Paul Posluszny: Overpaid?

If you have been on Twitter in the last couple of days, you have probably seen Paul Posluszny being mentioned quite a bit. There had been some talk amongst fans about whether the Dallas Cowboys should try to trade for the Jaguars linebacker, after they lost their linebacker Sean Lee for the year to a torn ACL.

The debate, however, quickly turned to whether or not Paul Posluszny was overpaid. In other words, does Posluszny’s production match his contract?

Posluszny signed as a free agent with the Jaguars in 2011, agreeing to a six year, 45 million dollar deal. According to OverTheCap.com, this includes 13 million guaranteed. This means that Posluszny is signed through the year 2017. As for this season, Posluszny carries the Jaguars biggest salary cap hit, with total measurement of 9.5 million. For perspective, Marcedes Lewis ranks second on that list with a total hit of 8.25 million, followed by Zane Beadles with 7.5 million. Every other player is below 6 million for their total cap hit. Considering Beadles was just signed to a big free agent contract this offseason, it’s to be expected that he would command a high cap hit.

No matter how large the contract, it doesn’t really matter if the player is performing at that high of a level. The question is, does Paul Posluszny play at a 9.5 million dollars a year level? Posluszny’s supporters would say that he racks up tackles, has an extremely high motor and is the unquestioned leader of this defense. His detractors would say that his pass coverage is sub-par, and all he does is tackle. ProFootballFocus.com is usually the go-to for analysis on how players are performing, and they had this to say when discussing the Jaguars most under and over valued players:

"Overvalued1. Paul Posluszny, Middle LinebackerPosluszny tops the Jaguars’ most overvalued list for the second year in a row. His cap hit was the third largest among inside linebackers and he was nowhere close to a top three middle linebacker last season. His -11.6 overall grade was 25th among starters and he failed to grade positively in any of the three major categories (run, coverage, pass rush). Posluszny had to deal with far more linemen than a typical 4-3 inside linebacker due to a weak defensive line, but he rarely was able to beat blockers at the second level. He’s still a quality player, but at $26.5m over the next three years, one has to question whether he is worth it.2013 Cap Hit: $8.5m2013 Jahnke Value Model: $700kValue Differential: -$7.8m"

As you can see, PFF in’t the biggest fan of Poslusnzy’s contract relative to his level of play. However, PFF is just another point of reference in this debate, and not the ultimate voice. We want to hear from our readers in this discussion.

Also, make sure you jump into the comments section below and really let everyone hear your opinion on this subject!