Cardinals Sign Safety Terrence Holt to Five Year Deal

[Jim O]

New Whisenhunt and Holt Quotes from D. Urban

Cards sign safety Holt
Darren Urban, Tribune
The Cardinals signed free-agent free safety Terrence Holt to a five-year contract Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We never thought we’d have an opportunity to get him so we feel fortunate,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said, noting the Cards had Holt as their top-rated free-agent safety.

Holt’s signing ends the Cards’ bid for Bengals’ free-agent safety Kevin Kaesviharn.

Holt, who played the first four years of his career with Detroit, will start alongside Pro Bowl strong safety Adrian Wilson, whom Holt played with in college at North Carolina State.

Holdover Aaron Francisco will receive playing time, however, and the Cards – like last season – will use three safeties at times on defense.

Both Whisenhunt and Holt said Wilson’s presence played a large role in bringing Holt to Arizona. Holt had his agent call the Cardinals at the start of free agency to gauge their interest.

“The chance to link up again and play with each other has always been at the back of each other’s minds,” Holt said from the plane prior to flying back to Detroit Thursday afternoon.

The 6-foot-2, 208-pound Holt is brothers with Rams wide receiver Torry Holt.

The signing is the second by the Cards in free agency, after bringing in center Al Johnson earlier this week.

Holt had eight interceptions in four seasons in Detroit, including three in 2006. He totaled 76 tackles last season.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Good signing. Some DET fans describe him as a slow CB that plays safety.

And with two big safties already that is what we need.

 

[D-Dogg]

[Holt, who played the first four years of his career with Detroit, will start alongside Pro Bowl strong safety Adrian Wilson, whom Holt played with in college at North Carolina State.

Ok. That's awesome.

 

[AZCB34]

There is life outside of football, perhaps that got in the way?

Short of something drastic, what could be more important than signing your next contract to keep food on the table and a roof over your head?

And why bring in your second favorite S first?

Listen, I am not going to argue the point anymore. I like the signing. Makes the team better.

I just fail to see how people cannot question the fact he was the Cards top guy when everything points to it not being the case. Coaches and GMs always say stuff like this even when all evidence shows it is not exactly the truth. Simple fact is, Whis never had to say anything like that...he did...and the evidence I have before me says something isn't right with it.

 

[WildBB]

“The chance to link up again and play with each other has always been at the back of each other’s minds,” Holt said from the plane prior to flying back to Detroit Thursday afternoon.[/B]

The 6-foot-2, 208-pound Holt is brothers with Rams wide receiver Torry Holt.

They should have good rapor and chemistry working together.

It'll be fun to see him matched up against Torry twice a yr. two. AND blow him up.

 

[Redsz]

Hate to rain on the parade but this guy comes from THE Detriot Lions and they apparently didn't want him back. The same Detriot Lions featuring the 28th rated 2006 NFL defense, which ranked dead last in pass completion percentage against at 66.3%.

Is this even an upgrade from Robert Griffin?

You're right, good players never play on bad teams...

The pass defense rank has nothing to do with the scheme, the pass rush or the other players on defense, just one player, the FS...

 

[arthurracoon]

I'm sorry to see Holt leave Detroit. He was always one of my favorite players. The kids got game. The big knock on him is his pedestrian speed. But the kid is one of those types thats always around the ball, if there was a big play going down Holt was usually in the middle of it. He's been starting in the DET backfield since he was drafted, and year in and year out they try to replace him but come opening day he's a starter again. Last year the Lions drafted FS Bullocks in the second round and it wasn't till the end of the year until Holt was finally bucked out of the FS position and they often he replaced the SS because he had better range. An added bonus the kid can block kicks, he's the all time leader in blocks at NC state and had several big knock downs for the Liedowns, err Lions. I'll miss Holt.....you will like him.

good signing

 

[Redsz]

This is a solid signing. The fact that he played with A Dub is an added bonus.

 

[Stout]

I dig it. Okay, two good signings thus far, but his contract will probably gobble up far too much cap space due to lousy contract structure.

So, if we somehow manage to acquire a starting LT by trade, if we can upgrade OL depth, if we can get a TE, and if we can get an OLB, then we can consider this FA period a success.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I dig it. Okay, two good signings thus far, but his contract will probably gobble up far too much cap space due to lousy contract structure.

So, if we somehow manage to acquire a starting LT by trade, if we can upgrade OL depth, if we can get a TE, and if we can get an OLB, then we can consider this FA period a success.

I don't think anyone will be happy if these are the only two guys we end up signing. 2 is a far cry from 4-8 freeagent signings.

What some people seem to forget is that Free Agency lasts much longer than 3 days. It's actually more like 3 months. We need to wait until FA is over before we can truely judge the sucess of the FA period.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

"When we did our free-agency ratings we had him rated as the best safety," head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We never thought we had an opportunity to get him, so we feel very fortunate we got this deal worked out.

"To have an opportunity to get him is something we feel very good about. He's a proven starter in the league so you know you're getting quality from that standpoint. The thing I like about him is that he's big and physical. He fits in to the mentality we want to establish."

http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1587

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Terrence Holt

ESPN had this to say about him:

Expert's Take:

Holt plays safety more like a quarterback, getting the defense lined up properly and communicating adjustments according to the offensive formation and alignment.

Holt brings very good football savvy and awareness to the position and is a good on-field leader with strong recognition skills. He is an athletic safety with decent size and quickness yet is forced to make up for his lack of top-end speed with preparation and anticipation.

Holt does a good job of reading the quarterback in zone coverage yet must be careful not to take too many chances, because he lacks the make-up speed to stop a big play when he guesses wrong.

In Detroit's base Tampa Cover 2 scheme, Holt is very solid, but he can become a liability if asked to play too much man coverage. Holt is only adequate in man-to-man and cannot match up against speed receivers down the field.

He has decent size but is not very physical. Holt will play run support yet misses too many tackles in the open field and all too often grabs ballcarriers rather than tackling them. Holt must improve the run support and tackling portions of his game.

Holt is not very physical, and he has missed playing time due to injuries ranging from back problems to an elbow injury that sent him to the IR in 2005.

Holt is a smart player with solid ball skills who has the potential to improve, but playing with toughness is not a trait that can be coached.

 

[az1965]

"When we did our free-agency ratings we had him rated as the best safety," head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We never thought we had an opportunity to get him, so we feel very fortunate we got this deal worked out.

"To have an opportunity to get him is something we feel very good about. He's a proven starter in the league so you know you're getting quality from that standpoint. The thing I like about him is that he's big and physical. He fits in to the mentality we want to establish."

 

[football karma]

I just fail to see how people cannot question the fact he was the Cards top guy when everything points to it not being the case. Coaches and GMs always say stuff like this even when all evidence shows it is not exactly the truth. Simple fact is, Whis never had to say anything like that...he did...and the evidence I have before me says something isn't right with it.

I wonder how many other of their "first" choices havent visited yet--

That crafty Rod Graves -- bring in the second choices FIRST, then when nobody suspects it -- bring in the first choices.

 

[football karma]

Huh--

Wis says he is physical

ESPN says he is wimpy

I will go with Wis

 

[TheCardFan]

Who is it that is happy being miserable?

I don't know...

I was just checking to see if I was on your "ignore" list!

 

[crisper57]

Holt's Contract Numbers (Somers Blog)

Join the Republic's Arizona Cardinals and NFL beat reporter, Kent Somers, as he reports from the NFL Scouting Combine.​

Reach Somers at [email protected].



Holt's contract numbers
03/08/2007 04:47 PM

You must be registered for see images attach

Here are some preliminary figures on Holt's contract. It's a five-year deal worth around $15 million. He'll receive roster bonuses of about $4 million, split between this year and next year.
I don't have yearly salaries but I know the first year is probably more than the subsequent years.
A safe guess would be $3 million in the first year and then $2 million in each of the other four.
That would make his first-year cap number about $5 million. Again, that's just an educated guess. If and when I get the real numbers, I'll pass them on.

Leave a comment • Permalink

 

[Mitch]

Join the Republic's Arizona Cardinals and NFL beat reporter, Kent Somers, as he reports from the NFL Scouting Combine.​

Reach Somers at [email protected].



Holt's contract numbers
03/08/2007 04:47 PM

You must be registered for see images attach

Here are some preliminary figures on Holt's contract. It's a five-year deal worth around $15 million. He'll receive roster bonuses of about $4 million, split between this year and next year.
I don't have yearly salaries but I know the first year is probably more than the subsequent years.
A safe guess would be $3 million in the first year and then $2 million in each of the other four.
That would make his first-year cap number about $5 million. Again, that's just an educated guess. If and when I get the real numbers, I'll pass them on.

Leave a comment • Permalink

If this is the case...the Cardinals now have $6M left under the cap...with a $5M plus rookie draft signing pool to consider...and still no OT, no SLB, no CB, no PR...????

 

[arthurracoon]

.

your sig is hilarious

 

[General Chaos]

My thoughts if anyone cares.....

First of all I do like Francisco as a project/ ST guy, however he is a much better hitter than coverage guy. Holt may not be exciting but he is a smart disciplined coverage FS. IMO he is exactly what we needed.

I really hope we sign one more corner to compete with Rolle and Green. Last year we couldn't cover anybody and we need some help in the secondary.

Hamlin is more of a SS than FS. Plus he is a questionable character guy.

 

[Mitch]

My thoughts if anyone cares.....

First of all I do like Francisco as a project/ ST guy, however he is a much better hitter than coverage guy. Holt may not be exciting but he is a smart disciplined coverage FS. IMO he is exactly what we needed.

I really hope we sign one more corner to compete with Rolle and Green. Last year we couldn't cover anybody and we need some help in the secondary.

Hamlin is more of a SS than FS. Plus he is a questionable character guy.

I care about your thoughts, General...you have been a good contributor for quite some time.

 

[TheCardFan]

your sig is hilarious

Courtesy of the Burton Report...

 

[perivolaki]

Short of something drastic, what could be more important than signing your next contract to keep food on the table and a roof over your head?

The truth is that these players don't think like you and I do. If you remember Marcel Shipp, one of our own free agents, had to delay his signing because he was on vacation in the Bahamas or something like that. You would think that a marginal guy like Marcel would be chomping at the bit to resign but he didn't seem to be in any hurry. These guys live in a whole other world from the rest of us so it wouldn't surprise me at all to see any number of reasons why he didn't come in on the first day of free agency.

 

[ajcardfan]

The truth is that these players don't think like you and I do. If you remember Marcel Shipp, one of our own free agents, had to delay his signing because he was on vacation in the Bahamas or something like that. You would think that a marginal guy like Marcel would be chomping at the bit to resign but he didn't seem to be in any hurry. These guys live in a whole other world from the rest of us so it wouldn't surprise me at all to see any number of reasons why he didn't come in on the first day of free agency.

He was actually at his sister's wedding in Mexico. They faxed the deal down to him and he signed it there.

 

[Mulli]

He was actually at his sister's wedding in Mexico. They faxed the deal down to him and he signed it there.

Geez, why would the Cards still want anything to do with him if he can't convince his sister to not get married during free agency?