Lessons learned in free agency: Part II
Seth Polansky
azcardinals.com
The Cardinals have missed out on acquiring another tight end so far. One player in particular stood out above the rest for Whisenhunt and his system, and that was Kelly from the Bengals. Kelly turned down a larger offer from the Cards just to stay in Cincinnati. You can say all you want about a guy refusing more money somewhere else, but that is exactly the kind of character player Arizona is looking for. Now a tight end will either be sought after in the draft or possibly as free agency enters its second or third month.
Other free-agent tight ends were not pursued because they would have not been the right fit. Kyle Brady is a solid player, but after 12 NFL seasons, there wouldn't be much left in his tank. And Randy McMichael is a pass-happy tight end that has complained in the past in Miami when he wasn't catching enough footballs. The Cardinals have a bevy of wide receivers to do that. They need a blocking tight end to help in the running game. And the biggest names still out there are players like Todd Yoder, Doug Jolley and Jerramy Stevens, who recently had a run-in with the law. Not a great fit with those guys.
With so many teams focused in the last few years on using the tight end like an extra receiver, the Cardinals might benefit with having some tight ends fall later in the draft that aren't known purely for being offensive weapons. Guys like Rutgers' Clark Harris, Oregon State's Joe Newton and Nevada's Anthony Pudewell are considered better than most of the pack, and they are known as great blockers. And the better blocking tight ends seem to be a little taller and a little heavier than the receiving ones. This is the fit Whisenhunt is looking for.
"It's kind of cyclical. Some years it seems different teams in the league have different offenses, and they could be geared more toward a pass-catching guy. Others are more geared toward a blocker," Whisenhunt mentioned. "Some years there aren't as many teams in the league looking for a blocker, then that would have those guys slip a little bit lower in the draft. Sometimes you think, 'OK, maybe this guy will be there later.' Once again, with that, you never know what kinds of needs a team has. We're not going to know until we have our draft meetings and get through all of these players and have an idea of where they fit in."
If the team decides to go with a tight end in the draft, it will give the Cards one of the youngest units in the league. Leonard Pope played in all 16 games last year as a rookie, which will surely give him confidence if he is to be the senior member of the corps.
The salary cap money may be dwindling, however, it's not gone. There's still enough there to get a player or players of interest, including a possible fullback. Many fans have heard the roster bonus vs. signing bonus debate for weeks now, but what is it going to cost the team in the next few years? Almost nothing. Vice President of Football Operations Rod Graves recognized very early on that this overall free-agent class was not fantastic. And he has made it known at the onset of free agency that the team was not going to overspend on guys just because the money was there. That means when next year's group of potential free agents, which is sure to be much better than this year's, becomes available, then Arizona will have as much money as possible to go after the big names. The 49ers went out and bought some expensive free agents in the first couple of weeks of free agency, but they can't afford deals like Clements' again in 2008.
But who knows if the club is even going to need some of those potential big names. With a bunch of the core players intact through the 2007-2011 seasons, there will be few holes to fill. If there is that one key guy out there in 2008, then the Cardinals can go after him with plenty of money to entice him with. No waiting around to see how the market plays out. No other signings for depth -- get another Edgerrin James-type impact player. Even if the team wins the Super Bowl this year, it will still need to improve. Look what happened to the Pittsburgh after its big win two seasons ago, and Tampa Bay from 2002.
Whisenhunt, a former Steelers coordinator, vows for that not to happen here.
Knowing most the pieces are already in place, Whisenhunt made sure some of the Cardinals stayed Cardinals. Milligan, Marcel Shipp and Monty Beisel are all key role players that have been retained. Shipp will see an increased workload with Whisenhunt's plan on running the ball a lot more, and Milligan and Beisel are solid on the special teams units. In addition, Beisel is a linebacker that will be a part of what can be an active rotation.
"You never know what players are going to step up," Whisenhunt said. "We may have somebody that comes in here, for example, in Pittsburgh we had Willie Parker, as a free agent and makes our team. And all of a sudden you're not looking for that position anymore."
And don't forget about the June 1 cuts. A few players can find a new home after their early summer release. These may not be the top guys you would find at the beginning of free agency, but there might be some who can push for serious playing time. Not everyone gets released because they couldn't cut it -- sometimes it's because of a roster bonus that was due to take effect or having a newly drafted rookie beat out a veteran in camp.
"You get a better feel for that as it gets closer to that date," said Whisenhunt. "But it's been very good. I think the way we did it through the first weekend, Rod Graves did a great job of being patient and making sure we got the deal done with (Johnson). And we've worked diligently over the last couple of weeks. Nothing's been rushed. We've made sure we got the right players we felt would be the right fit for us. We're excited about it."
Almost no one thought the Jets and Saints would make it to the playoffs last year, but they did. And with rosters full of "who theys" and "never will bes," those two teams went to the postseason. Now the newest Cardinals are no longer mysteries. They have been scrutinized and second-guessed since they signed. But no one will be saying anything negative about the few new players who "weren't good enough somewhere else" if they help this team's turnaround.
"Free agency has gone in some different directions than I thought it was," Whisenhunt added. "But it seems like everything just fell into place. This process is still ongoing, which is something we knew going into it. We now have time to address other issues."
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1613
Seth Polansky
azcardinals.com
The Cardinals have missed out on acquiring another tight end so far. One player in particular stood out above the rest for Whisenhunt and his system, and that was Kelly from the Bengals. Kelly turned down a larger offer from the Cards just to stay in Cincinnati. You can say all you want about a guy refusing more money somewhere else, but that is exactly the kind of character player Arizona is looking for. Now a tight end will either be sought after in the draft or possibly as free agency enters its second or third month.
Other free-agent tight ends were not pursued because they would have not been the right fit. Kyle Brady is a solid player, but after 12 NFL seasons, there wouldn't be much left in his tank. And Randy McMichael is a pass-happy tight end that has complained in the past in Miami when he wasn't catching enough footballs. The Cardinals have a bevy of wide receivers to do that. They need a blocking tight end to help in the running game. And the biggest names still out there are players like Todd Yoder, Doug Jolley and Jerramy Stevens, who recently had a run-in with the law. Not a great fit with those guys.
With so many teams focused in the last few years on using the tight end like an extra receiver, the Cardinals might benefit with having some tight ends fall later in the draft that aren't known purely for being offensive weapons. Guys like Rutgers' Clark Harris, Oregon State's Joe Newton and Nevada's Anthony Pudewell are considered better than most of the pack, and they are known as great blockers. And the better blocking tight ends seem to be a little taller and a little heavier than the receiving ones. This is the fit Whisenhunt is looking for.
"It's kind of cyclical. Some years it seems different teams in the league have different offenses, and they could be geared more toward a pass-catching guy. Others are more geared toward a blocker," Whisenhunt mentioned. "Some years there aren't as many teams in the league looking for a blocker, then that would have those guys slip a little bit lower in the draft. Sometimes you think, 'OK, maybe this guy will be there later.' Once again, with that, you never know what kinds of needs a team has. We're not going to know until we have our draft meetings and get through all of these players and have an idea of where they fit in."
If the team decides to go with a tight end in the draft, it will give the Cards one of the youngest units in the league. Leonard Pope played in all 16 games last year as a rookie, which will surely give him confidence if he is to be the senior member of the corps.
The salary cap money may be dwindling, however, it's not gone. There's still enough there to get a player or players of interest, including a possible fullback. Many fans have heard the roster bonus vs. signing bonus debate for weeks now, but what is it going to cost the team in the next few years? Almost nothing. Vice President of Football Operations Rod Graves recognized very early on that this overall free-agent class was not fantastic. And he has made it known at the onset of free agency that the team was not going to overspend on guys just because the money was there. That means when next year's group of potential free agents, which is sure to be much better than this year's, becomes available, then Arizona will have as much money as possible to go after the big names. The 49ers went out and bought some expensive free agents in the first couple of weeks of free agency, but they can't afford deals like Clements' again in 2008.
But who knows if the club is even going to need some of those potential big names. With a bunch of the core players intact through the 2007-2011 seasons, there will be few holes to fill. If there is that one key guy out there in 2008, then the Cardinals can go after him with plenty of money to entice him with. No waiting around to see how the market plays out. No other signings for depth -- get another Edgerrin James-type impact player. Even if the team wins the Super Bowl this year, it will still need to improve. Look what happened to the Pittsburgh after its big win two seasons ago, and Tampa Bay from 2002.
Whisenhunt, a former Steelers coordinator, vows for that not to happen here.
Knowing most the pieces are already in place, Whisenhunt made sure some of the Cardinals stayed Cardinals. Milligan, Marcel Shipp and Monty Beisel are all key role players that have been retained. Shipp will see an increased workload with Whisenhunt's plan on running the ball a lot more, and Milligan and Beisel are solid on the special teams units. In addition, Beisel is a linebacker that will be a part of what can be an active rotation.
"You never know what players are going to step up," Whisenhunt said. "We may have somebody that comes in here, for example, in Pittsburgh we had Willie Parker, as a free agent and makes our team. And all of a sudden you're not looking for that position anymore."
And don't forget about the June 1 cuts. A few players can find a new home after their early summer release. These may not be the top guys you would find at the beginning of free agency, but there might be some who can push for serious playing time. Not everyone gets released because they couldn't cut it -- sometimes it's because of a roster bonus that was due to take effect or having a newly drafted rookie beat out a veteran in camp.
"You get a better feel for that as it gets closer to that date," said Whisenhunt. "But it's been very good. I think the way we did it through the first weekend, Rod Graves did a great job of being patient and making sure we got the deal done with (Johnson). And we've worked diligently over the last couple of weeks. Nothing's been rushed. We've made sure we got the right players we felt would be the right fit for us. We're excited about it."
Almost no one thought the Jets and Saints would make it to the playoffs last year, but they did. And with rosters full of "who theys" and "never will bes," those two teams went to the postseason. Now the newest Cardinals are no longer mysteries. They have been scrutinized and second-guessed since they signed. But no one will be saying anything negative about the few new players who "weren't good enough somewhere else" if they help this team's turnaround.
"Free agency has gone in some different directions than I thought it was," Whisenhunt added. "But it seems like everything just fell into place. This process is still ongoing, which is something we knew going into it. We now have time to address other issues."
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1613
