reerunn
Pro-Bowler
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PFF opinion of the Falcons re-signing of Sam Baker: Senseless
Sam Baker to ATL: 6-year, $41.5m
One of the great fabrications in the NFL is that you need a franchise left tackle. The book and movie The Blind Side made the position into something it wasn’t, a glamor spot on the roster, and contracts given out to these stud pass protectors began to perpetuate the myth. The only problem is that we’ve seen recently you don’t need a great left tackle to win if you have a great quarterback. We’ve also seen that the best left tackle in football won’t make a bit of difference to your fortunes on offense if you can’t find a legitimate quarterback.
Sam Baker is like most starting LTs in the league, a former first-round tackle, but only one year has he really been able to look anything other than a major liability; 2012, his contract year. Even last year, the best we have seen from Baker, he was only our 27th-ranked OT, surrendering six sacks and allowing Matt Ryan to hit the deck another eight times on the year. The Falcons took this improvement as a signal to throw $20 million of guaranteed money at him rather than risk moving on without him and potentially disrupting Matt Ryan’s pass protection. Senseless.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/03/15/five-signings-that-make-no-sense/
Sam Baker to ATL: 6-year, $41.5m
One of the great fabrications in the NFL is that you need a franchise left tackle. The book and movie The Blind Side made the position into something it wasn’t, a glamor spot on the roster, and contracts given out to these stud pass protectors began to perpetuate the myth. The only problem is that we’ve seen recently you don’t need a great left tackle to win if you have a great quarterback. We’ve also seen that the best left tackle in football won’t make a bit of difference to your fortunes on offense if you can’t find a legitimate quarterback.
Sam Baker is like most starting LTs in the league, a former first-round tackle, but only one year has he really been able to look anything other than a major liability; 2012, his contract year. Even last year, the best we have seen from Baker, he was only our 27th-ranked OT, surrendering six sacks and allowing Matt Ryan to hit the deck another eight times on the year. The Falcons took this improvement as a signal to throw $20 million of guaranteed money at him rather than risk moving on without him and potentially disrupting Matt Ryan’s pass protection. Senseless.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/03/15/five-signings-that-make-no-sense/