DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Falcons Lawyer Milloy becomes FA

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Safety Lawyer Milloy, a four-time Pro Bowler, will not be returning to the Atlanta Falcons.

The team announced it will not re-sign the 35-year-old Milloy, who can pursue other options when free agency begins on Friday.

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Milloy was the Falcons' starting safety the last three years. This past season, he was third on the team in both solo tackles (76) and overall stops (117).

"As an organization, we felt it was in the best interest of both parties to let Lawyer test the free agent market," Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "He significantly contributed in his three seasons with the Falcons and we were proud to have him here. We wish him the best as he takes the next step in his career."

Milloy, raised in Tacoma, Wash., has expressed a desire to return home to finish his career with the Seattle Seahawks, who are now led by former Falcons coach Jim Mora.

Milloy broke in with the New England Patriots after being drafted in the second round in 1996. He played seven seasons with the Patriots and three with the Buffalo Bills before signing with the Falcons in 2006.

Even though he provided leadership to a young secondary, the Falcons decided to pursue younger options at safety, perhaps through the draft.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3929449


Okay I know he is old but he is a vet who could help out our young secondary. Look at Rodney Harrison (he's old) but look at how important he is to the Patriots defense. Remember in NY Magini had Kerry Rhodes who is a very underrated veteran safety. I really thought Taylor Mays was going to be our pick if he came out. With us letting Jones go, I could really see us trying to sign Milloy

No.

If he can play, then absolutely.

If he can't play, then no.

Why would I want a 35 year old safety in here?

With letting Jones go you could see them trying to sign a veteran safety.

They are letting Jones test the free agent market, If they make a flat out choice of one player over another, it is a mistake to pick a 34 yr old at the end of his career, with no experience with the team, over a 4 yr player entering the prime of his career with experience with the team.

Unless this was a minor league baseball team,

Milloy is done. Did you watch the falcons play the cards in the playoffs? It was obvious that the weak link to that D was Milloy, he was a step slow. He had a good career, but he is done.

Would not be at all surprised to see Sean Jones land in Atlanta. They are looking for saftey help, I have a hunch he will be one of thier targets.

Milloy is gassed. There's no way we can justify bringing him in here as a starter. If we want to use him as our 3rd safety to mentor Pool and Jones (should we re-sign him), then I'm all aboard.

I have some family that live in the Atlanta area, and they were down just after the holidays, and thier kids were already grilling me about Jones. Asking if I thught we would resign him and all.

If this was last year and Romeo was our coach; this would be the argument for getting Lawyer Milloy, "Well he used to be safety in Romeo's system, so he might be a good backup to teach Jones and Pool."

But now, we have the same system, but no one wants Lawyer Milloy. Seems like everyone on the boards has gotten smarter or we know our new regime (Kokinis and Mangini) is not going to go after aging vets.

If he comes cheap and can teach as he plays...I know he was one of the most supportive of Mangini in compliments and all the good he will do here in Cleveland...maybe he got Brownie points...literally

here is how I rate the potentially available safeties. Pool can play either FS or SS (I actually prefer him at SS), so position doesn’t even matter.

Not considering:

* Atogwe, 28 - franchised. not worth 2 1st rounders.
* Jermaine Phillips, 30 - he’s best as a cover-2 safety and TB has a ton of cap room and will resign their defensive leader.
* Yeremiah Bell, 31 - all indications are that the Tuna will not let him leave.
* Dawan Landry, 26 - he’s RFA and I don’t see him leaving Baltimore.
* Jarad Page, 24 - another RFA who is coming off a good year…I don’t see KC letting him get away.

1. Gibril Wilson, 27 - Raiders signed him to a contract for too much $$$. If he is willing to take that salary down a couple notches, he would be a good signing. He was the defensive QB of the NYG superbowl champion team and still has 4-6 good seasons in him.

2. Sean Jones, 27 - Sad to see that he is as old as Gibril and either injuries, the system or himself have stunted his development. But, he is still the 2nd best option out there if he is willing to sign for a reasonable deal.

3. James Sanders, 25 - this NE unsung player played well when Merriweather was injured. He could resign there, but a small bump to average starting safety salary probably scares them away…and he would be worth more to us (as our starter) than to them (as Merriweathers backup).

4. Jim Leonhard, 26 - came out of nowhere last year when Landry got injured. Many suspect he’ll be with Rex in NYJ. Potential for fluke year surrounded by good defense though.

5. Atari Bigby, 27 - injury-riddled season stunted what had been an up and coming career. if he is past those injury concerns, he’d be worth a look, but i’d be surprised if he left GB.

Big dropoff to guys who are probably best as backups:

6. Eugene Wilson, 29 - he had a very good year for the Texans, but before last year he always seemed to be injured. risky signing with a decently high reward for it.

7. Reed Doughty, 26 - Redskins RFA, but Horton took over when he got hurt and did amazing. Doughty had a back injury, so we would have to tread very carefully.

8. James Butler, 26 - he did allright filling Gibril’s shoes in NY, but he got caught biting on playfakes a ton and just doesn’t have the games knowledge that Gibril possesses.

9. CC Brown, 26 - very good backup safety might deserve a chance to start. coming off a broken arm, but that shouldn’t be something that bothers him going forward.



Milloy would come in somewhere around #20 or so.

^ Great post!

I've been hoping for Gibril Wilson.

Milloy will be high on some team's shopping list. Anyone else think we should make a run at him?

Peter King in his MMQB talked about what a cancer Milloy is in the locker room. If that's true, I'd want nothing to do with him.

*Edit* Here it is:

I think if you want to know why the Atlanta Falcons whacked safety Lawyer Milloy on Sunday night, all you need to know is this: He was a gigantic pain in the rear end. Clubhouse lawyer, yakker, complainer. Totally not a Mike Smith, one-for-all, all-for-one guy.

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