Whatever happens I will always have fond memories of footballs bouncing off of those waffle iron hands of his. Bonus points for when he'd manage to catch one after 3 or 4 juggles and then try to juke around defensive backs like he was Fred Taylor.
That man has had the most blessed fortune of having been on a team that overpaid him for the sever lack of production provided and he knows it.
Quote:I worry Julian is a peyton manning project.
you mean Brady
Quote:The front office isn't going to cut Lewis because he makes $6.65 million. The only way they might cut him is if they find a better player for the position. This team has $65 million in cap space, how much money a player makes is almost completely irrelevant to the football decisions the is going to make.
You and I have gone back and forth a bit on Marcedes before. If memory serves, you think hes a pretty solid player, maybe even above average if he had some decent QBs to get him the ball over all these years. What I was wondering; what players in free agency do you think would represent a clear upgrade over M89, if any??
I like Clay from Mia and Thomas from Den, but those seem like the only 2 guys that are clearly better than Lewis going in to 15. You could add Jordan Cameron, but the injuries scare me off.
I'm actually starting to come around to your side of thinking here. It's going to be just as expensive (if not more) to sign one of those guys. Maybe the best way is to keep Marcedes (begrudgingly) and draft a young guy to groom?
Either way I think this is the last year for Lewis, if he gets that long.
When we have someone better I expect we will see him cut, until then, he's a starting TE for this team. Why cut a starter when cap space isn't an issue?
When you ask this question all you have to ask yourself is does he produce and what does he add that a younger similar position player wouldn't. Lewis adds nothing to this team.
If you can get Lewis to restructure his contract and than drafted someone or picked someone up in free agency so that Lewis was TE #2 I would be OK with keeping him around. He is not a great TE, but I think he is better than just bringing in any random guy to replace him. We have cap space, why get rid of him if he could be valuable depth.
Why would anyone think that Lewis is just going to take a pay cut, and why would anyone think the team needs to restructure his deal?
At the end of the day, if the Jags can upgrade the position, they'll move on from Lewis. If they can't, they're already more than $60 million under the cap WITH his contract. They'll have a hard enough time spending the money they have currently. They don't want to add to that unless they're also upgrading the TE position.
The Jags don't have any cap concerns. What they're paying Lewis won't be a factor in any decisions this team makes regarding his future with the team.
... but FBT, it does make for many hand wringing moments during the offseason.
Like McDonald's, "Im Lovin It!"
Quote:The fact that the team can afford him due to its cap room shouldn't influence the decision to keep him or move on. If you have people who are not playing up to their salary, you need to correct it ASAP. Otherwise, it has the potential to create friction on the team from those people who are outplaying their pay checks.
This. :yes:
Why would we want to keep someone who has been performing at a sub-par level for some time and pay him an above average pay check for it? It would make anyone who
is performing well but not getting his kind of money angry! Even an average TE would out produce
what we've come to expect from Mercedes Lewis. I notice that most of the better teams make significant use of their TE's as offensive weapons, while the Jag's have been 'hamstrung' for years with the performance of Mercedes.
We can either find someone at least as good as Lewis for a significantly lower cost (and I wouldn't think we'd need to look too high to find his performance equal), or get a significant upgrade from Lewis even if it costs more. Re-structuring Lewis's contract to more accurately reflect his level of performance would be good for the team financial bottom line, but it wouldn't actually help up grade the offense. If the goal is to actually upgrade the offensive weapons for Blake Bortles, then we need a significant upgrade from Mercedes Lewis. I can't see Mercedes remaining on the roster as I don't think he would be willing to re-structure his contract to the level needed to stay on in J'ville. Time to move on from Mercedes; he's had more than enough time here... too much, I'd say.
Is this a rhetorical question?
Quote:Currently Marcedes Lewis has a 2015 salary of $6.65 Mil with another $150,000 in workout money.
All of this for a glorified Blocking TE.
If the Jags can sign a Pass Catching TE, might they replace Marcedes Lewis with a more affordable blocking TE like
Lee Smith - TE - Bills - 6'6" 265 lbs - 28 in Nov 2015
He currently is a UFA and should cost less than 2 Mil/Yr.
Doug Marrone and Nathanial Hackett both know this guy since he helped make their running game go.
Does it make sense to pay a premium to keep Marcedes when we can get his replacement for perhaps a 1/3 of the cost and get a younger talent to boot?
The Jags could try and see if they could get a draft pick for him, perhaps a 5th or 6th Rd pick, or they can cut him outright. His salary is a bit high but perhaps he would lower this salary for the team he was traded to say like the Raiders with JDR. Marcedes is a West Coast guy, maybe he needs to finish his career on that coast.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
I can't believe this is a question, of course it's time to move on from Marcedes Lews, he's one of the worst starting TE's in football, severely overrated by Jaguar fans for years. He doesn't have the long speed to consistently threaten the seams, he doesn't have the agility to win in small spaces, he has below average hands, and is an average blocker at this stage in his career. Lewis is merely a 2nd/3rd TE on a good offense, Levine Toilolo (Atlanta) is the same player but comes at a fraction of the cost.
Quote:Why would anyone think that Lewis is just going to take a pay cut, and why would anyone think the team needs to restructure his deal?
At the end of the day, if the Jags can upgrade the position, they'll move on from Lewis. If they can't, they're already more than $60 million under the cap WITH his contract. They'll have a hard enough time spending the money they have currently. They don't want to add to that unless they're also upgrading the TE position.
The Jags don't have any cap concerns. What they're paying Lewis won't be a factor in any decisions this team makes regarding his future with the team.
The Jaguars will certainly upgrade the position because they have to, if Marcedes Lewis is the Jaguars starting TE in 2015 it's a disservice to the development of Blake Bortles. Also, paying a guy who's severely under-performing "just because you're loaded with cap space" set's a bad precedent, there isn't a competent GM in football that would pay Marcedes $7M a year
regardless of the cap situation. I'd be shocked if he's back on the roster next year, and wouldn't be surprised if he's out of the league within a year or two.
I really believe it's time to move on. I expect Jags to sign Te in Fa. J Thomas,C Clay or V Davis. I also think there probably draft 1 in day 3 and probably early.
Before last season, I was one of Marcedes' biggest defenders.
With that being said, if an upgrade presents itself, we need to move on, If not in FA then at least a higher round draft pick.
Too much money, too little impact, just turned 30... its time.
Of course it's time to move one, he's had one flukish year where he caught a lot of TD's but his overall production wasn't impressive, he's simply not and has never been a good player. If Marcedes Lewis played for a different team and were a free agent this year, would you be ok with the Jaguars paying him $7M/year? The answer to that question is certainly no, I expect the Jaguars to target a TE early in FA, if they can't strike a deal with one of the top 3 TE's Thomas/Cameron/Clay they better consider selecting a guy in the 2nd round.
Quote:Is this a rhetorical question?
well, yes; since none of us (presumably) actually have any say in who goes or stays in the locker room all of the questions (and responses) here would qualify as being rhetorical. It's just a forum for expressing opinions, after all.
Quote:The fact that the team can afford him due to its cap room shouldn't influence the decision to keep him or move on. If you have people who are not playing up to their salary, you need to correct it ASAP. Otherwise, it has the potential to create friction on the team from those people who are outplaying their pay checks.
This.
I could see them making him a lowball offer and leave him free to go elsewhere. But at the end of the day, sometimes it's just time to let go. It's about that time.