will get less. We are playing great DEF with not much at DE right now. What teams are going to magically torch us because CJ is out? GB? I believe he was there for the disaster last year against them. Speculation that we MIGHT have trouble later this season is just confirmation bias for your opinion.

Hey, by your argument, you know who else was right there through those blow out losses last season? Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis. Does that mean that they are expendable too? No? Okay then. So let's please not further such silly logic.

Anyways, it's going to be a tough decision. But if we want to win a Super Bowl, we need a legit pass rush.

 

[ctrcat]

6 minutes ago, Promethean Forerunner said:

That's hardly an excuse. Norman was a 5th round pick because he had a poo combine and attended Costal Carolina. Had Josh gone to Georgia or Florida State or Alabama, he would have gone in the Top 10.

Yeah, Tackles fly off the board early. And how many have worked out in the last five years? Two.

Norman is a shutdown corner. Those don't grow on trees. There are maybe four more CBs in the entire league who can do what Norman does by taking half the field away, and you wanna take our chances with a 31 year old who may or may not mesh with our hog mollies on that salary??????

I'm not one that thinks it has to be either/or.  I also don't think GMan makes a move.  But I would, on the surface at least.  Whoever we pick at OT in the near future, as you point out, will be a crap shoot.  Thomas is not.