rumors from the senior bowl...Patrick Willis on the market.?

The more I've thought about Willis the more his age concerns me. But as I read back through some of the thread this made perfect sense.

 

For us yes, but Im not sure about for them. They would be getting rid of Willis because they are hurting for cap space. Not sure it would make sense for them to take on a mega-contract in Wallace.

Either way I would be all-in on Willis. He's still a great player…and could be the heartbeat of this defense.

 

I didn't necessarily mean even up Wallace for Willis. I would be okay w/ that though.

 

What you're doing is an example of circular logic. Cam Wake is a "proven vet". Brent Grimes is a "proven vet". When a DE regresses to a mere 6.5 sacks as a right side edge rusher, hasa combined 4 passes batted, fumbles forced, and fumbles recovered in 3 years, weakens the base defense on 1st & 2nd down b/c he's a poor scheme fit, and makes life tougher for Wake on 1st & 2nd down b/c he's a poor scheme fit, then words like "proven" shouldn't be thrown around so loosely.

If that's not enough, what happens next year when he's a FA and we've already got a big chunk of change invested in the D-line? I'll take the additional draft pick and the signing of a DE in FA [or the drafting of one] who fits the defense better and costs less.

 

Haven't heard any rumblings just yet but another guy to consider from SF would be Vernon Davis. He had a very down year last year…he only has 1 more year on contract and he is owed 7 mil this year…they save like 5 mil I think by cutting him. He is getting up there in age (31) but I think he has a few good years left if he is utilized properly…big red zone target

 

Does Patrick Willis make us a Super Bowl contender? A guy like Willis is going to want to play somewhere he can win right away. I could see him in Atlanta specifically if he does get moved. Seems like a perfect fit for him.
I would love to have him here with us, but there is a huge risk involved in doing so.
The thing is we already have an aging defense....At this point Patrick Willis (for his position) is starting to age as well. He's a seasoned vet at this point and while he may still have 5-6 years left in him, you have to ask yourself if he's a worthy investment. Grimes and Wake are in their 30's, Willis is getting there, we have questions on the defensive line, we have questions in our secondary and while we have a lot of nice players on defense, we still do not have that one franchise level defensive player that every contending team needs to have. Both Seattle and New England have several of those players on defense, thus the reason they were in the Super Bowl.
Back to Willis....Is his still a franchise, game changing all world Linebacker like he was just a year ago? That's the type of player we need on defense. You risk adding Willis to an already aging defense and he gets injured and catastrophe is going to strike yet again. After that you're left with a depleted defense that is getting old and you have no money left to upgrade via free agency, and all of your draft picks have been either traded away (for Willis) or used elsewhere to upgrade other positions....If you trade for Willis you are living on a prayer and our team has a horrible track record with these "swing for the fences" type of moves.....Daunte Culpepper set this team back years, (it remains to be seen if Mike Wallace does the same) and I do not want to live through something like that again. Patrick Willis may or may not be the answer for this team, and that is a gamble i'm not sure i'm willing to take.
I think we need to keep building through the draft, and make smart sound decisions in free agency....Ndomakong Suh and Patrick Willis do not need to be talked about at this point.

The draft is coming and in my opinion with our first round pick, we need to take the best Linebacker, Safety, or Defensive Tackle available.