It seems your mostly aware, you just left out some important information that will better support the notion of passing on Albert. No doubt thats a coincidence.
Veldheer injured his tricep, Albert has a chronic back issue and nearly blew out his knee last year. Freak injuries happen, but in Veldheer case its unlikely to cause problems in the future. Can you say the same about back injuries in older players? Perhaps Albert will prove to be the exception, but history is fairly clear on the way those careers tend to turn out. The numbers being floated around for Veldheer come out as roughly $2 million less per season. The age difference should be obvious.
The numbers floating around for Monroe come out roughly equivalent to Albert. But hes younger and hasnt had major injuries. If your going to pay a player the same salary, common sense dictates you go with the younger and healthier guy.
And sure, our paid talent evaluators will have to make a projection on Collins, but its the same exact projection they are making with Albert. In both cases your trying to decide if the players can continue playing at a high level, on one hand you are projecting based on lack of experience, in the other you are projecting based on age and injuries. Oh, and one of those cases is more expensive than the other.
Now please, enlighten me: what has Brandon Albert done to deserve such loyalty? Other than having the words "Miami Dolphins" associated with him that is.
