I have been critical of Hawk for the past 2 years, I admit I got on his bandwagon the second half of the season. He is a great team mate, but he is an average player with as many strong suits as weaknesses.
For this team and defense to take it up another notch we need a dynamic player at the inside LB position. I believe our secondary is taking a lot of blame for that playoff loss when our front 7 was not able to stop the run or put pressure on Warner. We have one good pass rusher with our starting LBs (Mathews). Jones will improve with an off season NFL workout program. I think Hawk and Barnett are who they are.
Combine this with Hawk's big contract and Chillar being resign, I say he would be good trade bait to get a veteran Left tackle. Say Hawk and Nelson plus a 2nd round pick or something.
In the draft you pick the best player available, if that happens to be an inside LB this year, that would be great.
Improvement in our pass rushing from our front 7 will make a lot of the problems in our secondary go away with the talent we already have. Our pass rushing/blitzing was a concern for Dom Capers against the vikings, Steelers, and the Cardinals. That was a major weakness that Dom struggled with when he faced a good QB.
An example of Dom Capers concerns about Hawk's effectiveness can be illustrated in the first Lions game where Hawk (healthy) only got 9 reps in a shut out. A 6 million dollar man sitting the bench.
Hawk needs to go, should have been gone this year. Just look at the Jets with Vernon Gholston, they realize their mistake and are going to do something about it.