Where are the pass rushers?

[AgentDib]

I like a lot of what Rob writes, but the Clowney situation has a huge impact on our draft and as somebody thinking about that he has every incentive to be frustrated by the lingering uncertainty. It's hard to mock players to the team with a big piece like that still up in the air. Fans also hate uncertainty, and I've heard a few responses to the effect that they'd rather he just went elsewhere than the situation continue to sit undecided either way.

Humans are risk averse and we make trade-offs all the time to remove uncertainty and risk. This could be buying insurance, or not visiting a place deemed dangerous, or even staying indoors these days.

The difference for the FO is they are paid to deal with this uncertainty and to try to gain as much value as possible without being afraid of it. Drawing out extension negotiations with players while looking for the best deal for the club is part of the job description. Similarly, adding troubled players who may not make an impact (Gordon, Kendricks) is worth organizational hassle if there is a decent chance the player could succeed.

Taking the entire off-season to address the pass rush is not a negative for them but is instead laudable if it means they are putting in the work to make sure we get the best bang for our buck across the board. It would have been the easy path just to throw cash at pass rushers in the opening FA days but the easy move and the best move are rarely the same thing.

 

[jammerhawk]

Dib that is is clear and thoughtful response but at the present rate of progress there won’t be any talented pass rushers left to sign, and once again the team will be expending early draft picks for very short term and highly expensive suspect results.

Frankly I have thought there little likelihood the team was going to re-sign Clowney as the two sides appear quite a long way apart in their negotiations. There are lots of reasons why both sides have strengths and weaknesses in their positions, but it appears Clowney’s agents have misjudged his market and the present COVID situation isn’t helping them much. 3 weeks have passed since he went on the market as a FA and his market is thinning, but so are the players with sufficient talent and experience to improve upon last year’s weak pass rush. Sometimes you just have to pay the market value. The true question is what is that value?

I suppose being patient may reward the team’s patience but I suspect the teams with deeper pockets may acquire Clowney for an expensive season with a no franchise clause.

 

[Appyhawk]

I will agree this years draft lass is not deep at edge but disagree there is no value to be had. There are several players at the position that show fine promise and I hope we get one of them early whether or not we are able to resign Clowney. In fact I fully expect that to be the case.
Then we're set to beef up our O Line and DT, (a spare RB), sign another vet rusher like Griff or Clowney, and we'll be ready to rumble.
Seems to me a lot are underselling the impact Irvin and Mayo, in combo with viable threat from other side, can cause for positive impact. Those guys can play. They're not as splashy as Yannick or Clowney but they pile up stats just the same. Same for Suggs and Griff. Not so fancy but very effective. We'll be fine by game time.