The argument I heard from our FO against signing Wagner was pretty much centered on the idea that he was too expensive and at 33 was on the downside of a great career. Problem is when I looked at Wagner’s deal with Seattle and compared it to LVE, here’s what I discovered:
- LVE’s contract: signed a 2 year, $8,000,000 contract with the Dallas Cowboys, including a $2,500,000 signing bonus, $5,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $4,000,000.
- Bobby Wagner‘s contract with Sea: signed a 1 year, $5,500,000 contract with the Seattle Seahawks, including a $1,250,000 signing bonus, $5,500,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $5,500,000.
I don’t understand why we couldn’t have signed Wagner. His guaranteed amount is only $500k more than LVE’s deal.
Now let’s compare stats after (only) 3 games:
- LVE: 14 Total tackles, 10 solo, 4 assisted, 0 TFLs, 0 sacks
- Wagner: 33 Total tackles, 18 solo, 15 assisted, 1 TFL, 0 sacks.
LVE has not played bad until yesterday. But he’s always been a health risk and has missed 16 games in 5 years. Wagner has only missed 2 games in last 5 years. He’s incredibly durable.
Wagner is a beast against the run and we could have had him for almost the same price. I’m not a LVE hater. But who would you rather have right now? LVE or Wagner? At almost the same price.
