It's apples and oranges. The Pats get a net gain in cap space (maybe not great, but it's there) swapping out Jones for Cooper, at a time they need cap room to sign more critical defensive players. Whether Cooper is any good is a separate piece.
I get that. You seemed to be saying that Cooper was the thing to be least excited about and a throw in. I'm saying that, while your take is possible, his draft pedigree (i.e., trade value) and cap hit suggests the Patriots are excited about him. I don't know where he would rank ordinally on the list of most valuable assets from the trade. Perhaps it's still 4th.
There is roughly a 0% chance that they pick up Coopers option so I'm not sure the point of that. No way is NE paying 11M for any guard let alone one coming off multiple disappointing seasons.
Okay, now we're on the same page. I still think of the four things I listed, Cooper is the least valuable ... at the moment, at least
Right. The odds he earns an $11M/$12M option on next year's salary seem very, very long. This is a 1 year try-out with the chance at a long term deal that will not include the 5th year option.
2.39 million in dead money if they cut him per spotract- http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/jonathan-cooper/
I did bad maths. Sportrac has the cap hit at $2.4M, fully guaranteed. Clearly the Pats think he's worth the money.
Depends on when the roster bonus is due. If start of league year, then yeah, but if it is tied to being on the active roster in September, then I am not sure there would be any hit to cutting him
Hopefully this opens up some more money for Sheard, too. Resigning Collins, Butler, Jones, Sheard, and Hightower was going to be a pretty damn near impossible task. Jones always seemed to be one step away from going from very good to great, but never really made that step. It makes sense to get what you can for him now.
Where does "No more game-thread complaints about a lack of holding calls against Jones" fit in? Or is it assumed that we can just shift the complaint to [insert pass rusher here]?
Those stretches seemed often to occur in the second phase of the season as he hit the wall or was injured. Two sacks in nine playoff games isn't overwhelming.
Cooper is a first round talent that you wouldn't be able to get in the 4th round. Now he has been a disappointment but it wouldn't shock me if he turned it around until Scar.
Huh? They had more sacks than any other Pats team under BB and that was with Sheard missing a chunk of the season. If Grissom and Flowers mature a little they will have plenty of pass rush. To say nothing of if they sign Long. This was literally their deepest position on the team. Losing Chandler hurts, sure, but it doesn't devastate the unit.
Sheard, Collins, Nink, Hightower, Brown, Easely, Grissom, Flowers, Rufus MF'n Johnson... Yeah... none whatsoever
This observation deserves some love. You failed to note, however, that the loss of Scott Chandler means that the net gain of overall players with names corresponding to Sturbridge Village occupations is zero.
Collins didn't really see the field until the end of his rookie year. Not sure you are making the point you think you are.
Seems like back-to-back picks in the second could be traded for a mid-round first. This opens up a ton of possibilities. Don't think you can fully evaluate this trade till after the draft.
Which would be forfeited and the Pats would be picking 29. No thanks.
Two bottom 2nd round picks night get you a 10-15 pick...
According to this value matrix those two 2nd round picks would have a value of the last pick in the 1st round
Was it more or less stupid than saying the Pats should go all in for 2016?
Yeah I don't really get the idea of going all in for 2016.. Beyond the fact they aren't going to ever go all in, they just signed Brady through 2019. Whatever you think of the merits of building around a 42 year old QB, they certainly are planning on those years as part of the Brady window.
Coopers' contract, salary and roster bonus, are fully guaranteed this year. The bonus is due 5th day of camp, but that's just a pay schedule. He gets it whether he's here or not. Zero cap savings if he's cut.
I am going to miss the complaints. One of my favorite mantras. But at some point it's the player and not the refs. Maybe there is a d line guru in Arizona that can help him with his technique and make him a better player against veteran offensive lines.
