Cliff Avril for Maurice Jones-Drew?

**Stormin' Norman** · 08-01-2012, 05:30 PM

In Avril and Mojo we have two training camp hold-outs that conveniently fit positions of need for each franchise.

IF a player like Everett Brown or Ronnell Lewis shows real potential...would you make that deal?

**hail2mich** · 08-01-2012, 06:08 PM

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

**slim pickens** · 08-01-2012, 06:41 PM

mods, please move this to the "drunk while posting" thread.......

**jonjd** · 08-01-2012, 10:10 PM

I'd hold onto Avril. He should have a longer career and I prefer to keep our defensive assets in place. Our offense was stellar last year even with the uncertainty in the backfield. We need all of the defensive help we can get, especially in our division.

**Nastradamus** · 08-01-2012, 11:45 PM

nope. Our offense will do its thing no problem. No way should we trade away one of our top 5 defensive talents, at a premium position, in his prime. Not for the least valuable position in the game especially.

**Stormin' Norman** · 08-02-2012, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by jonjd

I'd hold onto Avril. He should have a longer career and I prefer to keep our defensive assets in place. Our offense was stellar last year even with the uncertainty in the backfield. We need all of the defensive help we can get, especially in our division.

Originally Posted by Nastradamus

nope. Our offense will do its thing no problem. No way should we trade away one of our top 5 defensive talents, at a premium position, in his prime. Not for the least valuable position in the game especially.

The problem here is the assumption that we can keep Avril. If Avril is one of our best talents, he can get paid a whole lot more on the market than we can afford to give. The question then becomes is one year of Avril worth three years of a top RB?

I'm not too overly concerned about the running back position, but I do think a weapon like MJD would be extremely valuable. I am a fan of Avril, but I think his greatest benefit is depth flexibility rather than any true top-line game changing talent (I think the difference between him and Willie Young or LoJack is minimum).

**4hzglory** · 08-02-2012, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by Stormin' Norman

The problem here is the assumption that we can keep Avril. If Avril is one of our best talents, he can get paid a whole lot more on the market than we can afford to give. The question then becomes is one year of Avril worth three years of a top RB?

I'm not too overly concerned about the running back position, but I do think a weapon like MJD would be extremely valuable. I am a fan of Avril, but I think his greatest benefit is depth flexibility rather than any true top-line game changing talent (I think the difference between him and Willie Young or LoJack is minimum).

I'm on board with Norman here. I like Avril, but don't think it is likely he is here past this season. With the depth on the DL, I don't think the drop off is going to be as significant as the drop in RB will be if Best doesn't play more than 12-14 games. If we could add MJD, we don't need to worry about Best as much and our offense becomes that much more explosive.

**Nastradamus** · 08-02-2012, 11:57 AM

Sure, but then we have to pay MJD. I mean, we don't HAVE to, but trading for him without giving him the raise he is looking for would be stupid. So one way or another we are going to have to pay someone some big coin and a RB is always a bigger risk in that regard.

in the end, I hope Avril proves what he is worth this year and we can end this debate. I think he is a much better player than he gets credit for. Young and Jackson are underrated as well, but I don't see Jackson as a full time player myself. Young can be, but I want him and Avril opposite each other. I think we will end up being able to afford Avril because we will move on from Williams and KVB after this year, maybe 2 years for KVB.

**sagnam** · 08-02-2012, 01:40 PM

Would MJD accept a 3 year contract? If he'd take the same 3 year 30 million dollar contract Avril turned down I'd make this trade. Unlike Avril, Jones-Drew is actually one of the top players at his position.

**Stormin' Norman** · 08-02-2012, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by Nastradamus

Sure, but then we have to pay MJD. I mean, we don't HAVE to, but trading for him without giving him the raise he is looking for would be stupid. So one way or another we are going to have to pay someone some big coin and a RB is always a bigger risk in that regard.

It is pure conjunction, but we may not have to pay MJD anymore and would almost certainly have to pay him less than Jacksonville does. His role would be smaller, his work load less and the appeal of winning fuels most athletes.

in the end, I hope Avril proves what he is worth this year and we can end this debate. I think he is a much better player than he gets credit for. Young and Jackson are underrated as well, but I don't see Jackson as a full time player myself. Young can be, but I want him and Avril opposite each other. I think we will end up being able to afford Avril because we will move on from Williams and KVB after this year, maybe 2 years for KVB.

If Avril plays like an elite DE, he would play himself beyond what we can afford. We can't pay Stafford, Megatron, Suh and top DE money. Simpyl can't do it.

**FarFromDetroit** · 08-03-2012, 02:25 PM

I would take MJD over Avril this season. With all the questions we have at RB it would be a no brainer for me. We would have to pay him, and that would be an issue, but MJD would be worth it. Don't get me wrong. I really like Avril. I think he will be a top talent someday. But I want to win a superbowl, and we can't afford all this talent forever.

**Nastradamus** · 08-03-2012, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by Stormin' Norman

It is pure conjunction, but we may not have to pay MJD anymore and would almost certainly have to pay him less than Jacksonville does. His role would be smaller, his work load less and the appeal of winning fuels most athletes.

If Avril plays like an elite DE, he would play himself beyond what we can afford. We can't pay Stafford, Megatron, Suh and top DE money. Simpyl can't do it.

Can't do it why. Please explain. I disagree fwiw. The Steelers manage to pay Ben,Harrison,Woodley,Polamalu,Timmons,Hampton and Brown. Bet they'll end up paying Wallace too. The NFL cap is pretty easy to get around. Like I said, Avril can easily slide into the slot occupied by Williams and KVB. Shoot, he's on the books for almost an 11 mil cap hit right now with Suh,Stafford and CJ already having big contracts and a long term deal generally lowers your cap hit, so how does this make sense??? I'm at a loss on this one.

MJD isn't going to make that much less. Maybe 4 mil tops all things considered? That is not the difference between having a manageable salary cap situation or not.

**Nastradamus** · 08-03-2012, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by FarFromDetroit

I would take MJD over Avril this season. With all the questions we have at RB it would be a no brainer for me. We would have to pay him, and that would be an issue, but MJD would be worth it. Don't get me wrong. I really like Avril. I think he will be a top talent someday. But I want to win a superbowl, and we can't afford all this talent forever.

and we are going to win a SB by strengthening our beast of an offense at the expense of our already weak pass defense? I can't see us winning jack while MJD is here if it comes at the expense of Avril. I'm not sure adding any particular player to our offense could help it score more points than it already will.

**ewsieg** · 08-04-2012, 01:00 AM

The Lions defense probably placed right about where most thought they would, one of the bottom 1/3 of teams. We expected most of our defense out of our DL and that actually was more of a disappointment then we expected. Avril being the biggest bright spot. We need to have him. This trade would be stupid.