Bobby Taylor signs with SEATTLE

[souzathelooza]

Seattle Seahawks
Taylor Agrees to Terms
Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:54:23 -0800

ESPN.com's John Clayton reports the Seattle Seahawks have reached a four-year deal with free agent CB Bobby Taylor (Eagles). Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

 

[Kdogg21]

great pick up by the Hawks. Seattle really is looking more and more improved as the off season goes by....

 

[Vegas Dave]

I would love to see Philly play their typical 'man-to-man coverage and try to blitz the hell out of the other team' without Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor.

Last time I checked this team has money, yet they keep losing key free agents on defense.

Good luck to them MAKING it to the NFC title game this year.

 

[CrazyHorse]

I agree that losing out on Taylor and Vincent will hurt. However it has always been the eagles philosophy to not sign players who are at a certain age and/or on the decline. If they had wanted to sign either of these 2 I am sure they could have got a deal done. Teams were not exactly salivating over Taylor to get him. I am a Cowboy fan and Taylor said he wanted to play there (I know many say that but he is from there and was adamant about wanting to finish his career in Dallas) and his asking price was not outrageous. I know you may think I am crazy but I was happy they did not sign him. To me he was a great player (a bit overrated as his main claim to fame was a few good games vs Michael Irvin back in the Boys heydey and even then he had a safety helping him over the top). I know Dallas needs help at CB but I would rather take a chance and draft a young guy for cheap to add to the mix than to bring in an aging Taylor. Don't get me wrong I know he is a very good player and would be a huge upgrade over Mario "thanksgiving day toast" Edwards. I just don't think he is that great anymore and definitely on the decline, just like Vincent who is older. To me the bigger surprise is that the eagles did not sign one FA CB to take his place as the market was plentiful for CB's when FA began at the beginning of this month.

As a Dallas fan I am very wary of the Eagles this year. They had a team w/ a ton of injuries last year and still made it to the title game w/ ease. Adding Kearse and Owens to me is a pretty good offseason thusfar. I know they both come w/ risks but to get TWO impact players in this FA pool is pretty good to me. I said last offseason that if the Eagles would have just gotten McNabb a true receiver they would have at least one championship by now. No question they will miss Vincent and Taylor but, if healthy, I don't see any reason why this team will not at least make it to the Championship game in the weak NFC. But as a Dallas fan I hope I am wrong.

Anyway I appreciated your nfl previews this past season. I am sure you may disagree w/ this post and I understand. But I just don't see how the eagles offseason to this point can be looked upon as anything but a very good one, especially for a team that was so hesitant to spend $$ in the past. Just my view FWIW. Sorry to drag on so much but it's sunday and I am bored at work.

 

[Vegas Dave]

Hey no problem about dragging it on.

If our points were brief, we'd never learn anything.

I get your point, but here's how I break it down.

Eagles Offseason:

Overall, I would say its fairly poor and here's why. Terrell Owens, great pickup, Jevon Kearse, great pickup, but the problem is this team consistently upgrades while sacrificing quality elsewhere. This team cannot expect to make it back to the championship game when their defense declined immensely last year, and now they've lost the two key players on that defense. This team used to use two shutdown CB's in man-to-man coverage so that they could use other members of the defense to blitz the hell of the other team. Although they do have Jevon Kearse to help the rush now, they don't have the luxury of blitzing nearly as much. Look at who this team has lost in the past few seasons: Jeremiah Trotter, Hugh Douglas, Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. Now I know the first though is that "Hey, these guys were all on the decline when they were leaving" and that may be a good point, but what I'm saying is that they were all at one-time or another pro-bowlers and this team has replaced these players with lower calibur players. From 2002 - 2003 the team defense dropped from 4th to 20th and it can possibly drop even more. Terrell Owens and chemistry issues is another topic all together. One last thing about the Eagles, they did have a fairly light schedule even though they were not supposed to. Look at some of their wins:

NYJ - no Pennington, ATL - no Vick, a reeling NYG squad twice, the Saints, and one of the 2 Redskin wins was without Ramsey.

Just keep it in mind.

Dallas +/- Bobby Taylor:

To be brief, Dallas has lost out here. Not a huge loss really, its not something that will make or break this team, but it would be a good addition, and here's why. You sign Bobby Taylor who is still very good at this point, Mario Edwards competes with a rookie CB for the 3rd and 4th spots in the secondary, and Edwards becomes less of a soar thumb. But now, this team has Edwards in the 2 spot where he gets exploited like a young boy in a Nike factory, and he can start to lose his confidence. With Taylor in the lineup, the transition would be smoother as Edwards and the rookie CB are given more time to GAIN self-esteem and experience before taking on a bigger role. Taylor would by that point have aged a little more, and would likely be a good 3rd Corner. Taylor and Newman right now would be capable of playing a lot more man-to-man coverage which would allow a team that normally doesn't get a lot of pressure on the QB a chance to blitz.

Maybe I'll write about Terrell Owens a little later...

 

[CrazyHorse]

thanks for the reply Vegas Dave.

I agree with most of what you said. However I still believe the eagles had a pretty good FA signing period. I understand your points but this is just my belief. A few notes:

You did make the point that the 1st thoughts about Hugh Douglas, Trotter etc that they were on the decline but were replaced w/ lower caliber players. This is true but I still agree with the moves and it saves them $ to eventually draft/sign better players. Also consider Hugh Douglas was a disappointment in Jax, even though their overall defense was not. Trotter is not even invited to Wahington's minicamps and they want him to seek a trade. To me it seems like the Eagles got rid of them at the right time and are not overpaying them right now. Perhaps they would have been better if they stayed in the eagles system but I just think the time was right. They have not replaced them w/ quality players yet but there is still the draft and they have addressed thier most glaring need (WR) thru FA, although there is no question Owens comes w/ alot of baggage. So not really disputing your point but I still believe they are going about it correctly.

I totally agree about the weaker schedule and that is a good point. I make the same point about Dallas' inflated 10-6 record. Now they were/are an improving team. But I also know they were pretty lucky too as they played: ATL (w/o Vick)..NYJ (w/o Penington)..PHI (early on when they were killed by injuries and Mcnabb was playing poorly)...DET (2 weeks after WR C. Rogers and RB J. Stewart got hurt). When Dallas did play a tough team on the road..ahh hmm nice weater were having now, eh?. And I know Philly had similar breaks like you mentioned. But to me they still got home field throughout w/o much of a problem. And they did it with a run defense that was pretty bad, mostly due to injuires to H. Thomas and C. Emmons..makes me worried how good they will be once they are healthy.

As far as Bobby Taylor I agree too. But like I said there is no doubting he is an immediate upgrade and a great pickup to team with Neuman. But some of those other point assume Mario would be back. He is a FA that is not getting alot of interest..believe it or not and if they did sign a FA CB he would not be back unless it was to take less to compete for a 3rd CB position. Now that could happen since he is not generating must interest but according to Dallas reports it is doubtful. Also because of Taylor's size he could be moved to safety in his 2nd yr with Dallas where he could take over for Woodson who may be playing his last year. Or move Roy Williams to SS (where he is better suited imo) and Taylor could play FS. Even knowing all that I still did not want him in Dallas unless it was for real cheap. And I knew that was not going to be the case. Dallas has not made many moves this offeseason but I like that. They have not overspent too much(a bit on Wiley but nowaday you have to a little bit but not as much as certaing teams..*cough *cough Washington) and brought Henson in for a 3rd rounder next year and I know Henson would not have lasted past the 2nd round if he entered this year. So when they decided against pursuing Tayor I was not at all unhappy and think it was the right decision overall.

So again just thinking out loud and now that I have a new job I have much more free time to post (obviously if I am writing a short novel about this ) But thanks again for your views as, like you said, this is how things are learned. And as a Dallas fan I am hoping I am wrong. Also hoping you are gonna do those team previews again as they were very helpful. Maybe if we are both around come August we can make a friendy side bet on Eagles over/under on wins or whether they will make the championship game for a cap or something.

 

[Vegas Dave]

I see what you are saying. I think where we look at the situation differently is because I'm looking at this issue from a talent perspective, and you bring in the finances. If we ignore the money, the Eagles clearly dropped off when they lost the 4 key players. Clearly if you factor in the money, each 4 of those players are likely to be overpayed by either the Eagles (if they would have kept them) or somebody else. The thing is we consider the money now, but nobody really brings up the money when the Eagles fall short of the Super Bowl 3 years in a row.

Just to side bar for a minute:

You're right, all of these guys are asking more than market value for what they are worth (and maybe rightfully so since they've all played pretty well during their primes, but that's besides the point). These are the type of veteran players that you would look to acquire if your team was only one or two players away from making/winning the Super Bowl. These are the type of players that the Eagles should be re-signing simply because they come so close each year! It's not like they can't afford it. Who cares about overpaying when you win the championship. Maybe the run defense wouldn't have been so bad with the help of Trotter and Douglas.

Another side note:

Trotter and Douglas are still effective players, and just because they underachieved in another environment doesn't mean they would or wouldn't have made an impact for Philly. Environment seems to be very important in the NFL for some reason, just ask the afformentionned Keyshawn Johnson (NYJ vs TB) or Joey Galloway (SEA vs DAL)

Which brings me to the point of Taylor and Dallas once again. See Dallas is not in the same situation as Philly. They are more than a few pieces away from completing the puzzle so signing an aging veteran for more than market value may not be worth it. It may be better for them to try to groom a younger guy for less money who shows a brighter future. Since Dallas is not that close, they have to keep their future in mind, that's why financially this move would most likely not be very sound in a year or two. But Philly is so close right now, that's why it makes no sense for them to be so worried about their financial future when talent should be their main focus right now.

I will be writing all the previews again starting July. I work for The Score in Canada which is the Canadian version of ESPN News. I wrote a weekly column there during the NFL season and my previews will probably be found on their web site as well as this forum.

 

[Vegas Dave]

Just reading some details here from Sportsline.com. $3 M is not overpaying for Bobby Taylor regardless of the team. You get some rookie, you'll be paying him half of that at least. Considering the money that has gone to Jason Webster, Ahmed Plummer, Champ Bailey, Shawn Springs and Fernando Bryant, Bobby Taylor looks like a pretty good deal in fact.

P.S. The Eagles gave Jevon Kearse a $20 M bonus. That's overpaying.

 

[CrazyHorse]

Good info Dave. I guess we need to agree to disagree although I do see where you are coming from. I just believe what I do and think many teams make the mistake of re-signing vets due to trying to squeeze a few more years out of them or loyalty or whatever. That is why I think the eagles have a good plan for when the player reaches that certain age. Also I understand your point about players not being as effective in another enviroment. Which is why I mentioned: 'Perhaps they would have been better if they stayed in the eagles system '. Again I think its a little of both but still think it's mostly because these players are declining but I totally understand trying to learn a new system or not being as motivated because you went from a team w/ super bowl aspiratons to a team w/o as much talent. Sure they would have definitely helped the rush defense. But if you look at the #'s before and after the injury to Hollis Thomas I would say that was the main cause. And I also agree that teams that are close should not have as much problem overpaying to a point to get that last one or two pieces of the puzzle to get them a ring. Which is what I think the eagles did with Kearse and Owens.

Not trying to be rude but, believe me, I know they overpaid for Kearse. As bad as Dallas needs a DE I asked myself when I heard the deal: 'As much as you wanted that guy, if Dallas signed him to the exact same deal would you be happy?" And I can say with complete honesty: No way. And I definitely understand how the eagles are close and have been and the boys still have a ways to go. But even still way too much to pay a guy who has missed so much time the last 2 years. And I know Dallas had every chance to sign Taylor. It wasn't anything like they lost out on Adam Meadows. They had Taylor wanting to play there and decided against it. Some fans were very upset; some were not. I have faith the organization is FINALLY making good decisions and still think the decision to not sign him was a good one. But I could be wrong and it won't be the 1st or last time that has happened. And since I am beating a dead horse I promise this will be the last reply and will be more than happy to read anything you want to add. Man! Is the season about to start yet?