MontanaHawk05":15civ1xi said:
Own The West":15civ1xi said:
With a bunch of aging vets that feel they've 'arrived' and don't need to elevate their game, a bunch of complacent coaches that find it easier to stand on excuses than performances, and a backlog of young talent that can't get the reps they need to excel.
Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett were still near the top of their game in 2017. There isn't a single statistic out there that really counters that to any serious degree. Bennett actually had one of his best years in terms of sacks. They didn't need to elevate their performances, and the coaches didn't need to make excuses for them.
Talk about the increasing injury risk that comes with age, if you like. That's a more sensible reason to let them go. But if you're going to pretend they'd become bad players, you're just arguing with tape and hard numbers.
I wasn't trying to say Sherman and Bennett played poorly, but they had plateaued. And that their leadership may have taken a negative turn: where instead of adding their voices to the "I'm In / Always Compete" message, they were pointing fingers and self-promoting.
I'm sure you've had those high-performers in your organizations or teams that may have inspired early on, but turned into morale-sapping divas later. How do you combat that other that to humble them or move them out? In the NFL, where players can appeal directly to the fan base, it's easier to move them out.