Quote:I'll say again, one thing about those Elite DE's -- they often change teams after a few years.  Franchise QB's on the other hand rarely move around. 

+1000. 

 

The main reason why they change team is because their current team either could not afford or chooses not to match their contract demand.  Basically, it would make a lot of sense for a playoff contender to offer an elite DE $100 million contract as they view them as the last piece to the puzzle, whereas, a younger team need to spread that money around.  Take Mario Williams for example.  I'm sure the Texans would love to have him, J.J Watt and Brian Cushing on their defense at the same time, but they can't just give someone $100 million dollar if he isn't a franchise QB.  And I would bet that J.J Watt would leave for another team 3 years from now, long before Seattle would consider trading Russell Wilson.

 

On the other hand, any team will automatically lock up a franchise QB immediately.  Face it, the Baltimore Ravens would still pay Joe Flacco, even if he didn't win them that SB.  It might not be the crazy amount he's getting now, but it's still be $15 mil+ per year.

 

For those of you -- actually, only two on this board -- who would rather draft a once in a decade DE prospect over an elite QB prospect, remember that when you make the final decision.  Because once you have enough pieces to make to build a strong defense, that DE prospect might not even be with the team by then.

---