Offseason Primer: Roster, FA, and so on.

[oaken1]

the offense did not come to a screeching halt with Stanton....

cue one Ryan Lindley......

 

[TJ]

the offense did not come to a screeching halt with Stanton....



cue one Ryan Lindley......

We scored three touchdowns in the last four games that Stanton started. I would say that's pretty much a standstill.

 

[don7031]

^ It was one meaningful touchdown and one garbage time score for the offense in 4 1/2 games with Stanton.

When you get down to it, the offense wasn't really that good with Palmer under center.

 

[TJ]

^ It was one meaningful touchdown and one garbage time score for the offense in 4 1/2 games with Stanton.

When you get down to it, the offense wasn't really that good with Palmer under center.

The offense was never lights out this season,
But at least with Palmer, the ball moved forward and he converted 3rd downs.

 

[ajcardfan]

I'd be really surprised if Foote decides to retire. He's had a fantastic season, and I think he believes he has a lot more good football left in him.

Ok, I know for sure that is what I think. I thought he would do nothing here, but he has been very solid. Not quite as good as either Dansby or Washington was last year, but he saved the ILB position for us this year. I think he would be a great compliment to Washington if Washington winds up playing for us next year.

 

[ajcardfan]

The offense was never lights out this season,
But at least with Palmer, the ball moved forward and he converted 3rd downs.

Yeah, I remember that for a while, we were one of the best teams at converting 3rd downs this season.

 

[cardpa]

Chopper, you didn't have Ta'amu, Alameda on the list and he shows up on the active roster. Where has this guy gone anyway. From a contributor to a bench warmer who doesn't even have a tackle yet this year.

 

[Chopper0080]

Chopper, you didn't have Ta'amu, Alameda on the list and he shows up on the active roster. Where has this guy gone anyway. From a contributor to a bench warmer who doesn't even have a tackle yet this year.

He has struggled to stay healthy, and there just aren't many reps for NTs in today's NFL.

 

[Chopper0080]

Did you really think this? I can't imagine how anyone could think a career backup was really going to seamlessly step up for Palmer and the offense not miss a beat.

Cue the "Well, That's what Arians said he expected and signed him as our starter" which will both completely ignore that a) Arians blows smoke with the best of them and b) made sure he got Palmer in a trade even though he had his starter already.

Where I dislike Stanton as our backup is his inability to stay healthy throughout his professional career. Yes, he has been a backup, but anytime he has been asked to start multiple games, he has gotten dinged up. When QB talent in the NFL is as low as it is, I need my backup to be able to stay healthy as much as execute the offense.

 

[Chopper0080]

I'd be really surprised if Foote decides to retire. He's had a fantastic season, and I think he believes he has a lot more good football left in him.

Ok, I know for sure that is what I think. I thought he would do nothing here, but he has been very solid. Not quite as good as either Dansby or Washington was last year, but he saved the ILB position for us this year. I think he would be a great compliment to Washington if Washington winds up playing for us next year.

I think Foote has done well for us, but I also have heard he was pretty much retired when the Cardinals called. If he wants to come back, I'm sure the Cardinals would liek him, but his limitations were on full display vs Seattle. His inability to cover, and lack of an explosive pass rush make him a liability.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Surprised to see so many totally disregarding the most glaring hole we have - out running game... I don't care what QB is playing for us, or what other moves we make. If we don't fix our RB situation, none of it matters at all...

 

[Chopper0080]

This is an excellent post.

Do have some thoughts though:

Why keep Sam Acho? Maybe he's cheap but he's also done nothing. I remember one splash play all year. If he's being developed it's at a very slow pace.

Also think it's a mistake to let Zastudil go. He was hurt this year and at his age you have to be able to leverage the injury and age into a restructure of some type. I think he's more important than people realize. This is probably the one I most disagree with. Zastudil changes field position. Every time. I know dudes like splash plays but in actual games field position matters.

Also wouldn't keep Foote. He's played well, but only because we lost pretty much everyone at LB and Dockett in front of him and comparatively speaking he looked serviceable. He can only do two things well: stop the run and call plays for the defense. He sucks as a rusher and sucks in coverage. (I'm so pissed at DWash, but it shows you what a talent he is, he can cover, rush, call plays, stop the run, and is a disruptive force).

My minor quibbles aside, very great post dude.

Re: Acho. He is kind of the devil you know. K9 had related him to Rashad Johnson, and I believe that could be pretty accurate. He isn't a guy who is going to be a high priced free agent. We know what he brings to the table. I believe he plays special teams. He could potentially fill Lorenzo Alexander's role.

Re: Zasty. He probably depends on Fitzgerald's contract situation. Also, at his age, is he a mil better than Butler? How long does that continue? It is never good for an old punter to get dinged up because you generally don't carry two. I agree that solid punting is important, and I just don't know how much of a gap there is between an older punter coming off an injury, and a youn ger punter who did ok.

 

[Chopper0080]

Surprised to see so many totally disregarding the most glaring hole we have - out running game... I don't care what QB is playing for us, or what other moves we make. If we don't fix our RB situation, none of it matters at all...

It is tough to comment too much on upgrading at RB for a couple reasons. One, Arians has never been a big volume run game coach. Two, they are so devalued it is tough to predict how a team will address the spot. It is a deep draft which is where I expect they will add one, but I don't see them signing one in free agency when the cap will be a little tighter. Lastly, our OG play hasn't been great. A healthy, rededicated Cooper would really help that, but his history has shown he struggles to stay healthy and is raw in terms of technique. You aren't replacing him, but I'm not counting on him to be good either. That leaves RG which I thought Larsen played well at.

 

[Chopper0080]

I gotta say, Keim has done a pretty admirable job, we don't have many horrible contracts if we need to cut anyone. I don't see any Adam Snyders on the roster right now. The Fitz deal was something we kind of knew going in so I don't count it.

Yep. The only really awful contract is Fitzgerald's.

 

[82CardsGrad]

It is tough to comment too much on upgrading at RB for a couple reasons. One, Arians has never been a big volume run game coach. Two, they are so devalued it is tough to predict how a team will address the spot. It is a deep draft which is where I expect they will add one, but I don't see them signing one in free agency when the cap will be a little tighter. Lastly, our OG play hasn't been great. A healthy, rededicated Cooper would really help that, but his history has shown he struggles to stay healthy and is raw in terms of technique. You aren't replacing him, but I'm not counting on him to be good either. That leaves RG which I thought Larsen played well at.

All true... However, by some means this team must improve in the running game, or else...

 

[Chopper0080]

All true... However, by some means this team must improve in the running game, or else...

Yes. I think that is understood. Where I get lost is trying to project where the Cardinals believe they need to improve to make it better.

 

[Chopper0080]

Something else that has been rattling around in my brain...

I'm not sure that Mathieu and Ellington are ever going to be high snap volume players due to their size. This is no knock against them, but they both a smaller players and both have had some issues with staying healthy. I'm in no way saying they can't or aren't impact players, but I wonder if Ellington's ultimate and best role is as complimentry RB, and 3rd/4th WR. Along the same lines, I don't know that Mathieu is ever going to be a deep middle FS, and his biggest strength is playing closer to the LOS, in the slot, and blitzing at times. His ideal role might be more of a Jerraud Powers type role. With this in mind, I really start to look at our needs at RB and FS (I'm not a huge Rashad Johnson fan) as a need for starters at those positions.

 

[D-Dogg]

I agree that solid punting is important, and I just don't know how much of a gap there is between an older punter coming off an injury, and a youn ger punter who did ok.

I guess I am not of the opinion that Butler did OK. He has a slow getoff and doesn't really kick deep or high. He had a few good games toward the end of the year, but I definitely wouldn't count on him as our punter next year if Zasty is cut/can't perform.

 

[kerouac9]

I think (and this would be a good question to ask Kent Somers or Mike Jurecki) that Drew Stanton has/will hit a $4M playing time incentive that will hit his 2015 cap number.

 

[Chopper0080]

I guess I am not of the opinion that Butler did OK. He has a slow getoff and doesn't really kick deep or high. He had a few good games toward the end of the year, but I definitely wouldn't count on him as our punter next year if Zasty is cut/can't perform.

So with him being a rookie, I feel like his progress was nice to see. Punting is an area that I know very little about in terms of technique and form and tools. I just do not have a way I can qualitfy the difference between the two.

 

[GatorAZ]

I think (and this would be a good question to ask Kent Somers or Mike Jurecki) that Drew Stanton has/will hit a $4M playing time incentive that will hit his 2015 cap number.

On top of his regular cap hit? OTC has us 11m over for next season but that's not including carry over from this season...

 

[kerouac9]

On top of his regular cap hit? OTC has us 11m over for next season but that's not including carry over from this season...

IIRC, he has the $2.45M base and a $4M escalator for "certain performance incentives". From OTC:

His contract contains workout bonuses in 2014 and 2015 as well as a $500,000 2015 roster bonus. His salary can increase by $4 million in 2014 and $8 million in 2015 by reaching certain performance thresholds.

http://overthecap.com/player/drew-stanton/18/

I asked Somers about this during Stanton's first couple starts, and he said that there would be a $4M escalator for his PT.

We had an additional like $2M when we cut Derek Anderson back in the day for the same reason.

 

[kerouac9]

Something else that has been rattling around in my brain...

I'm not sure that Mathieu and Ellington are ever going to be high snap volume players due to their size. This is no knock against them, but they both a smaller players and both have had some issues with staying healthy. I'm in no way saying they can't or aren't impact players, but I wonder if Ellington's ultimate and best role is as complimentry RB, and 3rd/4th WR. Along the same lines, I don't know that Mathieu is ever going to be a deep middle FS, and his biggest strength is playing closer to the LOS, in the slot, and blitzing at times. His ideal role might be more of a Jerraud Powers type role. With this in mind, I really start to look at our needs at RB and FS (I'm not a huge Rashad Johnson fan) as a need for starters at those positions.

I think that Mathieu was playing 80-85% of the snaps his rookie season before his injury. I think it's too soon to make that determination on Tyrann.

I've long been of the opinion that Mathieu is not a safety, and you prefer him playing closer to the line of scrimmage. I think that he played reps at FS last season because you prefer to see him on the field than take him off when you're only playing 4 DBs.

So with him being a rookie, I feel like his progress was nice to see. Punting is an area that I know very little about in terms of technique and form and tools. I just do not have a way I can qualitfy the difference between the two.

This is Butler's third season in the NFL. He had 16 games on the Steelers roster in 2012.

 

[82CardsGrad]

So with him being a rookie, I feel like his progress was nice to see. Punting is an area that I know very little about in terms of technique and form and tools. I just do not have a way I can qualitfy the difference between the two.

Butler is not a rookie... He just sucks and we would be seriously harmed if he were our guy in 2015!

 

[82CardsGrad]

I think that Mathieu was playing 80-85% of the snaps his rookie season before his injury. I think it's too soon to make that determination on Tyrann.



I've long been of the opinion that Mathieu is not a safety, and you prefer him playing closer to the line of scrimmage. I think that he played reps at FS last season because you prefer to see him on the field than take him off when you're only playing 4 DBs.







This is Butler's third season in the NFL. He had 16 games on the Steelers roster in 2012.

When healthy, I think the Badger could be a terrific, Pro Bowl level FS...