Another man's trash is the Cardinals' treasure? It must be the NFL offseason once again!
Ah, the time of year when any mediocre team's castoffs can, with a change of scenery and some "coaching up", become an All-pro or a solid contributor, regardless of the reasons why he was cut by his former team. I swear, some of the fans on this board just lap it up.
The Giants are $9.4 million under the cap right now, according to John Clayton. They're not cutting him for cap room. You don't cut servicable left tackles. The Ravens are cutting Jamal Lewis because (1) they are up against the cap and (2) because Lewis isn't worth the $5 million roster bonus in his contract.
But maybe you guys are right. Maybe all Petitgout needs to become a quality starter is a change of scenery and to get "coached up" by a quality staff. All I ask is you provide on instance where that happened at the left tackle position in--say--the last five years. I mean, things happen all the time that have never happened before, but it's not really a good idea for the team to depend on it, right?
Right?
Maybe I'm just being negative, though. I'm probably not as adept at reading the body languages of players as other posters here.
Explain to me then why Jeremy Bridges, who gets cut by the Cards---a team desperate for o-line help, gets signed by Carolina, winds up starting for them at RT and plays well.
The coaches decide who plays and they are the ones who prep the players to perform to the best of their abilities. I would say in Bridges' case he got the coaching and the vote of confidence he needed to go in and perform at a respectable level.
Luke Pettigout has struggled off an on through injuries, false starts and media scrutiny for the last two to three years. He will have to sign somewhere for a cut above the minimum and prove that his back is healthy and he can put his false start woes behind him. While it may appear that Pettigout's best days as a pro are behind him, it wouldn't be very risky for any team to bring him to camp to see what he can do.
As for Mike Gandy, I saw a game this past year (Bills versus Pats) where he was opening big holes against a good defense...and he did give up a sack that game, but the Bills' QB (Losman) didn't step up into the pocket the way he should have (which can be a problem with smaller QBs). Gandy blocked better in that game than Leonard Davis did in any of the Cardinal games last year.
Davis...when you watch him closely...whiffs on a lot of run blocks at LT...yes, I think that Russ Grimm could whip Davis into a Pro Bolwer, particularly if he plays at guard (but, Davis is funny when it comes to motivation...even Grimm may not have that much of an effect on him).
The bottom line is...is Davis worth 1/10 of the Cardinals salary cap? Because he's inconsistent...hasn't shown leadership or exemplary work habits...the answer is no.
As for compensation...all the Cards need is the $10M they will save in not re-signing Davis to use in acquiring 3-4 free agents in addition ot the free agents they would sign even if they do sign Davis.
Davis isn't high on free agent lists (19th on SI/CNN, for example)...isn't that interesting...if the Cardinals think someone is going to give them draft picks if they franchise Davis, they are in fantasy land.
Now..if it were up to me...I would like to see the Cards give up their 2nd or 3rd round draft pick to acquire Max Starks, who becomes Leinart's blindside tackle at RT...drafting Joe Thomas at #5, if available, would be attractive in this scenario, although I still think Reggie Wells can be a solid LT...I like the way he played at RT.
I am not convinced that the Cardinals are set at G either. Milford Brown and Deuce Lutui played pretty well down the stretch, but both were inconsistent at times, Brown struggles in pass protection more than what makes me comfortable and Lutui has weight issues.
Plus...this line still doesn't have a true veteran leader...which is why adding Eric Steinbach would be huge.
