Cards looking into Seau..

[EndZone]

Cardinals | Looking Into Seau - posted at KFFL (http://nfl.kffl.com)
4:47 PT: The Arizona Republic reports the Arizona Cardinals have called the San Diego Chargers to inquire about LB Junior Seau, who was granted permission by the team to pursue a trade. “Why wouldn’t any team have interest in a player like that?” said Rod Graves, vice president for football operations. “We’re just doing our inquiries, trying to find out a little bit about what’s going on with him.” Graves emphasized that he has just made contact with the Chargers, and has not discussed trade possibilities with them at this point.


And have officially made an offer to Emmitt..

Cardinals | Offer Made To Smith - posted at KFFL (http://nfl.kffl.com)
4:44 PT: Updating previous reports, the Arizona Republic reports Arizona Cardinals vice president for football operations Rod Graves confirmed the team made a contract offer to free agent RB Emmitt Smith (Cowboys) Monday night. Graves would not comment on the specifics of the offer.

 

[Ed B]

This guy was an absolute shell of himself the last 2 seasons. You can make the "leadership" argument or whatever but unlike Emmitt Smith I don't think this guy can really play anymore.

 

[AZCB34]

Originally posted by Ed B
This guy was an absolute shell of himself the last 2 seasons. You can make the "leadership" argument or whatever but unlike Emmitt Smith I don't think this guy can really play anymore.

I think Seau may have a bit left in the tank but not as much as Emmitt does. Seau would be a good leader but my guess is, at this point, Seau's priority is going to be to try and get a ring knowing the end of his career is near. That would likely remove the Cards from any serious consideration....assuming he is cut and not traded.

If, I were the Cards, there is NO WAY I would trade for him at this point. I am not sure I would even give up a 6th or 7th rounder for him. I would prefer to roll the dice with a late round pick than Seau. He is a shell of the player he once was.

 

[ChiCard]

Seau is a waste of money. I've never bought into the "coach on the field" theory. Better a bad young guy who could improve, then a bad old one at the end of the road. Not worth any pick.

 

[football karma]

Fellas – take a look at all of the league’s 7th round picks from three years ago – the success rate is very, very low.

Seau may not be the player he once was, but he will be a whole lot better than any 7th round draft choice.

 

[EndZone]

I would rather give our 6th AND 7th for Marcus Robinson.

 

[Shane]

Originally posted by ChiCard
Seau is a waste of money. I've never bought into the "coach on the field" theory. Better a bad young guy who could improve, then a bad old one at the end of the road. Not worth any pick.

That describes Emmitt perfectly as well

 

[EndZone]

Originally posted by Shane H
That describes Emmitt perfectly as well

TOTALLY different. Before I even start I am in the don't want Emmitt camp but I know better than to say that! Emmitt had almost 1000 yards last year which is better than our Backs and he did it behind a terrible line. Seau on the other hand had 84 tackles last year while McKinnon had 108 and Thompson had 104.

 

[Shane]

Originally posted by EndZone
TOTALLY different. Before I even start I am in the don't want Emmitt camp but I know better than to say that! Emmitt had almost 1000 yards last year which is better than our Backs and he did it behind a terrible line. Seau on the other hand had 84 tackles last year while McKinnon had 108 and Thompson had 104.

Actually it isnt any differnet at all Seau only had 84 tackles because he miss a few games due to an injury or he certainly would have been over 100 tackles yet again.

Emmitt almost had 1000? Umm bro not to be a smart ass but "almost" 1000 over the course of the season is less that 62 yards a game. So thats not exactly stellar!

The guy was given the ball because of the record and still produced very mediocre stats. Even still after the record was broken the Cowboys wanted to give him less carries but didnt because Emmitt began to cry about it!

 

[AZCB34]

Originally posted by EndZone
I would rather give our 6th AND 7th for Marcus Robinson.

I agree. I was willing to give up a 4th rounder for Robinson so if they could use a 6th and 7th I would be ecstatic. He will finally be 100% healthy again and before he got hurt he was a Pro Bowl caliber WR. He would be an excellent, very solid player to get and would solve some of our burning WR issues.

 

[mizzoucardfan]

I have to disagree strongly with you Chicago guys about Junior. I watched him play several times last year and he was still a ferocious hitter. Is he still as good as he once was? No. But he is still better than the majority of the Middle Linebackers in the League. My opinion. I think that he is quite a bit better as a run defender than Mckinnon. He doesn't get back in pass defense like he once did, but in the middle as a run defender he is still a terror, and lays a lick on ball carriers that they can't wipe off. And this has been a weakness of Mckinnon's ever since he has been a starter. He makes a lot of tackles, but most are 5 to 8 yards down field. Put Junior in the middle, move McKinnon outside and we have strength up the middle, speed on the outside, and more quality depth at linebacker than I can remember the Cardinals ever having. JMO

 

[JeffGollin]

Man! Has Seau really lost it? Is he really that bad on the field, now?

I think Graves had it right. When someone has been that good and that dominating, it can't hurt to take a closer look. (It doesn't mean you gotta sign him - but you never know if there were extenuating circumstances - like a hidden injury that could get better).

Graves says he's going to talk to the Chargers (Major logical question: "Did you cut him because he flat out sucks? Or did you cut him because, despite having some gas left in the tank, he was overpriced?)

I don't mean to sound star struck, but - like Emmitt, Junior is a surefire first-shot Hall of Famer and you have to wonder whether some of that past quality could somehow be made to "rub off" on the other Cardinal players.

Another way to look at it is that there is practically no tradition of excellence handed down from the older players on the Cardinals to the newer players because the Cards have had so many of their top flight players fly the coop. If it doesn't cost us too much, what's wrong with replacing some of our "dear departed" with a couple of Hall of Famers?

 

[dlovin]

Agreed.

 

[BIGDADDY_REDBIRD]

Factor in the intensity, & passion he brings to a team. How could you guys not want a player of his caliber if the price is right????. Junior is past his prime but even now he's certainly an upgrade over all our MLB's. Although it may be premature, what happens with #55??? Ray Thompson makes that # look so Good. Kinda silly but he & Boston made our uni's look sweet..I for one, hope that somebody beats out McKinnon He appears to be always a step too late, & he does'nt fill holes like a true MLB should. Sure he makes alot of tackles, but they're always after a 5-6 yard gain. Also he's not physical at all!!!!!

 

[Tangodnzr]

Have any of you who are bashing McKinnon with your "yeah but all his tackles are 5-6 yds downfield" comments stopped to consider that possibly part of the reason for some of that might have something to do with the defensive line play?

Middle linebackers, especially, benefit from the D-line holding ground, tying up O-linemen, etc. and when they don't it affects the linebacker big time. Case in Point.....Brian Urlacher.

That and the fact that ALL of his tackles weren't that deep. I'm surprised McKinnon has held up as well as he had, considering the circumstances he's had to play under.

Cut the guy a little slack for chrissake!!! He's consistantly one of the leading tacklers in the league. He's been a warrior on this team, and one hell of a team player.

 

[mizzoucardfan]

You know Tango, I'm not attacking McKinnon, just making observations. I personally don't think that he has the instincts or size to be a middle linebacker. I think that to many times on runs in the middle of the line he chooses the wrong hole to fill causing him to have to make the tackle from behind after a significant gain. I like the guy, I just think that he is playing out of position. I think that he would be much more successful on the outside, where he can use his speed and more time to make decisions. On the other hand truly great middle linebackers seem to almost always choose the correct hole to fill. Call it instinct or whatever you want. But this is what I beleive seperates the really good Line Backers from the average. JMO

 

[SECTION 11]

Did I hear correctly per Kent Somers that Darling will be competing for the starting MLB job?

 

[JeffGollin]

Have any of you who are bashing McKinnon with your "yeah but all his tackles are 5-6 yds downfield" comments stopped to consider that possibly part of the reason for some of that might have something to do with the defensive line play?
Yes, I have. But it's only part of the problem. Other MLB's fill gaps and take on runners head on. McKinnon seldom does. What can I tell you?

 

[john h]

Originally posted by Shane H
Actually it isnt any differnet at all Seau only had 84 tackles because he miss a few games due to an injury or he certainly would have been over 100 tackles yet again.

Emmitt almost had 1000? Umm bro not to be a smart ass but "almost" 1000 over the course of the season is less that 62 yards a game. So thats not exactly stellar!

The guy was given the ball because of the record and still produced very mediocre stats. Even still after the record was broken the Cowboys wanted to give him less carries but didnt because Emmitt began to cry about it!

Trying to equate what any of these guys last year with what they might do with the Cards is an impossible task. How any player does is very much dependant on the players around him and the type of offense/defense being run. To rule a guy in or out by what he did last year is not a very effective measurement. Seau no woth a 7th round draft pick? that seem ludicrous if he can even crawl on the field.

 

[Tangodnzr]

I just did some checking, the stats I found only went back 3 years but show this:

Last year McKinnon was 9th in the NFC in tackles with 108. Urlacher led with 152.

2001: McKinnon led the NFC with 147 tackles, he was 3rd in the NFL behind Ray Lewis and I believe Zach Thomas.

2000: Again McKinnon led the NFC with 157 tackles and was 2nd in the NFL.

These are not the stats of a bum. McKinnon has given this team 5 solid years of consistancy. I don't think that should be belittled, and I don't think he is as much of a liability as some of you seem to insinuate.

There's a lot of things that need fixing on this team before replacing Ron McKinnon.

 

[stlouiecard]

And just think

Originally posted by Tangodnzr
I just did some checking, the stats I found only went back 3 years but show this:

Last year McKinnon was 9th in the NFC in tackles with 108. Urlacher led with 152.

2001: McKinnon led the NFC with 147 tackles, he was 3rd in the NFL behind Ray Lewis and I believe Zach Thomas.

2000: Again McKinnon led the NFC with 157 tackles and was 2nd in the NFL.

These are not the stats of a bum. McKinnon has given this team 5 solid years of consistancy. I don't think that should be belittled, and I don't think he is as much of a liability as some of you seem to insinuate.

There's a lot of things that need fixing on this team before replacing Ron McKinnon.

Urlacher coulda,woulda,shoulda been a Card, instead we have Thomas Jones???????? But, I agree, McKinnon has been a solid performer.

 

[WizardOfAz]

I still can't get the picture of junior as a Raider out of my mind.

 

[Northern Card]

Re: And just think

Originally posted by stlouiecard
Urlacher coulda,woulda,shoulda been a Card, instead we have Thomas Jones???????? But, I agree, McKinnon has been a solid performer.

Do you remember the arguments that draft year?

Overwhelmlingly people thought the CARDS made the right choice on the basis of need... at that point.

P.S. last year proved that URLACHER (like most MLB's) is no better than the quality of the play of his defensive line...