Dont'a Hightower -- He can do them both (merge)

[Coltsfan0112]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000788376/article/patriots-wont-use-franchise-tag-on-donta-hightower

 

I pray the Colts make a serious run after him if he doesn't get signed

[Superman]

I don't want him. I want ILBs who can cover. 

 

Also, he's reportedly asking for upwards of $12m/year. 

[CR91]

I really cant see the pats letting go of jones and collins and not retaining hightower

[richard pallo]

35 minutes ago, CR91 said:

I really cant see the pats letting go of jones and collins and not retaining hightower

I agree.  The franchise tag is too high so that isn't a good option.  They should be able to sign him to a more reasonable figure without having to tag him first.  He would be a great leader and addition to our team. Especially if we sign a real NT and he would have more blitzing opportunities. If the Pats should lose him to FA all they have to do is trade Garoppolo to the Browns and draft Ruben Foster and get another comp pick.  

[needanoline63]

Donta Hightower needs to come to Indy. He is a hybrid linebacker. He can play outside of inside. Signing him would help us at two positions although we still need two other OLB's

[AZColt11]

I would be for it but of course money and desire are also factors.

[ManningGM]

Him along with Reuben Foster in the draft 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

4 hours ago, CR91 said:

I really cant see the pats letting go of jones and collins and not retaining hightower

 

The pats feel they don't need to pay high salaries because they cheat and opposing coaches get Brain Cramps when playing them.

[BOTT]

Meh. If he was the same player but wore a different uniform nobody would care about Hightower.  He's a pretty good player, nothing more.

[AZColt11]

2 hours ago, BOTT said:

Meh. If he was the same player but wore a different uniform nobody would care about Hightower.  He's a pretty good player, nothing more.

I get it.  I sure wouldn't spend a ton of money on him.  But we are very short on even "pretty good players" on this roster.

[AKB]

2 hours ago, BOTT said:

Meh. If he was the same player but wore a different uniform nobody would care about Hightower.  He's a pretty good player, nothing more.

He's just a pretty good player.

 

Hmm.. 

 

We don't even have an above average ILB. 

 

Regardless of our bias I think he would help our defense, so I agree with the OP. 

 

I'll take "a pretty good player" any day. 

[Chucklez]

5 hours ago, AustinnKaine said:

He's just a pretty good player.

 

Hmm.. 

 

We don't even have an above average ILB. 

 

Regardless of our bias I think he would help our defense, so I agree with the OP. 

 

I'll take "a pretty good player" any day. 

You're damn right.... an entire defense of "pretty good players" would be the best defense in the league... bar none.

 

[MackAttack]

8 hours ago, BOTT said:

Meh. If he was the same player but wore a different uniform nobody would care about Hightower.  He's a pretty good player, nothing more.

If Hightower is just a decent player in the NFL then our current lb corp is well below below average. Js. If anyone wants to argue that go back and watch some film on josh McNary ..

[B~Town]

1 minute ago, Zalazar Elijahh said:

If Hightower is just a decent player in the NFL then our current lb corp is well below below average. Js. If anyone wants to argue that go back and watch some film on josh McNary ..

didn't they grade out to be the leagues worst positional group

[MackAttack]

12 minutes ago, B~Town said:

didn't they grade out to be the leagues worst positional group

Oh wow I actually don't know bud but that wouldn't surprise me at all they were really tough to watch. That said I'd just like to say I for one appreciated dqwell Jackson he didn't have his best years with us but he was old, and he was still reliable he made pretty good plays and stayed relatively healthy and probably did his best to educate our young defensive guys.. the ones we kept at least. 

[pgt_rob]

I'm all for him. Our best inside linebacker was probably DQ and he's gone now. Can't totally rely on Edwin Jackson, Morrison, and Josh McNary.

[UKColt13]

After all the taggings I'd be more than happy with paying Hightower as our D's centre. He's a multi-position player. And since we liked blitzing DQ quite a bit, why not employ the best blitzing ILB in football to do that instead? I'd really love this offseason to focus on our linebacking corps, which last season was arguably the worst in the league, and has since lost people.

 

I'd also like to bring in Zach Brown along with Hightower. I think having Hightower as the starting MIKE and Brown as the WILL would instantly be a top 5 ILB pairing. My only concern is that the new administration may want to see what they have in Antonio Morrison. Although I'd much prefer to see Morrison as a special teamer/backup behind 2 quality starters.

 

Couple them with a 1st round rusher off the edge, maybe bring back Walden for a couple of years for consistency and we could see the middle line of the D transform its fortunes next year.

 

Still gutted that Ingram got tagged.  

[ManningGM]

1 minute ago, UKColt13 said:

After all the taggings I'd be more than happy with paying Hightower as our D's centre. He's a multi-position player. And since we liked blitzing DQ quite a bit, why not employ the best blitzing ILB in football to do that instead? I'd really love this offseason to focus on our linebacking corps, which last season was arguably the worst in the league, and has since lost people.

 

I'd also like to bring in Zach Brown along with Hightower. I think having Hightower as the starting MIKE and Brown as the WILL would instantly be a top 5 ILB pairing. My only concern is that the new administration may want to see what they have in Antonio Morrison. Although I'd much prefer to see Morrison as a special teamer/backup behind 2 quality starters.

 

Couple them with a 1st round rusher off the edge, maybe bring back Walden for a couple of years for consistency and we could see the middle line of the D transform its fortunes next year.

 

Still gutted that Ingram got tagged.  

I'm good.

[UKColt13]

9 minutes ago, ManningGM said:

I'm good.

 

Well what are the other options? We have no one else behind him, and unless we take 3 high priced FA LBs, what are we going to do? Nick Perry is probably the best OLB likely to hit the market and because of that he'll get paid hansomly. I'd rather bring Walden back on a decent contract than over pay for a marginal improvement. 

 

I think Walden gets a bad rap on here. He's doesn't set the world on fire but he is serviceable, knows the scheme and is a veteran leadership presence in the locker room. He won't command a huge price either.

 

RUSH: 1st round pick

MIKE: Hightower

WILL: Brown

SAM: Walden

 

I'd take that all day long. And twice on Sundays.

[Smonroe]

11 hours ago, needanoline63 said:

Donta Hightower needs to come to Indy. He is a hybrid linebacker. He can play outside of inside. Signing him would help us at two positions although we still need two other OLB's

 

Agree with your premise.  But you really need to work on your thread titles...

[CheezyColt]

42 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

 

Agree with your premise.  But you really need to work on your thread titles...

Haha, thank you!

 

[aaron11]

1 hour ago, ManningGM said:

I'm good.

id be ok with bringing him back

 

too many holes to fill in one offseason, and olbs are not easy to find

[gspdx]

I'm not big on FA signings, but I think Hightower could be the anchor of our defense for many years to come.  It would irresponsible not to at least look at him.

[richard pallo]

He's a playmaker and a difference maker. He would be a huge upgrade to our defense.  Our defense needs playmakers as we all know.  I am really surprised they are letting him test the market.  

[Finball]

20 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

He's a playmaker and a difference maker. He would be a huge upgrade to our defense.  Our defense needs playmakers as we all know.  I am really surprised they are letting him test the market.  

 

Which could be seen as a red flag..

[gspdx]

I don't think it is a problem with them letting him test the market.  The Pats are masters of managing their roster and probably feel it's worth the risk.

 

 

[DaColts85]

It can also be because he wants a big contract and the Pats are not going to give him that (aka Chandler Jones and Jaime Collins).  He can see what the value is and t he Pats will still place their offer there and let him know that it's either take the huge sum of money or stay with a winning team for a good but not great price tag.  This is something they do with majority of guys.  He has seen, especially this year, that they have no problem letting players leave and finding a replacement.

[BOTT]

7 hours ago, Zalazar Elijahh said:

If Hightower is just a decent player in the NFL then our current lb corp is well below below average. Js. If anyone wants to argue that go back and watch some film on josh McNary ..

Yes, the colts linebackers are below average.  Not sure anyone would argue otherwise.

[MackAttack]

1 hour ago, BOTT said:

Yes, the colts linebackers are below average.  Not sure anyone would argue otherwise.

So why in tarnation wouldn't the colts want to desperately upgrade it with a 2 time sb champion linebacker ?

[Superman]

2 minutes ago, Zalazar Elijahh said:

So why in tarnation wouldn't the colts want to desperately upgrade it with a 2 time sb champion linebacker ?

 

Because he's going to cost a ridiculous amount of money, and we still won't be able to cover the middle of the field.

[Coltfreak]

9 hours ago, UKColt13 said:

 

Well what are the other options? We have no one else behind him, and unless we take 3 high priced FA LBs, what are we going to do? Nick Perry is probably the best OLB likely to hit the market and because of that he'll get paid hansomly. I'd rather bring Walden back on a decent contract than over pay for a marginal improvement. 

 

I think Walden gets a bad rap on here. He's doesn't set the world on fire but he is serviceable, knows the scheme and is a veteran leadership presence in the locker room. He won't command a huge price either.

 

RUSH: 1st round pick

MIKE: Hightower

WILL: Brown

SAM: Walden

 

I'd take that all day long. And twice on Sundays.

Have you figured out how much that would cost or just a wish list?

[UKColt13]

14 minutes ago, Coltfreak said:

Have you figured out how much that would cost or just a wish list?

 

Total?

 

Well Hightower for about $11m per ish. Brown for maybe $8m per. Walden, due to his age, won't make more than his current mark of roughly $5m per, so say for the sake of argument that he gets another contract for about the same average. Those coupled with a 1st round pick in exchange for a good/very good starting linebacking corps.

 

Hightower    -    $11m per

Brown          -    $8m per

Walden        -    $5m per    

                         $24m per

 

With our cap room this year and going forward we should have no problem being able to afford them all as well as another couple of nice pieces.

[Coltfreak]

16 minutes ago, UKColt13 said:

 

Total?

 

Well Hightower for about $11m per ish. Brown for maybe $8m per. Walden, due to his age, won't make more than his current mark of roughly $5m per, so say for the sake of argument that he gets another contract for about the same average. Those coupled with a 1st round pick in exchange for a good/very good starting linebacking corps.

 

Hightower    -    $11m per

Brown          -    $8m per

Walden        -    $5m per    

                         $24m per

 

With our cap room this year and going forward we should have no problem being able to afford them all as well as another couple of nice pieces.

 

Market Value for these players according to Spotrac

 

Dont`a Hightower.   10.1 million.  http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/donta-hightower-9835/market-value/

 

Zach Brown.    4.5 million.  

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/zach-brown-9862/market-value/

 

Eric Walden.  Didn't have it   

 

So you are close.  But I doubt it will happen.  

 

 

[BOTT]

1 hour ago, Zalazar Elijahh said:

So why in tarnation wouldn't the colts want to desperately upgrade it with a 2 time sb champion linebacker ?

 

^what he said

 

 

[UKColt13]

7 minutes ago, Coltfreak said:

 

Market Value for these players according to Spotrac

 

Dont`a Hightower.   10.1 million.  http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/donta-hightower-9835/market-value/

 

Zach Brown.    4.5 million.  

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/zach-brown-9862/market-value/

 

Eric Walden.  Didn't have it   

 

So you are close.  But I doubt it will happen.  

 

 

 

Hightower looks about right. But I think we'll have to throw a little more at him than that due to Cleveland and SF and the like. 

 

I find it hard to believe that Brown takes home less than 7per. 8 would put him about on par with Darryl Washington. He got a deserved ProBowl nod last year and is a stat box filler as well.

 

I'd love it if we could get both. Have a feeling we might have to go either or though.