(02-23-2022, 08:38 PM)Bullseye Wrote:

(02-23-2022, 07:48 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Two great posts there ^  Really well thought out and well written.  

My thinking on this issue continues to evolve.  But right now, I am strongly leaning towards retaining Robinson and drafting one of the two edge rushers.  It seems like letting go of Cam and drafting Neal is just churning our roster and not making any great improvement.  We've got plenty of cap space, so tagging Cam or signing him to a contract is not going to kill us.  He's a decent left tackle, but who do we have opposite Josh Allen?  Really not much.  Of course, all this has been said before.  

There's a million ways to skin a cat, so the above plan is of course not the only decent plan.  But it seems like the simplest, safest thing to do.  And it allows us to use the #1 overall pick on a player who will give us the greatest roster upgrade.  

Maybe I'm just gun-shy from a decade of thinking we can let a guy walk because he's easily replaced, and then acquiring a replacement who is worse than the guy we let walk.  We have Trevor Lawrence on his rookie contract for 4 more years.  If we start the rebuilding process by tearing things down first, we add years to the rebuilding process.  We know what we have in Cam Robinson.  Hutchinson and Thibodeaux are there for the taking.  Let's not make a hole in the roster that forces us into picking by position instead of by player.

So what I am saying is, let's keep Cam Robinson.

You, me, and TheDuke.  The AOL message boards live on!  Too bad HaCJax passed on.  Do you know if any other former AOL posters are here?  All we need is a team good enough to where we can run some smack and to smack around some Steelers fans, and we'll be all set.    

As to your closing paragraph, based on your reasoning, would I be correct in assuming you want to retain DJ Chark?

Still on your closing paragraph, I would draw a distinction between most of those incidents of getting rid of players and Robinson.  Just about every player we've regretted getting rid of over the years were at some point pro bowl or better caliber players.  Jalen Ramsey has been All Pro.  Yannick Ngakoue was a Pro Bowler and double digit sack guy.  Calais Campbell was once Defensive player of the year for us.  While we didn't specifically jettison Telvin Smith, we were nonetheless sickened when he retired prematurely because he made a Pro Bwol and won a few defensive player of the week awards.  Allen Robinson made the Pro Bowl for us in 2015,,,,and he was our first pro bowler at the position since Jimmy Smith.  Cam Robinson doesn't have those accolades to his credit.  While I don't think he has been as bad as many has made him out to be, nobody would mistake him for a dominant, pro bowl caliber LT.  Besides, we're in the optimal position to replace him through the draft.  In fact, if Walker Little is who we all hope he is, we already HAVE Cam's replacement on the roster.

It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world if we kept Cam Robinson and took a player at another position at #1, but the dynamic you lament is not present with the Cam Robinson situation.

I did really like the AOL board.  We had a good group of users and had some classic debates.  There are some good people on here, but there are also some that seem to have trouble following a logical argument and others who seem to be more interested in attacking and insulting instead of discussing and debating.

Was OLM on the AOL board under a different name?  His messages have an uncanny resemblance to one of the users.

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