Bengals agreed to terms with LB Manny Lawson on a one-year, $3 million contract. Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson projects the former 49er as Cincinnati's Week 1 starter at strong-side 'backer. Lawson, 27, racked up nine sacks and a pick in San Francisco over the past two seasons. He has some Adalius Thomas to his game as a cover linebacker, which should appeal to Thomas' old coach, Marvin Lewis. Lawson has enough speed to run with tight ends and is a quality run defender. It's a very nice value pickup for the Bengals RIDICULOUS!!!!! And we keep that old shit in BT for 3.7?
Lawson wasn't the answer to the Jets problems. There is no answer to the pass rush unless the Jets trade for a backer.
Apparently Rex and Tanny think BT is a better option than Lawson. There's a reason they play BT as much as they do and it's not because Rexy is stupid; it's because a LB who's great in the running game has real value.
In the running game, yes, he's excellent. EDIT: He can't cover or pass rush well, but he's a very good two down OLB.
And to you Lawson sucks in the run game?! He's equal to BT in the run game and an upgrade in the other two areas... Is he the solution to all Jets problems? Of course not! Is he a younger upgrade with a smaller contract than BT? You bet. The reason BT plays as much as he does is because we have no alternative whatsoever at OLB... I'm hoping Westerman steps up this year and Pace get's his head out of his ass but that's wishful thinking.
Bryan Thomas has been on the team a long time, knows the system,,, that isn't nothing. He's alot better then some want to make him to be and yes, he's very good against the run. They never even mentioned Lawson which means he isn't a fit for this defense in their eyes. Plus, not for nothing,, how many offers did the guy have if he ended up signing a 1 year deal with the Bengals for very reasonable money.
I haven't seen Lawson play enough to tell how good he is. I know Tanny and Rex know and they weren't excited enough to sign him so I'm not that worried. The 49ers didn't really try to keep him and he went to the Bungles on a short, cheap contract so it looks like the Jets and the rest of the NFL don't think all that highly of him.
While he is very good at what he does, he's also easily replaceable. This is probably going to be his last year on the team.
I happened to see a lot of 49er games last season and I can say with firm belief that he's not a good pass rusher. He's a good tackler and he's good in coverage, but he doesn't belong in a 3-4 at the OLB position. The Bengals got a steal.
How about Matt Roth for pass rush help and Kevin Boss as a 2nd TE? Do that and bring back Ellis and I feel we are good to go for the season.
Just because a player is tendered for certan picks (RFA) doesn't mean it's final. It's only final (1st & 3rd) if the Jets match the Tender offer (3Mill +) and the Lions don't match. If a team, like the Jets, could get Avril for a 2nd round pick, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Avril is an ideal 3-4 OLB and would a great addition to Rex's defense. We need to address OLB going into this season. The Lions haven't made any strides to sign Avril, they're waiting. Avril can play out his contract for 2011 and become a URFA next season or a team could make an offer to the Lions. I doubt the Lions would franchise Avril next year.
Avril only signs the tender offer if he likes the contract the Jets are offering. You can assume he's looking for Ray Edwards money or more ($6 million and up) so even if Avril wanted to come to the Jets Tanny would need to be extremely creative to free up that kind of cash.
I think Football outsiders or something had Lawson rated at the top in terms of getting to the QB. 49ers hadn't used him in a pass rush situation enough though. Combine that with his speed and ability to keep up with a TE would have been an underrated signing. Oh well..
Some people wanted Philip Buchanon to come in here and help out at corner.. well he's just been suspended 4 games by the NFL. Dodged a bullet there.
