Smoots Gone, What do we draft?

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

MLB is not a big money position? Ray Lewis? Brian Urlacher?Jeremiah Trotter (here in DC)? Takeo Spikes? When you have a good MLB (or ILB in a 3-4 set) it usually means you pay some significant money to keep them around.

Yes, some teams pay a lot for ILB's. But your statement that you must "pay significant money to keep them around" is applicable to any player (such as Lewis, Urlacher and Spikes) who are perceived as exceptionally talented, regardless of position. I don't (and never did) think Pierce fit into that category - he was a good solid MLB. And according to the franchise player salaries - the franchise tag salary of a MLB ranks 7th out of 11 categories. This says to me that the majority of teams treat LB's more along the "dime a dozen" category as opposed to a must have/need a star position. (The tag does not separate out into IlB v. OLB - if it did, I would expect MLB's to be the lower of the two as OLB's are often perceived as pass rushers - and make more money b/c of it).

Here is the breakdown of franchise salaries:
http://www.askthecommish.com/articles/page.asp?pid=5

Cornerback tops the list.