How can you say he isn't ascending? On KC he didn't do squat - nothing - zero - nada. On Oakland this last season he was a rotational player that put up okay numbers. There was improvement whether you want to admit it or not.

What's any player's ceiling? If we, or even the NFL GMs and head coaches knew that, no one would ever leave one place and excel somewhere else. There would never have been Brett Favre for the Packers. The Chiefs would have held on to eventual NFL MVP Rich Gannon. etcetera, etcetera.

He's 28 years old.

Ron Edwards is 4 months older than Sands, and had similar numbers to Sands. Want him?

You are losing credibility in this discussion. Edwards has played in the NFL since is first year. Sands didn't play at all his first two years and only in 4 games his third. Plus Sands had about double the number of tackles as Edwards this year.

He's a Bills fan but the Bills don't need a "nose" they also run cover 2......so they look at the same kind of DT's we do.

Edwards had 3 times as many sacks.

And part of the reason Sands didn't play was due to INJURY.

But keep on pimping him, I'm sure he'll catch on somewhere next year and be a non-factor...

What does needing a nose tackle have to do with our scheme? We have two 3 technique tackles, and if we don't re-sign Tim Anderson, we'll only have one 1 technique tackle on the roster, meaning we'll need another one.

The Cover 2 defense doesn't call for a nose.......big fat DT's that are typically noses don't fit into cover 2's.

Tell that to the Bears.

Tommie Harris plays thier nose.....and he would be a 3 in almost any non cover 2 defense. He is everything you want in a cover 2 DT.

The term Nose Tackle doesn't refer to a 'big fat DT' as you put it. Though the nose tackle is usually the biggest player on the line, it doesn't always mean he weighs 350 pounds. Kyle Williams is a NT for the Bills and he weighs 295, less than some 3 technique guys. It's about where the player lines up, and what his assignment is.

When a guy lines up as a 0 technique (head up on the center; typical for a 3-4 NT) or 1 technique (guard's inside eye; typical for a 4-3 NT), he's typically refered to as a nose tackle. Scheme makes no difference.

actually it's the Lions you need to tell that to. Tell them the 345-pound Shaun Rogers doesn't fit their system (also run the cover 2).

DTs aren't excluded from the cover 2 because of size, they are excluded
because of style of play. The cover 2 doesn't use a big body to clog the middle. The cover 2 DTs have to get pressure on the passer. It's about them getting penetration, and collapsing the pocket. Usually, you have to have smaller DTs in order to have faster DTs. Big guys typically don't move well. However, in the exception when you can get a big guy who moves well, his size is certainly not a negative.

If you go to the Bears website and look at their depth chart, they list their right DT as "NT".

They describe Tank Johnson as " Young nose tackle has been productive while gaining experience in playing Chicago's highly competitive D-line rotation over the last 2 years". His backup Ian Scott is described as "Has developed into a sturdy run-stopper during his career with Chicago, starting 26 games at nose tackle over the last 2 seasons…"

My understanding is that Tommie Harris is not their "nose" tackle, but he is their 3 technique tackle.