MadCard's Cardinal Off-season Projection

[MadCardDisease]

So far I'm happy with who the Cardinals off-season. They have brought in what appear to be solid coaches to fill the voids of the ones they fired.

The next big step is Free Agency. Here is who I believe the Cardinals can realistically land in Free agency assuming we have about $20 Miliion to work with:

1) Kurt Warner QB - No brainer. Need to get this done before FA period starts so we can concentrate on other free agents. Sign for $4.5million per yer.

2) LeCharles Bently C - One of the best young centers in the league and he won't come cheap. The Cards will have to convince him to come and play here and that will take some cold hard cash. sign for $4 million per year

3) Terrance Metcalf G - A solid guard that won't break the bank. Should help improve a pathetic ground game. Hell if he can make Thomas Jones look good he must be a stud! Sign for $3 million per year

4) Ma'ake Kemoeatu DT - A solid presense in the middle. Should help improve our pathetic attempt at stopping the run. Sign for $3.5 million per year

5) Shawn Alexander RB - League MVP. Finds the open hole and doesn't waste time hitting it. Great all around back. Hasn't had any major injuries in his career. I'm not sure we can afford him so Graves will have to get creative. Sign for $5.5 million per year.

6) Akin Ayodele LB - A solid young player who still has plenty of upside. He can imediately upgrade our run defense and help provide depth at the LB position. Sign for $1 million per year.



With several holes filled via Free Agency the Cards can now turn their attention to the Draft. Denny Green will again focus on Best Player Available and improve the belly of this team.


Round 1) Tye Hill CB Clemson 5'10" 180lbs

Not the tallest of corner backs but solidly put together and not affraid to make a tackle. Hill is one of the faster corners in the draft and the best at covering quicker receivers. He would be the perfect complement to Rolle. Not only can he cover but he can return punts. Denny will finally find his punt returner. Hill will start imediately as the nickle corner and provide the Cardinals with great depth at the position.

​

Round 2) Gabe Watson DT Michigan 6'3" 340lbs

The question is will Watson last till the Cardinals pick in the second round. I think he will because of his weight issues and questions about his commitment. Watson would provide depth at the NT postion where he would share time with Ma'ake Kemoeatu. He would also be useful in goal line and short yardage situations.

​

Round 3) Brodie Croyle QB Alabama 6'2" 200lbs

Croyle is the opposite of Vince Young. He is your pocket passer type who can make every throw in the NFL. His mechinics are solid and he makes good decisions under pressure. I think he is the perfect guy to sit and learn from Warner for a year or two.

​

Round 4) Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui T USC 6'3" 340lbs

Deuce is a big road grader who probably will be moved inside to play guard. He was the only Senior bowl player to hold his own against Gabe Watson's bull rush.

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Round 5) Leon Williams LB Miami 6'3" 240lbs

Williams is a good strong presense in the middle who has the ability to shed blockers and make plays. He would be the perfect backup to Hayes.

​

Round 6) Dominique Byrd TE USC 6'2" 250lbs

Injury concerns will cause Byrd to drop. However he has the ability to stretch the field and has great hands. Saw him on the NFL network during the senior bowl practice make several great grabs.

​

Round 7) Adam Jennings WR Fresno St. 5'10" 175lbs

A small quick athletic WR who can take it to the house any time he gets his hands on the ball. Jennings will be used on special teams where he will excell at kick returner.


​

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Ty Hill?

Is he even projected to go in Round 1?

 

[MadCardDisease]

Ty Hill?

Is he even projected to go in Round 1?

Most people have him ranked as the 2nd best CB behind Williams. Some even suggest he is the best pure corner in the draft. Very similar to Pac-man vs Rolle debate last year.

I've seen him in the 10-15 range. After a great bowl game and a solid Senior bowl performance I think he will move up on most of the other draft boards also.

 

[football karma]

Alexander will have a cap figure far larger than $5.5mm


I dont think Latui lasts until the fourth


no way after the Senior Bowl does Byrd last until the sixth

 

[Russ Smith]

Are those salaries also cap figures? If you figure we have 20 million, and you spent 20.5 on 6 players, how are you going to sign any of our own FA's besides Warner?

Or have you already factored in the cost of doing that?

Agreed on Lutui and Byrd, they're going to be long gone by where you have them picked, both might be 2nd rounders.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Alexander will have a cap figure far larger than $5.5mm


I dont think Latui lasts until the fourth


no way after the Senior Bowl does Byrd last until the sixth

The Franchise number for RBs is about $6 million. Lets say Alexander gets a $12 million dollar signing bonus on a 5 year contract. That means his bonus could be spread out to $2.4 million over five years. If you give him a base salary of $3 million his first year that would only come to $5.4 million a year. Like I said, if Graves get creative we should be able to fit Alexander in under the cap and not mortgage our furture.

Latui should easily make it to the second day. The OL is very deep this year and there are plenty of players ranked ahead of him.

Byrd in the sixth is a strech but then again Adam Bergen was projected to go in the fourth last year and he didn't even get drafted. Again this is a deep draft at the TE position and I think it is possible he may fall due to his recent injury problems.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Are those salaries also cap figures? If you figure we have 20 million, and you spent 20.5 on 6 players, how are you going to sign any of our own FA's besides Warner?

It's kind of a guess at how much they will count agianst the cap their first couple of years. Yes it includes the bonus in it.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Are those salaries also cap figures? If you figure we have 20 million, and you spent 20.5 on 6 players, how are you going to sign any of our own FA's besides Warner?

Or have you already factored in the cost of doing that?

I should also point out that I was going off of joeshmo cap numbers found here:

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=66240

 

[AzWins23]

Ty Hill?

Is he even projected to go in Round 1?

Can you say Tom Knight??

 

[MadCardDisease]

You can also check salaries of other players in the league here:
http://nflpa.org/Members/main.asp?subPage=Active+Player+Searchhttp://nflpa.org/Members/main.asp?subPage=Active+Player+Search

I tried to pad the numbers some to be safe because I'm sure in order to get these FA to sign with the Cardinals we will have to "show them the money".

 

[spanky1]

The Franchise number for RBs is about $6 million. Lets say Alexander gets a $12 million dollar signing bonus on a 5 year contract. That means his bonus could be spread out to $2.4 million over five years. If you give him a base salary of $3 million his first year that would only come to $5.4 million a year. Like I said, if Graves get creative we should be able to fit Alexander in under the cap and not mortgage our furture.

Latui should easily make it to the second day. The OL is very deep this year and there are plenty of players ranked ahead of him.

Byrd in the sixth is a strech but then again Adam Bergen was projected to go in the fourth last year and he didn't even get drafted. Again this is a deep draft at the TE position and I think it is possible he may fall due to his recent injury problems.

A base salary of $3MM for Alexander......that is absolutely preposterous. There would be at least 10 RB's that would have salaries WAY WAY in excess of this.

Tye Hill with the #10 pick.....again, what are you thinking. Use the #10 on him when you can get Jimmy Williams there?

Deuce Latui in the 4th....in your dreams. Dominic Byrd in the 6th......man oh man.

Sorry madcard.....I am not trying to rain on your parade too much but these thoughts are screwy.

 

[joeshmo]

The Franchise number for RBs is about $6 million. Lets say Alexander gets a $12 million dollar signing bonus on a 5 year contract. That means his bonus could be spread out to $2.4 million over five years. If you give him a base salary of $3 million his first year that would only come to $5.4 million a year. Like I said, if Graves get creative we should be able to fit Alexander in under the cap and not mortgage our furture.

Latui should easily make it to the second day. The OL is very deep this year and there are plenty of players ranked ahead of him.

Byrd in the sixth is a strech but then again Adam Bergen was projected to go in the fourth last year and he didn't even get drafted. Again this is a deep draft at the TE position and I think it is possible he may fall due to his recent injury problems.

First it will take more then just a 12 mill signing bonus to get Alexander, he has already scoffed at afr more bonus money from Seattle. L.T. got 15 mill you can bet that the TD record holder, yards rushing title, and MVP will get that or more.

Second you cannot spread out the signing bonus over the complete contract. Becuase of the CBA and it about to end there is a provision in it that states you can only pro rate the signing bonus at a maximum of 4 years, last year it was 5, and the year before that it was 6, no matter how long the contract is.

As for Byrd slipping you could be correct, there are a lot of good TE's in this draft and Byrd may free fall. All of these guys could easily be ahead of byrd as of right now and come draft day. Vernon Davis, Marcedes Lewis, Leonard Pope, Joel Klopfenstein, Anthony Fasano and maybe even these 3 guys Tim Day, Charles Davis, David Thomas. Not saying I think it will happen but it very well could happen.

As for Latui, there are a lot of OL ranked ahead of him but most if not all but giles are OT's and not OG's. Latui is still easily a top 3 OG, if he keeps his weight in check.

 

[MadCardDisease]

A base salary of $3MM for Alexander......that is absolutely preposterous. There would be at least 10 RB's that would have salaries WAY WAY in excess of this.

Look at the salaries of RB last year:
http://nflpa.org/Members/main.asp?subPage=Player+Search+Results

Remember I'm saying the first few years of the contract when I used these salary numbers. Most NFL contracts are back loaded and the player usually never sees it. Except for Leonard Davis.

 

[joeshmo]

There would be at least 10 RB's that would have salaries WAY WAY in excess of this.

Not 10 but 6 in 2006. An average of 4.3 mill.

And base slaries for most contracts no done by the Cardinals have low front ends with higher back ends. Meaning a 3 mill base salary his first year is very much a possibility.

 

[az jam]

I don't think we will go after Alexander but do like all the other free agents that you selected. I would be happy if we got Warner, Metcalf and Komoeatu. Lots of teams may be bidding and some willing to pay more than the Cards.

As far as the draft Tye Hill did stand out during the Senior Bowl week and will definitely go in the first round just not sure if it will be top ten. However, if he does well at the combine or pro workout days running the 40, then he could move up more. Unfortunately Watson also had a good week at the Senior Bowl and is now being projected at the bottom of round one. I like Byrd and Litui but don't think they will drop that far however the Cards could pick both of them earlier. But as you stated players drop (or rise) that surprises us draftniks.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Second you cannot spread out the signing bonus over the complete contract. Becuase of the CBA and it about to end there is a provision in it that states you can only pro rate the signing bonus at a maximum of 4 years, last year it was 5, and the year before that it was 6, no matter how long the contract is.

Forgot about that. Still that applies to every team. I don't think any team will give Alexander a $15 million dollar signing bonus if they can only spread it over 4 years.

Still lets say you do give him a $15 million dollar bonus. That means that it counts $3.75 million over four years. You could still backload his contract and only give him 2 million the first year in base salary and his cap number would still be under $6 million.

 

[joeshmo]

Second you cannot spread out the signing bonus over the complete contract. Becuase of the CBA and it about to end there is a provision in it that states you can only pro rate the signing bonus at a maximum of 4 years, last year it was 5, and the year before that it was 6, no matter how long the contract is.

Just to expand on my own thought.

Becuase of what I stated above, a large amount of cap space may be a bit misleading as the money wont get spread out as much meaning the money will go a lot quicker. But it is also prespective as every other team inthe NFL has the same thing to deal with.

Also it is a horrible sign for top 5 picks were the signing bonuses are much larger then the rest of the first round. the rookie pool doesnt take into account the whole only 4 years proratted thing into account which will make things harder for the top 5 and they will have to get really creative to make it work under the rookie cap.

 

[joeshmo]

Still lets say you do give him a $15 million dollar bonus. That means that it counts $3.75 million over four years. You could still backload his contract and only give him 2 million the first year in base salary and his cap number would still be under $6 million.

I agree.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Deuce Latui in the 4th....in your dreams. Dominic Byrd in the 6th......man oh man.

Sorry madcard.....I am not trying to rain on your parade too much but these thoughts are screwy.

Elton Brown was projected to go late in the first round and we picked him up in the 4th. It's not out of the realm of possibility. Most teams do not historically draft guards that high unless they are really special.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Check out Ourlads latest mock draft. They have Tye Hill going at #14.

http://www.ourlads.com/2006NFLMockDraft.html

Again it is not as crazy as it sounds.

 

[spanky1]

Forgot about that. Still that applies to every team. I don't think any team will give Alexander a $15 million dollar signing bonus if they can only spread it over 4 years.

Still lets say you do give him a $15 million dollar bonus. That means that it counts $3.75 million over four years. You could still backload his contract and only give him 2 million the first year in base salary and his cap number would still be under $6 million.

The question is not about fitting him under tha cap.....we could do it easily. It's a question of what he'd even consider looking at in terms of fair market value. A back loaded contract isn't going to get his attention whatsoever. He'll stay in Seattle for a better deal than this.

 

[Redsz]

You put alot of work into this MadCard. Props to you for the effort and keeping it realistic.

But I would implode if we picked a CB with the #10.

 

[joeshmo]

The question is not about fitting him under tha cap.....we could do it easily. It's a question of what he'd even consider looking at in terms of fair market value. A back loaded contract isn't going to get his attention whatsoever. He'll stay in Seattle for a better deal than this.

Every big contract is back loaded. It is as simple as that. Look at the L.T., Manning, Culpepper, Vick deals of the league. They are all backloaded.

Here is how big contracts work. it is all about the signing bonus for players. Yes they like the total package but in the salary cap era players know they have to let a little go for the sake of getting the insurance up front money of a bonus and will take a low base salary to do so. This is how the NFL works pure and simple.

If you think Alexander or Edge for that matter is going to get a 15 mill signing bonus and 7-8 mill base salary to start off with, then you are expecting them not to play this year becuase not a team in the league is going to do that sort of contract.

 

[MadCardDisease]

The question is not about fitting him under tha cap.....we could do it easily. It's a question of what he'd even consider looking at in terms of fair market value. A back loaded contract isn't going to get his attention whatsoever. He'll stay in Seattle for a better deal than this.

Problem is not many teams can afford not to backload contracts. Seattle has to worry about signing Hutch also so they won't be able to throw much at Alexander. My guess is he will get offered an even lower base salary initially probably the minimum by Seattle.

 

[joeshmo]

My guess is he will get offered an even lower base salary initially probably the minimum by Seattle.

You are correct. I mean Manning himself had the base salary his first year of his giant contract. Only 665K this year and only 1 Mill. the next 2 years. It takes 4 years into his new deal for his base salary to jump to 11.5 mill.