Long is only 27. Any decline is purely a matter of getting him in shape, motivation, or using him correctly. His injuries haven't been that serious. This summer, it was an MCL sprain. No big issue, if handled properly.
I have complete confidence that Long can return to his level of "elite" again.
Wrong. He played through a lot of nagging injuries, just like Tony Boselli did. Both are finding out the hard way that doing that can injure you permanently. I'm not confident at all that Long can return to elite status.