A Few Thoughts on the Off-Season

[MadCardDisease]

Holy Dead Presidents! The 49ers guaranteed Bowmann and Willis over $50 million combined!!!!!!!!!!! Does anyone really believe Dansy will demand that kind of money? Or that any team would pay him? Losing Dansby over $2 million would be repeating the mistakes that took a 2nd round playoff team to 5-11. TWICE.

I don't think he will demand top five ILB money. But top ten isn't out of the question.

Last year Darnell Ellerbe signed a 5 year $35M contract with the Dolphins to play MLB. He was signed pretty much off potential vs great numbers. Look at the numbers Ellerbe put up this year and they didn't come close to Dansby's numbers or big plays.

So $7M isn't that much of a stretch. Sure $2M doesn't sound like much. But when you only have $7M or so of cap space to work with this year, that $2M equates to 30% of what you have to spend on Free Agents in 2014.

Oh and the Cardinals have major holes that NEED to be filled at the following positions:

LT
RT
TE#2
TE#3
WR#3
RB#3 (Unless you want to roll with Ryan Williams as you #3)
OLB#3
DE#3
NT#2
CB#3
Safety
P
K

That's at least 12 positions that need to be filled with about $7M to work with. That's a lot of mouths to feed and not much to go around!

 

[Chopper0080]

I don't think he will demand top five ILB money. But top ten isn't out of the question.

Last year Darnell Ellerbe signed a 5 year $35M contract with the Dolphins to play MLB. He was signed pretty much off potential vs great numbers. Look at the numbers Ellerbe put up this year and they didn't come close to Dansby's numbers or big plays.

So $7M isn't that much of a stretch. Sure $2M doesn't sound like much. But when you only have $7M or so of cap space to work with this year, that $2M equates to 30% of what you have to spend on Free Agents in 2014.

Oh and the Cardinals have major holes that NEED to be filled at the following positions:

LT
RT
TE#2
TE#3
WR#3
RB#3 (Unless you want to roll with Ryan Williams as you #3)
OLB#3
DE#3
NT#2
CB#3
Safety
P
K

That's at least 12 positions that need to be filled with about $7M to work with. That's a lot of mouths to feed and not much to go around!

Ellerbe wasn't over 30 though. I will be shocked and disappointed if Keim doesn't let Dansby test the market because the market for him will most likely top out at 5mil per year. Over 30 ILBs just don't command big dollars in today's market. Daryl Smith shows you the lack of interest in 30+ ILBs isn't limited to just Dansby.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Tyrann has the potential to be a really difference maker for this team over the next six or seven years. I see no reason to rush him back, and further, would want a conservative time frame for him to come back.

Bad luck happens -- players miss full seasons all the time. Take our lumps and look forward to a full 2015 for him.

i'm totally with ya here.

 

[WildBB]

That's at least 12 positions that need to be filled with about $7M to work with. That's a lot of mouths to feed and not much to go around!

They'll have more than 7M to work with after they do what is needed.

 

[Duckjake]

How can a team that went 10-6 including 7-1 vs teams that didn't make the playoffs need to fill 12 positions? Is it all the 1 year deals because it can't be lack of talent on the roster with the results we had last season can it?

 

[Cardiac]

How can a team that went 10-6 including 7-1 vs teams that didn't make the playoffs need to fill 12 positions? Is it all the 1 year deals because it can't be lack of talent on the roster with the results we had last season can it?

This list is from Over the Cap. http://overthecap.com/calculator/?Team=Cardinals

Jay Feely, Dave Zastudil, Yeremiah Bell, Karlos Dansby, Frostee Rucker, Jeff King, Rashard Mendenhall, Mike Gibson, Antoine Cason, Matt Shaughnessy, Kory Sperry, Marcus Benard, Bryan McCann, Javier Arenas, Jim Dray, Alfonso Smith, Jake Ballard, Ronald Talley, Alameda Ta'amu and Everrette Thompson.

Bell, Los, Rucker, Mendy, Cason, Shaughnessy are the ones that were FA's that SK could have offered longer contracts to. Of couldn't get to sign for longer terms because the players wanted a one year prove it contract.

At least 5 of these are going to be FA's because they contract is expiring this year.

Ta'amu can be a RFA and I'm not sure how many others fall into that catergory.

 

[kerouac9]

How can a team that went 10-6 including 7-1 vs teams that didn't make the playoffs need to fill 12 positions? Is it all the 1 year deals because it can't be lack of talent on the roster with the results we had last season can it?

It's just a different way of looking at the roster. IMO, the whole of the 2013 Arizona Cardinals was greater than the sum of its parts, but you still want to upgrade as many parts as you can.

Yes, part of the issue is the one-year contracts (nickle back and safety, in particular--even more so with Honey Badger's injury). The other part is that you don't have to dig very deeply into MCD's list to see that we're mostly talking about backup players and specialists, who will either be rookies or minimum-salary veterans.

I think that it's going to be a good practice for expectations management to only fall in love with the top 12 players on the roster, and expect pretty much everyone else to be on a carousel on and off the roster. There are a lot of Frostee Ruckers and Matt Shaunghessys out there; you can't afford to keep these would-be middle-salary veteran players on your roster anymore. Fortunately or no, for the time being, a lot of rosters in the NFL are going to be stars and scrubs, but there'll just be a lot of volatility between mid-level starters from seasons to season.

 

[Duckjake]

This list is from Over the Cap. http://overthecap.com/calculator/?Team=Cardinals

Jay Feely, Dave Zastudil, Yeremiah Bell, Karlos Dansby, Frostee Rucker, Jeff King, Rashard Mendenhall, Mike Gibson, Antoine Cason, Matt Shaughnessy, Kory Sperry, Marcus Benard, Bryan McCann, Javier Arenas, Jim Dray, Alfonso Smith, Jake Ballard, Ronald Talley, Alameda Ta'amu and Everrette Thompson.

Bell, Los, Rucker, Mendy, Cason, Shaughnessy are the ones that were FA's that SK could have offered longer contracts to. Of couldn't get to sign for longer terms because the players wanted a one year prove it contract.

At least 5 of these are going to be FA's because they contract is expiring this year.

Ta'amu can be a RFA and I'm not sure how many others fall into that catergory.

Stupid Graves. Levi Brown and Adam Snyder's dead money for 2014 equals almost half of what all those guys counted against the cap in 2013.

 

[kerouac9]

Stupid Graves. Levi Brown and Adam Snyder's dead money for 2014 equals almost half of what all those guys counted against the cap in 2013.

Snyder's dead money is on Graves. Levi Brown's situation is shared blame, because Keim and Licht turned Brown's remaining 2013 salary into a bonus that added to his dead money number.

 

[Cardiac]

Stupid Graves. Levi Brown and Adam Snyder's dead money for 2014 equals almost half of what all those guys counted against the cap in 2013.

Yep, I stood up for Graves for far too long. Seeing SK in action has been remarkable. Of course Graves is allowed some slack because the majority of his time with the Cards he had to deal with Bill Sr.

Good news is SK & JL & MD appear to have a game plan in place and based on what we saw this year I have confidence they will put together another very good roster while keeping the CAP in line for the long term.

 

[juza76]

Yep, I stood up for Graves for far too long. Seeing SK in action has been remarkable. Of course Graves is allowed some slack because the majority of his time with the Cards he had to deal with Bill Sr.

Good news is SK & JL & MD appear to have a game plan in place and based on what we saw this year I have confidence they will put together another very good roster while keeping the CAP in line for the long term.

they could find some free agent coming from injury or sub par year..they can make 1 year deal. like last year
i think about macklin

 

[Cardiac]

they could find some free agent coming from injury or sub par year..they can make 1 year deal. like last year
i think about macklin

Do you mean Macklin the WR on Eagles IR?

I agree that they will repeat what they did this year in regards to 1 year contracts etc.

 

[juza76]

Do you mean Macklin the WR on Eagles IR?

I agree that they will repeat what they did this year in regards to 1 year contracts etc.

yes maclin

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5169/jeremy-maclin

 

[Cardiac]

yes maclin

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5169/jeremy-maclin

I don't know that we have the CAP room for a WR. He won't come cheap even though he is coming off an ACL tear. I do like him as a WR.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't know that we have the CAP room for a WR. He won't come cheap even though he is coming off an ACL tear. I do like him as a WR.

I like him as a WR, but not for this offense. He's another bigger, slower guy who moves the chains; he's not a deep threat.

Maclin (if he doesn't re-sign with the Eagles) would be a good fit for a team like the Chiefs or Patriots.

 

[juza76]

cardinal sitution in the offseason team need and where to upgrade
http://walterfootball.com/offseason2014arz.php

 

[Cardiac]

I like him as a WR, but not for this offense. He's another bigger, slower guy who moves the chains; he's not a deep threat.

Maclin (if he doesn't re-sign with the Eagles) would be a good fit for a team like the Chiefs or Patriots.

I agree he doesn't have "take the top off the defense" speed.

 

[Cardiac]

cardinal sitution in the offseason team need and where to upgrade
http://walterfootball.com/offseason2014arz.php

Can't believe they don't have TE listed at all as a need.

Agree that LT is top need but I put OLBer just behind that. Then TE & Safety.

 

[CFLredzoned]

I think that it's going to be a good practice for expectations management to only fall in love with the top 12 players on the roster, and expect pretty much everyone else to be on a carousel on and off the roster. There are a lot of Frostee Ruckers and Matt Shaunghessys out there; you can't afford to keep these would-be middle-salary veteran players on your roster anymore. Fortunately or no, for the time being, a lot of rosters in the NFL are going to be stars and scrubs, but there'll just be a lot of volatility between mid-level starters from seasons to season.

Do you think the rookie wage scale is to blame for that? You get such a good deal on these guys for 4 years. The good teams are going to be the ones that can maximize that. It looks like the thing that was supposed to make life better for veterans is the very thing that's created this whole rich man, poor man, no middle class scenario.

I can see it continuing to be a problem for middle class veteran types, if not get even worse. It may get to the point where they have to pass some kind of an emergency amendment before the 10 year CBA is up to reduce the rookie contract from 4 years to 3.

 

[kerouac9]

Do you think the rookie wage scale is to blame for that? You get such a good deal on these guys for 4 years. The good teams are going to be the ones that can maximize that. It looks like the thing that was supposed to make life better for veterans is the very thing that's created this whole rich man, poor man, no middle class scenario.

I can see it continuing to be a problem for middle class veteran types, if not get even worse. It may get to the point where they have to pass some kind of an emergency amendment before the 10 year CBA is up to reduce the rookie contract from 4 years to 3.

Not really. I mean, the rookie wage scale really only affected the top 20 or so picks in the draft; everyone after that point wasn't making much more than minimum wage, anyway.

I think it's more of a factor of the flat cap; salaries for the top stars are continuing to rise 5-7% a year, while the cap is only rising 2 or 3 percent per year. That's not really sustainable.

The guys who've really gotten killed are the Adam Snyders and Stewart Bradleys of the NFL, and the guys like Shaunghessy and Rucker who probably should be making $3M a year.

It's possible that in another two years teams correct their rosters for the effects of the flat cap, some of the established veterans age out of the league, and there'll be more of a middle class again. But you have to get a generation of guys like Chike Okeafor a few years ago to age out of the NFL.

 

[CFLredzoned]

Not really. I mean, the rookie wage scale really only affected the top 20 or so picks in the draft; everyone after that point wasn't making much more than minimum wage, anyway.

I think it's more of a factor of the flat cap; salaries for the top stars are continuing to rise 5-7% a year, while the cap is only rising 2 or 3 percent per year. That's not really sustainable.

The guys who've really gotten killed are the Adam Snyders and Stewart Bradleys of the NFL, and the guys like Shaunghessy and Rucker who probably should be making $3M a year.

It's possible that in another two years teams correct their rosters for the effects of the flat cap, some of the established veterans age out of the league, and there'll be more of a middle class again. But you have to get a generation of guys like Chike Okeafor a few years ago to age out of the NFL.

Yeah the flat cap is a stress factor. I wonder how many teams went into contracts expecting that gigantic increase they were talking about. I remember they were talking about revenues almost doubling and the cap following. I seem to remember that being brought up regarding Fitz's contract. At the time, I didn't feel so bad about the number he got because if the cap did what they were talking about, it wouldn't have been a bad deal at all for the Cardinals. It seemed like almost a compromise, at the time, between paying him based on the current cap vs the future gigantic cap vs the uncertainty of it happening vs not happening.

 

[desertdawg]

Keim and Disner, will enjoy doing better with contracts. The NFL has changed a lot when it comes to rookie/vet money.

 

[kerouac9]

Yeah the flat cap is a stress factor. I wonder how many teams went into contracts expecting that gigantic increase they were talking about. I remember they were talking about revenues almost doubling and the cap following. I seem to remember that being brought up regarding Fitz's contract. At the time, I didn't feel so bad about the number he got because if the cap did what they were talking about, it wouldn't have been a bad deal at all for the Cardinals. It seemed like almost a compromise, at the time, between paying him based on the current cap vs the future gigantic cap vs the uncertainty of it happening vs not happening.

Well, Fitz got his new deal a couple of months after the new CBA was ratified, so Graves has no excuses for how that deal was put together. The NFL brought in all the personnel guys and explained to them how the cap was projected to grow.