If you were the GM this offseason......

[CtCardinals78]

Other than the obvious offensive line that needs to be addressed I think the conerback posistion is a real weakness. I think the Cards should push really hard for Nate Clements. Their other target at conerback should be Nick Harper. If you could land either one they should start opposite Eric Green. Antrel Rolle should either be traded or moved to safety he is a terrible conerback and still can't understand why Green is benched and Rolle isn't.
They also need help at linebacker and should make a push for AdaliusThomas, Lance Briggs or Cato June. Hopefully they haven't blown it with Dansby and can extend his contract. With either of those three, Dansby , and Hayes there is a good LB group.
The second pick will be good enough to get Joe Thomas in the draft, so they should resign Davis move him to G and start Thomas at LT. I would send Orlando Huff and Chike Okeafor packing and take a DE with the second round pick.

 

[ItsInTheCards]

Other than the obvious offensive line that needs to be addressed I think the conerback posistion is a real weakness. I think the Cards should push really hard for Nate Clements. Their other target at conerback should be Nick Harper. If you could land either one they should start opposite Eric Green. Antrel Rolle should either be traded or moved to safety he is a terrible conerback and still can't understand why Green is benched and Rolle isn't.
They also need help at linebacker and should make a push for AdaliusThomas, Lance Briggs or Cato June. Hopefully they haven't blown it with Dansby and can extend his contract. With either of those three, Dansby , and Hayes there is a good LB group.
The second pick will be good enough to get Joe Thomas in the draft, so they should resign Davis move him to G and start Thomas at LT. I would send Orlando Huff and Chike Okeafor packing and take a DE with the second round pick.

for corner, Asante Samuel of the Pats
LB-Briggs played at UofA, but he'll probably want a ton, so yes June would be a solid RFA

Thomas is certainly not worth a #2 overall. He's a top 10 guy, but certainly not dominating like a Pace was in college.

Huff is a FA after this season

This is the highest pick they've had in like 5 years, so they can't afford to reach...

 

[DevonCardsFan]

The second pick will be good enough to get Joe Thomas in the draft, so they should resign Davis move him to G and start Thomas at LT. I would send Orlando Huff and Chike Okeafor packing and take a DE with the second round pick.

Landing Thomas at LT and resigning Leonard Davis and moving him to Guard leaves the only change besides drafting Thomas to this line can be at Center.


Look how it stacks up

LT- Thomas
LG-Davis/Wells
C- ??????/Leckey
RG-Lutui/M Brown
RTWells/Davis/Ross


So a Vet Center is a Major need next Year, if Cards draft Thomas and Davis will resign, the reason being a huge amount of cap space and a sorry ass year for free agency!!

 

[kerouac9]

I like Samuel more than Clements (too expensive) or Harper (too bad), as well. Hopefully, the Pats won't find a way to strike a deal with him.

I'd like A. Thomas as a linebacker, but I think that we'll get our opportunities for those in the draft. I think that the move of Karlos Dansby to the weak side is going to work out in the long run, so we'll more need to worry about getting someone to compete with Blackstock and Brandon Johnson. I don't think we'll need to break the bank on that player.

Also, if he doesn't get a deal done in Atlanta, I'd love to see this team bring in Patrick Kearney to replace/push Okeafor, who might be better as a situational player, anyhow.

 

[CtCardinals78]

"for corner, Asante Samuel of the Pats"
Living in New England I see a lot of Pats gams---Booooo
Samuel will probably be resigned by that Pats, but from the games I have seen he's good, but not great. He seems to get burned a lot. He's like Rolle only when the ball hits him in the hands he intercepts the ball. I just think we need a shutdown, great, top caliber corner you know what Rolle was supposed to be.

 

[kerouac9]

"for corner, Asante Samuel of the Pats"
Living in New England I see a lot of Pats gams---Booooo
Samuel will probably be resigned by that Pats, but from the games I have seen he's good, but not great. He seems to get burned a lot. He's like Rolle only when the ball hits him in the hands he intercepts the ball. I just think we need a shutdown, great, top caliber corner you know what Rolle was supposed to be.

Well, we'll just go and get one of those off the cornerback tree.

 

[BigRedArk]

I like Samuel more than Clements (too expensive) or Harper (too bad), as well. Hopefully, the Pats won't find a way to strike a deal with him.

I'd like A. Thomas as a linebacker, but I think that we'll get our opportunities for those in the draft. I think that the move of Karlos Dansby to the weak side is going to work out in the long run, so we'll more need to worry about getting someone to compete with Blackstock and Brandon Johnson. I don't think we'll need to break the bank on that player.

Also, if he doesn't get a deal done in Atlanta, I'd love to see this team bring in Patrick Kearney to replace/push Okeafor, who might be better as a situational player, anyhow.

Kearney is a friggin' beast! The Falcons wouldn't be stupid enough to let him go would they?

 

[ItsInTheCards]

"for corner, Asante Samuel of the Pats"
Living in New England I see a lot of Pats gams---Booooo
Samuel will probably be resigned by that Pats, but from the games I have seen he's good, but not great. He seems to get burned a lot. He's like Rolle only when the ball hits him in the hands he intercepts the ball. I just think we need a shutdown, great, top caliber corner you know what Rolle was supposed to be.

from what I've seen, he certainly doesn't have anywhere near the amount of brain farts Antrel has

 

[CtCardinals78]

No he is good, but I just think we need someone like DeAngelo Hall. We need a top grade corner and I think Clements is the closest thing to it. I wouldn't be upset with Samuel but we should really try for Clements. Getting a coner like that will make Green better because we will be able to give him more help knowing that there is a corner that can be out on an island with a top notch WR and hold his own.

 

[overseascardfan]

I am for Nate Clements, the whole Rolle at FS issue I brought up last offseason.

I like Briggs and feel he is worth some of that huge cap space we're suppose to have.

For DE, Freeney would be a dream come true but very unlikely to be let out of IND, so my next target would be Justin Smith from CIN, he is a FA this year and is a pretty good pass rusher and run defender.

Trade down and take either Thomas or Baker and acquire another 2nd and 4th rounder. Get Kyle Young and Jake Long and Victor Abimari in the 3rd. 4th round get Fred Bennett out of South Carolina.

OL
LT- Jake Long/Reggie Wells
LG- Leonard Davis
C- Kyle Young
RG- Duece Lutui
RT- Joe Thomas/Sam Baker

DL
LDE- Bertrand Berry/Victor Abimiari
LDT- Darnell Dockett
RDT- Gabe Watson
RDE- Justin Smith/Dwight Freeney

LB
SLB- Karlos Dansby
MLB- Gerald Hayes
WLB- Lance Briggs

DB
LCB- Nate Clements
FS- Antrel Rolle
SS- Adrian Wilson
RCB- Eric Green/Fred Bennett

 

[ItsInTheCards]

No he is good, but I just think we need someone like DeAngelo Hall. We need a top grade corner and I think Clements is the closest thing to it. I wouldn't be upset with Samuel but we should really try for Clements. Getting a coner like that will make Green better because we will be able to give him more help knowing that there is a corner that can be out on an island with a top notch WR and hold his own.

I'm sorry, I just disagree with you about him....you said that he probably would be resigned by the Pats, but you wouldn't want him here?

Nate Clements will want a bankbusting deal, and its very debatable if he's even better than Asante

 

[CtCardinals78]

No I would want him here like I said I wouldnt be upset, but if I had my pick of Asante Samuel or Nate Clements I would pick Clements. He is good don't get me wrong. I hope that clears it up.
Besdies it wouldnt be the first time we paid a lot for a FA. Maybe this is one we could get something out of like the Bertrand Berry signing.

 

[New Mexico]

If I were GM I'd lobby hard to pay my head coach and assistants top dollar, and good free agents above and beyond their market value. We have to overpay because it's the only way we're going to get talent to come here.

We need help everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We have starters that should be second stringers, and second stringers that shouldn't even be in the NFL.

Unfortuately it won't happen. The most disgusting thing I've read lately is that Bill Bidwill, Jr. is an NFL scout for the Cardinals. What in the hell qualifies him to be anything in the NFL except the son of an inept owner?

 

[Twist18]

If I were GM I'd lobby hard to pay my head coach and assistants top dollar, and good free agents above and beyond their market value. We have to overpay because it's the only way we're going to get talent to come here.

We need help everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We have starters that should be second stringers, and second stringers that shouldn't even be in the NFL.

Unfortuately it won't happen. The most disgusting thing I've read lately is that Bill Bidwill, Jr. is an NFL scout for the Cardinals. What in the hell qualifies him to be anything in the NFL except the son of an inept owner?

Amen to that!

I also wonder if Big would be moved to guard, what about Milford Brown at C? He said he has played it before and he is strong enough to combat big DT's.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

No he is good, but I just think we need someone like DeAngelo Hall. We need a top grade corner and I think Clements is the closest thing to it. I wouldn't be upset with Samuel but we should really try for Clements. Getting a coner like that will make Green better because we will be able to give him more help knowing that there is a corner that can be out on an island with a top notch WR and hold his own.

Deangelo Hall gets torched get every week. But,unlike the perception of Rolle, at least he's fast, so he must be a good corner. This week it only took about 2 minutes for Devery Hendrson beat him for a 70+ yard TD. Just because this guy runs his mouth people think he's good.

 

[kerouac9]

Deangelo Hall gets torched get every week. But,unlike the perception of Rolle, at least he's fast, so he must be a good corner. This week it only took about 2 minutes for Devery Hendrson beat him for a 70+ yard TD. Just because this guy runs his mouth people think he's good.

He is good. All corners get beat occaisionally. Even Aeneas Williams, Deion Sanders, and Champ Bailey. The problem with the Falcons is that half their starting defense is injured, including at least half of their defensive line and their top two pass rushers. No one looks good without pass rushing.

But at least DeAngelo Hall showed more in his shortened rookie season than Antrel Rolle has shown in his first two.

 

[Evil Ash]

He is good. All corners get beat occaisionally. Even Aeneas Williams, Deion Sanders, and Champ Bailey. The problem with the Falcons is that half their starting defense is injured, including at least half of their defensive line and their top two pass rushers. No one looks good without pass rushing.

Yet people won't cut Rolle any slack. How does that make sense?

I'm not saying Rolle will be a great player or anything but it is amazing to me how some players are excused and others aren't when they're in similar situations

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Rolle hasn't played a full season yet. I think he showed plenty in his limited time last year. I think alot of his problem is because of a lack of technique and coaching style. On his PI call he bit on the out and actually made a good play by grabbing the WR. Young CB's do that. That's inexperience. Another time he was playing man but using a zone technique by watching the QB. That's coaching and ,again, bad technique. Those are thing that can be fixed. I'm done with any Rolle arguments anymore. I think he'll be fine. It's funny how some players get excuses made for them but others, notably high 1st round draft chooice, get cut zero slack and are expected to be pro bowlers from day one.

If you notice the other CB's,Jones and Rogers, drafted with Rolle are just now starting to assert themselves and make plays in the latter half of their 2nd season. I was watching the Washington/ Carolina game alot today and all the talk was how much Rogers has been struggling and is the weak link back there. Well today, he won that game for them. He was all over the place and had a bunch of nice plays against Steve Smith. It just takes time. If Rolle isn't making plays next year then i'll be concerned. But this talk about cutting him and being a bust is just plain stupid.

 

[WildBB]

Other than the obvious offensive line that needs to be addressed I think the conerback posistion is a real weakness. I think the Cards should push really hard for Nate Clements. Their other target at conerback should be Nick Harper. If you could land either one they should start opposite Eric Green. Antrel Rolle should either be traded or moved to safety he is a terrible conerback and still can't understand why Green is benched and Rolle isn't.
They also need help at linebacker and should make a push for AdaliusThomas, Lance Briggs or Cato June. Hopefully they haven't blown it with Dansby and can extend his contract. With either of those three, Dansby , and Hayes there is a good LB group.
The second pick will be good enough to get Joe Thomas in the draft, so they should resign Davis move him to G and start Thomas at LT. I would send Orlando Huff and Chike Okeafor packing and take a DE with the second round pick.

How about we make you GM.

 

[BigRedArk]

Rolle hasn't played a full season yet. I think he showed plenty in his limited time last year. I think alot of his problem is because of a lack of technique and coaching style. On his PI call he bit on the out and actually made a good play by grabbing the WR. Young CB's do that. That's inexperience. Another time he was playing man but using a zone technique by watching the QB. That's coaching and ,again, bad technique. Those are thing that can be fixed. I'm done with any Rolle arguments anymore. I think he'll be fine. It's funny how some players get excuses made for them but others, notably high 1st round draft chooice, get cut zero slack and are expected to be pro bowlers from day one.

If you notice the other CB's,Jones and Rogers, drafted with Rolle are just now starting to assert themselves and make plays in the latter half of their 2nd season. I was watching the Washington/ Carolina game alot today and all the talk was how much Rogers has been struggling and is the weak link back there. Well today, he won that game for them. He was all over the place and had a bunch of nice plays against Steve Smith. It just takes time. If Rolle isn't making plays next year then i'll be concerned. But this talk about cutting him and being a bust is just plain stupid.

Well stated Cbus. It's not like he has had superior coaching or anything i.e. Richard Solomon. It's too early to give up on him.

 

[kerouac9]

Rolle hasn't played a full season yet. I think he showed plenty in his limited time last year. I think alot of his problem is because of a lack of technique and coaching style. On his PI call he bit on the out and actually made a good play by grabbing the WR. Young CB's do that. That's inexperience. Another time he was playing man but using a zone technique by watching the QB. That's coaching and ,again, bad technique. Those are thing that can be fixed. I'm done with any Rolle arguments anymore. I think he'll be fine. It's funny how some players get excuses made for them but others, notably high 1st round draft chooice, get cut zero slack and are expected to be pro bowlers from day one.

If you notice the other CB's,Jones and Rogers, drafted with Rolle are just now starting to assert themselves and make plays in the latter half of their 2nd season. I was watching the Washington/ Carolina game alot today and all the talk was how much Rogers has been struggling and is the weak link back there. Well today, he won that game for them. He was all over the place and had a bunch of nice plays against Steve Smith. It just takes time. If Rolle isn't making plays next year then i'll be concerned. But this talk about cutting him and being a bust is just plain stupid.

What did he show? What were the plays from last season or this one that made you relax for a second and say, "Well, he's struggling right now, but he has the skills to be a player in this league"? I'd really like to know, because I haven't seen a lot yet, and teams continue to make Rolle their primary target and he continues to let that happen. DeAngelo Hall or Adam Jones would never have let teams abuse them like Green Bay, Detroit, and now Minnesota have abused Antrel Rolle. Antonio Cromartie is playing better football right now than #21 is, and he'd started all of 3 career games before this season.

It must be really comforting to deploy the exact same excuses for Antrel Rolle that were put forth about Josh McCown.

 

[Billy Flynt]

If I am the GM for the Cards this off season, my name isn't Graves.

 

[kerouac9]

But this talk about cutting him and being a bust is just plain stupid.

I do agree that talk about cutting Rolle or him being a bust is ridiculous. But what I do think is present and worth discussing is whether or not there's a cause for concern about whether or not Rolle is a wasted pick. Were we sold a bill of goods on Rolle? He was supposed to be great.

Chris McAlister had 5 INTs his rookie season and 21 passes defensed. DeAngelo Hall's rookie season was 10 games long and featured 2 INTs 6 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.

On the other hand, Quentin Jammer didn't have a single INT and 10 passes defensed in his first 14 games, and then 4 INTs and 13 PDs his second year before dropping off the map for the next three seasons.

Through his first 16 games, Antrel Rolle has 1 INT and 11 PDs. I think that we all expected to get more than the next Quentin Jammer (who held out into his rookie season) when we drafted #21.

 

[JeffGollin]

If I were GM:

1. I'd review the coaching situation with the objective of winding up with a coaching staff that (a) knows what it is doing (i.e. there's no situation it hasn't seen or can't handle), (b) can motivate (and has the support of the) players - knows what buttons to push, (c) is comprised of bright X and O's guys, (d) can develop talent to its maximum potential, (e) is proactive about fixing what's broke but (f) has the judgment to know when and when not to pull the trigger.

2. I'd review every player personnel decision we've made over the past 3 - 5 years and who was responsible for making the good decisions and the bad decisions. The folks responsible for making the good decisions would be given more say in future decisions. (This incidently, would include the Bidwills). The people responsible for the bad decisions would either have less influence (until they proved their opinions should be respected) or, in some cases, be replaced.

3. I'd scan the free agent market for: (a) corners who are big enough to match up with talll WR's and/or speedy enough to stay with the burners, (b) premier help at center and both tackles (we don't need backup fodder anymore, but we do need better front line talent), (c) a 4.3 or faster WR, (d) a WLB who's a more reliable tackler and (d) a FS who can cover sideline to sideline.

4. I'd scan the draft to fill the same needs, but would continue to draft on a best athlete available - with some (but not a lot of) weight given to position-need. Note - If Joe Thomas is considered "good but not Boselli" and Teddy Ginn considered "lights out" or Podsnuski considered "the next Urlacher", do you pass on Ginn or Podznuski and draft Thomas anyway? I'm not sure I would. But the way to avoid falling into this conundrum would be to solve the LT problem in free agency if at all possible.

5. I'd continue to stress the non-field aspects of running a class NFL franchise - ranging from medical and training policies to nutrition, "life after football", "life outside of football" and community work.

It's a bit early, but if Kyle Young is as good as some of you say he is, I wouldn't be against drafting him with our 2nd round pick or even trading up into late round 1 to make sure we got him. But we're miles away from there at this point in the 2006 season.

My point - Being a GM is a bit more complicated than just signing the right free agent or drafting the right top draft pick.

 

[Duckjake]

Jammer had 17 passes defended last year and has 3 INT's this year. Hardly falling off the map.

On the Cardinal scale of talent he'd be an all-pro.

The more important question is why do all these highly rated college players come to Arizona and fail?