Card offseason moves to keep the core in place

[az jam]

Here is my off season plan for the Cards.

1. Resign Warner for two years. Keep Leinart . Leinart may not be happy but he is under contract. Draft a qb on day two for the future. (To be Leinart's backup)

2. Keep Boldin. Indy let James walk and put their money on Manning, Harrison and Wayne. We need both Boldin and Fitz to be successufl. Sure we can win games without Boldin but what happens if Fitz is injuried? Boldin can carry the team but don't tell me that Breaston could. Bottom line is we need both Fitz and Boldin.

3. Pay the bucks to keep Dansby. Forget Suggs we can't afford both and he wants to stay in Baltimore with Ray Lewis and company,

4. I don't think we can do more than the above under the cap. We may lose Arrington, Antonio Smith and Elton Brown. We will also cut James and Okeafor. Their replacements will come from those on the team and in the draft. I hate to lose DE Antonio Smith but think he will get bigger bucks from another team than what he will from us. I also think we can give his position to Calais Campbell.

5. Whatever money we have for free agency will be for adding depth. A blocking tight end, an experienced safety and some OL and LB help.

6. In the draft get an RB, depth at OL, LB, DBs. I'm not going to give any picks yet but wait till after the combine and campus workouts plus see what happens in free agency.

7. Start contract extension talks with both Adrian Wilson and Dockett. We need to keep both long range as they are core players.

8. Gotta give Whisenhunt a raise and three year extension. This should actually be at the top of the list.

The key on my recommendations is keeping as much of our core players in place as we realistically can. The Cards are not going to be big time players with other team free agents. We fans love to throw names out there but its not going to happen.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I am confident that Suggs will be franchised.

Scott to NYJ

Lewis resigns.

In any case.... No Suggs.

 

[Zeno]

I hate to lose DE Antonio Smith but think he will get bigger bucks from another team than what he will from us. I also think we can give his position to Calais Campbell.

I was on a plane today from Tampa to Memphis with Antonio Smith's cousin, I talked to her a little bit and asked her to mention to him that we'd like him back. She told me that he is going to end up in Carolina because they've already told him they like him a lot. Take it for what its worth--a cousin repeating what she believes she heard.

 

[Cards Czar]

I am confident that Suggs will be franchised.

Scott to NYJ

Lewis resigns.

In any case.... No Suggs.

Suggs cannot be franchised. When he signed his tender last year it was put into that contract what there will be no franchising this year.

 

[az jam]

I was on a plane today from Tampa to Memphis with Antonio Smith's cousin, I talked to her a little bit and asked her to mention to him that we'd like him back. She told me that he is going to end up in Carolina because they've already told him they like him a lot. Take it for what its worth--a cousin repeating what she believes she heard.

I think they would give him more money than we especially if they lose Peppers who wants out.

 

[binkar]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Baltimore cut TE Todd Heap. He makes a bunch ton of money for a TE and his role in offense has diminished greatly to give Flaco more protection. If he was released would we be interested. He is an Arizona boy and we may get a hometown discount.

 

[az jam]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Baltimore cut TE Todd Heap. He makes a bunch ton of money for a TE and his role in offense has diminished greatly to give Flaco more protection. If he was released would we be interested. He is an Arizona boy and we may get a hometown discount.

I wonder how good of a blocker is Heap? That is what Whisenhunt really wants a TE that can block.

 

[Cardiac]

I wonder how good of a blocker is Heap? That is what Whisenhunt really wants a TE that can block.

Considering how often and well the Ravens run the ball Heap would have to be a huge upgrade over any of our current TE's.

If Boldin is still with us then Heap would cost too much and be redundent.

If Boldin is traded then Heap would be a fantastic addition.

 

[az jam]

A real key for us next year is keeping Boldin. We have two starting pro bowl recievers. Both are big and tough. Teams have a hard time planning to stop them. They help make Warner good. Getting a break away rb in the draft will give us an awesome offense with Warner leading it.

Having Warner, Boldin & Dansby back are essential.

 

[Redrage]

Todd heap blocks pretty well, actually.

 

[JeffGollin]

Other Offseason Activity...

I'd like to see some of our younger players add 10 -15 pounds of muscle and increase both their upper and lower body strength; most notably -

Tim Hightower - He's got the hands, the vision and the wiggle. And it's not as if he goes down easily, but with another 15 pounds (without loss of quickness) and lower body strength, he'd become harder to bring down and add the dimension that Edge currently gives us.

Calais Campbell - He could become a beast with more bulk and strength.

Early Doucet - If he wants to be Boldin-2, he'll need to get stronger and tougher. (i.e. he's promising but got pushed around too much in his rookie year).

Steve Breaston - Remade his body in the offseason last year, and it translated to a 1,000+ year,. Can you imagine how good he could become if he got even bigger and stronger this offseason?

DRC - He's already a freak of nature physically, but a few more pounds of muscle would make him even more dominant and tougher forcing against the run and making solo tackles in the open field.

 

[anks106]

I'd like to see some of our younger players add 10 -15 pounds of muscle and increase both their upper and lower body strength; most notably -

Tim Hightower - He's got the hands, the vision and the wiggle. And it's not as if he goes down easily, but with another 15 pounds (without loss of quickness) and lower body strength, he'd become harder to bring down and add the dimension that Edge currently gives us.

Calais Campbell - He could become a beast with more bulk and strength.

Early Doucet - If he wants to be Boldin-2, he'll need to get stronger and tougher. (i.e. he's promising but got pushed around too much in his rookie year).

Steve Breaston - Remade his body in the offseason last year, and it translated to a 1,000+ year,. Can you imagine how good he could become if he got even bigger and stronger this offseason?

DRC - He's already a freak of nature physically, but a few more pounds of muscle would make him even more dominant and tougher forcing against the run and making solo tackles in the open field.

Most of those guys are rookies and the other has shown the work ethic that makes me not doubt his efforts.

As for the rookies, in the off season they were all training for the combine where they needed to be fast. DRC is a speed guy who needed to be elite, Campbell needed to show he had speed to go with his size, Doucet was trying to avoid a fall for being "slow", Hightower wasn't at the combine so I'll keep him out of the conversation as I didn't know much about him going into the draft.

Those guys all trained to run 40 yards, not to play football. I expect them to all have a more complete off season and be in more complete football shape next season..

Its gonna be a good year!

 

[DoTheDew]

I'd like to see some of our younger players add 10 -15 pounds of muscle and increase both their upper and lower body strength; most notably -

Tim Hightower - He's got the hands, the vision and the wiggle. And it's not as if he goes down easily, but with another 15 pounds (without loss of quickness) and lower body strength, he'd become harder to bring down and add the dimension that Edge currently gives us.

Calais Campbell - He could become a beast with more bulk and strength.

Early Doucet - If he wants to be Boldin-2, he'll need to get stronger and tougher. (i.e. he's promising but got pushed around too much in his rookie year).

Steve Breaston - Remade his body in the offseason last year, and it translated to a 1,000+ year,. Can you imagine how good he could become if he got even bigger and stronger this offseason?

DRC - He's already a freak of nature physically, but a few more pounds of muscle would make him even more dominant and tougher forcing against the run and making solo tackles in the open field.

I read that Lott actually had Hightower slim down this last off-season. IMO he needs to work on his agility and speed the most.

I'm not sure how much more muscle Breaston can put on before he starts losing his speed.

DRC would be sick with another 10 pounds of muscle.

 

[az jam]

Having Lott as the conditioning coach has had a significant positive impact on the team. Plus having Bidwill spend the bucks to build a new conditioning center per Lott's specs was equally important.

 

[CardLogic]

8. Gotta give Whisenhunt a raise and three year extension. This should actually be at the top of the list.

Why do so many of you make statements like this about Whisenhunt?

Yes, he has done a wonderful job with the Cardinals. However, his current contract runs for three more years. I see no issue at all with expecting Whisenhunt to operate under his current deal at least for another year. There is no need to consider his extension until the end of next season.

 

[joeshmo]

Suggs cannot be franchised. When he signed his tender last year it was put into that contract what there will be no franchising this year.

That was only a rumor and is not true. There was no such clause. The Ravens can franchise him again at a cost of over 10 mill.

 

[az jam]

IMO we are not going after Suggs. The money will be spent on Warner, Dansby and Boldin. Free agents will be for added depth. A blocking TE is a priority.

 

[chickenhead]

Wow being a sports fan is a bipolar experience. It's only WEDNESDAY and I am already totally excited about next year.

 

[az jam]

Wow being a sports fan is a bipolar experience. It's only WEDNESDAY and I am already totally excited about next year.

It beats the depression that I still have when I think about the game. So rather than stay in a downer start thinking about what we need to do to stay a playoff team and get back to the Super Bowl.

 

[Cards Czar]

Baltimore is $19m under the Cap as of Today.– CBs Samari Rolle & Chris McAlister counting for about a combined $17m cap. I bet that pay cuts or both hit the road. They have 3 of the top-6 defensive free agents on the 2009 market are Ravens: DE Terrell Suggs, LB Bart Scott, and LB Ray Lewis also their Starting Center Jason Brown is a RFA and he is a good center. They can’t keep all 3 of there UFA. Maybe only one or two. TE Todd Heap already took a pay cut once so they might just cut him. It would free up $3.6m.

 

[chickenhead]

It beats the depression that I still have when I think about the game. So rather than stay in a downer start thinking about what we need to do to stay a playoff team and get back to the Super Bowl.

Oh, I'm still down about the game. So close

But I'm sure a lot of the Cards can't wait to add a few pieces, get back out there and clinch home-field throughout the NFC playoffs. I don't see them letting down this year the way they did against Minnesota and New England.

 

[az jam]

Oh, I'm still down about the game. So close

But I'm sure a lot of the Cards can't wait to add a few pieces, get back out there and clinch home-field throughout the NFC playoffs. I don't see them letting down this year the way they did against Minnesota and New England.

That is really damn important. Having the championship game against the Eagles at home was huge. We are not a cold weather team and if we played in Philly or against the Giants in New York it certainly would have been tougher.

Plus Kurt got his way and had the roof closed.

 

[Jetstream Green]

I agree with you 100% az jam. that is exactly what I hope the Cardinals do