As the game becomes more pass-oriented each year, it becomes harder and harder to let elite CB's go. Our last good CB was Vontae Davis, a 1st round draft pick we drafted instead of the pass rusher I wanted us to draft (Clay Matthews). While Davis eventually became a good CB, it wasn't with us. He was always lazy with us, and only after we gave up and traded him for a 2nd round pick did he blossom. The sting of getting traded and being filmed on Hard Knocks being emotional about it was the kick in the rear he needed to start reaching his potential.
The last elite CB's we had were Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. We lost Surtain as well. Once upon a time we had another good CB in Troy Vincent … who we let go as well. But today CB's are too vital to let go. If we look at the heyday Seattle Seahawks, that's the team we need to emulate. They had an elite FS in Earl Thomas, an elite CB1 in Sherman, a big strong thumping SS in Cam Chancellor, and a ferocious pass rush to allow those DB's to clamp down on the short stuff. We have the FS (Fitzpatrick), CB1 (Howard) and thumping SS (Jones or McDonald) to make that work, but we lack the pass rush. IMHO, we need to hold on to our CB1, Xavien Howard. Finding another one probably isn't going to happen for a long time, regardless of what round we draft him in. Elite prospects are worth their weight in gold, but elite players at high value positions are worth their weight in diamonds.