Jaylon Smith

[Sydla]

OK, seems like there are plenty of people who want to discuss the contract issues. I don't know enough about what is being considered by the team or the player to discuss that so it's foolish of me to try. I am just talking about the players. I will say this thou, Smith is coming up on his third season. Lets say he has a better year but is still not the impact player you wanted him to be next season. What then do you do there? Do you pay him, based on what you think he still might be in year 4, still having not materialized or do you let him walk? I ask this because if we don't sign Hitch, you then are in a situation where Lee is two years older, Hitch is gone and now you are having to face a deal where you are over paying a guy who never really materialized or having to replace all your starting LBs.

That's really the problem with all of this, as I see it.

It's simple to me. Hitchens has a value. To me, his value isn't worth paying him Top 5-7 ILB money, which some are suggesting we should do. He's not that good. He's decent, that's it. He's not a MLB on an elite level defense, if that's what Dallas wants to build.

So if he comes back on a fair deal, I gladly will take him back. If some team gets stupid and makes him like the 6th highest paid ILB in football, then you let him walk because that's insane and you deal with LB in two years if there's a problem. Frankly, Hitchens isn't good enough IMO that if Smith fails in a year or two, you think you are actually in good shape with Hitchens as your last LB.

 

[Nightman]

SLee is a better MIKE right now than JSmith...... but JSmith is better than Hitchens

Hitchens is not big, strong or fast......he is average at all of those and not great in coverage or pass rush

Ideally they move SLee back to MIKE because he is Jedi level smart and gets hurt at WILL anyways
Watching JSmith chase down RBs from the WILL will be fascinating

I will take Hitchens back at 4m or less and I would draft a LB in the 3-5
We can even sign a vet LB....... it is allowed

 

[cern]

hitchens plays very well. Jaylon smith is just a crap shoot at this time. losing hitchens will set the team back. we could possibly find somene as good as hitchens in free agency, but why pay that person too much when we already have hitchens. we can petty much count on sean lee missing 4-5 games a year at a minimum. our lb position is precarious. we have two good ones, lee and hitch, and then a bunch of serviceable players.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

M

Maybe in Sept but they played into December and JSmith was flying around the field like before

No, he was not. He was, at least, trying to get himself in the right position to make a play but he wasn't setting the world on fire, even then. He was average, at best and he wasn't playing MLB exclusively. We don't agree there.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

It's simple to me. Hitchens has a value. To me, his value isn't worth paying him Top 5-7 ILB money, which some are suggesting we should do. He's not that good. He's decent, that's it. He's not a MLB on an elite level defense, if that's what Dallas wants to build.

So if he comes back on a fair deal, I gladly will take him back. If some team gets stupid and makes him like the 6th highest paid ILB in football, then you let him walk because that's insane and you deal with LB in two years if there's a problem. Frankly, Hitchens isn't good enough IMO that if Smith fails in a year or two, you think you are actually in good shape with Hitchens as your last LB.

I would not pay him top 5 money but I would pay him to stay. If he leaves, what do we really have at LB?

 

[Sydla]

I would not pay him top 5 money but I would pay him to stay. If he leaves, what do we really have at LB?

If he leaves we have Smith and Lee and there are some vet free agent MLBs out there like Karlos Dansby who you can probably get cheap for one year. Then you draft a LB or two, which the team was probably going to do anyway given they have 10 total picks in the draft.

Hitchens isn't good enough IMO that you have to panic and overpay him because you fear your LB depth. That's how teams end up with dumb contracts on their books.

 

[Nightman]

hitchens plays very well. Jaylon smith is just a crap shoot at this time. losing hitchens will set the team back. we could possibly find somene as good as hitchens in free agency, but why pay that person too much when we already have hitchens. we can petty much count on sean lee missing 4-5 games a year at a minimum. our lb position is precarious. we have two good ones, lee and hitch, and then a bunch of serviceable players.

We got destroyed with Hitchens filling in for Lee..... he is not the answer

 

[Nightman]

If he leaves we have Smith and Lee and there are some vet free agent MLBs out there like Karlos Dansby who you can probably get cheap for one year. Then you draft a LB or two, which the team was probably going to do anyway given they have 10 total picks in the draft.

Hitchens isn't good enough IMO that you have to panic and overpay him because you fear your LB depth. That's how teams end up with dumb contracts on their books.

Maybe we can sign Coughlin for MIKE....... I heard he can turn a whole team around

 

[KJJ]

The jury is still out on Smith. He looked better as the season went on in limited action but whether he can be an every snap player remains to be seen.

 

[Sydla]

Maybe we can sign Coughlin for MIKE....... I heard he can turn a whole team around

Don't let your silliness on why the Jags are better cloud your correct thinking on Hitchens.

 

[the_h0wey]

I have to wonder with another off season to heal if Jaylon will be ready to man center field full time. He showed some of his potential this past season but can he continue to grow? Either way, with Hitchens hitting the free agent market and there is a strong possibility he will not return to Dallas, a linebacker in round 1 or 2 is a must.

People on this board seem to think it is a foregone conclusion. They have so much confidence in him they want us to let Hitchens walk.

 

[Sydla]

People on this board seem to think it is a foregone conclusion. They have so much confidence in him they want us to let Hitchens walk.

See, that's kind of an overstatement.

A lot of people aren't saying let Hitchens walk because Smith is great. A lot of people are saying let Hitchens walk if some team gets silly in FA and overpays for him. There's a clear difference there.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

If he leaves we have Smith and Lee and there are some vet free agent MLBs out there like Karlos Dansby who you can probably get cheap for one year. Then you draft a LB or two, which the team was probably going to do anyway given they have 10 total picks in the draft.

Hitchens isn't good enough IMO that you have to panic and overpay him because you fear your LB depth. That's how teams end up with dumb contracts on their books.

If he leaves, you have a Sean Lee in his 9th or 10th season, who is oft injured, and you have Smith, who will be in a contract year. You are basically supporting the same agenda you are trying to say is stupid, in the case of Hitch. Smith will have all of the power.

Karlos Dansby? Seriously? Dansby will be going into his 15th season, next year. In a couple seasons, he aint gonna be doing anything in the NFL. You wanna pay that guy? You don't sound like you are looking at this objectively.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

See, that's kind of an overstatement.

A lot of people aren't saying let Hitchens walk because Smith is great. A lot of people are saying let Hitchens walk if some team gets silly in FA and overpays for him. There's a clear difference there.

Then again, a lot of people are saying, "Let go of Hitchens because Smith is eventually going to be great!"

 

[cern]

We got destroyed with Hitchens filling in for Lee..... he is not the answer

when he fills in for lee, it means lee is out with injury. when both are in the game, we become a pretty good unit.

 

[cern]

if what we saw from Jaylon last year is the best he will ever be, then we're in trouble and wasted a 2nd round pick on a seriously injured player. currently, there are only two good lb's on this team.

 

[LocimusPrime]

We don't have 4-5 top guys. We have Sean Lee. Jaylon hasn't earned 'top guy' status.

And you need 4-5 LBs who can actually play in this league if you're going to make it through a full season plus playoffs. Especially when your best LB has a long history of soft tissue issues. You can get away with having 2 of those guys be quality developmental players, but you need three guys minimum who can all start and play will for you across the WIL and the MIKE or in coverage packages.

LBs are your core special teams players, too, so it's not like it hurts to have an extra one lying around. We're losing Durant and Wilber this year, as well, so those spots need to be replaced. It's not like we have some embarrassment of riches at the LB position on this team. It's killed us for years, now, and I have no interest in seeing it kill us one more time in 2018.

Fix the S problem. Fix the LB problem. Keep the pressure players. Stop complaining about why it is we can't cover well enough to beat good QBs. It's pretty simple.

Exactomundo

 

[Sydla]

If he leaves, you have a Sean Lee in his 9th or 10th season, who is oft injured, and you have Smith, who will be in a contract year. You are basically supporting the same agenda you are trying to say is stupid, in the case of Hitch. Smith will have all of the power.

Karlos Dansby? Seriously? Dansby will be going into his 15th season, next year. In a couple seasons, he aint gonna be doing anything in the NFL. You wanna pay that guy? You don't sound like you are looking at this objectively.

You should read closer. I said vet LBs like Dansby who will likely be on one year deals. So no, I didn't say anything about any long term deal with Dansby, or any vet LB, for that matter. You injected that all yourself. I'd just be looking at short term fixes while I draft LBs. I'd sure rather pay Dansby to be a MLB here at like $2MM for one year than pay Hitchens $6MM a year for 4 years.

I am not sure what you want me to say. I'd like Hitchens back. I just don't want him back if he's going to make a lot of money. Despite claiming you wouldn't want to pay him big time money, your posts indicate that you are clearly hedging on that because you don't want to hear any alternatives.

So if anything, I am not sure the lack of objectivity is my issue, but rather yours.

 

[Sydla]

Then again, a lot of people are saying, "Let go of Hitchens because Smith is eventually going to be great!"

I've seen like maybe two in this thread...............

The majority of posts I have seen on Hitchens is he's not good enough that you have to overpay for him because you are soiling yourself over LB depth.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I don't understand your post here. Hitchen's ceiling is JSmith's floor? From what I've seen, Smith and Hitchen's aren't even in the same universe. Smith has, to this point, never shown that he can play at the level Hitchens is playing right now. They are two completely different LBs. I Smith had never suffered the injury that he did, he could still not play the role that Hitchen's does for us. He's not that type of LB IMO.

I don't understand?

Agreed. Hitchens was 100x better than Jsmith this year.