Clark Haggans is a Free Agent...

[raphael120]

Being from Pittsburgh I watch a lot of Steelers ball, and one thing I know is Haggans would be a huge upgrade over Ellison and I'm not sure he would really command tons of money as he is one of the lesser productive of the Steelers linebackers but I think in this system we have here would be an awesome fit. He's 6-4 243, so he's not too too big, and he had 4 sacks last year. I think if we grab him, we could have Haggans-Poz-Crowell and we'd be set at LB.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5166

[Jaybird]

take him over ellison for sure. Stil would rather hav briggs, but not such a bad idea

[raphael120]

take him over ellison for sure. Stil would rather hav briggs, but not such a bad idea

Yeah but I think Haggans would be about the same level of briggs and is lesser known and might command less money than a bigger name like Briggs would be.

[justasportsfan]

I think Dick will either move DiG or Poz to Ellisons side.

[bigbub2352]

I like Haggans and he is a definte upgrade over Ellison, his size would be nice agianst the run, and he obviously has blizing ability as well, i am still holdin my breath for Carlos Dansby from ARZ

[Mahdi]

Being from Pittsburgh I watch a lot of Steelers ball, and one thing I know is Haggans would be a huge upgrade over Ellison and I'm not sure he would really command tons of money as he is one of the lesser productive of the Steelers linebackers but I think in this system we have here would be an awesome fit. He's 6-4 243, so he's not too too big, and he had 4 sacks last year. I think if we grab him, we could have Haggans-Poz-Crowell and we'd be set at LB.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5166
Thats pretty big actually,,, he's bigger than our MLB.

[Oaf]

Fine.

He's a young player that would save us a day 1 pick.

[THATHURMANATOR]

I am all for this. Digiorgio and Ellison would provide SOLID depth as well.

[raphael120]

Fine.

He's a young player that would save us a day 1 pick.
I believe he's 30, so he's not too too young but he is producing and I believe he's in the middle of his prime. I think he could be a good 3 year mainstay in our LB corps. What we have now are a bunch of young guys, and you can say this about the Sabres too...we have a bunch of young guys with no real anchors...nobody to man the fort while our younger players are developing. I think we should., along with all this young talent (Lynch, Evans, Poz, Edwards), we should bring in above average veterans (keyword above average, not average or mediocre FA's like we have been bringing in). It would help alot and it would be able to let us be able to sprinkle in our younger players every now and then, see if they can cut it out or not, and if not thats fine because we have a vet to take the reigns.

This past year all we had were young players and we found out that while sometimes you find a guy who plays well (Digi, Greer), most of the time youre finding out that the player youre starting is barely capable as a backup, let alone starting (Ellison, Youboty, Royal).

[Jan Reimers]

He'll be 31 tomorrow and his production has declined a bit over the past 3 years.

I certainly wouldn't overpay.

[raphael120]

He'll be 31 tomorrow and his production has declined a bit over the past 3 years.

I certainly wouldn't overpay.

But he'd be a hell of a lot better than Ellison and would be great in our system until Poz and Digi matured and could take over.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Hmm he is that old huh. He better be cheap then.

[colin]

Yeah but I think Haggans would be about the same level of briggs and is lesser known and might command less money than a bigger name like Briggs would be.


dood,

he wouldn't be near the same level as briggs. you wanna see him in coverage getting smoked, or you wanna see briggs plant and close in with safety speed?

i am briggs' agent on this board!!

briggs or bust!!!!!

[jamze132]

Ellison sucks, bring in anyone!

[THATHURMANATOR]

Given the fact the team has bigger needs couldn't we go with a training camp battle of Digiorgio and Ellison?

[justasportsfan]

Given the fact the team has bigger needs couldn't we go with a training camp battle of Digiorgio and Ellison?

:up:

[Mahdi]

If Dig can beat out Ellison on the weakside then I say give it to him. Our defense is simple and doesnt require stars. The whole point of C2 is that you dont overpay for CBs and LBs. Save the cap space for the offensive guys.

[THATHURMANATOR]

There you go!

[justasportsfan]

Save the cap space for the offensive guys.
I would spend for a stud DT to start ahead of Kyle. We seriously need to stop the run and in the trenches which would allow our lbers to make more plays.

[jamesiscool]

dood,

he wouldn't be near the same level as briggs. you wanna see him in coverage getting smoked, or you wanna see briggs plant and close in with safety speed?

i am briggs' agent on this board!!

briggs or bust!!!!!

first off, dood, is mine.

secondly, briggs is going to command top dollar in the free agent market. especially in a league where his skills are much needed by just about every team in the nfl.

he we would be an instant upgrade to any teams lb corp.

why the hell would he come to buffalo?

not happening, get over it and move on.

[yordad]

Well raphael120, if he is a easy upgrade, cheap, and in his prime, then hell yeah. Just as long as we sign Corey Williams. Even if the two are our only signers. How sure are you he will be an upgrade, and how affordable do you think he is?

[historypete]

My only concern is that Haggans is a 3-4 LB not a 4-3 LB. Those are two different systems which require different LBs. Don't forget we picked up Posey (a 3-4 pass rushing LB) and stuck him in a 4-3 and he sucked. Now its possible he sucked anyway, but I think the same thing could happen here.

I'd give it a shot though, and maybe he pays off. Even if he only turns out to be a backup, and we draft another LB he is more reliable than Ellison, Digi, and some of the other no names we have for depth.

[colin]

first off, dood, is mine.

secondly, briggs is going to command top dollar in the free agent market. especially in a league where his skills are much needed by just about every team in the nfl.

he we would be an instant upgrade to any teams lb corp.

why the hell would he come to buffalo?

not happening, get over it and move on.

dood is everyone's

we have the cap room, and briggs and dick are pals.

i disagree about OLB not being our biggest need. on D it is our biggest need.

the point about not needing linebackers is silly, look where briggs is coming from -- chicago where they run a similar D and have urlacher.

IMO no single player would give us the impact on D more than briggs (save maybe haynesworth, but i wonder about a guy who just turns it up in a contract year).

[billsburgh]

the people here in pittsburgh dont seem to be too upset with him leaving. that could be because the steelers spent their first 2 picks last year on outside linebackers.

[The Jokeman]

If we keep our current crop of LBs then I'd say DiGiorgio would man the middle and Poz could be moved to WLB to replace Ellison whose then used for depth. Of course would love to see Lance Briggs brought into to play WLB and keep Poz at MLB but don't see us spending that type of money on a LB.

In terms of Haggans, let's not forget that OLB have different responsibilities in a 3-4 as they're asked to be bigger as rush the passer more and the last time we brought in a 3-4 OLB to play in a 4-3 it netted us Jeff Posey. While Posey wasn't a bad player he wasn't the best for our system. Therefore I think we'd be wise to go for a guy that fit our defense better which means smaller/athletic LBs.

One name I brought up before is Landon Johnson of the Bengals whose netted 80 plus tackles each of his first four seasons in the NFL. Another guy that could be worth pursuing but is a bigger name and might not be in our price range is Demorrio Williams of the Falcons.

[justasportsfan]

If we keep our current crop of LBs then I'd say DiGiorgio would man the middle and Poz could be moved to WLB to replace Ellison whose then used for depth. Of course would love to see Lance Briggs brought into to play WLB and keep Poz at MLB but don't see us spending that type of money on a LB.

.
I agree. Briggs would be an upgrade but how much is Ralphy willing to pay? POZ was a beast in college but not as a MLB.Maybe they should put him back since DiG did a hell of a job in this system and could probably do better with a better DT infront of him.