Cardinals Cut William Gay and Stewart Bradley

[kerouac9]

Good to see that our streak of immediate buyer's remorse on free agents stands and is extended another year.

 

[WildBB]

Thank goodness. Now get Toler inked.

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

I feel a lawsuit coming. Is it a coincidence that the first guy cut happens to be the only Gay player on the team.

 

[Duckjake]

Good to see that our streak of immediate buyer's remorse on free agents stands and is extended another year.

I guess this means that Keenan Lewis will soon be a Cardinal. Or is it every other year the Cards bring in a free agent corner from Pittsburgh?

 

[binkar]

Good to see that our streak of immediate buyer's remorse on free agents stands and is extended another year.

So true. If the contracts were structured to save us any cap room, I assume we'd see Snyder and/or Colledge released too. King was pretty bad both blocking and receiving last year too. This team has been a disaster in free agency.

Like Keim said, it can be a trap.

 

[MadCardDisease]

No shock here with these cuts. Easy way to free up cap space.

Bradley was worthless and needed to go.

Gay was expendable and freed up a bunch of cash. CB has become one of the deepest positions in FA this year and we should have no problem finding a replacement.

Those were easy. Now the real hard decisions are left as to who stays and who goes.

 

[Chopper0080]

So true. If the contracts were structured to save us any cap room, I assume we'd see Snyder and/or Colledge released too. King was pretty bad both blocking and receiving last year too. This team has been a disaster in free agency.

Like Keim said, it can be a trap.

Or just requires common sense and the ability to walk away once you are past your number.

 

[JeffGollin]

Liked the Gay move, but the number of remaining Card corners who are UFA's is troubling. Hopefully, some preliminary negotiations (& maybe agreements) have been made with a couple of those corners.

I hope we get Toler back to start opposite PP21. Also I'm guessing the Cards hope to fill Gay's skill set with Jammal Fleming.

Too bad about Bradley. I always felt he had more to contribute than we got out of him.

Mathematicaly, our defense is better than our offense, yet we decided to help our cap situation by shaving dollars off the defensive roster. If we want to repair the offense and maintain cap-balance between offense and defense, I'd expect that our next moves will be to pare the offense cap budget - Doucet and one of the RB's (Beanie, Ryan W or LSH). Too bad we can't take a whack at our OL, but we might want to see what we do in the draft or free agency before zeroing in on our interior line.

 

[JeffGollin]

Stew and Gay saves 7 mill towards the cap. We were 1.2 over it yesterday.

We are currently 5.8 mill under the cap.

Does that include money set aside for the rookie pool? Or will that $3-4 million have to come out of the new $5.8 Million surplus?

 

[RugbyMuffin]

No shock here with these cuts. Easy way to free up cap space.

Bradley was worthless and needed to go.

Gay was expendable and freed up a bunch of cash. CB has become one of the deepest positions in FA this year and we should have no problem finding a replacement.

Those were easy. Now the real hard decisions are left as to who stays and who goes.

Cutting Early Doucet is a hard decision ?

 

[Lagerfilled]

My understanding is our rookie pool will be ~6MM. Which means any surplus we have currently is already spoken for. If we want to sign any FAs including our own, we need to clear significantly more cap space. Easy peezy:

- extend Rhodes
- restructure Fitz
- cut Kolb
- cut Doucet
- cut Wilson

 

[joeshmo]

Does that include money set aside for the rookie pool? Or will that $3-4 million have to come out of the new $5.8 Million surplus?

I wouldn't worry about the rookie pool. First its still months away before those guys are even signed. Second most of those guys wont even have a salary high enough to be included in the top 51 salaries (only the top 51 gets count towards the cap up to the last cut downs).

 

[gmabel830]

Thanks for the memory Stewart!

 

[kerouac9]

My understanding is our rookie pool will be ~6MM. Which means any surplus we have currently is already spoken for. If we want to sign any FAs including our own, we need to clear significantly more cap space. Easy peezy:

- extend Rhodes
- restructure Fitz
- cut Kolb
- cut Doucet
- cut Wilson

Fitz's salary is only $5M in 2013, but his cap number for 2014-2017 is greater than $18M each year. Re-structuring Fitz would be a pretty profoundly terrible idea.

Extending Rhodes sounds easier than it could be. You're going to have to pay him $7M this season to get him to sign, and then commit to him for an additional 3 years at--say--$4M per year. You can structure it to fit, but it's going to be a challenge in a very short time frame.

 

[GuernseyCard]

Fitz's salary is only $5M in 2013, but his cap number for 2014-2017 is greater than $18M each year. Re-structuring Fitz would be a pretty profoundly terrible idea.

Extending Rhodes sounds easier than it could be. You're going to have to pay him $7M this season to get him to sign, and then commit to him for an additional 3 years at--say--$4M per year. You can structure it to fit, but it's going to be a challenge in a very short time frame.

Do you think he can get a 4 year 19M package on the open market?

 

[kerouac9]

Do you think he can get a 4 year 19M package on the open market?

I don't know, but I bet he'd get more than $6M this year. He'd probably be the top safety on the market:

http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/freeagents/fa.php?option=DB&y=2013

Maybe Patrick Chung, but I think I'd rather have Rhodes. I think if you gave Rhodes a 4 year, $19M package and guaranteed the first two years, he'd have to think about it.

 

[seesred]

I hope we don't lose a great player by letting him walk. Adrian has always been a Cardinals . He will one day be in the circle. He is now a very low budget player as of his last deal. He belongs here to help train as a player coach and retire a Cardinal next year.

GBR
40

 

[Dayman]

Excellent news.

Bradley finishes his two year Cardinal career with 42 tackles and no other stats. When you factor in his horrible contract, he could be one of the worst Cards' FA busts in recent memory. The 2011 offseason looks worse by the day.

Gay isn't very good, but he also didn't cause us much grief. I'll probably forget he was ever on the team in a couple years.

 

[52brandon]

-I love Rhodes. IMO, he's our most underrated player. I hope we can extend him

-I also really like Toler. He was starting to look good opposite DRC, then got hurt before getting his shot with PP. Horton IMO made a bad choice going with Gay over Toler early in the season, but Toler may have still been having trouble rehabbing or something that I don't know about

-Cutting AW is a step backwards in our franchise's credibility to fans IMO. It goes back to the no loyalty, cheap-ass same old cards approach. This guy gave everything to this organization. He's got gas left in the tank too. Do something so he can retire here, where he belongs

-Beanie is the trickiest for me. I don't know what terms he and the FO are on. Would he be a distraction? Can we keep him healthy? The kid can run. But all the injuries aren't a good sign for longevity

-Kolb. The most important contract to deal with. I still believe he CAN be a franchise QB if we keep him upright. So with better blocking, and a run game, and maybe in some strange miracle the team learning to run a screen, he still has that potential to lead this team. BUT, from what he actually has produced, and what he's been paid, he should play 2013 for free. He doesn't stay at current numbers

-Colledge. I really like the guy. He seems great for the team. But he hasn't exactly been a stellar performer every week. Would love to see him re-work his contract so we can keep him and we can try to acquire more pieces to build a winner

-Doucet can go

 

[MWOOD92]

-I love Rhodes. IMO, he's our most underrated player. I hope we can extend him

-I also really like Toler. He was starting to look good opposite DRC, then got hurt before getting his shot with PP. Horton IMO made a bad choice going with Gay over Toler early in the season, but Toler may have still been having trouble rehabbing or something that I don't know about

-Cutting AW is a step backwards in our franchise's credibility to fans IMO. It goes back to the no loyalty, cheap-ass same old cards approach. This guy gave everything to this organization. He's got gas left in the tank too. Do something so he can retire here, where he belongs

-Beanie is the trickiest for me. I don't know what terms he and the FO are on. Would he be a distraction? Can we keep him healthy? The kid can run. But all the injuries aren't a good sign for longevity

-Kolb. The most important contract to deal with. I still believe he CAN be a franchise QB if we keep him upright. So with better blocking, and a run game, and maybe in some strange miracle the team learning to run a screen, he still has that potential to lead this team. BUT, from what he actually has produced, and what he's been paid, he should play 2013 for free. He doesn't stay at current numbers

-Colledge. I really like the guy. He seems great for the team. But he hasn't exactly been a stellar performer every week. Would love to see him re-work his contract so we can keep him and we can try to acquire more pieces to build a winner

-Doucet can go

The best franchises do this all the time. Look at the Ravens with Ed Reed and the Packers with Charles Woodson. I would hate seeing AW go, but it's a business.

 

[joeshmo]

The best franchises do this all the time. Look at the Ravens with Ed Reed and the Packers with Charles Woodson. I would hate seeing AW go, but it's a business.

Or Hines Ward being Cut by Pitt, Eagles not making an effort to re-sign Brian Dawkins, the list is long. So to say it would be a step backwards, or same old cheap Cards is straight up nonsensical.

 

[JeffGollin]

Or Hines Ward being Cut by Pitt, Eagles not making an effort to re-sign Brian Dawkins, the list is long. So to say it would be a step backwards, or same old cheap Cards is straight up nonsensical.

Each of these moves have (or at least should have) a "Page 2."

Specifically, who, if anyone, is waiting in the wings to step up and replace the dude who gets cut?

Not feeling confident that we have someone ready to replace a released player or, if not NFL-ready, having someone who can grow into the position is just as worrisome as losing the player in the first place.

 

[52brandon]

The best franchises do this all the time. Look at the Ravens with Ed Reed and the Packers with Charles Woodson. I would hate seeing AW go, but it's a business.

Ed Reed:Ravens is not Adrian Wilson:Cardinals. Ray Lewis is who is the comparison. Reed is a phenomenal player, but didn't have the impact on the entire organization off-field as well, like AW/RL

 

[TJ]

Ed Reed:Ravens is not Adrian Wilson:Cardinals. Ray Lewis is who is the comparison. Reed is a phenomenal player, but didn't have the impact on the entire organization off-field as well, like AW/RL

I love AW, but he's far from being the franchise player you assert him to be; and the Ray Lewis comparison is a bit ridiculous. He's talented and has been a good person to have around, but he is also getting long in the tooth, watching his skills diminish (particularly in coverage), and has an unfriendly cap number that, IMO, is not commensurate with his on-field production.

Sometimes, to get better as a team, you have to make difficult decisions and take emotion out of the process. The decision to keep him around is one of those.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I love AW, but he's far from being the franchise player you assert him to be; and the Ray Lewis comparison is a bit ridiculous.

agreed. the Reed:Ravens Wilson:Cardinals is pretty much spot on. If anyone's our Ray Lewis it's Fitz. Not AW.