Quote:
Originally Posted by O.city
I don't have a problem signing him, hes been very good and he fits the scheme well. I think some of the Dbacks we need to keep are a little higher priority wise with the way this regime seems to develop DLman.
|
Yeah, but the franchise isn't doing bad at DB either with Peters, Gaines, Parker and Abdullah.
For all the shit that Sutton gets around here, the talent on the defense largely seems to play up. And we're not that far removed from having Tyson Jackson as the lynchpin of our DL.
I think the DL can do a lot to make everyone else look better. The Secondary can help a little in that regard, but not as much. If it came down to Smith or Howard (and it might), it's a tough call but if you lose DeVito and Howard next year, you're just as thin on the DL as you are if you lose Smith.
It's really 1A and 1B with those two guys. And where I think Gaines might be able to do the job as the #2 CB next season, I really don't see another asset on the DL that can stand in for Howard if we lose him.
Smith may be more important than Howard but Howard may be more difficult to replace. It's a tough call. In the end, I have more faith that we can pay Howard and he'll come near his contract year production than I do that we can pay Smith. Moreover, I think the market will support an even more out of whack contract for Smith than it would for Howard. So I'd focus my efforts on Howard at this point.