http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story?id=09000d5d809069d9&template=with-video&confirm=true » Offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley: Close to 10 teams have been tracking Bentley, charting to see his condition and, at this point, his pricetag. Teams that have expressed varying degrees of interest in Bentley include Buffalo, Cincinnati, Miami, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco and Seattle. Each has a need along the offensive line, but no team’s offensive line needs are any greater than Miami’s and St. Louis’. The Rams efforted to sign former Raiders offensive tackle Barry Sims, but lost him to San Francisco. Early in July, Bentley might be the first player teams target when they return from a July 4 vacation
I hope we can fly him down to Miami and Bill Pacells does not let him get away. I think our offensive line is good now but with LeCharles Bentley we would be really good.
It can't hurt to give him a look. If he's healthy and we do sign him, our O line will have to be USDA certified cause it'll be beefy as hell.
He has been cleared ... by the browns staff so who knows THey probably gave him another staph laced shot on the way out. bring him in why not. Might only waste a little time if he doesn't pan out. The upside is huge. Plugs our only hole on the line, pushing another person back for depth.
If he's healthy I guess we should be interested, if not, pass. But what we really need more are CB, WR...
To early to be mining the scrap pile IMO, Bentley would knock one of our young guys out of playing time. For me, I've had enough of that happening, that is a part of the reason "why" we are were we are as a Team at the moment, even if Bentley comes in and is healthy, we have two seasons (maybe out of the guy). If we try Murphy or Thomas, two years from now, they will be polished pros for us, haven't we held out "hope" long enough with this sort of player? Cripes, who needs C-pepe II?
How does a multiple Pro Bowl performer qualify as scrap heap quality if he is all the way healed from his injury? If the younger guys aren't good enough to beat him out then they don't deserve to start anyway. He's only 28, so why only 2 more seasons? If he's completely healthy, there is no reason why he couldn't play 5 or 6 more years.
i'd love to bring im in, so long as the guaranteed money is low. im sure it will take his agent a while to try and squeeze the league for primo offers.
Do you really think that in "2 more seasons" we will need LeCharles Bentley? Have you -0- confidence in a single young player's chances of development? Does the name LJ Shelton mean -0- to Mr Clean? For me, this is the same bull**** that surrounded last seasons "Trade everything to get Alan Faneca" nonsense... We do not need "yesterdays" all pros, we need tomorrow's all pros. Even if Bentley played well, he is merely a roadblock for the Youth we need. IMO, unless we need a backup Center/Guard badly, we should pass on LeCharles...
I'm all for giving youth a shot but you can never underestimate the importance of a veteran C/G on a pretty young line. And there's no guarantee our young guards will pan out especially since they're not first day talent. There are a lot of linemen who pass through the draft and just don't work no matter how long you groom them (see Wade Smith). A rookie lineman can be just as likely to become tomorrow's all-duds as they are to be all-pros if not more likely. Have confidence but be reasonable. That's why if Bentley or another solid veteran agrees to a min salary and compete for the job, there's no reason to not sign him. You say roadblock, I say quality bench development for the youngsters. Sitting rookies down and taking it easy doesn't just work for QB's alone.
So even if a 28 year old former all pro LeCharles Bentley comes in and plays well it is a bad thing? You aren't making all that much sense to me my friend I'm afraid. At 28 Bentley is at a prime age and fills a huge hole for us.
I think his point is bringing Bentley in is not helping the Dolphins get younger and cheaper. Now if we were contending and he filled a needed role to push us over the top to championship then I believe he'd be for it.
IF Bentley can come back to pre injury form, he'd be an upgrade for the OL of most teams in the league. When he signed with the Browns, he was at the same point of his career as Olin Kreutz was when he resigned with the Bears. Unfortunately for Bentley he had the injury, but now is supposed to be healthy and ready to play again, and he is far from too old to regain his Pro Bowl form. Getting Bentley is more about acquiring talent, than it is about level of confidence in any young player's development. And, WTF does LJ Shelton have to do with Bentley? That really is a stupid question...does the name of Shelton mean -0- to me. If you can't see the difference between the two, then we have no reason to continue discussing this. I don't recall anyone saying "trade everything to get Alan Faneca" last year. In fact, he wasn't being shopped by the Steelers anyway. Again, there is a huge difference between if we would have done what it takes to acquire Faneca and signing Bentley to a reasonable contract and allowing him to compete. While Bentley was "yesterday's all pro" he is not too old, if healthy, to also be tomorrow's all pro as well, and at least a very good starter for several years. He's only 28, more than young enough to still be around when this team is back in strong playoff form.
And we won't develop any players for the oline if we keep on bringing in retreads, look how long it took to realize Alabi and Toledo were not our guys because they never got out onto the field. Same situation, a Vet is cut, there is a market for him, and of course we sign him and he does very little for us, we've seen the movie before. My point is, we will not have any young linemen if we keep bringing in Veterans to fill the playing time, and last season it was Faneca and Kendall. He might, he might not, the Browns didn't have a surplus on the Oline yet felt they could cut him, that does beg the question of "If he is recovered, and fairly young, why did the Browns cut him"?
Sporano also confirmed contacting Bentley. People shouldn't discount this from happening. It's a definite possibilty depending on health and price.
Oh yes, let's paint Bentley with the same broad brush as Shelton, or anyone else for that matter. That always works.
I defer to your judgment Mr. Clean, we may end up with Bentley, we may not, if you believe that he is an upgrade and a long term answer then by all means, let's bring the man in.
If he's 100% recovered, he is a definite upgrade for most any team in the league. Is he 100% recovered? None of us have the means to truly know. Just pick up what the media tells us. Even if he's 90% of the player he was for the Saints, that's plenty good to be an upgrade for us, for that matter. As for deferring judgment, I'm going to defer to Ireland's and Parcell's, so don't defer to mine like it's anything more than that of a typical avid fan.
It doesnt matter what we think.If our coaching staff thinks he could fit in then thats good enough for me . We have some untested rookies and free agents with injury issues we dont know very much about . We could use someone like Bentley if only for a couple of seasons .Apparently our coaches think he is healthy enough