Lol did you read the articles I quoted? My opinion has very little to do with my bias for Dallas Clark. It has much more to do with common sense.
In 2009, Clark had 100 receptions. The only HOF caliber receiver on the roster that year was Reggie Wayne. The rest were Austin Collie, Hank Baskett, Pierre Garcon (rookie year I think), and Sam Giguere.
Just last year Clark had 47 receptions. Aaron Hernandez, whom would fit into your younger elite player category, had reception totals in the last three years of 45, 79, and 51. 47 receptions is a pretty solid year for a TE.
The only point you make that makes much sense is that Peyton Manning was throwing to him. Of course that helped. I think he could put up very good numbers if he went to a team with a solid QB. He caught 47 passes from an average QB in Josh Freeman.
So you are saying if you were an NFL GM you'd rather take an unproven rookie at $405,000 than pay an extra $500,000 for a proven TE like Dallas Clark? A guy who you know is going to work hard and be a good leader in the locker room. A guy you know will get at least 40+ catches as long as he stays healthy. A guy who knows how to play and succeed at the NFL level, and would have a very small learning curve in almost any offense. $500,000 is not a lot of money for an NFL team. There are plenty of teams who have that kind of cap space. That choice would be a no brainer in my opinion.