Why Are We Paying Craig Stevens $2.5 Million Per Year?

If a 5th round pick mostly end up as depth players and special teams player which is what Thompson is right now. He still has to develop his route running and catching but I doubt you will find any NFL ready TE in the 5th unless he has serious character issues.

Thompson's size/athleticism is nothing special at DE while it has a chance to be elite at TE. In the 5th-7th round all teams are looking for are depth players with the high upside and Thompson fits that bill no matter where he played at college. Players switching positions when they get into the NFL is a rare and unheard of thing. More then a few QB's have done it and had respectable careers; Antwaan Randle El and Brain Mitchell come to mind.

Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham played basketball for the majority of their college careers(although Graham did play one season at TE where he caught an astounding 19 passes) and I doubt transitioning from the basketball court is easier then switching from a defensive end.

 

Stevens is a good blocker, average receiver, and plays FB ocassionally... is that work $2.5mil a year? Probably not.

 

I like Stevens and I like his game but I doubt he ever sees that 4.4 million he is owed next season. That's really one of the main reasons I want to keep Doyle around this year so we can cut ties with Stevens and not have to worry about finding another TE.

Walker/Thompson/Doyle is a good group at tight end.

 

It's simply like this... we could of went and signed someone like Kellen Davis. He signed a 1yr/$715,000 contact. He gives us the same thing as Stevens (minus the 15 FB snaps Stevens does, but Walker can do that) & makes a fraction of Stevens contract.

 

I don't disagree with this but cutting Stevens this season would have lost us cap room not gain it.

 

Lol @ the idiot posting bargain contracts aand using that as his rationale for CS being overpaid. Terrible.

 

Why? Because CS is worth more than a vet minimum TE deal? What is your rationale for that?

 

Stevens will make $3.4M next year and $3.5M in 2015. Hardly a big deal for any starting caliber player and we are basically a 2 TE team now.

I do think they signed him to the $14.4M deal in part because they saw some upside potential as a receiver and he needs to show that to stay here through the end of his contract. He is in the top 20% of all TEs as a blocker and he is a solid team player. When he was out with injury we used an o-lineman to replace him(Otto) and that says something. Now that the interior o-line has been significantly improved we don't need to weaken on the edge and Stevens keeps us solid there.

 

Would you pay $3M a year for a young version of Lorenzo Neal? I sure in the hell would and Neal contributed nothing as a receiver or runner.

You need tough guys like that on your team.

 

So you are saying Craig Stevens is the best blocker in NFL history?