Why we'll keep Mario...

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Keith

I liked Mario, thought he got too much unfair criticism related to being picked ahead of Bush and Young and later for a couple injuries. But I think it says something when a team lets their first round pick hit the open market like this. It doesn't happen often for a player of Mario's caliber, esp one with a #1 overall pick pedigree.

I'm still trying to work backwards on this. The team had to know after last year's FA signings that it would be nearly impossible to re-sign Mario this year. They had no idea how Wade's defense would perform, nor did they know whether Barwin and Reed would produce. Of course they didn't yet know about Reed, nor that he would be pressed into action.

It seems pretty clear that they have known for at least a full year that they would not be able to re-sign Mario. I wonder what would have happened if Mario had stayed healthy and put up 16 sacks.