(10-18-2019, 08:08 AM)Caldrac Wrote:

(10-18-2019, 07:38 AM)Bullseye Wrote: (emphasis added)

Here's an idea:  Retain the very best players...the ones who had the most to do with the winning.

The team first mindset is meaningless if you don't have players on the team that can translate that mindset into wins.

I'm pretty sure nobody on that 1995 team was accused to being a me first player.  I'm fairly certain, players were doing everything they could to improve the fortunes of that team.  Yet there is no way that team was going to come close to contending in 1995.  Why?

They didn't have the talent to do so.

Conversely, all of the teams in the league saw, to some degree, the things Ramsey did to potentially alienate himself from the team.  Yet virtually every team made preliminary inquiries, and several were reported to be serious suitors, including the Eagles, who just won the Super Bowl two years ago, and the Rams, who were just in the Super Bowl last year.  I readily admit I have never worked in an NFL front office, but I tend to think teams that reach Super Bowls value talent and teamwork.  Yet those teams did not hesitate to pursue Ramsey. 

How do you explain that?  Why is it that franchises that know how to reach the pinnacle stage of the NFL so aggressively pursued such a noxious individual?  Even if they weren't in the locker room, they had to suspect that maybe Ramsey wasn't a team first player.  He's the guy who plays zone only when he wants to, right?  He's the guy who quit on his teammates, right?  So why was he pursued by so many teams?  Why were the Rams willing to trade so much for him?

It's funny that so many of his detractors call Ramsey "soft" when arguing either expressly or tacitly he isn't worth the headache.

But history has repeatedly shown that while those less successful franchises tend to somehow be prone to headaches, the successful franchises are willing to take an aspirin, take a chance on exceptional talent, and reap the benefits.  The trrade market for Ramsey is indisputable proof of that.

Bullseye... you can't retain players that simply don't want to be here. Ask the Raiders how that worked out for them. Ask this front office how it worked out for them. Ask the Steelers how that worked out for them. You're being beyond unreasonable over a guy that was all about himself. The team first mindset is also meaningless if you have guys that don't want to be here. 

There's 31 other teams in the NFL Bullseye. That's 31 different teams with a set of 31 different problems, wants & needs. All of those teams have different variables, cultures and ways of doing things. Of course a team would take a chance on Ramsey. Of course they would. It's the same reason teams took chances on T.O, Sanders, Moss, Haynesworth, Burfict, Mixon, etc. 

They want to win. Even if at the cost of having a side show in town. And sometimes those moves don't even pan out in the long run. Again, we ALL are FULLY aware that Jalen Ramsey is probably the best player to come along at his position in years. Probably since at least Revis. But it can be argued that he's not the best teammate or individual for your locker room. 

I'll take Xavier Rhodes, Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Peterson & Richard Sherman in their primes, and some in cases, even TODAY over a selfish football player. Talent can only get you so far Bullseye. The Rams are gambling with this trade. It's boom or bust and to be honest it could cost a few folks their jobs by the time his 26 games are up. 

They still have to negotiate an extension too. But to answer your easy [BLEEP] question? Teams are desperate to win in the NFL. People are desperate to keep their salaries and jobs in the NFL from the best player in the NFL overall to the strength and conditioning coach or positional coach in the NFL. Sometimes that liquid gold on the shelf in it's pretty little vial ends up being an unforgiving poison. You take your chances in the NFL. 

The Jaguars took their's. The Rams took their's. We'll see how it all plays out.