Great Interview with Kenyan Drake On NBC Sports About What Clicked In Arizona

[Timm Rosenbach]

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Bring the man back

 

[sr7706]

Backup running back entire time at Alabama, wore #17 a WR#, returned a kick in the national championship for a TD, The most he rushed for in a single season was 694 yards as a back up his sophomore year. Gets drafted by a crappy dolphins organization, gets traded for a 6th round pick, Rushes for 643 yards in 8 games, finished 4th is the NFL in YPC 5.2. Becomes a starting running back in the NFL...

 

[Solar7]

Backup running back entire time at Alabama, wore #17 a WR#, returned a kick in the national championship for a TD, The most he rushed for in a single season was 694 yards as a back up his sophomore year. Gets drafted by a crappy dolphins organization, gets traded for a 6th round pick, Rushes for 643 yards in 8 games, finished 4th is the NFL in YPC 5.2. Becomes a starting running back in the NFL...

I'm not sure if you're supporting him or not, haha.

The more I hear from this guy, the more I think he won't be here (and I've been vocal in saying I don't want him). I think he just wants to get paid, and that's that.

 

[sr7706]

I'm not sure if you're supporting him or not, haha.

The more I hear from this guy, the more I think he won't be here (and I've been vocal in saying I don't want him). I think he just wants to get paid, and that's that.

Oh no doubt I want the organization to sign him, but we have DJ 16.2 mil on the books that we have to get rid of also, I am assuming we will have to eat a chunk of that salary even if we trade him. Keim Time....

 

[slanidrac16]

Oh no doubt I want the organization to sign him, but we have DJ 16.2 mil on the books that we have to get rid of also, I am assuming we will have to eat a chunk of that salary even if we trade him. Keim Time....

Isn’t DJ 10 m if he’s on the team and 16 m if he is cut?

 

[Jetstream Green]

I would rather sign him, rather than not sign him and still have to pay DJ adding injury to insult... meaning, I hope we draft Dobbins from Ohio St. lol

 

[Krangodnzr]

I'm not sure if you're supporting him or not, haha.

The more I hear from this guy, the more I think he won't be here (and I've been vocal in saying I don't want him). I think he just wants to get paid, and that's that.

The more I think about it, the more I just want to draft a young guy...

 

[jmt]

The more I think about it, the more I just want to draft a young guy...

Me too.

 

[BigRedRage]

The more I think about it, the more I just want to draft a young guy...

I have to defer to coach on this one. Is he wants a lot of money and they think they can plug in many talented runners and get results, why not?

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[Cardsfaninlouky]

The more I think about it, the more I just want to draft a young guy...

It makes sense financially yes, drafting a young one that is. But will he be as productive as Drake was this yr? Was Drake just performing to get paid & will turn into DJ 2.0 next season? Decisions to be made for sure. Dobbins I would be fine with drafting if we could, he will be gone if we draft by need with our first 2 picks. If Drake asks for 6 million, that would be my best offer if I were the GM? Anything above that, I would let him walk. If we can somehow trade DJ & get the biggest portion of his contract off the books (Big if) then I would pay Drake a little more. Maybe 8 million? 20 million for 2 RB's is way too steep, especially considering we still have Edmonds on a rookie deal.

 

[cardpa]

The part of the interview I liked best was when he talked about helping to save the environment. I applaud him for that. As for resigning him, if Keim doesn't back the truck up to his door he is as good as gone if another team gives him a very good offer. If Keim decides to do that then there will be roughly 10% of the cap devoted to the RB position between DJ and Drake.

 

[slanidrac16]

The thing I’m having a hard time dealing with is this. I love the Drake. I want him back.

I keep seeing we can’t afford him with DJ on the books. However, we are not going to be able to fill all our needs this year. So do we let a commodity like Drake walk away knowing that DJ will be off the books next year? Does signing a 2nd tier F/A for 5m be worth more than retaining Drake?

He sparks this offense. Don’t get me wrong. There is a point of no return as far as what we should pay him. He’s not going to get Bell, Elliot, or DJ money. Nobody will pay him that because that ship has sailed for RB’s in today’s game. But to let him walk because of the mistake we made with DJ. is nuts. He’s 26 years old with hardly any wear on his tires.

Also, many here say let him walk and draft a rb in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round. By doing that you are using a pick that could have been used on another hole on this team. On top of that I think we HAVE to draft a rb in one of those rounds even if Drakes stays and especially if DJ is traded.

Do what we can within reason to retain Drake. But don’t let 1 or 2m a year be the reason.

 

[Ronin]

I want him back but I don’t want to back up the brinks for him. Does he even want a huge contract? Who knows!

 

[cardpa]

The thing I’m having a hard time dealing with is this. I love the Drake. I want him back.

I keep seeing we can’t afford him with DJ on the books. However, we are not going to be able to fill all our needs this year. So do we let a commodity like Drake walk away knowing that DJ will be off the books next year? Does signing a 2nd tier F/A for 5m be worth more than retaining Drake?

He sparks this offense. Don’t get me wrong. There is a point of no return as far as what we should pay him. He’s not going to get Bell, Elliot, or DJ money. Nobody will pay him that because that ship has sailed for RB’s in today’s game. But to let him walk because of the mistake we made with DJ. is nuts. He’s 26 years old with hardly any wear on his tires.

Also, many here say let him walk and draft a rb in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round. By doing that you are using a pick that could have been used on another hole on this team. On top of that I think we HAVE to draft a rb in one of those rounds even if Drakes stays and especially if DJ is traded.

Do what we can within reason to retain Drake. But don’t let 1 or 2m a year be the reason.

I just don't see any team willing to take on DJ's contract especially when you take into consideration he has been pretty much pedestrian the last two years. He has a Elliott, McCaffery type contract without the production. By type I mean the total cost of the contract. Outside of a miracle, I think the team is stuck with him for at least one more year unless they decide to release him. I'm not sure even if the team decides to rework his contract you would still find a taker.

 

[Solar7]

The thing I’m having a hard time dealing with is this. I love the Drake. I want him back.

I keep seeing we can’t afford him with DJ on the books. However, we are not going to be able to fill all our needs this year. So do we let a commodity like Drake walk away knowing that DJ will be off the books next year? Does signing a 2nd tier F/A for 5m be worth more than retaining Drake?

He sparks this offense. Don’t get me wrong. There is a point of no return as far as what we should pay him. He’s not going to get Bell, Elliot, or DJ money. Nobody will pay him that because that ship has sailed for RB’s in today’s game. But to let him walk because of the mistake we made with DJ. is nuts. He’s 26 years old with hardly any wear on his tires.

Also, many here say let him walk and draft a rb in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round. By doing that you are using a pick that could have been used on another hole on this team. On top of that I think we HAVE to draft a rb in one of those rounds even if Drakes stays and especially if DJ is traded.

Do what we can within reason to retain Drake. But don’t let 1 or 2m a year be the reason.

A couple of points here...

"we are not going to be able to fill all our needs this year" - I don't think this is true. We might not fill some of these positions with elite, top-end talent, but simple enough, I think Keim is smart enough to fill roster spots. We're not just going to not sign any more DEs OLBs or ILBs and play some kind of weird defense where we don't use those positions. But even if you have resigned yourself to thinking we're not going to fill all of our needs... then why pay Drake? It's already a lost year, so why not just run DJ and Edmonds?

"He sparks this offense." - Another one I don't get. So he had three games with a hundred yards and one with four TDs, but for five other games, he was barely a factor. In the 4 TD game, I feel like any of our three RBs could have run in those TDs. They weren't exactly dynamic TDs throughout, they were well blocked. But Chase Edmonds had a 3 TD day with over 100 yards himself. Of course I'm appreciative of those three good days, but the bigger picture does not show me a back that consistently dominated. If you're telling me I'm paying big bucks for a guy who is going to show out less than 50% of the time, I'm not into it.

"Also, many here say let him walk and draft a rb in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round. By doing that you are using a pick that could have been used on another hole on this team." - I'm not necessarily advocating using a 2nd round pick on an RB unless someone simply amazing has slipped, but when you get to the third or fourth rounds, the odds of finding an RB that can contribute in a committee are a lot better than finding a plug-and-play starter to fix one of our defensive holes. And recent history has shown these guys do slip.

 

[az jam]

He wants to get paid and will go to the team that is highest bidder. I don't think it will be the Cardinals. The DJ contract has really hurt the Cards at RB.

 

[Krangodnzr]

My thoughts:

While David Johnson isnt hitting the edge as hard as Drake, nor cutting with the same determination, he is still a significantly better receiver than Drake.

I'm also not convinced that Edmonds couldn't produce similar rushing numbers. Drake is a better receiver, but Edmonds is close as a runner.

Drake is very much coming off as someone who will jump even for $500k more. A 2nd round or later RB will cost significantly less than the $7 million Drake might get. Drake should be appealing to RB needy teams because he clearly demonstrated his capabilities down the stretch and he doesnt have the wear and tear of the other FA backs.

 

[slanidrac16]

A couple of points here...

"we are not going to be able to fill all our needs this year" - I don't think this is true. We might not fill some of these positions with elite, top-end talent, but simple enough, I think Keim is smart enough to fill roster spots. We're not just going to not sign any more DEs OLBs or ILBs and play some kind of weird defense where we don't use those positions. But even if you have resigned yourself to thinking we're not going to fill all of our needs... then why pay Drake? It's already a lost year, so why not just run DJ and Edmonds?

"He sparks this offense." - Another one I don't get. So he had three games with a hundred yards and one with four TDs, but for five other games, he was barely a factor. In the 4 TD game, I feel like any of our three RBs could have run in those TDs. They weren't exactly dynamic TDs throughout, they were well blocked. But Chase Edmonds had a 3 TD day with over 100 yards himself. Of course I'm appreciative of those three good days, but the bigger picture does not show me a back that consistently dominated. If you're telling me I'm paying big bucks for a guy who is going to show out less than 50% of the time, I'm not into it.

"Also, many here say let him walk and draft a rb in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round. By doing that you are using a pick that could have been used on another hole on this team." - I'm not necessarily advocating using a 2nd round pick on an RB unless someone simply amazing has slipped, but when you get to the third or fourth rounds, the odds of finding an RB that can contribute in a committee are a lot better than finding a plug-and-play starter to fix one of our defensive holes. And recent history has shown these guys do slip.

Here’s where you and I differ and I’ve mentioned it before. Even Derrick Henry has “ poor” games. I have moved on from DJ. I love Edmonds but he is not an every down 20 carries a game back. When he was given the chance he broke down.

Drake has proven to be reliable, tough yards after the contact runner. He can catch the ball and is fast. And he is only 26 years old with low milage. Several players have mentioned this and I think the o-line loves him.

Letting him go creates yet another hole that DJ is never going to fill. Rolling the dice on a draft pick to fill the newly created RB hole is a gamble I just don’t want to take. If your thinking of replacing Drake with a free agent like Breida or whoever is still going to cost money along with hoping he can pick up the system and stay healthy.

In addition to retaining Drake I would still draft a rb especially if DJ is dealt. It has become a league of a 3 man running back corp. I can live with DJ being part of that but there is no way in the world that I want him as my #1 featured back.

When I say we won’t fill all the holes this year of course we will man a roster but not with everyone we would desire. So why create a hole on offense HOPING to find Drakes replacement when the answer is right here in front of us. No guess work involved.

We cannot take a step backwards on offense. Right now it is the personality of this team and it will have to step up even more in 2020 if we are going to improve.

You are basing your views because you are convinced Drake is going to break the bank. 1. Maybe he test the market and will find the Cards are willing to pay that value. 2. If we deal DJ ( or redo his contract) then 1or 2m more than you think he’s worth wouldn’t matter. 3. Maybe, just maybe he really wants to be here.

Again, if some team is crazy enough to offer him 10-12 m a year then forget about him and move on. I believe the Cards will make him more than a fair offer. He won’t accept it until he finds out what his market value is. Bottom line is I want him.

 

[Solar7]

Here’s where you and I differ and I’ve mentioned it before. Even Derrick Henry has “ poor” games. I have moved on from DJ. I love Edmonds but he is not an every down 20 carries a game back. When he was given the chance he broke down.

Drake has proven to be reliable, tough yards after the contact runner. He can catch the ball and is fast. And he is only 26 years old with low milage. Several players have mentioned this and I think the o-line loves him.

Letting him go creates yet another hole that DJ is never going to fill. Rolling the dice on a draft pick to fill the newly created RB hole is a gamble I just don’t want to take. If your thinking of replacing Drake with a free agent like Breida or whoever is still going to cost money along with hoping he can pick up the system and stay healthy.

In addition to retaining Drake I would still draft a rb especially if DJ is dealt. It has become a league of a 3 man running back corp. I can live with DJ being part of that but there is no way in the world that I want him as my #1 featured back.

When I say we won’t fill all the holes this year of course we will man a roster but not with everyone we would desire. So why create a hole on offense HOPING to find Drakes replacement when the answer is right here in front of us. No guess work involved.

We cannot take a step backwards on offense. Right now it is the personality of this team and it will have to step up even more in 2020 if we are going to improve.

You are basing your views because you are convinced Drake is going to break the bank. 1. Maybe he test the market and will find the Cards are willing to pay that value. 2. If we deal DJ ( or redo his contract) then 1or 2m more than you think he’s worth wouldn’t matter. 3. Maybe, just maybe he really wants to be here.

Again, if some team is crazy enough to offer him 10-12 m a year then forget about him and move on. I believe the Cards will make him more than a fair offer. He won’t accept it until he finds out what his market value is. Bottom line is I want him.

I'm on my phone and would love to address a lot of things, but let me say this: I am basing my views on thinking Drake isn't very good. I wouldn't sign the dude for one or two million.

 

[slanidrac16]

I'm on my phone and would love to address a lot of things, but let me say this: I am basing my views on thinking Drake isn't very good. I wouldn't sign the dude for one or two million.

Okay. Well then we really differ and can end this debate.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I'm on my phone and would love to address a lot of things, but let me say this: I am basing my views on thinking Drake isn't very good. I wouldn't sign the dude for one or two million.

Wow.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Signing Drake to a big contract would be a terrible move. I'm not against re-signing him but at a reasonable base and put incentives in it to make him earn the big money. RB's are a dime a dozen, with Drake being a prime example along with Motsert form SF. They spent decent to big money the last 2 years on RB's, yet a guy cut numerous times is the one they're riding to the SB.

Like I said in an earlier post, every RB that has gotten the big money deals in the past few year has seen their production dip. Some significantly like DJ.

 

[JeffGollin]

When comparing RBs, the one with the more consistent production gets extra Brownie points (because you don't have to wonder whether he'll deliver better results/you know he will).

Unless DJ has a back story we're not aware of, I'd try keep Drake and consider DJ a quality "depth guy" because, with our luck, the day after we'd cut DJ, Kenyan will get injured

 

[BigRedRage]

He does mention it's about scheme and fit, not only money.

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[slanidrac16]

I just don't see any team willing to take on DJ's contract especially when you take into consideration he has been pretty much pedestrian the last two years. He has a Elliott, McCaffery type contract without the production. By type I mean the total cost of the contract. Outside of a miracle, I think the team is stuck with him for at least one more year unless they decide to release him. I'm not sure even if the team decides to rework his contract you would still find a taker.

No doubt trading DJ will take some ingenuity. If we cut DJ it is a 16m hit. If we keep DJ he cost us 10m ( I believe). We would have to redo his contract in cooperation with his new potential team. We turn 1/2 of his contract to a 5 m signing bonus, 5 million dollar salary. We would then eat this years bonus (5m) the accelerated bonus of his last contract (6m) for a total cost of 11m cap hit. We may have to throw in a 6 th round pick. The new team would then be on the hook for 5m. I think there are teams out there ( Tampa) that would consider that a deal.

it’s not an ideal scenario but it would save us 6 m this year. Ultimately I think DJ remains on this team in 2020.

caveat: somebody please correct me on the contract redo for DJ. I believe it would work that way but please correct me if I’m wrong.