Rent Or Pass? Jason Taylor Edition

Free agency. I've never known sports without it, and say what you will, but the balance of power does seem to move around a lot more than it did in the "Dynasty" periods of the NFL. Granted, the Patriots are still the Patriots, spoilers are omnipresent, and year-in and year-out, some of the divisions in football are terrible (the NFC North and AFC West immediately come to mind). But all-in-all, the adoption of free agency has been a pretty well-received one in the NFL.

However, situations do arise that make me scratch my head. It was reported today on ESPN that one of Jason Taylor's many suitors could be the Green Bay Packers (my favorite, ever-conservative, very rarely flashy NFL team). I hate this idea for a couple of reasons and I love it for a couple of reasons, let's start the insanity:

Pros:

1. He's Jason Taylor. Last I checked, Taylor is (or, to be mentioned later, was) one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL today.
2. The Packers could utilize him in their rotating defensive line. It might benefit an aging player like Taylor to be rotated in and out and stay "fresh" in play. Not to mention, this method might coax him into coming back for another year, if the team's performance doesn't do that already.

Cons:

1. He's Jason Taylor. Jason Taylor will be celebrating his 34th birthday in September- he's no spring chicken, and has addressed this issue by saying that this will be his last season whether or not he finishes his career in Miami or elsewhere.
2. The Packers are deep at the defensive end position. With Aaron Kampman, KGB, Cullen Jenkins, the Packers put up a pretty decent pass rush with AK and KGB combining for 21.5 sacks- that's solid, but Taylor had 11 last year for a terrible team where he was not motivated to perform, so that would be a welcome addition.
3. The cost of acquiring Taylor from the Dolphins. When the Packers didn't give up a fourth round pick for Randy Moss in 2007, it makes me wonder what they would be willing to give up in order to acquire the playmaker that is Jason Taylor. From the sounds of things, it would take a second round pick or better...it's not likely that we would see Ted Thompson and Packers management give that up.

This is in no way questioning the front office of the Packers, they have obviously made the right decisions in the past. But it will be interesting to see which way they decide to go this offseason, and whether or not Jason Taylor is the answer, or simply the raiser of a lot more questions.