A Long Way From Lambeau
Out With The Old, In With The New
by Mark Lyne-Austen
15/5/2008
 
The start of training camps and the influx of eager new college players into NFL ranks makes this a time of renewal for NFL teams. The hordes of new guys all keen to break into a lineup are rightly the focus with a range of hotly tipped draft prospects combining with unheralded free agent sleepers to garner the buzz and raise the hopes of fans of each franchise.
 
For every young buck that bursts through, a veteran is forced to make way and in some cases that veteran can be a major star attraction. It is galling for fans to see their favored players leaving the arena and GMs are castigated when they get it wrong and release a veteran who goes on to have a successful career somewhere else. It is easy to pick out the star names who were moved on before their time, the New England Patriots have made a habit of taking those players on.
 
While it may be easy to spot those errors, the real skill in personnel departments is the ability to identify when a star man is on the wane. It is too late when it becomes obvious to the armchair viewer, a player taking too many snaps as their career winds down and not able to produce at the same level as they historically could. It is too late for a couple of reasons – the up and comer who could have benefited from the training camp and game time, and more significantly the salary cap hit that the veterans hold.
 
Three players for whom the personnel guys have to make the tough call soon are Jason Taylor, Tony Gonzalez, and Ray Lewis. Each an icon but perhaps none destined for a long span of playing years ahead of them.
 
Perhaps the most prominent of the three this off-season has been Jason Taylor. His appearances on Dancing with the Stars have been accompanied by the speculation surrounding his future under Miami Dolphins supreme Bill Parcells. Leading up this year's draft, there were expectations that Taylor may have found himself traded away for a series of selections. No trade emerged so for now, the Dolphins have decided that Taylor still has something to offer. They have not made the hardest decision in cutting loose their biggest name player but it has clearly been something the 'Fins have thought hard about.
 
In turning around a 1-15 team, no one player can be the answer and especially not if that player is on the downward slide. Taylor will be 34 come the start of the 2008 season so in all likelihood does not have a long career ahead of him. Trading the star sacker away would have been unpopular and he should still be a quality force on the field but the Dolphins may already have missed their chance to extract any value from moving JT on.
 
Another veteran with value is Tony Gonzalez. The 32 year old Tight End star for Kansas City has had injury concerns and illness in recent years but remains a perennial all-pro even on a team without superstar Quarterback play. It is that lack of a superstar QB that is the main reason that Gonzalez will continue to have a vital role for the Chiefs.
 
A high quality Tight End is the perfect safety valve for a team rebuilding the Offensive Line and without great experience at QB. Gonzalez has continued to put up good numbers the last few years and shows no sign of decline but he is entering the age bracket in which it will be time for the Chiefs to assess his continued value. The particular circumstances that the Chiefs find themselves in do mean though that Gonzo will be more important to their team as a veteran leader than he will generate elsewhere so they are unlikely to be in position to recoup the benefit he provides.
 
Not all veteran leaders mean quite that much to their team though as it depends on the circumstances the team find themselves in. The Chiefs can use that experience to help out their Linemen and QB while allowing the development of a potential star in Receiver Dwayne Bowe. Those circumstances are not the same for Ray Lewis at Baltmore.
 
The Ravens most famous player has been the inspirational heartbeat of one of the greatest of defenses. Leading a team with little offense to the Super Bowl following the 2000 season and being at the center of a brutal defense, Lewis is a strong bet for the Hall of Fame but his contract expires at the end of this upcoming season. Being 33 and having suffered the wear, tear, and injury that comes with being a fast paced and hard hitting Linebacker, Lewis is not the future of the Baltimore Ravens.
 
Lewis still piles on the tackles, 120 last campaign is a strong return but contract negotiations are about hard business and value comes above all else. Lewis may be worth another contract but not at any price, and not at the cost of the Ravens organisation moving on and finding someone to take his place.
 
The reason that Lewis and the Ravens are in a different situation to Gonzalez and the Chiefs is the rest of the defensive unit. Boasting players such as Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs, the Ravens D is not lacking in league-leading talent. Ray Lewis may be one of the fieriest characters on the gridiron but his hunger and spirit have not been enough to take the team back again to the heights of that 2000 season. Finishing bottom of the AFC North last year, the Ravens simply cannot afford to be overpaying an aged star if they are to catch the upwardly mobile rivals in their Division.
 
Taking a decision to move on from a great player is just about the hardest one the personnel guys in the league have to make and it's all about the value that player still has to the organisation or could bring in from a trade. Ultimately though, it is about timing and the careful balance between not risking a public blunder or hanging on to nostalgia for too long.