What you said is why i think the Vikings are one of the best secondarys in the sport. People questioned the Mike Hughes pick last year, but it was worth it. Even if he was hurt for most of the year. They are now 4 deep at corner. 4 starting caliber corners. And Holten Hill isnt too bad either. With Smith and Harris as excellent safties, the Vikings might have the best secondary in the league.
I think you are overanalyzing with teams letting Edge rushers go. One of those people was Bill Belichick and he is not the norm. As for the other guys you mentioned, Clark's salary was astronomical compared to his production, Seattle had to ship him. Ford and Houston signed for seven years, $110 million, including $51.8 million in guaranteed money, with their new teams. That’s two ultra-productive players for, essentially, the price of Clark who has a five-year, $105.5 million contract, including $63.5 million guaranteed. Clark wasn't even a Free Agent, that was a trade transaction, and like I said, it was because Seattle have decided to rebuild, something they thought about last season. They could not keep Clark, not on that contract. Houston is great, but he just hit 30. They let Houston and Ford walk because they were already in trade talks for Clark. They knew they were getting some sort of compensation. Letting players like Ford and Clark go almost never, EVER happens. It's a fluke more than it is the signs of an upcoming trend, and ALL these players were involved in the same transaction, except for Flowers and like I said, that's just Belichick. No other team could get away with what he does because they don't have the same brain. Belichick is probably confident in a few guys he knows he can get in the draft. No other GM can really say that picking at 32 where he could end up reaching for a player projected to be a 4th or 5th rounder and end up looking like a genius. The Chiefs only did their Ford/Houston move because they had to have known they was getting Clark. They probably figure they can get about the same production out of Clark as they did from Ford, for at least 1 season and ship him if they wanted AND they still get Seattle's 1st round pick in this draft and a 2nd round pick in next year's draft. They get their replacement in Ford AND they can draft a guy to replace some of Houston's production. Anyway, 3 out of your 4 examples were all part of the same transaction and Flowers was a Belichick move. Edge rushers will still be a premium in the draft along with QBs, and teams aren't going to let the best ones go in FA, unless a team decides to rebuild and that player's contract is bonkers, or the player is already 30+ and past their prime.
I like Amani Hooker to the Colts. Not just because he fits our team in the mold of Clayton Geathers, who does have injury issues, but can play both SS and Nickleback..... but also because we would have 2 Hookers on defense. I think Malik and Amani would make for a nice looking pair of Hookers at FS and SS.
