Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
1. No offers for Q. Still curious about the rather ambiguous remark Rod Graves made at this week's press conference when he said that just because the Cardinals haven't gotten a concrete offer, "I don't know if that is any indication how the rest of the league feels about Anquan."
Curious too that Graves and Whisenhunt chose to divulge that no offers had been made for Q. Why not keep all teams guessing? Wouldn't that increase the Cardinals' chances of creating a bidding war among teams if those teams were thinking they would have to outbid the competition?
What all of this suggests to me is that the Cardinals have no intention of trading Boldin, and never have. What they aimed to accomplish is to show Q that his contract demands are too lofty, seeing as no other team wants to pay him $9-10M a year.
I personally think this a bogus way to go about business.
Rod Graves KNOWS what the rest of the league feels about Boldin. He would start on every team in the league. What teams don't want to do on the eve of the draft is surrender a first and third round draft picks and then have to negotiate a $36-40M contract with Drew Rosenhaus. The Cardinals don't want to negotiate a $36-40M contract with Rosenhaus and they don't have to give up any draft picks.
The Cardinals SAY they want to re-sign Boldin...but come on. The smoke from all the smokescreens sent Boldin's way has blown away, and it's still Rod Graves behind the curtain, pressing the delay of game buttons once again, and proclaiming, "when there's a window..."
What this latest debacle proves is that the Cardinals want to get what they have always wanted: Q to play out his current contract.
Only Q has made this tough, hasn't he?
Raise your hand if you honestly believe that because there have been no "concrete offers" for Boldin that this is going to make him look at his situation with the Cardinals any differently? Please.
This will only exacerbate his indignance for and distrust of the Cardinals' management...because in Q's mind the front office created this mess in the first place by promising him a new contract two years ago.
Sure, many will say that Q will be the good teammate and the good soldier on the field...that he will be hungry to increase his market value for his next contract.
The ONLY resolution I can see, other than a trade, is that the Cardinals compensate Boldin asap by finding a way to re-sign him to a new deal or by finding a way to restructure his current deal so that he gets paid $3M more for each of the next two years. That way at least Boldin can feel as if he is making coser to what he deserves. Both Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald have offered to restructure their deals to get Q signed to a new deal...maybe those gestures--if followed through--would galvanize this team.
Right now the disparity of what he is making and what he is worth is too egregious.
I would be surprised if Boldin is traded at this point. Reading the fans' reactions of the message boards in Philly, Baltimore, New York and Tennessee, pretty much all of the fans LOVE Q, but they don't love the prohibitive cost of high draft picks and a $9-10M/year price tag. This is the reality.
And as I said before, one would think any team that would give up high draft picks to trade for Boldin would have to have their medical staff put him through an extensive physical in order to allay any doubts about Q's previous injuries, particularly the hip injury he suffered two years ago.
The problem now will be the daily media coverage that will ensue until some sort of a resolution is made. This is already a 350 pound gorilla who is gobbling down bananas at a frenzied rate...
While I object to the way Q has handled this situation and feel as if he has been poorly advised by Rodenhaus, I do feel some sympathy for him right now. In a symbolic way, this latest maneuver by the Cardinals is leaving Q about as vulnerable and suspended in mid-air the way he was in the far end zone at the Meadowlands. Only this time it appears as if a pass isn't even heading his way, and he is going to have to absorb another devastating blow.
2. The Cardinals' front office deserves a great deal of credit for the depth they have assembled on the football team. However, ate there still questions as to their ability to understand the ways in which to build a championship caliber football team? I know that must sound strange to ask following the Cardinals' first ever Super Bowl appearance...but...the reality is the chips fell auspiciously in the Cardinals' favor last season when as the #4 seed in the NFC (despite the worst record of any of the NFC playoff teams) they were able to host two of their three NFC playoff games, including the NFC Championship. All of this happenening was a minor miracle, especially with how poorly the team played on defense throughout the year. Let's be honest: what kind of chance would the Cardinals have had if the NFC Chapmionship game was on the frozen turf of the Meadowlands?
What the Cardinals were able to do is ride the hot gloved hand of one of the best and most prolific playoff QBs in the history of the NFL...and ride the shirtails of the most focused, talented and determined WR since Jerry Rice.
In the aftermath of all of this, and with much at stake, the Cardinals' front office has been spinning its wheels and treading water...they nearly screwed up the most important off-season transaction in the effort to re-sign Kurt Warner...they have not solved the Dansby, Boldin or Wilson contract situations...they failed to land a high profile defensive coordinator, electing instead to do the easy thing by promoting an existing member of the staff (who quite frankly didn't do a stellar job as LB coach, as his LBers [Okeafor-Hayes-Dansby-LaBoy] played extremely inconsistently the entire season) and while they made one great move by signing UFA CB Bryant McFadden, they failed to address the team's most pressing need: the lack of a pass rush...which for all intents and purposes cost them severa of the seven regular season losses and ultimately a Super Bowl ring.
The front office elected to re-sign Bertrand Berry and Clark Haggans and basically keep the status quo...and while both Berry and Haggans add strong value as veterans, both have had injury problems at these late stages in their career and neither one of them is a reliable pass rushing threat when asked to rush the passer on a series of consecutive pass plays. What the Cardinals really need are some fresh younger legs, and now that prospect all hinges on this draft, a draft in which Kent Somers, the Cardinals' beat writer for the Arizona Republic, has the Cardinals taking a RB in round one....because of another lingering front office issue: the prolonged captivity of RB Edgerrin James.
In addition, for as long as Rod Graves has been the GM or has had anything to do with the Cardinals' personnel, there has been no attempt at all to acquire a FS (either through free agency or the draft) who can actually provide deep help for the CBs. In fact, under Graves' watch, typically the slowest player in the secondary has been the FS. It's therefore no coincidence that the Cardinals' pass defense year after year has been a glaring weakness. If your CBs can't be aggressive, how good can a pass defense be?
Fortunately, the Cardinals drafted DRC last year, and his addition is a great start. But even he needs a FS to have his back...see the NFC Championship game and the TD bomb to DeSean Jackson. And see the last drive of the Super Bowl...think a good FS could have altered the outcome?
And the addition of Bryant McFadden is another great move...but McFadden loves to jump routes and to do that he needs a FS with speed and range behind him.
Clearly, Antrel Rolle made strides in run support as a FS last year, but in pass protection his strength is playing the intermediate zones. He is not a centerfielder and lacks the speed and range to give the CBs the help they need.
So...heading into this draft is it reasonable to assume the Cardinals can draft two pass rushers who can improve the pass rush immediately? And can the Cardinals finally add a FS with speed and range?
Based on these priorities, I think it may be best for the team to keep RB Edgerrin James (or commit to a trio of Hightower, Wright and a second day draft pick) and focus this draft on revitalizing and fortifying the defense.
Let's see how the draft goes...here's my updated 1st Round Mock:
1. DET: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia.
2. STL: Jason Smith, T, Baylor.
3. WAS(from KC): Mark Sanchez, QB, USC.
4. SEA: Eugene Monroe, T, Virginia.
5. CLE: Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest.
6. CIN: Andre Smith, T, Alabama.
7. OAK: Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech.
8. PHI(from JAX): Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia.
9. GB: B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College.
10. SF: Michael Oher, T, Mississippi.
11. BUF: Aaron Maybin, DE/OLB, Penn. St.
12. DEN: Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU.
13. KC: Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri.
14. NO: Malcolm Jenkins, DB, Ohio St.
15. HOU: Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi.
16. SD: Chris Wells, RB, Ohio St.
17. NYJ: Everette Brown, DE/OLB, Florida St.
18. DEN: Larry English, DE/OLB, Northern Illinois.
19. TB: Evander "Ziggy" Hood, DT, Missouri.
20. DET: Rey Maulauga, LB, USC.
21. JAX: Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina.
22. MIN: Percy Harvin, WR, Florida.
23. NE: Robert Ayers, DE/OLB, Tennessee.
24. ATL: Clay Matthews, LB, USC.
25. MIA: Brian Cushing, LB, USC.
26. BAL: Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma St.
27. IND: Darrius Heywood-Bey, WR, Maryland.
28. BUF: Phil Loadholt, T, Oklahoma.
29. NYG: Donald Brown, RB, Connecticut.
30. TEN: Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers.
31. ARI: ??? As you know, I like Connor Barwin, DE/OLB, Cincinnati (what is your choice here?).
32. PIT: Jarron Gilbert, DE, San Jose St.
__________________________________________________________
33. DET: Clint Sintim, LB, Virginia.
34. NE: Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest.
35. STL: James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio St.
36. CLE: Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois.
37. SEA: Eben Britton, T, Arizona.
38. CIN: Alex Mack, C, California.
39. JAX: Louis Murphy, WR, Florida.
40. OAK: Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech.
41. GB: William Beatty, T, Connecticut.
42. BUF: Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Mississippi.
43. SF: Louis Delmas, FS, Western Michigan.
44. MIA: Ron Brace, NT, Boston College.
45. NYG: T.J. Lang, T, Eastern Michigan.
46. HOU: Derek Pegues, S, Mississippi St..
47. NE: Sean Smith, CB, Utah.
48. DEN: Darry Beckwith, LB, LSU.
49. CHI: Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma.
50. TB: Shonn Greene, RB, Iowa.
51. DAL: William Moore, S, Missouri.
52. NYJ: Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas St.
53. PHI: Jared Cook, TE, South Carolina.
54. MIN: Jason Watkins, T, Florida.
55. ATL: Sherrod Martin, FS, Troy.
56. MIA: Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina.
57. BAL: Dannell Ellerby, LB, Georgia.
58. NE: Paul Kruger, LB, Utah.
59. CAR: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt.
60. NYG: Coye Francies, CB, San Jose St.
61. IND: Fili Moala, DT, USC.
62. TEN: Asher Allen, CB, Georgia.
63. ARI: ??? Your choice???
___________________________________________________________
So, if these are the secarios my preferences would be:
1. Connor Barwin, OLB/TE, Cincinnati. Fastest edge player in this draft. Has a great feel for the position and is extraordinarily versatile.
2. Max Unger, C/G, Oregon. Rugged, intense player who galvanizes an offensive line.
3. Jason Williams, OLB, Western Illinois. Speedy and sudden...forced 14 tackles in his career at WIU.
4. Jason Phillips, ILB, TCU. Productive inside tackler with 4.6 speed.
5. Bernard Scott, RB, Abilene Christian. Check this kid out on youtube...he's a mini Hightower with cat quick feet, good bounce and slippery moves.
6. Brandon Underwood, FS, Cincinnati. has the speed and playmaking instincts to be the nickel and dime FS the Cardinals need.
7. Travis McCall, FB, Alabama. A 6-1, 276 pound blocking load.
7. Johnny Williams, OLB, Kentucky. Another pass rusher with room to grow and upside.
Add your own...and we'll see if any of us gets a pick right. last year was the first time the Cardinals drafted the player I wanted in the first round: DRC!
The year before I wanted FS LaRon Landry of LSU over Levi and Adrian (was really torn about his frequesnt injuries and am shocked he's been good for two straight years).
The year before that I wanted QB Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt. Almost on that one...and would have happened if Matt Leinart has been taken earlier as most predicted.
Curious too that Graves and Whisenhunt chose to divulge that no offers had been made for Q. Why not keep all teams guessing? Wouldn't that increase the Cardinals' chances of creating a bidding war among teams if those teams were thinking they would have to outbid the competition?
What all of this suggests to me is that the Cardinals have no intention of trading Boldin, and never have. What they aimed to accomplish is to show Q that his contract demands are too lofty, seeing as no other team wants to pay him $9-10M a year.
I personally think this a bogus way to go about business.
Rod Graves KNOWS what the rest of the league feels about Boldin. He would start on every team in the league. What teams don't want to do on the eve of the draft is surrender a first and third round draft picks and then have to negotiate a $36-40M contract with Drew Rosenhaus. The Cardinals don't want to negotiate a $36-40M contract with Rosenhaus and they don't have to give up any draft picks.
The Cardinals SAY they want to re-sign Boldin...but come on. The smoke from all the smokescreens sent Boldin's way has blown away, and it's still Rod Graves behind the curtain, pressing the delay of game buttons once again, and proclaiming, "when there's a window..."
What this latest debacle proves is that the Cardinals want to get what they have always wanted: Q to play out his current contract.
Only Q has made this tough, hasn't he?
Raise your hand if you honestly believe that because there have been no "concrete offers" for Boldin that this is going to make him look at his situation with the Cardinals any differently? Please.
This will only exacerbate his indignance for and distrust of the Cardinals' management...because in Q's mind the front office created this mess in the first place by promising him a new contract two years ago.
Sure, many will say that Q will be the good teammate and the good soldier on the field...that he will be hungry to increase his market value for his next contract.
The ONLY resolution I can see, other than a trade, is that the Cardinals compensate Boldin asap by finding a way to re-sign him to a new deal or by finding a way to restructure his current deal so that he gets paid $3M more for each of the next two years. That way at least Boldin can feel as if he is making coser to what he deserves. Both Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald have offered to restructure their deals to get Q signed to a new deal...maybe those gestures--if followed through--would galvanize this team.
Right now the disparity of what he is making and what he is worth is too egregious.
I would be surprised if Boldin is traded at this point. Reading the fans' reactions of the message boards in Philly, Baltimore, New York and Tennessee, pretty much all of the fans LOVE Q, but they don't love the prohibitive cost of high draft picks and a $9-10M/year price tag. This is the reality.
And as I said before, one would think any team that would give up high draft picks to trade for Boldin would have to have their medical staff put him through an extensive physical in order to allay any doubts about Q's previous injuries, particularly the hip injury he suffered two years ago.
The problem now will be the daily media coverage that will ensue until some sort of a resolution is made. This is already a 350 pound gorilla who is gobbling down bananas at a frenzied rate...
While I object to the way Q has handled this situation and feel as if he has been poorly advised by Rodenhaus, I do feel some sympathy for him right now. In a symbolic way, this latest maneuver by the Cardinals is leaving Q about as vulnerable and suspended in mid-air the way he was in the far end zone at the Meadowlands. Only this time it appears as if a pass isn't even heading his way, and he is going to have to absorb another devastating blow.
2. The Cardinals' front office deserves a great deal of credit for the depth they have assembled on the football team. However, ate there still questions as to their ability to understand the ways in which to build a championship caliber football team? I know that must sound strange to ask following the Cardinals' first ever Super Bowl appearance...but...the reality is the chips fell auspiciously in the Cardinals' favor last season when as the #4 seed in the NFC (despite the worst record of any of the NFC playoff teams) they were able to host two of their three NFC playoff games, including the NFC Championship. All of this happenening was a minor miracle, especially with how poorly the team played on defense throughout the year. Let's be honest: what kind of chance would the Cardinals have had if the NFC Chapmionship game was on the frozen turf of the Meadowlands?
What the Cardinals were able to do is ride the hot gloved hand of one of the best and most prolific playoff QBs in the history of the NFL...and ride the shirtails of the most focused, talented and determined WR since Jerry Rice.
In the aftermath of all of this, and with much at stake, the Cardinals' front office has been spinning its wheels and treading water...they nearly screwed up the most important off-season transaction in the effort to re-sign Kurt Warner...they have not solved the Dansby, Boldin or Wilson contract situations...they failed to land a high profile defensive coordinator, electing instead to do the easy thing by promoting an existing member of the staff (who quite frankly didn't do a stellar job as LB coach, as his LBers [Okeafor-Hayes-Dansby-LaBoy] played extremely inconsistently the entire season) and while they made one great move by signing UFA CB Bryant McFadden, they failed to address the team's most pressing need: the lack of a pass rush...which for all intents and purposes cost them severa of the seven regular season losses and ultimately a Super Bowl ring.
The front office elected to re-sign Bertrand Berry and Clark Haggans and basically keep the status quo...and while both Berry and Haggans add strong value as veterans, both have had injury problems at these late stages in their career and neither one of them is a reliable pass rushing threat when asked to rush the passer on a series of consecutive pass plays. What the Cardinals really need are some fresh younger legs, and now that prospect all hinges on this draft, a draft in which Kent Somers, the Cardinals' beat writer for the Arizona Republic, has the Cardinals taking a RB in round one....because of another lingering front office issue: the prolonged captivity of RB Edgerrin James.
In addition, for as long as Rod Graves has been the GM or has had anything to do with the Cardinals' personnel, there has been no attempt at all to acquire a FS (either through free agency or the draft) who can actually provide deep help for the CBs. In fact, under Graves' watch, typically the slowest player in the secondary has been the FS. It's therefore no coincidence that the Cardinals' pass defense year after year has been a glaring weakness. If your CBs can't be aggressive, how good can a pass defense be?
Fortunately, the Cardinals drafted DRC last year, and his addition is a great start. But even he needs a FS to have his back...see the NFC Championship game and the TD bomb to DeSean Jackson. And see the last drive of the Super Bowl...think a good FS could have altered the outcome?
And the addition of Bryant McFadden is another great move...but McFadden loves to jump routes and to do that he needs a FS with speed and range behind him.
Clearly, Antrel Rolle made strides in run support as a FS last year, but in pass protection his strength is playing the intermediate zones. He is not a centerfielder and lacks the speed and range to give the CBs the help they need.
So...heading into this draft is it reasonable to assume the Cardinals can draft two pass rushers who can improve the pass rush immediately? And can the Cardinals finally add a FS with speed and range?
Based on these priorities, I think it may be best for the team to keep RB Edgerrin James (or commit to a trio of Hightower, Wright and a second day draft pick) and focus this draft on revitalizing and fortifying the defense.
Let's see how the draft goes...here's my updated 1st Round Mock:
1. DET: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia.
2. STL: Jason Smith, T, Baylor.
3. WAS(from KC): Mark Sanchez, QB, USC.
4. SEA: Eugene Monroe, T, Virginia.
5. CLE: Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest.
6. CIN: Andre Smith, T, Alabama.
7. OAK: Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech.
8. PHI(from JAX): Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia.
9. GB: B.J. Raji, DT, Boston College.
10. SF: Michael Oher, T, Mississippi.
11. BUF: Aaron Maybin, DE/OLB, Penn. St.
12. DEN: Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU.
13. KC: Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri.
14. NO: Malcolm Jenkins, DB, Ohio St.
15. HOU: Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi.
16. SD: Chris Wells, RB, Ohio St.
17. NYJ: Everette Brown, DE/OLB, Florida St.
18. DEN: Larry English, DE/OLB, Northern Illinois.
19. TB: Evander "Ziggy" Hood, DT, Missouri.
20. DET: Rey Maulauga, LB, USC.
21. JAX: Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina.
22. MIN: Percy Harvin, WR, Florida.
23. NE: Robert Ayers, DE/OLB, Tennessee.
24. ATL: Clay Matthews, LB, USC.
25. MIA: Brian Cushing, LB, USC.
26. BAL: Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma St.
27. IND: Darrius Heywood-Bey, WR, Maryland.
28. BUF: Phil Loadholt, T, Oklahoma.
29. NYG: Donald Brown, RB, Connecticut.
30. TEN: Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers.
31. ARI: ??? As you know, I like Connor Barwin, DE/OLB, Cincinnati (what is your choice here?).
32. PIT: Jarron Gilbert, DE, San Jose St.
__________________________________________________________
33. DET: Clint Sintim, LB, Virginia.
34. NE: Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest.
35. STL: James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio St.
36. CLE: Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois.
37. SEA: Eben Britton, T, Arizona.
38. CIN: Alex Mack, C, California.
39. JAX: Louis Murphy, WR, Florida.
40. OAK: Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech.
41. GB: William Beatty, T, Connecticut.
42. BUF: Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Mississippi.
43. SF: Louis Delmas, FS, Western Michigan.
44. MIA: Ron Brace, NT, Boston College.
45. NYG: T.J. Lang, T, Eastern Michigan.
46. HOU: Derek Pegues, S, Mississippi St..
47. NE: Sean Smith, CB, Utah.
48. DEN: Darry Beckwith, LB, LSU.
49. CHI: Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma.
50. TB: Shonn Greene, RB, Iowa.
51. DAL: William Moore, S, Missouri.
52. NYJ: Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas St.
53. PHI: Jared Cook, TE, South Carolina.
54. MIN: Jason Watkins, T, Florida.
55. ATL: Sherrod Martin, FS, Troy.
56. MIA: Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina.
57. BAL: Dannell Ellerby, LB, Georgia.
58. NE: Paul Kruger, LB, Utah.
59. CAR: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt.
60. NYG: Coye Francies, CB, San Jose St.
61. IND: Fili Moala, DT, USC.
62. TEN: Asher Allen, CB, Georgia.
63. ARI: ??? Your choice???
___________________________________________________________
So, if these are the secarios my preferences would be:
1. Connor Barwin, OLB/TE, Cincinnati. Fastest edge player in this draft. Has a great feel for the position and is extraordinarily versatile.
2. Max Unger, C/G, Oregon. Rugged, intense player who galvanizes an offensive line.
3. Jason Williams, OLB, Western Illinois. Speedy and sudden...forced 14 tackles in his career at WIU.
4. Jason Phillips, ILB, TCU. Productive inside tackler with 4.6 speed.
5. Bernard Scott, RB, Abilene Christian. Check this kid out on youtube...he's a mini Hightower with cat quick feet, good bounce and slippery moves.
6. Brandon Underwood, FS, Cincinnati. has the speed and playmaking instincts to be the nickel and dime FS the Cardinals need.
7. Travis McCall, FB, Alabama. A 6-1, 276 pound blocking load.
7. Johnny Williams, OLB, Kentucky. Another pass rusher with room to grow and upside.
Add your own...and we'll see if any of us gets a pick right. last year was the first time the Cardinals drafted the player I wanted in the first round: DRC!
The year before I wanted FS LaRon Landry of LSU over Levi and Adrian (was really torn about his frequesnt injuries and am shocked he's been good for two straight years).
The year before that I wanted QB Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt. Almost on that one...and would have happened if Matt Leinart has been taken earlier as most predicted.
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