“Best Overall Cornerback On the Market”
March 19th, 2013
Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, has Joe pounding his head against a wall.
Joe thought he was rid of experts trying to bestow greatness on the head of Aqib Talib, despite Talib being a guy who was torched annually, injured annually, and in trouble annually. But no, in his Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday, King told the world Talib was the best cornerback available when the free-agency bell rang.
3. New England: CB Aqib Talib, one year, $5 million. Patriots fans would want it to be a longer deal, because Talib could play himself into a bigger money deal elsewhere if he plays the way he can this year. But the Patriots weren’t going to overpay for a player who could blow up in their faces. The best overall cornerback on the market was a must-keep for New England.
Perhaps Talib’s alleged greatness explains why the Bucs have a near empty stable of cornerbacks. If King is to be believed, and Talib was the best money could be on the open market, then it would make sense that the Bucs would pass on everyone else in free agency.
March 19th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Talib is all about potential, anyone who watched a Bucs game would see the guy (if playing) get torched at least once a game, sometimes with a weaker corner on the other side. Even if – if – he stays out of trouble he isn’t worth the money. He’s better then what we have right now but that isn’t saying much; watch NE fans sour on him real quick just like we did.
March 19th, 2013 at 11:26 am
Besides the personal problems, Talib had a lot of talent.
Our pass rush has sucked for quite awhile, and even Revis will get exposed here.
There is no such thing as a shut down corner w/o a pass rush.
The NFL Receivers are too good today, and so are the QB’s.
It is too bad Taib had so many off field issues.
He was the best CB we had.
March 19th, 2013 at 11:29 am
The patriots can have him. King is so catastrophically wrong, so often- but this is probably his biggest idiotic statement.
Shouldn’t a talented CB have been in a highly rated secondary- AT&T least once? Talib has started for the worst secondaries in Buc history- damn near worst in the history of Football
That’s ok. I love how he screwed them in the playoffs. He gets burned a couple times , right at the start of the game- then Boom! The phantom injury, and he’s ball capping it on the sidelines.
I hope they sign him to a ten year deal. Then I won’t have to hear about the Pats for a while!
March 19th, 2013 at 11:38 am
I don’t think that Talib is a shutdown corner but he probably was the best CB on the market when the bell rang.. in terms of talent and ability at least.
Really the only other CB that could compare maybe is Brent Grimes but thats all effort. Obviously Grimes is more reliable and consistent but Talib was the most talented.
March 19th, 2013 at 11:40 am
King has a serious hard-on for anything Patriots related. Talib playing a few games for them last year explains why he’s overrating Talib.
March 19th, 2013 at 11:44 am
King is a self appreciating doosh, him and florio
March 19th, 2013 at 11:51 am
Talib was injury prone and had zero recovery speed. If he got beat by a step on any route, it was over.
Talib does have some skill and instincts, but is WAY over-rated.
March 19th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Tom Rollar Said,
“Talib is all about potential.”
Exactly right!
When you watched him, you knew he could be special.
But, for every great play he made there were to many missed assignments. He had a terrible temper. He would hotdog, smack talk unnecessarily gamble, and take plays off. Then there’s all the off the field crap.
Talib has potential. …but he needs to harness his emotions and anger.
March 19th, 2013 at 12:10 pm
At what point in a player’s career do we look past the potential? This guy was drafted five years ago and the whole time it’s been “ifs, ands, and buts” with him. At this point in his career, Talib likely is what he is. A talented player who will have spurts of great play and spurts of awful play…Sounds a lot like many of the other free agent corners actually…Sean Smith and DRC are in the same boat…
But anyone who knows anything knew that (injuries and off the field concerns aside) Brent Grimes was the best free agent in this class…Size, potential, athleticism…none of that matters. Who has played the best football consistently? Brent Grimes.
March 19th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
You can read 5 different publications and they’ll probably have different guys rated as #1. Obviously it’s all very subjective when it comes to rating players, especially due to the fact how the player fits in one system as opposed to another.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
It makes one wonder, do members of the national media actually know what they are talking about? In reality, if you claim knowledge of all 32 teams, it would take many hundreds of hours to make any informed decision on any team, much less a single player. Most of us here, die-hard Bucs fans, have a hard enough time following any one player on our team.
The national media makes uninformed generalizations at best. Why people lend credence to their banter is beyond me.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:31 pm
A lot of you guys are funny. You act as if Talib sucks. Look at his INT’s over his career. Oh, and does anyone remember he was named defensive back of the year by the NFL alumni in 2010? Say what you want about the media and their lack of knowledge, but you cannot question the knowledge of the NFL alumni. Is Talib Deion? No, but he is in the upper tier of CB in this league today regardless how you feel about him personally. All DB’s get burnt once or twice in today’s game because there is no contact after 5 yards. You guys act as if Talib was a liability for the bucs. Obviously, he is a good CB because the back half of the Pats D changed for the better once Talib arrived and Belichick does not signed untalented players. I will take Belichick’s opinion before Joe’s and the rest of you posters on here.
March 19th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
@tiny Tim, really your basing his skill off of interceptions? Alright I want you to look up his completion percentage and touchdowns given up then you come back and tell me how good Talib is really because I think you’re in for a rude awaking.
March 19th, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Oh and you apparently weren’t watching the Giants game where Nicks dry humped him up and down the field all day on his way to 199 yards receiving, I used to be a huge Talib supporter but the guy just gives up and really isn’t living up to his potential.
March 19th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
@ kyle….No I am basing his skills off of the fact he was voted top defensive back by the NFL alumni in 2010 when he missed 5 games and the fact that Belichick still signed him a couple of days ago. No athlete is perfect. Is brees a bad QB because he threw 5 picks in a game last year? So pointing out one game where Nicks had a good game does not summarize Talib’s entire career.
March 19th, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Oh and by the way………There were other teams willing to sign Talib to a multi-year contract, but due to his off the field baggage he declined because he felt he can command more next year. What better way to show you command more than going back to the Pats for 5mil and staying out of trouble to get what you are really worth? The other teams who wanted to sign Talib to a multi year contract can’t be wrong about his skills also. Face it…..Talib is a good player whether you want to admit it or not.