Rod Graves is not going anywhere

[az jam]

Many of us including me would like to see Rod Graves go and a solid football person come in and run the organization. I've been thinking about this and don't think it will happen.
The Bidwills are very frugal. Graves runs the organization the way they (Bidwills) want it run. MB may be different from Mr. B but still is very conservative. They don't make a splash in free agency, they go for the 2nd tier and lower cost players.

Additionally, Graves not being a strong football person allows the coach to make many of the player decisions. Denny Green ran the draft and Whis is getting all these Steeler cast offs. Graves watches the money. If the team fails the coaches get blamed and lose their job not Graves.

The reality is that it is all about the bottom line (money) and Graves marches to the beat of the Bidwill's drum. They (Bidwills) are not going to give authority to as strong minded GM. It just won't happen.

 

[crisper57]

Plus, he's a super nice guy.

 

[kolb2fitz]

Many of us including me would like to see Rod Graves go and a solid football person come in and run the organization. I've been thinking about this and don't think it will happen.
The Bidwills are very frugal. Graves runs the organization the way they (Bidwills) want it run. MB may be different from Mr. B but still is very conservative. They don't make a splash in free agency, they go for the 2nd tier and lower cost players.

Additionally, Graves not being a strong football person allows the coach to make many of the player decisions. Denny Green ran the draft and Whis is getting all these Steeler cast offs. Graves watches the money. If the team fails the coaches get blamed and lose their job not Graves.

The reality is that it is all about the bottom line (money) and Graves marches to the beat of the Bidwill's drum. They (Bidwills) are not going to give authority to as strong minded GM. It just won't happen.

Graves is in over his head....this org needs to be gutted from the inside out. Graves out and a new GM is a must.....

However, I do not agree with the team being frugal. They just handed kolb and fitz major bank this offseason and have doled out extensions to boldin, AW, FITZ, DD, Kurt warner, Signed Edge to a monster deal, Gave $$$ to whiz, grimm, Lott even. Got the whole workout facility.

Money or cheapness isnt the problem, rather a tired excuse. Its the way they are SPENDING the moeny that is the problem.

 

[crisper57]

Graves is in over his head....this org needs to be gutted from the inside out. Graves out and a new GM is a must.....

However, I do not agree with the team being frugal. They just handed kolb and fitz major bank this offseason and have doled out extensions to boldin, AW, FITZ, DD, Kurt warner, Signed Edge to a monster deal, Gave $$$ to whiz, grimm, Lott even. Got the whole workout facility.

Money or cheapness isnt the problem, rather a tired excuse. Its the way they are SPENDING the moeny that is the problem.

I agree. At this point, I think loyalty to Graves is the bigger issue.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I agree. At this point, I think loyalty to Graves is the bigger issue.

Loyalty is a curse.

 

[kerouac9]

Plus, he's a super nice guy.

I also hear he's a gym rat who can lead, and is doing a good job getting the play into the huddle and getting guys into the right place before the snap.

You can keep Graves as GM and empower a VP Pro Personnel to have greater authority over who is on and off the roster.

 

[CHAPTER 7]

Reading this post made me sad...And the fact is that what you guys metioned is sooo true...And we can't do nothing but to be disappointed fans.

 

[conraddobler]

Well instead of beating my head into a brick wall here's a suggestion that will work for the Cardinals.

One minor tweak.

Hire a head personell guy, a lead scout, a talent evaluator, someone in charge of building the team and make them the FINAL say on who we put on our team.

Then tell Whis to take his Steeler rejects and shove them, coach what we give you or leave.

Graves stays as the GM, cap manager and contracts guy, that will work.

I think at this point this is the best we can do.

 

[BigRedRage]

This has been the case for 6 years and is wishful thinking.

 

[az jam]

The point I wanted to make is that the Bidwill's love Graves. He will still be there next year.

 

[splitsecond]

The minute this team sees a blackout game again, everything changes. And I think that will happen this year. Maybe even this weekend.

 

[RedViper]

Not renewing season tickets if we don't have a real GM. When they call (and they do almost every week) this will be the only thing I have to say to them. Maybe they won't give a crap. Maybe they'll stop calling. Whatever. No way am I writing a check next May if we don't have a real GM.

 

[NeverSayDieFan]

Rod Graves and George Boone....

We all know what Graves has done as G.M. For those of you who don't know the "history" of the Cardinals in St. Louis the draft was over-seen by a guy named George Boone. Well, Boone couldn't pick his nose let alone a good ballplayer...And yet...year after year he was allowed to keep his job. We were the "joke" of every NFL draft day! It made me sick to my stomach, and yet being a Cardinal fan I'd watch every year somehow hoping for a different result.

Bottom-line?? Graves is NOT going anywhere and as a result the Cardinals will NEVER WIN!! The Bidwill's however will continue to take our hard-earned money to their bank account. Dem's da' facts! It sucks! But it is what it is.

 

[az240zz]

Well instead of beating my head into a brick wall here's a suggestion that will work for the Cardinals.

One minor tweak.

Hire a head personell guy, a lead scout, a talent evaluator, someone in charge of building the team and make them the FINAL say on who we put on our team.

Then tell Whis to take his Steeler rejects and shove them, coach what we give you or leave.

Graves stays as the GM, cap manager and contracts guy, that will work.

I think at this point this is the best we can do.

This

 

[Pariah]

It's not about frugality, it's about power. We won't get a real GM in here because anyone worth their salt won't roll over for the Bidwills like Graves does.

 

[conraddobler]

It's not about fugality, it's about power. We won't get a real GM in here because anyone worth their salt won't roll over for the Bidwills like Graves does.

I agree, and if Graves is smart he'll take my advice and suggest what I did, that will insulate him from ever getting fired.

Hire a personell guy, have Michael do it,let them build the team, Graves does the contracts.

Doing it this way makes you as Rod Graves even more impervious to firing but he is already so it would be IMO a win for the organization to do it this way.

A real GM would do it all but as you said they'd call BS on some of the ways this team is run IMO.

 

[BigRedFan]

There needs to be a complete house cleaning. A .250 win % since we won the Green Bay playoff game, one of the worst years in Cardinal history last year pts and yardage wise, repeated inability to hold even sizable leads, poor play calling, neglecting key positions in the draft (no OL in 2 yrs despite the revolving door to the QB, hello?) and questionable offseason decisions (giving a WR QB money and giving 60 million to an unproven QB and in the process losing a proven player and high draft pick), players coming here and getting worse, players leaving and getting better. 2008-09 was just an anomaly, a good but not great team got hot on the arm of a Hall of Famer and the draft picks of Dennis Green.

I agree, and if Graves is smart he'll take my advice and suggest what I did, that will insulate him from ever getting fired.

Hire a personell guy, have Michael do it,let them build the team, Graves does the contracts.

Doing it this way makes you as Rod Graves even more impervious to firing but he is already so it would be IMO a win for the organization to do it this way.

A real GM would do it all but as you said they'd call BS on some of the ways this team is run IMO.

 

[john h]

The point I wanted to make is that the Bidwill's love Graves. He will still be there next year.

And probably as long as Mr. Bidwill Sr. is alive. It should have sunk into my head by now and after 60 years that the Cardinals are what they are and are not likely to change until Mr. B dies. Even then as one my favorite quote goes "the apple does not fall far from the tree". I would like to be a Bear fan as I grew up in Chicago loving the Cubs. Unfortunately I latched on to the Cards at that time because they had one of my boyhood players on the team. Charlie Trippi. Now I am stuck forever with the Cards. I was angry when they left Chicago and even angrier when they left St. Louis. Arizona is not so lucky because with the new stadium the Cards are locked in as long as anyone on this board will live.

 

[az jam]

And probably as long as Mr. Bidwill Sr. is alive. It should have sunk into my head by now and after 60 years that the Cardinals are what they are and are not likely to change until Mr. B dies. Even then as one my favorite quote goes "the apple does not fall far from the tree". I would like to be a Bear fan as I grew up in Chicago loving the Cubs. Unfortunately I latched on to the Cards at that time because they had one of my boyhood players on the team. Charlie Trippi. Now I am stuck forever with the Cards. I was angry when they left Chicago and even angrier when they left St. Louis. Arizona is not so lucky because with the new stadium the Cards are locked in as long as anyone on this board will live.

Don't rub it in
It's a poorly run organization but it is pro football which is a huge money maker for the Bidwills.

 

[Duckjake]

The point I wanted to make is that the Bidwill's love Graves. He will still be there next year.

Well that would go a long way to explaining why the Cards finish dead last so often.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Why does anyone want Graves to stay around and do the contracts? He sucks at that too.

 

[conraddobler]

Why does anyone want Graves to stay around and do the contracts? He sucks at that too.

We don't we're just being pragmatic because we know they won't fire him.

Thus we hope they will at least compartmentalize him into an area where he'll do the least damage.

 

[Zeno]

We don't we're just being pragmatic because we know they won't fire him.

Thus we hope they will at least compartmentalize him into an area where he'll do the least damage.

How about VP of concession sales? or VP of equipment purchases or VP of hiring non-football related employees....anything so he doesn't impact the team ON the field.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Why does anyone want Graves to stay around and do the contracts? He sucks at that too.

agreed... this is probably what he's the WORST at... and that's saying something.

if he is involved in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, we'll always be screwed because he's beyond incompetent.

 

[Rats]

You guys need to stop complaining....I gave up on ripping Whiz, constantly deriding Bidwill, and saying that we should replace Graves because he has no eye for talent, overpays mediocre players and is a bafoon. Nothing we say or do will get these guys out of here and get quality guys in these positions because of the Bidwill ownership. They would rather suck on Russ Grimms hairy ******** than get a quality OLine. We will be in the running for Luck and will lose out because of Corn on the Kolb....I refuse to post much until these things are addressed .....so there is a benefit in it for you