We were 3-13. We are not a good team that can afford to let one of our best players walk for nothing.
Im going to try to look at all angles here, and I'll give my opinion at the end.
For the sake of argument.. we were 3-13... with a putrid defense. We struggled at every aspect on that side of the ball. Rak balled out last year, with a potential contract looming. He's been here since 2009 and has never logged more then 50 tackles (not including assists)... he's only played all 16 games 2 times, and has 39.5 sacks (all of this according to Redskins.com). His best season was this past with 43 solo/17 assisted tackles, 10 sacks, and 1 INT (his only of his career) for a TD. Lots of teams fall victim to the recent production of players, and don't look big picture.
That being said, Rak has also played under the "handcuffed" defense for 4 of his 5 years in the league. He's a pure pass rusher. He's not a zone coverage guy, he's not a man-to-man vs TE guy. He's a pass rusher who, while might only have a select few moves, will wear you down by trying to run you over. He showed last year that he can play the run, and that he can play inspired football. He's still young. A 5 - 6 year contract gives you great bargaining weight to keep Kerrigan here as well. The two of them can continue to develop together, not having to learn a new system.
Personally I think we have to pay him. We need to keep him here, but I hope we don't overspend. Browsing some of the contracts out there, I see him getting paid, but I dont see him getting a 'max' deal. Maybe I'm reaching here, but I see him getting somewhere around 5 years - $45 million w/ $20 million guaranteed and a good sized bonus. $4 mil a year guaranteed with incentives does not seem unfair to me, with Clay Matthews getting $4.1m, Demarcus Ware getting $4.2m, Tamba Hali getting $3.2m, Suggs getting $2.35m and Woodley getting $2.8m.
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