Sean Lee has torn his ACL and will be lost for the 2014 season. Another major injury for Lee isn’t surprising but it’s certainly frustrating. Lee has missed 15 games over the past two seasons and will miss 16 more this season. Lee recently signed a 6 year 42 million dollar contract for the Cowboys. The contract has escalators which could raise the total to 51m if Lee plays 80% of the cowboys defensive snaps. Needless to say, the Cowboys won’t be paying out those bonuses. But this story isn’t just about Sean Lee and his injury problems. It’s also about a particular draft strategy. […] Read the whole post here.
Wow man, great read. That is unequivocally the best article Ive seen from FK by a considerable margin. Not to knock any of the other writers or anything, that was just really really exceptional. More please. I like the strategy of drafting health risks with talent- myself, especially at "bargain prices"...so long as you dont put all your eggs in that basket and keep talented depth behind them for when the inevitable injury bug strikes. Give me 10 games of Murray and 6 of whoever over a full 16 of Daniel Thomas/Mikel Leshoure (the two backs taken before him) or Alex Green/Roy Helu (the two following not counting Ridley). Those type guys are usually the above "whoever" anyway, and easy enough to come by, so why not draft a potentially game changing talent like Murray instead, and pick up his whoever backup wherever. Low-risk high reward. I looooved the 49ers picking up Tank and Lattimore last year where they got them. Bargain basement elite level 1st round talent that they can afford to let sit and recuperate. Well worth the risk. I cant say I agree with Jones' contract decisions though. Its nice of him, and its gotta be comforting as a player to know you might get paid for being a good Cowboy or whatever, even if it might not be fiscally responsible, but it makes zero sense from business standpoint and could really hurt the team in the long run...certainly isnt helping in the short either...because its not fiscally responsible, at all. Its literally throwing money away that could have been better spent. Drafting injury risks on rookie contracts and seeing how it goes is one thing, paying them once they have an injury history like they dont have an injury history is another.
Very nice job. While it may be admirable for Jerry to sign damaged goods to extensions that possibly no-one else would, at the end of the day his decisions have led to mediocrity. If I were one of these high-risk gambles I would be eternally grateful to Jerry. If I were a teammate I might actually be pissed that monies are being spent on players that don't produce because they're on the sideline. One always hopes that damaged goods at a bargain price can pan out, but the reality is they are damaged. And why Jerry would even consider financial commitments to these player is astonishing, but understandable considering the soundness of many of Jerry's decisions. Loyalty is great, but Dallas fans want wins. I personally hope Jerry keeps with this strategy into the future.... and I'm guessing NFC East feels the same way.
The kid just went down on a very light play in my view.sean lee has had a miserable run of luck with his career so far.hopefully,he can recover and make up for lost time on the field due to these injuries.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree with you on taking the occasional "Gamble pick". But in this case we're talking 2 second round picks and a 3rd in back-to-back drafts. There are lots of starters in those two rounds. I'd rather gamble in the 4th and beyond and take healthy probable-starters in the first 3 rounds. Lattimore in the 4th last year was great... although with the niners taking Hyde in the 2nd this year... Not sure how much Lattimore will see the field this season. Yeah... Jerry is making it difficult to field depth. 5 seventh rounders probably aren't going to contribute as well as a couple of solid FA's.
Thanks. I agree with you. The tricky thing about Jerry is that he really believes we're only a few plays away each year. And as fun as it is to believe that hype... we're terribly thin. It's astonishing that an injury in OTA's may sink the entire year. We're left to counting on a 4th round linebacker (who runs a 4.81) or an older FA to step into Sean Lee's shoes. That's a baaaad place to be. Yeah... I want to believe that no players "revel" in another players injury... but I'm sure the NFC east smirked when Lee went down.
Yeah, It was flukey. It really should just be "bad luck", right?!? But... in my experience, there are certain players who are just 'fragile' and seem to be "unlucky" very, very often.
I agree with Walnuts. Great read. I don't think Jerry signs these guys to those extensions because of loyalty, or anything like that. I actually think he does it to not look bad, or out think himself. If he gives up quickly on a guy he drafted, he'll look like a bad GM...which everybody knows he is, anyway. Look at the class of 2009. Not a single player from that draft remains, and it only happened 5 years ago.
Im really hoping with Lee that Hitchens plays well at MLB and can be counted on as a starter. If that happens Lee can play ROLB a position that still uses his strengths, but cuts down on the hits he takes as that position doesnt shed blocks like MLB does
