Morgan Extends!!!

Are those Morgan's cap numbers? if so, this really doesn't seem to be that bad of a contract.

 

I've always said that I'm fine with being insulted as long as the offender actually bothers to get off of his ass and actually make an argument to go along with the insult. Since you haven't, could you perhaps stop being so lazy and actually come up with one?

We were 4-8 with him on the field last year, as opposed to 3-1 without him. We also had a better record without him than with him in 2002 (4-3 vs. 3-6), although the opposite was true in 2003 (3-2 vs. 8-3[/i]).

Since when? Name one game that he ever won for us. Name one time he ever dominated an opponent. Name some game-changing plays that he's made. Point out any season in which he's ranked among the best players at his position. Explain to me why he was no better than average in terms of tackles per game prior to the 2004 season. Morgan is a solid player, but pretending he's on the same level as Peppers or Jenkins is sheer lunacy.

Yes, that's a believable statement. Calling me ego-centric, arrogant, stuck-up, rude or any number of things looks fine because there appears to be some truth to it. Call me clueless and you look like you have no credibility whatsoever. Matching wits with you about the Panthers would be like wrestling a one-armed midget.

Steve Smith has had one major injury in his professional career that caused him to miss the vast majority of those games. Dan Morgan's injury history reads like an encyclopedia.



ColinG:
Almost every player is going to be relatively underpaid in the last two years of their rookie contract. But no, I don't think we were robbing Morgan blind or anything. He's certainly not half as good as the guy just above him on that pay scale - Keith Bulluck. Guesstimating, I'd say that he was probably worth around $2-2.5 million or so last season, which is not too much more than what we paid him. Meanwhile the team has probably come up short over the length of the contract due to all the injuries.

As far as the players you're throwing out, you might want to mention that last season was the first time Urlacher had missed any time in his career (Arrington had only missed two prior to 2004), that Lewis destroyed Morgan in tackles even in Dan's best season thus far, and that Marcus Washington is an SLB (they don't get near as many tackles)

And regarding the franchise tender thing, that blurb was saying that if we cut him prior to his roster bonus next year, we'd be on the hook for the entire $6 million bonus we gave him now, plus his base salary, which would push him up over the franchise tender. That didn't make a lot of sense considering that he was already under contract this season, but it was from PFT, so what do you expect?

 

Interesting. So last year it looks like 42 linebackers had a higher cap value than Morgan with the cream of the crop Lewis/Urlacher had cap values some 3.5 times greater than Morgan. He was most definitely a steal last season.

 

(numbers removed as they are not the correct ones...read further)

 

Since the gray area has long since departed, I won't bother choosing a side. I'll say this, though. A lot of people have used stats to show one way or the other how the team's better or worse with Morgan in the game.

Consider this: We were 3-1 without Julius Peppers at the end of 2002, and with Witherspoon at MLB. That doesn't mean we cut Peppers and put Witherspoon inside.

 

Not unless you're going back to talking about production by game, and in that case you'd need to divide the salary by games played. Morgan finished outside the top 30 for linebackers in tackles (31st), and outside the top 50 for linebackers in terms of sacks (53rd). So he was paid right about what he should have been.

 

You already chose a side, but I don't blame you for backing off when there are so many overzealous sharks in the water.

 

Carolina Vs. Baltimore in 2002. We had just moved ahead by a 10-7 margin and Baltimore was driving. Peppers deflects a pass and DAN MORGAN intercepts sealing the victory. You have to give Peppers credit for the deflection, but Morgan made the INT to seal the win.

 

True, Ray Lewis had an average of 9.7 tackle a game to Morgan's 8.4 (source nfl.com) but then...as you say...Morgan is no Ray Lewis. Marcus is a valid comparision as his pay is similar. If his stats to beat Morgan in sacks (in this case they do; but only by 2), PD, FF, or tackles then why is he making more money. Still, I don't want to get too far off on a tangent. The numbers don't show gloom and doom.

 

and were did he finish in terms of tackles/game? in terms of sacks you need to be comparing MLB's not all linebackers and even then you need to include and evaluation of defensive scheme and number of times the specific MLB blitzed.