Dwight Freeney might be worth looking into

[Wood]

Released by Indy yesterday. Might be better fit for 4-3 than Spencer. He will be 33 shortly - might still give you 2-3 years. Freeney is looking to get back with 4-3 defense after bad experience with 3-4 last year in Indy. Biggest question will be what does 33 year old all-time Indy sack leader want for a contract. Could be considerably cheaper than Spencer and produce similar results if not better. Saved money could be spent on interiors of OL/DL.

[EPL0c0]

As a starter...no. As depth, sure for a year, unless there's youth worth developing now

[Rack Bauer]

No. Absolutely NOT.

[jobberone]

This is one I'd not be too quick to dismiss. The key here is his health and contract demands. I'd want to work him out and have a very good look at his tape the last couple of years. And make some calls.

A lot depends on Spencer. I'm starting to lean on his getting money elsewhere.

[Rack Bauer]

Originally Posted by jobberone

This is one I'd not be too quick to dismiss. The key here is his health and contract demands. I'd want to work him out and have a very good look at his tape the last couple of years. And make some calls.

A lot depends on Spencer. I'm starting to lean on his getting money elsewhere.

And play him where? The strong side? Where he's never played?

Sorry but bringing in Freeney would be a huge mistake.

I'd rather bring in some relatively unknown YOUNG guy to play SDE.

Oh wait... we already have that on the roster... Tyrone Crawford.

[BlueStar22]

No

[Future]

Originally Posted by Rack Bauer

And play him where? The strong side? Where he's never played?

Sorry but bringing in Freeney would be a huge mistake.

I'd rather bring in some relatively unknown YOUNG guy to play SDE.

Oh wait... we already have that on the roster... Tyrone Crawford.

Situational pass rusher.

[Erik_H]

Originally Posted by jobberone

This is one I'd not be too quick to dismiss. The key here is his health and contract demands. I'd want to work him out and have a very good look at his tape the last couple of years. And make some calls.

A lot depends on Spencer. I'm starting to lean on his getting money elsewhere.

It's interesting although age probably weighs pretty heavily against it. I'd think that Freeney would be more of a backup to Ware rather than a replacement for Spencer. THe DE spots are slightly different and I think Freeney would be more of a WDE like Ware.

That said, if we could have Freeney in here instead of Victor Butler, I'd be all for it.

It doesn't solve our Spencer Problem though. I think he would have to accept significantly less than market value if he's gonna come back. I'd bet Dallas could offer him 8 to 8.5 a year, but he's looking at 10-12 elsewhere. It depends on how badly he wants to stay in Dallas. That's a lot of $$ to leave on the table.

[jobberone]

No he's not the greatest guy at 4-3 DE to play the run. But he can get to the passer. Also you're going to move the ends around some to get Ware away from the double teams and chips but also just cause.

If I had Freeney I'd not hesitate to play Ware at the same time as the SDE on occasion. Again depends on his contract demands and whether Spencer is here yada.

BTW, I'm high on Crawford and agree he can play SDE; in fact I suspect well. However, right this moment he's no Freeney pass rush wise.

We could use Freeney. However, I wouldn't get too worked up over it one way or the other. I don't see us spending what money we have on him.

[Titleist]

Originally Posted by EPL0c0

As a starter...no. As depth, sure for a year, unless there's youth worth developing now

C'mon man, we give Freeney the big $$ he obviously wants just so he can be a BACKUP? No way. We simply don't have that kind of money to throw around

[Erik_H]

Originally Posted by Titleist

C'mon man, we give Freeney the big $$ he obviously wants just so he can be a BACKUP? No way. We simply don't have that kind of money to throw around

No one said big money.

[Titleist]

Originally Posted by Erik_H

No one said big money.

I don't care that the guy is 32...he's a 7x Pro Bowler and has racked up over 100 sacks in his career. He can still demand the big bucks and get them. It sure ain't comin from us though

[Biggems]

freeney has long been one of my favorite players in this league, but i cant see spending money on him. we need to be looking in a completely different direction. I vote we pass on freeney.

[Erik_H]

Originally Posted by Titleist

I don't care that the guy is 32...he's a 7x Pro Bowler and has racked up over 100 sacks in his career. He can still demand the big bucks and get them. It sure ain't comin from us though

You are making an assumption that he will get a big salary this year. Everyone else posting in this thread has gone with the opposite assumption that he would be affordable.

If he is commanding a big contract, then there's no point in discussing it. Everyone else seems to get that and is speculating whether Freeney would be worth considering.

We all know that if Freeney requires a big contract then he's not comin here. You are arguing with no one on this point. You're debating an aspect of the discussion that no one is arguing for. This thread has the built in inference that Freeney would be at least less than half the cost of Spencer.

It's as if two people are deciding between chicken and steak, and you insist that the only option is vegetarian and the case should be closed.

[xwalker]

Originally Posted by Wood

Released by Indy yesterday. Might be better fit for 4-3 than Spencer. He will be 33 shortly - might still give you 2-3 years. Freeney is looking to get back with 4-3 defense after bad experience with 3-4 last year in Indy. Biggest question will be what does 33 year old all-time Indy sack leader want for a contract. Could be considerably cheaper than Spencer and produce similar results if not better. Saved money could be spent on interiors of OL/DL.

I have suggested Freeney before in discussions about Spencer.

Freeney would be a Nickel pass-rushing specialist at Strong-Side DE and a backup to Ware at WDE. The Nickel pass-rusher would rarely have to play the run.

Freeney (Nickel) + Crawford (Base) should be much cheaper than Spencer.

I wouldn't expect Freeney to get over 4M.

In the above scenario, he would not really be a starter or a backup. I would call it a pseudo-starter similar to the 3rd WR or slot CB.