Maybe if we didn't try to ease the pain of Nicks departure with an overpay for Grubbs, we'd have the money to sign Mack, which would be a HUGE addition having the Mack Truck anchor the line...

I'm sorry I cannot agree with this statement. Ben Grubbs was a Pro Bowl guard in the prime of his career when we gave him that contract. He's 29 so technically, he still is. We have had for years, one of the better lines in the league... not much as changed even with the constant changing of tackles. And while the Pro Bowl has taken it's lumps as far as credibility is concerned, he still is a Pro Bowler on a back loaded affordable contract. Quite frankly, considering inflation among salary for interior lineman in the league now, he contract is very fair. If we need the extra cap room, restructing his contract shouldn't be an issue either.

As good as a player that Alex Mack is, I just don't think it's smart money to shell out 8+ million dollars a year to a center.

Grubbs reputation may say he's a Pro Bowler and a 9 million dollar player. His performance however does not. He stunk out loud for 3/4ths of last year.

I can name a handful of players that struggled for parts of last season. What's your point? He's not really a Pro Bowler or has been multiple times? Because he has and still is. He's not worth 9 million dollars? Well he isn't. He's getting paid 6 million this year and his contract averages out to about 7 million throughout the life on the contract.

Did you know that Ben Grubbs was ranked 10th overall out of 81 guards graded this year by PFF? Jahari Evans was 18th. So if you're going to say Grubbs stunk for the majority of last season, Evans must have been garbage then.