While true about sentimental GM's....
Did you see our defense last year?
Urlacher on one leg was still better than the shit show our non-sentimental GM replaced him with.
Btw, a lot of people in Minnesota say Allen was done. A lot of people say Tillman is done. A lot of people said Ratliff was done. A lot of people said Marshall was done.
You really don't know whether he was or wasn't. All you know is he ran the #3defense in the NFL and was the #2 rated pass defending LB in the NFL.
Let's see:
Allen - is 35, visibly slow and coming off of 2 back to back significant leg injuries? Was he playing as a shadow of his former self? Allen has 11.5 sacks last season, 12 the year before and 22 the year before that. I'll GLADLY take that 'was done' from my DE.
Tillman - he may very well be done. Riddled with injuries and was not playing at his level before the injury last year. The clock may have finally expired on him. Time will tell this season.
Ratliff - jury is still out. He too may be done. I didn't see enough of or from him to know if he's done or not.
Marshall - who said he was done? He was in the prime of his career when he came here. Averaging 83 catches a year on a shit Miami team. Yes, his personal shit was the question, but not one person on the planet thought he was done.
As for 'non-sentimental GM' - why do you want your GM to be sentimental? This isn't a retirement party. Why do fans want players, coaches and execs to act like they do? Sentiment should have ZERO weight in evaluating what players to put on the field. Notice, 31 other 'non-sentimental GMs' weren't interested in the services of Brian Urlacher. They are paid - handsomely - to evaluate NFL talent. They do it every day - and have done it every day at the highest level - for dozens of years. Translation: I trust the football talent assessment acumen of GMs, Scouts and Coaches who see these, and all players every day over the armchair fan.
Face reality folks - the NFL has spoken. Brian Urlacher, like every other player in the NFL before him, got hurt and old and his services were no longer needed. Period. Move on.