Mungo Burrows said:
Smith [ 9 ] ** [31.03%]
Brown [ 6 ] ** [20.69%]
Edwards [ 10 ] ** [34.48%]
Benson [ 2 ] ** [6.90%]
C. Williams [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Jones [ 1 ] ** [3.45%]
Williamson [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Rolle [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
Rogers [ 1 ] ** [3.45%]
M. Williams [ 0 ] ** [0.00%]
He's probably the second best CB in the entire NFL behind Champ, and the second best returner in the entire NFL besides Hester. He's an amazing, amazing, amazing, franchise-changing talent. The rest of the top-10 seems like a whole bunch of mediocre, the kind of guys you could easily and cheaply replace through free agency... so instead of getting a player I could easily replace with a mediocre guy off the street, why not get a franchise-changing talent and back him up with a mediocre guy off the street? If he winds up playing his way out of the NFL thanks to his $.02 head, then you're not really any worse off than the franchise that wound up with Caddy Williams or Ronnie Brown... but if you can actually hold him together, then man... wow.Hell, Lawrence Taylor had off-the-field issues, too. I'm not saying Pacman is in the same league as LT, but if LT was on that list, don't you think he'd get 100% of the votes, character concerns be damned?
LT never got suspended for a year. You'd really build a franchise around a guy who can't play for a year, and even then has to prove an ability to stay out of trouble that has not been evident to date? All this, knowing he can't come to your facilities or have the structure of practices, etc? Really?!??! Talent or not, that's a huge risk.
Well, when we're talking about starting a franchise, I'm assuming we aren't talking about starting a franchise, getting it all together, and having it start play by week 3 of this NFL football season. As a result, I was operating under the assumption that we'd either get the 2005 version of the player in question (in which case he hasn't been suspended yet), or else we'd get the 2008 version (in which case he'll be finished serving his suspension).Since this is a "knowing what we know now" excercise, I would draft Pacman Jones knowing what I know now. I would also give him a contract far above what his draft slot would dictate, but put in stipulations that if he ran afoul of the law, he would have to return ALL OF IT. I'd also spend a big chunk of change hiring a "personal assistant" (read: babysitter) whose sole job would be to drive him around everywhere and making sure he didn't get in trouble. Obviously, he'd be resistant to both stipulations, but I suspect an extra $10 or $20 million would be more than enough incentive to get him to swallow his concerns.
Even if we're playing where I'd inherit his 1-year suspension, I'd be fine with that. Again, I'd give him a huge contract with lots of behavior clauses. If he had to sit out year one of my franchise's expansion season, that'd be okay, because my franchise certainly wouldn't be making ANY noise in its expansion season, anyway.
I'm not denying that it's a huge risk, but I feel like you can get guys comparable to the other 9 for chump change. The only player on that list who is among the top half of starters at his position is Braylon Edwards, but he's just a WR. Randy Moss changed teams for a 4th rounder last year, Javon Walker went for a 2nd rounder the year before that, and Terrell Owens was available as a free agent. If I want a franchise WR, I can get one without going after Braylon Edwards. If I want a mediocre RB, I can get one much better and cheaper than Caddy Williams or Ronnie Brown (witness Travis Henry). If I want a franchise QB, I wouldn't want to get him in year 1 of expansion, because he'd get killed, and I'll be drafting with another top 10 pick next year, anyway. The only guy on that list who is better than something I could get off the street is Pacman, which more than makes him worth the risk.
