Why's that? We can franchise him and trade him. I would trade him but only if someone offered multiple picks. The Pats were extremely high on him and would have drafted him if we hadn't. I think he'll be in fine in the 3-4 but we need some wide bodies in front of him to occupy 2 gaps. You can't tell me if he was on the Steelers with Keisel and Hampton in front of him, Farrior and Harrison next to him that that he wouldn't be nasty. We just don't have any playmakers on defense so everyone looks a lot worse. Imagine a 3-4 with Seymour and Jamal Williams, the guards would be so concerned with the lineman they would never get to the linebackers.
The Pats defense is pretty much like this except that they have 4 lineman that are superb for the 3-4, everyone forgets how good Green is as well. That is why LB's like Bruschi look like stars. Put Bruschi and Vrabel in back of the Jets front 3 and I would say they would be half as good, if not worse. Vilma is not a bad player, but he just is not the dynamic LB that can shed lineman and make plays. He needs a wide body in front of him, so he can mop up. It is not a knock on him as every player has his limitations. Vilma's is, he is not stout enough at the point of attack. Unfortunately the way this defense is constituted is the exact opposite that makes Vilma shine.............. and really any LB for that matter.
This is one of the more reasonable explanations of the events that i have read. Except if it turns out that it was micro-surgery, then it wasnt just "minor surgery"; and if it was surgery on the pre-existing condition, i have to believe that it was bothering him for quite a while, and reached the point of no return when it worsened in the Cincy game.
remember the last game. we had the no down linemen for a couple of plays. if that isn't admitting your line sucks i'm not sure what does. if we lose vilma in the offseason, it may be a terrible mistake. you really can't judge the linebackers until you fix the line. we have 5 lineman...maybe two of them are starters elsewhere in the league.
It would likely be an early first rounder, though, since any team giving up first round value for damage goods with an expiring contract would, by definition, be the worst organization on the planet. Like Washington Generals bad.
