The Curious Case of Sean Weatherspoon

[Davis_Mike]

Brought in to be the everydown starter along side the two-down Minter, he cannot sniff the field.

With a serious history of injuries, the Cardinals paid him $3.8 mil for a year of his services. Bothered by a nagging hamstring injury, he misses most of the preseason. Thus opening the door for a rebuilt Minter.

Once thought of as an underachieving run-stuffing ILB, Minter dropped 20 lbs in the offseason & gained some much needed quickness. With Weatherspoon sidelined during the preseason, Minter 2.0 showed the Cardinals that he is no longer an afterthought & deserves to be the every-down starter.

Enter Deone Bucannon.

With a promising freshman season in which he played a hybrid SS/ILB, in his review mirror, "The Cannon" came into 2015 with high expectations. The Cardinals, stacked with 3 other very good safeties, had to find a way to maximize Bucannon. Weatherspoon missing the preseason gave the Cardinals a chance to to see what "The Cannon" can do.

The evolution of the Cardinals 3-3-5 defense.

With Weatherspoon out, Minter 2.0 looking good, Bucannon needing to be on the field, & the Cardinals installing a new defensive coordinator, the preaseason served as an experiment. Last season, the Cardinals primarily ran 3-4 on early down & replaced Minter 1.0 with Bucannon in passing situations. During the 2015 preseason, Betcher installs Bucannon along side Minter 2.0 in the base defense. Effectively making the the defense a 3-3-5. Both Minter 2.0 & Bucannon played well & thrived off playing with each other during the preseason.

Weatherspoon returns.

Weatherspoon plays & starts in the week 4 preseason game. With Weatherspoon back, the team wanting to slowly work into the defense, they decide to keep the 3-3-5 defense as the base defense. Weatherspoon is used as a backup to start the season.

Weatherspoon disappears.

The season starts out with Minter 2.0 & Bucannon playing well, making plays all over the field, & the defense as a unit playing at a high level. Weatherspoon sees 18 defensive snaps in the first few games. Then he disappears. He is a healthy scratch in weeks 4 & 5. He doesn't the field in weeks 6 & 7.


So what is the deal & going forward, what should the Cardinals do?

-Is he just a backup now due to the play of Minter 2.0?
-Should the team trade him before next week's trade deadline?
-Should they just hold on to him as a backup since he is already a sunk cost?

What are your thoughts on this situation?

 

[SteelersPride]

with the fact they are making a run for the superbowl, id keep him......but teams wont be giving up tons for aguy not playing, and with injuries IMHO

 

[Davis_Mike]

with the fact they are making a run for the superbowl, id keep him......but teams wont be giving up tons for aguy not playing, and with injuries IMHO

The return is not really important. Clearing close to $1.2 mil in cap space to rollover into next season has to be considered. The Cardinals have more than a few key defensive players that need to be resigned or extended in the 2016 offseason. Any added space will help.

While he may be a backup, he is not even the primary backup anymore. Two healthy scratches & two DNP in the last 4 games.

 

[SteelersPride]

valid points

 

[johnson]

Hard to say. I've seen so little of him I don't even know if he can play at a high level anymore. Only the coaches could gauge that. If he can't, they have to bid him farewell. If he can, you keep him, as injuries are inevitable and having depth, as the Cardinals know, is required for a Super Bowl run.

I'd rather have Weatherspoon than the equivalent of a Ryan Lindley coming in to replace Minter if he goes down...but if he is Ryan Lindley-esque right now...cut him immediately.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Keep him on the bench. A lot of season still to play. Depth is never a bad thing.