Now hear me out.... What is the chance that the main reason Tomlin kept Ben was to try and maintain his "no losing season" record? Tomlin has a history of records being meaningful to him even if they aren't meaningful to the success of the team (see ABs 5 catches for 50yrds streak). And while Tomlin's streak of no losing seasons is about as useful as ABs streak it is definitely important to him and I'm wondering if he wasn't looking at this team going "now there is no way we're going to be competitive without Ben. Maybe if I keep him just 1 more year I can keep my streak alive"? We've decimated the roster but I think as long as Ben is on the team 8-8 is pretty realistic. Problem is that keeping him meant losing other players that the team could have really benefited from but who might not have shown in the win category without a franchise QB and that's why Tomlin decided to have a team that has a competent QB but with not nearly the components around him to be a contender instead of keeping the roster mostly intact but not having a franchise QB for next year and having his first losing season.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?