We need to identify players that take the ball away and keep them/recruit them.

That’s “moneyball” in today’s defense.

You can’t stop today’s offenses. The rules prohibit that. But you can take the ball away.

Forced fumbles
Recovered fumbles
Sacks
Interceptions
Batted passes
Passes defensed
Tackles for loss

Those are the categories that teams like ours need to emphasize because we score tons of points and that puts pressure on opposing offenses to keep pace.

Players that take the ball away help us win games.
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:-). All pro at least once. Multiple pro bowler.

39th ranked safety?

Yeah... no
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two guys, one position. I don't see any reasonable way around that. You could make an argument, and I am-that a better rounded player can man that spot that is less risk and an overall better asset for that money. Plus, you probably net a nice pick. I'm kind of Trey Flowers or bust at the moment.
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Plan A-cut Houston, tag and trade Ford, sign Flowers, gain a #2, sign KJ Wright and oh, pick a FA safety you like.
Plan B-Cut Houston, tag and trade Ford to NY Giants for Landon Collins, sign Flowers, sign KJ Wright.
Plan C-Tag and trade Ford, play Houston at RDE and eat the $21 million, sign a FA safety and a SAM, draft Houston's replacement at RDE, hope Houston plays more than not this year.

Most likely, we'll tag and play Ford, cut Houston, sign a FA safety and a SAM and hopefully draft a RDE to play in Ford's spot next year when we do the whole dance again. And he'll probably play a lot this year too; as Ford rarely gets through a full season.
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Flowers also played a hell of a lot more snaps. Both were 25 in their 3rd season of playing.

Ford played 1400 snaps his first 3 years playing.

Flowers played 2097 snaps his first 3 years playing.

Damn. I don't really even want Flowers that much now, regardless of what we do with the rest. He's going to be way overpaid for his production.
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If we can find a way to flip Ford for a top pick while signing Collins and Flowers, Veach deserves a fucking statue built of him in front of Arrowhead.
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you just had a defensive scheme for 6 years that was based off bend dont break and highly dependent on the +/- in takeaways. And when they couldnt generate a turnover the entire scheme was useless.
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In his 5th season, Ford passed Flower's sack total in his 4th season.

He's two years older, but only one extra year in the league. He has more snaps because-get this- HE'S BEEN HEALTHY. so much more than Ford that it took Ford a whole extra season to pass him in sack totals. I do not see how you could possibly look at that and see it any other way.

Crazy, I know. His sack totals are not all to his game though-he's also an excellent run defender, something Ford is NOT.
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Fuck yeah. I'll be front row at the christening.

LOOK AT IT THOUGH. I don't know that the Giants would come off Collins. I really don't.
But Flowers would cost about what cutting Houston would save us. That's not a stretch. That's not Madden shit, that's real.

If you flip Ford for a #2 which is entirely possible, you have enough money to sign a top safety and a pretty good SAM.

It's a do-able plan.
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I’m not in on Flowers. He’s probably going to get what, 5 years/$85-100M on the open market? No way I sink that kind of investment into a guy who I don’t even know if he can play up to that in my defensive system yet. Let’s give the big contracts like that to home grown stars such as Jones. We can draft someone younger to earn such a contract in the future if they are capable.
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Yep. If Flowers were available for a reasonable cost I'm all over it, but he's the #1 guy after FTs in a market desperate for edge talent. Going to get PAID.
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You guys wanna pay patriots players that bill doesn’t want to keep have at it. No thanks here

I don’t think it’s really worth discussing trading ford at this point. All signs point to the tag atleast

Unless they get a good offer they’ll keep him a year
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A-5 years at $15-$17 per is totally reasonable for a 25 year old plus player at a premium position. I'd feel better about that than paying Ford.
B-he's already played for Daly. He knows exactly what they're doing on the line, he's already done it.

What you DON'T know is whether Ford and/or Houston can play in this scheme. I would bet that Houston would be better in the short run than Ford. He's also wildly expensive, 30, with a lengthy injury history.

Jones is the only homegrown star on that defense that I'd pay right now. I'd take a couple plus players at prime positions
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Miami and Detroit will be in on Flowers and have a lot more money to spend than KC. I really like the player, but shudder at the cost.
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I think Flowers gets $17M minimum, and I’d bet the over at $18M.

Plus, paying him is a lot different than paying Ford. You’re talking a one year deal as opposed to probably 5 years for Flowers.
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