Bob Sanders to Jacksonville?
Edit: Reposting this as it seems there was a problem formatting with Tumblr
With the news this morning that Bob Sanders will be in Jacksonville taking a physical, it has caused quite a stir in the Jaguars community. When Sanders was released by the Colts less than a week ago, most Jaguar fans simply shrugged. Sanders has the ability to be a game changer at the safety position, but his problem has always been injuries. As many have noted, since winning Defensive Player of The Year Sanders practically made a permanent home on the injury report.
Obviously, things are going to hinge on the physical Sanders will be taking today. If the Jaguars doctors find anything they aren’t 100% sure is fixable, I doubt the Jaguars will make any kind of serious offer. At the end of the day, Sanders hasn’t played a full 16 game season in his entire career and has played a total of 9 games in the last 3 seasons.
If however the Jaguars medical staff is confident that Sanders is healthy, then things will get interesting. Sanders has until the March 4th deadline before he gets stuck in limbo. Will he want to make sure he has a contract before any kind of deadline?
I would expect any team that offers Sanders to make him a contract low on guarantees and high in incentives. Sanders is still collecting on the big deal he signed with the Colts following his DPOY campaign, which will help offset the costs.
One thing that Sanders would bring is a sense of star power to the Jaguars defense. While some would argue Aaron Kampman has that, Sanders is still one of the most recognizable defensive players in the league. He was consistently in the Top 5 of fan voting in the Pro Bowl all these years for a reason.
As Adam Stites pointed out, the big difference between Sanders and Aaron Kampman is that Kampman had proven over 7 seasons that he wasn’t a major injury risk. Granted, that didn’t help out the Jaguars too much. But it did mean make giving Kampman $11 million in guarantees more sensible.
The other thing to consider is the ability to sign Eric Weddle. It seems the Chargers will be allowing Weddle to walk away. If that happens, Weddle is a younger player with just as much upside to the Jaguars. However, Weddle will demand a much bigger contract (at least in guarantees) that Sanders would.
At the end of the day, addressing the safety position is a must for the Jaguars. Since Deon Grant left following the 2006 season and Reggie Nelson bombed following his rookie year, the safety spot has always been a weak spot for the team. The team recognized that when they heavily pursued Darren Sharper. Don Carey didn’t show much, either.
Personally, if Sanders were to accept a deal that was heavily based on performance incentives and low on guarantees, it would be a win-win for the Jaguars. If Sanders manages to stay healthy and can get back to the player he was, he would still get some money and be able to eventually get a new deal. If he keeps getting hurt, it wouldn’t cost the Jaguars much to cut him.
There probably isn’t a more safety desperate team in the league than Jacksonville, which I’m sure is part of the reason they were the first team in the league to bring Sanders in. However, they shouldn’t simply try the first fix that becomes available. As I said before, do every medical check you can, and then see what Sanders wants. There are other fish out there.
-Jonathan Loesche
