Day 3 of FA Thoughts

[GatorAZ]

I agree with you, masterphomeg. But, they still have $20M in cap space this year and after 3 days of FA, most of the best UFAs are already signed. One would think that LF's and CP's last hurrah would make the Cardinals act with a little more urgency and direction.

This offseason has a future "outlook" to it. No big money deals, gaining comp picks (five top-100 picks next year?) and hopefully a 1st rd QB. This team has holes beyond next year at QB-WR-OL-LB-S-CB

Let the Jags try to build their team thru FA.

 

[RINGLESS]

Re: Marcus Cooper

His contract is reportedly worth 3 years and 16 million. We traded a 7th round pick, got a decent return, and may be getting a 5th round pick back based off last years comp pick figures. Although, I think the Bears over-paid at that price

 

[Yuma]

Good TEs in the draft. Probably pick one up there I am thinking. Plus, guys get cut out of training camp, too. Always can get blocking TEs. Hard to find speedy big pass catchers.

 

[Dan H]

I just don't get that we are into BASK's 4th season and we still have a cap issue? Cap should have been cleared already.

Palmer, Fitz, Chandler Jones, PP21, and Veldheer all have >10M cap hits. Palmer/Fitz are 40M combined. Iupati comes within a hair at 9.7M.

When you have that much money tied up in guys like that you have to save money somewhere.

 

[Jetstream Green]

It's a wonder why Bennett can't seem to find a home. No knock on his talents and he turned a season in N-E sans Gronk into a lucrative deal. Good on him. But, I'm more than happy with the Cards' commitment to a younger Gresham.

Living in Cowboy country, I remember Bennet's tenure with them and the word often used by Cowboy fans was that he sucks and he did with Dallas. The Cowboy games are always on and you cannot help but watch some content of them and the guy did suck, he would drop passes and miss blocks or rather block badly when given the responsibility. He obviously became a different player it seems when he left, but the reason is simple why at least Dallas jetsam him

 

[JeffGollin]

Good get BW52 - I'm guessing McDowell and Charlton may be high up on the Cardinal wish list.

 

[JeffGollin]

I agree with you, masterphomeg. But, they still have $20M in cap space this year and after 3 days of FA, most of the best UFAs are already signed. One would think that LF's and CP's last hurrah would make the Cardinals act with a little more urgency and direction.

1. I think we continued to be tight cap-wise because SK spent more than usual last year because he felt we were "this close" to reaching and winning the Super Bowl.

2. Creating the $20-mil worth of cap space suggests that SK might resume restocking his roster

 

[Krangodnzr]

Yeah... FA has been confusing to say the least.

Not to insult your intelligence, but it is obvious what the Cardinals are doing.

Smart teams bring in roster cuts, make trades, and let high priced FAs walk, while getting compensatory picks.

That's the model the Cardinals are moving to.

 

[PJ1]

.....last year's team gave up plays at the wrong time, and those three were on the field when it happened, not sure what you are getting at.

Not to mention you are complaining that the Cardinals do not sign anyone, and then complaining the Cardinals re-signed too many players in the same sentence. That is a catch-22, you are going to be unhappy regardless if you are thinking that way.

Firstly, I stated I don't know the entire plan and none of us do.

Simply, if we had issues on D last year and lost 3 of our top performers on D aren't we going to be worse? Please enlighten me as to how we are better on D or even just as good.

Never complained we re-signed too many people. Just stating if the reason we aren't signing anyone is the cap, who put us in this situation? Just one example, Swearinger could have been signed as I see it.

 

[RINGLESS]

The reality is is that this off-season we will get worse because Keim made some mistakes. Who has 20-22 FA's with expiring contracts during 1 off-season? That in itself is going to create a nightmare. Keim could have extended some of these guys earlier.

We also over-paid for Palmer. He has what the second highest cap hit in the league? Does Palmer deserve that? No.

Everyone always wants to "restructure" but that creates problems. You rob Peter to pay Paul. Look at the Cowboys, or look at what the Saints went through. Next year we have to pay a retired Fitz 4.5m for that very reason.

Why don't the Seahawks have a ton of FA's? Or the Pats? The reason is they issue out better contracts, and manage the cap better than we do. Results speak for themselves.

It's piss poor cap management when you have 20-22 expiring contracts in one off-season. We were all in last year, not this year. This year we will not be a Super Bowl team. Fan's believe every year is the year! It's great to have hope. But the reality is we got older, slower, and more than likely will have a drop off in talent.

 

[PJ1]

The reality is is that this off-season we will get worse because Keim made some mistakes. Who has 20-22 FA's with expiring contracts during 1 off-season? That in itself is going to create a nightmare. Keim could have extended some of these guys earlier.

We also over-paid for Palmer. He has what the second highest cap hit in the league? Does Palmer deserve that? No.

Everyone always wants to "restructure" but that creates problems. You rob Peter to pay Paul. Look at the Cowboys, or look at what the Saints went through. Next year we have to pay a retired Fitz 4.5m for that very reason.

Why don't the Seahawks have a ton of FA's? Or the Pats? The reason is they issue out better contracts, and manage the cap better than we do. Results speak for themselves.

It's piss poor cap management when you have 20-22 expiring contracts in one off-season. We were all in last year, not this year. This year we will not be a Super Bowl team. Fan's believe every year is the year! It's great to have hope. But the reality is we got older, slower, and more than likely will have a drop off in talent.

Agreed. Which is why I wouldn't have freaked if Fitz and Palmer didn't return. I believe the window has closed for this team.

 

[cardpa]

SK inherited cap hell when he took over for the snail. Now 4 years later and the cap doesn't seem to be much better than it was 4 years ago. Could it be SK isn't much better than the snail at managing the cap? The Palmer contract is crippling and he gave a kings ransom to a jack of all trades DB who is constantly spending time on the DL. 40+% of the cap tied up in 4-5 players is way too much money invested and not enough production for the money spent. I would expect pro bowl production from all of those players at the wages they are being paid.

 

[Chopper0080]

The Cardinals are fine. Facts are that we weren't going to sign a player as talented as Calais Campbell or Tony Jefferson. Someone made a very good post that we gave up a 7th for Cooper and may get a 6th or 5th back.

Personally, I don't get the hand wringing thus far. We lost a CB and a S in a year with a heavy CB and S draft class. We have had the rotation of players to replace Campbell. We added two vets to hold the middle together. And on the offense, we lost a middling OG, a drunk at WR, and maybe a RB, but there are a ton of RBs available.

Just not many holes right now.

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[Dan H]

SK inherited cap hell when he took over for the snail. Now 4 years later and the cap doesn't seem to be much better than it was 4 years ago. Could it be SK isn't much better than the snail at managing the cap? The Palmer contract is crippling and he gave a kings ransom to a jack of all trades DB who is constantly spending time on the DL. 40+% of the cap tied up in 4-5 players is way too much money invested and not enough production for the money spent. I would expect pro bowl production from all of those players at the wages they are being paid.

Badger only has like a 8.1M cap hit. He's 7th on the team; the guys at 1-6 take up almost half the salary cap.

 

[Chopper0080]

Realistically, overspending on vets and other teams free agents are why we are in this position. Palmer, Fitz, Veldheer and Iupati are all older players given big money or outside FAs who we had to bid for. Doesn't mean they were bad moves, just that they come with a cost. You can make an argument that we aren't repeating these choices which highlights the direction the franchise wants to go..

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[PJ1]

Realistically, overspending on vets and other teams free agents are why we are in this position. Palmer, Fitz, Veldheer and Iupati are all older players given big money or outside FAs who we had to bid for. Doesn't mean they were bad moves, just that they come with a cost. You can make an argument that we aren't repeating these choices which highlights the direction the franchise wants to go..

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The Cardinals are fine. Facts are that we weren't going to sign a player as talented as Calais Campbell or Tony Jefferson. Someone made a very good post that we gave up a 7th for Cooper and may get a 6th or 5th back.

Personally, I don't get the hand wringing thus far. We lost a CB and a S in a year with a heavy CB and S draft class. We have had the rotation of players to replace Campbell. We added two vets to hold the middle together. And on the offense, we lost a middling OG, a drunk at WR, and maybe a RB, but there are a ton of RBs available.

Just not many holes right now.

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We have nothing proven to replace Campbell. We did not replace Jefferson or Swearinger and going the rookie route at CB is fine but typically development time is needed at this position. That is ok but we won't be challenging for anything.

 

[cardpa]

I'm looking at the remaining FAs available and here is who I believe the Cardinals should be looking at.
Sam Shields - CB
Gerald Hodges - ILB
Leodis McKelvin - CB
Matt McGloin - QB (dump Stanton)
Victor Cruz - WR
Jarious Byrd - CB
Jared Odrick - DE
Kamar Aiken - WR

I think some of these players could fill roles and/or depth to the roster. McGloin is probably better than Stanton and younger and I would trust him more to deliver than Stanton in the event Palmer went down. Any of these CBs are better than who started opposite PP last year. Aiken had a near 1000 yd. year in 2015, no reason he couldn't produce near those numbers again.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I'm looking at the remaining FAs available and here is who I believe the Cardinals should be looking at.
Sam Shields - CB
Gerald Hodges - ILB
Leodis McKelvin - CB
Matt McGloin - QB (dump Stanton)
Victor Cruz - WR
Jarious Byrd - CB
Jared Odrick - DE
Kamar Aiken - WR

I think some of these players could fill roles and/or depth to the roster. McGloin is probably better than Stanton and younger and I would trust him more to deliver than Stanton in the event Palmer went down. Any of these CBs are better than who started opposite PP last year. Aiken had a near 1000 yd. year in 2015, no reason he couldn't produce near those numbers again.

Most of those guys will still be available after the draft.

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[RugbyMuffin]

A couple of quesion:

Rugby - No mention of SS?

Did Calais create a tailored role on our Front 3 (i.e. Tall sub-300 lb presence)? The closest guy to that on our roster is Mauro. Is there anyone we could draft who fits that profile? If so, do you think we might target him?

Between Mathieu, Bethea, Bucanon, Branch there is a guy who will "play the free safety position". All those players have and can play at the line of scrimmage.

There is not a natural Strong Safety in the group, tho. That is why I would rather see Bucanon back at safety.

When it comes to Calias Campbell he is not going to be replaced, at least not by one person. Robert Nkemdiche was drafted for a reason, he will be expected to produce. That is the plan anyway. Then there is a slew of defensive linemen that the Cardinals kept throughout 2016 regardless if they had to make a hard decision at other positions.

I do not think the Cardinals are going to draft a defensive lineman this year either.

I think the first three rounds of the draft will consists of [QB,WR,ILB,CB,S], that is if they either resign Alex Okafor or if they lose Okafor sign a veteran pass rusher.

 

[Chopper0080]

We have nothing proven to replace Campbell. We did not replace Jefferson or Swearinger and going the rookie route at CB is fine but typically development time is needed at this position. That is ok but we won't be challenging for anything.

How many teams have something proven to replace a 30 year old pro bowler? We have a 2nd year player who was a 1st rounder and needs to step up, and a rotation of guys. It i sabout as good as you can ask for.

At S, we have Mathieu who is our better version of Tony Jefferson. So, we lost a backup. Swearinger was replaced by Bethea who is a more disciplined older player. Not the thumper that Swearinger was but more reliable. At CB, we have two developmental players to replace the guy we acquired for a 7th rounder and would not play close at the line.

We aren't far from where we were last year, and you could argue that we got hit pretty big by the injury bug and lady luck last year. If Palmer plays better, we will contend. If he doesn't, it wouldn't have mattered if we had Campbell anyway.

 

[PJ1]

How many teams have something proven to replace a 30 year old pro bowler? We have a 2nd year player who was a 1st rounder and needs to step up, and a rotation of guys. It i sabout as good as you can ask for.

At S, we have Mathieu who is our better version of Tony Jefferson. So, we lost a backup. Swearinger was replaced by Bethea who is a more disciplined older player. Not the thumper that Swearinger was but more reliable. At CB, we have two developmental players to replace the guy we acquired for a 7th rounder and would not play close at the line.

We aren't far from where we were last year, and you could argue that we got hit pretty big by the injury bug and lady luck last year. If Palmer plays better, we will contend. If he doesn't, it wouldn't have mattered if we had Campbell anyway.

You can minimize the loss of Jefferson and Swearinger all you want....We haven't replaced them in my opinion....Losing Campbell in addition to this makes us a much less effective D...Now if the unproven pick up the slack you may be correct....Not betting on it though....

 

[NeverSayDieFan]

I am beyond disgusted with the Patriots. Do they excel? ABSOLUTELY! But, I honestly believe that a tremendous anti-patriot ground-swell is forming within the ranks of fans everywhere. ...And I believe we're looking at the NFL version of a shell-game. When fans of the other 31 teams realize they can't win because New England is standing in the way every time...People are suddenly going to question whether it's worth it to spend so much time, energy, and $$ on something that just isn't going to be. We ALL want one thing...a CHAMPIONSHIP! How man times has New England in recent years played in one? I don't honestly know but I know it's a heckuv' a lot!

I luv' watching football and I'd NEVER turn in my Cardinal "wings" BUT...I'm also a realist. Do any of us honestly see us beating a team of New England's caliber anytime soon?

Mark in SC

 

[Krangodnzr]

You can minimize the loss of Jefferson and Swearinger all you want....We haven't replaced them in my opinion....Losing Campbell in addition to this makes us a much less effective D...Now if the unproven pick up the slack you may be correct....Not betting on it though....

Would you rather the Cardinals losing David Johnson in the future? Matching those contracts would pit this team in cap hell.

Who replaces Jefferson? A healthy Tyrann Matthieu, who was nearly a defensive player of the year in 2015.

Who replaces Campbell? A rotation of solid young DL. Fans seem to forget that for a good chunk of last season, Campbell was invisible. He came strong once the Cardinals were virtually eliminated from playoff contention.

 

[daves]

they over-spent on Jermaine Gresham at $6M a year

Just a reminder - according to Bob McManaman, Gresham was offered close to $6M/year last year, but stayed with the Cardinals for less. I haven't seen the details of Gresham's contract this year, but $6M doesn't seem entirely out of line.

So instead of signing a four-year deal worth $23 million – including $12 million in guaranteed money – the veteran tight end returned to the Cardinals, happily settling for a one-year contract worth $3.5 million with just $1 million in guaranteed pay.

Why?

“Overall happiness and a chance to win,” Gresham said during the Cardinals’ mandatory minicamp, which wrapped up early on Wednesday.

...dbs

 

[daves]

40+% of the cap tied up in 4-5 players is way too much money invested and not enough production for the money spent. I would expect pro bowl production from all of those players at the wages they are being paid.

All of the Cardinals' top 8 players against the salary cap went to the Pro Bowl in 2015, with the exception of Veldheer who played at a "near Pro-Bowl" level. In 2016 many of them regressed, but coming into the year their salaries were pretty reasonable.

...dbs