To a certain extent, Chris Ballard brought this upon himself. Over the past few years, how many times has he stepped up to a podium, after not signing free agents, and explained that the team “pays its own?”
How many times, after signing guys like Nelson, Leonard, Kelly, and Smith, has he said that position makes no difference; that you pay elite players, no matter where they play.
It seems obvious that the plan had been to let Taylor play out the season, and then reward him; but sometimes, the best laid plans of mice and men go astray. Thankfully, both sides were able to suck it up, set, egos aside, and get a deal done.
When Jim Irsay ends up standing on the podium after the Super Bowl in a couple of years and hoists the Lombardi trophy above his head, all of this will be forgotten.
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