If Shelton must go...

[SMAC]

If Denny Green is down on L.J. and his days are numbered then I think the Cards should look to trade the LT. One potential good trade would be to send Shelton to the Chargers for holdout center Jason Ball and guard Toniu Fonoti. Ball is an exclusive rights free agent who has burned bridges with the front office over his contract. Fonoti is a backup guard who came out early a couple of seasons ago and hasn't stayed healthy and has lacked maturity but has athletic ability. Ball is a very good center who could solidfy that position and allow Green to move Stepanovich to right guard. Here would be the line for the Cards and the starting line for the Chargers:

Cardinals
LT-Davis, LG-Wells, C-Ball, RG-Stepanovich, RT-Clement
Backups: Lindsay, Leckey, Roundtree, Spikes, and Fonoti

Chargers
LT-Shelton, LG-Oben, C-Hardwick, RG-Goff, RT-Van Buren

 

[AZCB34]

My thoughts were to set up a trade with the Bears trading Shelton for RB Anthony Thomas aince it would allow the Bears to move Tait back to RT where he has played best and since Thomas Jones has a strong grip on the starting job Thomas will get limited carries.

Anthony Thomas is in a contract year so the Cards may get a solid effort from him as he looks to secure his next contract

 

[Crazy Canuck]

We draft two centres... and now we trade for one.... Don't think so.

Further; Step... according to an overview I read - doesn't pull very well, and is thus ideal at centre.

Personally, I don't believe, as yet - that LJ is going anywhere. We'd be frightfully thin on the OL without him.

If BIG went down... what next? When Wells had to step in for LJ last year, he got schooled.

 

[Red Air Force]

I think we should try to trade him in a package deal for McKenzie. That woul really turn a weakness into a strength. McKenzie, Starks, Macklin, and Hill.



BTW - Anthony Thomas Sucks

 

[stretchthefield]

Charger trade

Straight up trade for 5th round pick RB Michael Turner.

Do it!

 

[azdad1978]

Bad trade if trade LJ for Ball and Fonoti. Fonoti has injury issues and Ball is not really a good Center. I rather trade LJ to the Bills straight up for Henry, now that would be a good deal for us IMO.

 

[joeshmo]

Stop this trade Shelton Madness.

His cap hit would be way to great, and we would not be able to take on the cap hit of the player or players traded for. We wouldnt have enough cap space for injuries or the rumored Boldin extension.

Also there are not a lot of teams out there that have the cap space to take on Sheltons Base Salary of 3 mill, and have a need for a LT, and have the players and or draft picks that would satisfy an equal trade value for Shelton.

 

[Red Air Force]

Stop this trade Shelton Madness.

His cap hit would be way to great, and we would not be able to take on the cap hit of the player or players traded for. We wouldnt have enough cap space for injuries or the rumored Boldin extension.

Also there are not a lot of teams out there that have the cap space to take on Sheltons Base Salary of 3 mill, and have a need for a LT, and have the players and or draft picks that would satisfy an equal trade value for Shelton.

Did Shelton get a Bonus in his recent extension? If not, if he got it all in salary, then there would actually be very little cat hit at all.

 

[ajcardfan]

Did Shelton get a Bonus in his recent extension? If not, if he got it all in salary, then there would actually be very little cat hit at all.

He received a 7 million dollar bonus. A trade is basically impossible.

 

[Red Air Force]

He received a 7 million dollar bonus. A trade is basically impossible.

No, I don't think that is quite right. At the time that we extended him, we still had 11 mil in cap space. Most of that bonus was salary. Here is waht Urban said earlier this summer.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=23305
Shelton signed a hefty contract extension last season but his cost isn’t prohibitive.

His salary cap charge is only $3.83 million, a lot for a backup but manageable given the Cards’ current cap situation.

He would seem to be an important cog even as a reserve, given the inexperience and inconsistency of the remaining offensive linemen.

But it isn’t impossible to cut him (costing $1 million in dead money this year and $3.2 million next year) and Green reiterated Thursday that Davis should end up as one of the best tackles in the NFL.

That is definetly workable.

 

[ajcardfan]

No, I don't think that is quite right. At the time that we extended him, we still had 11 mil in cap space. Most of that bonus was salary. Here is waht Urban said earlier this summer.



That is definetly workable.

That is better than a 5.6mil cap hit which is what it would've been with a straight signing bonus. But, remember, a trade does not work like a cut. A cut you can space out over two seasons, but a trade hits the cap the year it happens. Assuming Urban's numbers are right, we'd have to eat 4.2 mil which would still be tough to do.

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

even if Lj sits on a bench all year he will still be our best back-up. I doubt he goes anywhere this year.