Poll: Is Alan Branch on the opening day roster?

[MrYeahBut]

I voted no in spite of the aforementioned cap implications....I'm just bitter he went to high school in Albuquerque and is giving us a bad name....never mind about Wolverine fans in college.

Albq has only had a couple of real NFL guys..Robin Cole, Terance Mathis, Urlacher, Hank Baskett, and last & still least...Stoney Case

 

[Crazy Canuck]

5 things to look at.

1. He did in fact show up to workouts much lighter then he did the last year. But he also showed up last year pushing 400 so he still could have showed up much lighter at 370 but still 20 pounds away from what the coaches wanted him at.

2. Dykes plays DE not NT so he has no barring on Branch in terms of position.

3. We have always kept 7 DL under Wiz. DE - Dockett, Campbell, Iwebema, Dykes are pretty much locks for the DE spots, and Watson and Robinson are pretty much locks for the NT spots. Leaving one spot open. Leslie was about to start selling shelving systems door to door before we gave him a call, he has done and shown even less then Branch has in his career.

4. Cards still think he has a lot of potential or they wouldnt have given a 750k roster bonus this offseason. Guys who are given 750k roster bonuses just dont get cut for the simple fact of cap implications and wasting 750k.

5. The nuts and bolts of the matter is that we dont even have the cap space to cut him. If we cut him know we would be saving his base salary of 460k but we would still be paying the 1.25 mill in bonus money he is making this year plus the 500k in prorated signing bonus he is still owed for the 2010 season, plus the cost of the player to replace him on the 53 man roster.

I passed your post on to Darren Urban and here is his response:

Thanks. I had seen that. The money very well could play a role. I don’t think Dykes’ spot as a DE right now means much; Bryan Robinson is certainly not a prototypical nose tackle in a 3-4 and he started there. I could see Dykes getting time there if he had to. Branch’s weight is still a concern to the Cards. If I had to bet, I’d say Branch has another year. But I don’t think it’s a sure thing, either.

 

[Unsterblich856]

5. The nuts and bolts of the matter is that we dont even have the cap space to cut him. If we cut him know we would be saving his base salary of 460k but we would still be paying the 1.25 mill in bonus money he is making this year plus the 500k in prorated signing bonus he is still owed for the 2010 season, plus the cost of the player to replace him on the 53 man roster.

Leave it to Alan Branch to not save cap but rather eat it.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

lol. All we needed to see was #5.

Yeah if someone only said that earlier......oh wait

I believe I have read on other threads that Branch costs too much to cut.

Regardless.

Branch is going to make the roster, when he shouldn't. The light builb is not going to come on, and even if it does there is too much fat surrounding it to see the light.

Branch is a lazy, poor excuse for a professional football player. He has been given oppourtunities that a guy like Lance Long, or Elliot Vallejo would kill for. He has done nothing with his oppourtunities, and nothing with his physical gifts. He is a fat lazy slob, and so out of shape and pathetic that I would jump at the chance to say it to his face.

I wish there was a way to cut him and not take the cap hit. When I hear a player like Dockett complain about "contracts not being guaranteed" these are the moments that I think Dockett is talking out of his butt.

Branch has been paid millioins to do jack squat. Talk about money that is being thrown out the window, Branch is the poster boy for it.

My prediction is Branch will be the biggest fattest cheerleader, and be inactive for every game this year, and hopefully is cut the second the final whistle blows........(after we win the Superbowl of course).

 

[Mulli]

Rugby, I will pay you 2-1 odds for all of your current ASFN, that Branch is not cut/ inactive for every game.

 

[Capital Card]

Leave it to Alan Branch to not save cap but rather eat it.

I'm not one to pick on any player, but that is just funny.

I voted that he will be on the team, but as others have said, I don't see the bulb going on for him.

Go Cards.

 

[MadCardDisease]

He will be on the team come the regular season. If he does nothing this year it's the end of the road for Branch.

 

[PaulW]

I believe that CARDDAN has it correct. The Cards will retain 7 defensive linemen. Campbell, Watson, Dockett are the starters. Robinson, Iwebema, Branch and Dykes will back 'em up. Iwebema's health could play a part. Banks looked good in some brief appearences in last years pre-season. Dykes was an animal when he was at West Virginia, could not believe he was not drafted.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Rugby, I will pay you 2-1 odds for all of your current ASFN, that Branch is not cut/ inactive for every game.

Negative.

One injury and he is active by default.

But I would make a bet he still is inneffective, fat, and overpaid at that time as well.

 

[Mulli]

Negative.

One injury and he is active by default.

But I would make a bet he still is inneffective, fat, and overpaid at that time as well.

It was your prediction.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

It was your prediction.

Ageed. I guess I should have prefaced it with "if everyone stays healthy".

Unfortuntately, if a team drafts Bozo the Clown at LB and it costs too much to cut the guy, if everyone gets hurt there is a good chance that the Clown, floppy shoes and all, is sent out on the field because the team is forced to use him.

 

[joeshmo]

He will be on the team come the regular season. If he does nothing this year it's the end of the road for Branch.

Your probably right becuase he has another 750k roster bonus due next offseason as well. But then again they might bite the bullet for the simple fact that Gabe Watson and Robinson will both be unrestricted free agents next year (if a new CBA is in place of course, if not Watson would be a RFA again).

 

[Duckjake]

I'm not one to pick on any player, but that is just funny.

I voted that he will be on the team, but as others have said, I don't see the bulb going on for him.

Go Cards.

I'm still hoping that Whisenhunt and staff can turn Branch's career in the right direction like they have other players. Guess we'll start to see in about 10 days.

 

[Proteus]

I'm still hoping that Whisenhunt and staff can turn Branch's career in the right direction like they have other players. Guess we'll start to see in about 10 days.

He's a coach not a miracle worker.

 

[cardsfanmd]

He's a coach not a miracle worker.

After seeing us make it to the SB last year, I have to disagree

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

After seeing us make it to the SB last year, I have to disagree

And does he seem like the type of guy who would let someone slide through three years being overweight and not deserving his spot because of salary cap ramifications as he cuts guys at other positions who work their tails off and play well (like Matt Trannon, Lance Long)?

Something tells me that if Branch doesn't prove himself this August, he is out of here and Kellen Dykes stays in the Valley

 

[mrbyte]

neccessity is the mother of all invention, So I say the Cards 'invent' his improvement until a better option comes along and he will be gone. So he's on the opening day roster.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Something tells me that if Branch doesn't prove himself this August, he is out of here and Kellen Dykes stays in the Valley

Wouldn't that be great ?

I would be very happy with that scenario.

 

[lauraw]

I have to agree with MrByte...

 

[RonF]

Alan Branch is who he is...lazy. I believe he will be cut as an example to others that lack of effort on one's part, is unacceptable.

 

[joeshmo]

Alan Branch is who he is...lazy. I believe he will be cut as an example to others that lack of effort on one's part, is unacceptable.

Does Wiz still really need to make examples his 3rd year into his tenure? I think the players already know what he and his staff is all about. If they wanted to make an example they would have done it months ago before they handed over a 750k roster bonus check.

Branch wont be cut as an example he will get cut becuase Leslie, Banks, or a waiver wire pickup beats him out for the 7th and final dlinemen spot on the depth chart. (Dockett, Campbell, Watson, Robinson, Iwebema, and Dykes are the first 6 and we have always kept 7 on the roster under wiz)

 

[Duckjake]

He's a coach not a miracle worker.

WRONG!

Whiz took the Cardinals, THE CARDINALS!, to the Super Bowl! He resurrected the 1999 Kurt Warner, he turned Fitz into an unstoppable force, He actually had the Cards running the ball and stopping the run in the playoffs! He had JJ Arrington trying to break tackles!

The guy could have taught Helen Keller to read and write.

:notworthy

 

[joeshmo]

Well according to Urban in his newest blog, Branch not only showed up at a slim 332 lbs(and I use the term slim lightly), he actually showed up lighter then the coaching staff asked him to be at by the time camp started and in great shape.

Hopefully the light has come on. Fingers crossed because it would be so great to have Watson and Branch rotating in the middle letting Robinson play his more natural position which would be a great boost to the 3-4 DE rotation.

 

[Assface]

I predict that Branch will make a solid contribution this year.

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Not that I have seen anything from the other DT's this preseason, but I have to say that it's been the same half-hearted effort from Branch.

I now think the guy is a lost cause who will make the roster for reasons other than his ability to help the team (sunk salary and lack of depth at the position).

What a waste of talent