One aspect that, I feel, needs to be identified in this thread is the position that the Front Office has put the team in ahead of any possible hold-out. I know there are multiple threads about the confidence in and credit towards PC/JS, but look at the specifics in this situation.
When we drafted Turbin two years ago and CMike last year, there were a lot of people that said, "Wasted pick. RBs are easy to get. They're (RBs) less valuable than they used to be. Lynch makes the pick worthless. Why did we use that high a pick for a benchwarmer?...". There are infinite examples of players having every advantage in a hold-out because a team has no other options. This team, it seems, has planned out every possible scenario and protected itself from the most dangerous situations. We would all be biting our nails if we didn't have the young stable of RBs already on the roster.
I like Lynch and hope he's back but (personally hope) without a change in contract. If that's his demand, I hope there's a way to get a trade done. I don't say this because I want him to leave or because I think Cmike or Turbo can 100% pick up the load. I say it because I see that the team has planned out, 3 years in advance. Can you imagine the panic if McCoy or Peterson suddenly said, I'm not showing up to camp? There's no way the team could rebound.
I'm sure, with each skill position, there is already a plan. Maybe there's room in the plan for a restructure. But the money has to come from somewhere. If we end up spending it a year early on Lynch, it might lead to the loss of several years of another player in '15 or '16. Or, it could lead to the loss of one year in a position where we don't have a backup.
My whole point is that, I find it very enlightening that there's even a disagreement. I think, historically, a player as instrumental as Lynch holding out would be an absolute emergency. Who's got it better than us when we can go into camp, with or without Lynch, and still have high hopes of an historic season?
