PFF write up on Tate and Bennett

[Sgt. Largent]

It would be nice to know which way Russell is going to swing. If he takes a good contract for us (12-14 mil/yr) we can afford to keep at least 2 more players. It would be nice to know if he will do that or not.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see what Russell does. I know Brady restructured his deal to an obscenely low amount for his elite QB status to help alleviate cap pressure for the Pats.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/ne ... -contract/

But this was Brady's 2nd or 3rd contract? So he's already got a ton of money, this is Russell's FIRST, so if I had to guess Russell's not going to be as kind. I HOPE he is, but for his first big contract? Hard to tell.

 

[DavidSeven]

Brady's wife is also worth more money than he is. Plus, he's still hitting the cap pretty hard and his contract is fully guaranteed. If he gets hurt before 2017, NE is up a creek. Everyone thinks Flacco bent Baltimore over on his extension, but his cap hit is actually the same as Brady's next year.

Also consider the fact that Luck and RGIII will have made several more millions than Russell before their contracts are up. Russell will be rewarded handsomely, and he deserves to be! If you feel bad about it, then consider the fact that some teams are forced to pay Jay Cutler, Matt Stafford, and Tony Romo huge sums of money. I think we're going to be okay.

 

[HawkWow]

Percy is Tate, except Percy is the best playmaker in the NFL, he is faster, quicker and better running with the ball, he is better running routes and Percy is an excellent WRs (he has the intangibles). But if you take away 50% of Percy's ability, you're left with Tate.

I've never seen anything that suggests Harvin is a better route runner than Tate....and I've watched both of their careers in their entirety. I would be more inclined to believe the exact opposite to be true. Due to the explosiveness you reference, Harvin didn't make his name running routes. It was the 1 yard passes that he turned into 10.

Further, Even if you could put such a percentage on players ("Tate has 50% of Harvin's ability"), that is countered by the fact Tate was available to us 100% of the time. What percentage was Harvin available to us this year.. maybe 1%?
Availability again trumps ability. If we had Harvin, but no Tate, it's likely we are not SB champs this year.

Before people come running to his rescue, I am in no way putting Harvin down in this post. Just pointing out the fact Tate's durability / availability should be figured into this discussion before writing him off.

 

[BASF]

In 2103 he was a really good pass rusher. Was he a really good pass rusher all along, who had some bad luck finding a long term contract before Seattle picked him up? Or was he a really good pass rusher in 2013 because Seattle has an excellent defense around him and a perfect scheme for his abilities? I'm guessing he shines because of the scheme, and if a different team signs him for 7 million / year they're going to be sorry.

Two quotes for you from the article in the OP:

Let’s first get something out of the way: I have long been a huge Bennett fan. We trumpeted him as the best free agent edge defender last year, and I was flabbergasted when the rest of the league allowed the Seahawks to add him for a reasonable deal.

He’s ranked inside our Top 7 4-3 defensive ends three years in a row since becoming a full-time starter in 2011 and, at only 28 and without too much tread on him, there’s no reason to think he doesn’t have another few great years in him yet.

And one from the article in Feb 2013 before signing with us:

Ever since the light went on for Bennett in the Bucs’ Week 4 Monday Night victory over Indianapolis in 2011 (+11.2) he has developed into one of the league’s best defensive ends on the left side.

He had a great 2012 for the Bucs. A lot of us were *ahem, extremely displeased* when Mora cut him in preseason 2009. It was the moment that I knew our season was going to be poor. It was very easy to see Bennett's potential in that preseason. The fact is he chose us in 2009 when he went undrafted and he chose us when he had other offers on the table last offseason.

Edit to add: I would enjoy having Tate back on a Hartline like contract, but I would prefer having Bennett back on a Chris Clemons like contract.

 

[Tokadub]

I like how people here mentioned the Colts and Patriots as possible destinations for Tate if we can't keep him. I wrote the same thing in another thread before even reading this one haha, I do think he would do very well on those teams.

Call me crazy but I'd rather keep Tate than Bennett if we could only have one, I just don't think our offense can afford to lose any of our reliable play makers especially if any of them (looking at you Harvin) can't stay healthy.

I think we would have a much easier time drafting someone to fill Bennett's roll or signing someone relatively cheap to mostly fill his shoes than we would for Tate. Tate really has unique talent and skills, Bennett is good but there's gotta be more players who are similar to him in the league and upcoming draft compared to Tate.

I also think that Tate's punt returns were huge for us, if it was not for the awesome field position from many of his punt returns we would have lost more games for sure. Hauschka was at one time leading the league in points per game, meaning field position is huge for us and those extra punt return yards from Tate could be the difference from us punting our kicking a FG several times a game.

 

[Happypuppy]

I agree with some other Tate is going to be at 6m or so a year. His numbers could be a lot higher if we were a pass first team. Two teams that would love him would be SD and KC. both have the need are not that far off the Denver pace and he would thrive.

I just don't think we can afford him unless he is willing. We can pay a big bonus and then drop it to 3-4 m a year but will we? The greater needs is for a big body outside. I see him going.

Bennett I think stays. He is more valuable to seattle than just about any other team. He is not a really big guy but like Red has a unusual skill set. In the 4-3 he has the most value and fewer teams are using it.

 

[cacksman]

Bennett over Tate if we have to choose. That's a no brainer.

 

[hox]

I don't think Tate will command a lot of money on the open market. Bennett, however, probably will. Other teams are already trying to copy our defense as much as possible.

D-line should remain a top priority. Bennett is a versatile player that can shut down the run and the pass.