[Salaam, Demps Cut] Preparing for the Superbowl (more great moves by Smithiak!)

[papabear]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Just because the guy is likeable doesn't mean we can't be honest about the quality of football he played here. He was barely servicable for most of the time. I'm glad he was here to, but he shouldn't have been playing last season. Butler and Frye were both much better tackles than he was at that point in his career. Perhaps they wanted him there to tutor Brown. Fine, but he still was a poor LT at that point. Nothing wrong with being happy that the team is making good personnel decisions. That's all this thread was about. Teams don't win playoff games with tackles playing at the level Salaam has played the past 2 seasons.

I never said anything about him playing great the last couple of years. His skills were in decline when he first arrived here, and I was one of those praying for an upgrade last year. I was simply referring to his amount of experience and the knowledge that comes with it, nothing else. I agree he was not who I would want as a starter, but you shouldn't discount how much a player like him can help in the film room, during practice, and on the sidelines by teaching the younger guys like Brown and Butler. Unless he decides to hang em up I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a similar role on another team this year.

I think the fact that they are letting Salaam go says as much about their confidence level in Brown as it does about their faith in Butler (or your abilities as a talent evaluator ). If they didn't have plenty of faith in Brown they would likely bring back Salaam and his experience. Salaam was making 830,000 last year with a cap number of about 1.1 MILL. I don't know what his salary would have been this year, but I'm sure he was due at least a small raise. Butler will not likely get more than a second round tender IMO, so he will earn either 1 MILL for the low tender or 1.5 Mill for the second round tender(it's possible they give him one of the higher tenders but I doubt it). Their salaries would have been relatively close this year. The decision to keep the younger one who has been developing nicely or an older guy who's skills are declining as your back up is not exactly one that requires the use of a crystal ball.