NorthHawk wrote:As usual stats don’t paint the whole picture. With an Offensive HC and a good OL, he may be at the top of your list.
You're right, stats don't paint the whole picture. But they do a very good job of illustrating a point that I'm trying to make. The fact is that DeAndre Hopkins, the highest paid WR in the league, has done very little to contribute to the success of his team relative to how much they're paying him. Cooper Kupp, on the other hand, has been a huge component in the Rams success as evidenced by his league leading totals in receiving yards and receptions. Whether you want to use facts or the eye test, they are telling us the same thing.
And it's not just Hopkins. What has Odell Beckam done for the Browns? What has Amari Cooper done for the Cowboys? Has Julio Jones produced for the Titans or Keenan Allen for the Chargers? I look around at all of these high priced WR's and I simply don't see teams getting their money's worth out of them. Of the top 10 highest paid WR's, I can see just two that are producing at a rate comparable to what they're being paid: Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs and Devonte Adams of the Packers.
My point is that of all the positions, at least on offense, wide receiver is one of if not the least important position on the field relative to how much they're getting paid. I'd much rather have an All Pro left tackle or center in my lineup than an equivalently talented wide receiver. I simply feel that there are better places that we can spend our hard earned money than with a wide receiver, especially one that has demonstrated maturity problems that will only get worse after he's given a fat new contract.
NorthHawk wrote:As well, if we traded him we would then be looking for a replacement.
Sure, we'll have to replace him, and it would be tough, if not impossible, to find a WR that bring as much to the table as Metcalf can. But there are lots of very talented wide receivers out there that can come very close. WR's are a dime a dozen.
NorthHawk wrote:Keep the good players we have and start drafting better is the answer.
You can't draft better without draft picks. The Adams trade has put us in a hole, and if we're going to have a shot at a relatively short rebuild, we
re going to have to make some tough decisions and start putting capital in the bank.
Trading away 2-#1's and a #4's for an under performing safety robbed us of a good part of our future. If we're going to get better, we need to get some balls and make some tough choices. Metcalf is a luxury, like Odell Beckham.