Rumor: Jared Veldheer Expected to Sign with Cardinals

[CardsFan88]

I have read some McKenzie love after the offseason by NFl folks and I don't get it. He inherited an awful roster, but he has also done very little to improve it. I don't see the team being any better than when he got there.

I read some stuff too, probably around the time we were getting Palmer. Articles saying he was up and coming. I have to say my impression is the opposite, but we need to be fair to give him enough time.

Checking his wiki page he rose from scout to director pro personnel with the Packers from '94 to '08. John Madden recommended him to Mark Davis, and he's the Raiders first GM not named Al Davis since 1966. His first draft pick as GM was #95 overall.

So yeah he's had a lot to deal with. They did seem to play more competitively this year. But when you look around, I don't see that he's added anything with his moves, and he has made some.

He deserves somewhat of a pass because the talent went down out of a necessity to get under the cap/dead space, but he still made some moves to bring guys in and whiffed on those. If you're constrained and can only make a couple of moves, you need to make sure they are your best moves and hit on them. Matt Flynn, ugh. It seem like Mike Brisiel didn't start off well, but I guess he did better last year.

http://cover32.com/raiders/2013/10/11/mike-brisiel-pro-bowl-caliber-guard/

All I know is he gave us Palmer for almost nothing, and the guy he targeted and traded for he cut a few weeks into the season. At this point I'll trust Keim over McKenzie. If JV doesn't pan out as well as we hope, it's still highly likely he performs better then Sowell and definitely a large gap over Levi.

Here's some more, it talks about Brisiel

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/tag/_/name/mike-brisiel

Also here's an interesting article...almost makes it seem like Marcel Reece is Al Davis's son. Not good if Reece is having to coach Al Davis's son on the tenants of the Raider's 'Commitment to Excellence'. Could just be exuberance and a desire to return to winning football, and of course they could be planning to be aggressive, but it just seems odd with all this space how things seem to be going down and how it matches up with what Reece is talking about or trying to prevent.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...raiders-smart-calculated-fearless-free-agency

"What I want to see Reggie do, and I'll be honest with you, just like I'll be honest with him, I want him to be fearless," Reece said Saturday night at the team's Commitment to Excellence dinner. "I want to not worry about anybody else. I want him to be fearless and, let's go for it right now.

"No safe moves. I don't want safe moves. I want smart, calculated, fearless, Raider-ass moves that you don't care about anything else. Just winning. And that's what we want to do. Right now."

and

"And Reggie will let you know that I was on him, and Mark [Davis] will let you know that I was on him. We've got to take care of home [free agents] first but then once free agency hits, we're going to get after anybody and everybody who's willing to come here.

 

[Chopper0080]

I don't want to pile on you here. But MCD and crisper are right that Schneider wasn't in building mode when he arrived. I think you have to start evaluating his team's ability to build a roster starting now, because he had to purge so much off their roster. They had more than $50M in dead money on their cap in 2013--almost as much as the entire payroll of their stadium-mates the Oakland As.

Ok...so you can't play in free agency. I admitted McKenzie inherited a terrible situation. That being said he has had two drafts...and what has he added?

1 D.J. Hayden DB
2 Menelik Watson OL
3 Sio Moore LB
4 Tyler Wilson QB
6 Nick Kasa TE
6 Latavius Murray RB
6 Mychal Rivera TE
6 Stacy McGee DT
7 Brice Butler WR
7 David Bass DE

3 Tony Bergstrom OL
4 Miles Burris LB
5 Jack Crawford DE
5 Juron Criner WR
6 Christo Bilukidi DE
7 Nathan Stupar LB

-traded 2014 5th round pick for Matt Flynn

I'm sorry, I don't see it. Maybe I am holding him to a very high standard, but I see one starter drafted in Sio Moore in two drafts. I see a team that is going to lose two of it's best players in Veldheer and Houston to FA because they have 40 mil and didn't use their franchise tag. On a roster that bad, your rookies should stick because the talent is so poor. Those drafted players aren't sticking so far.

 

[Denny Green Fan]

When he passed on Sheldon Richardson and Star it left me scratching

my bald head.

 

[crisper57]

Ok...so you can't play in free agency. I admitted McKenzie inherited a terrible situation. That being said he has had two drafts...and what has he added?

1 D.J. Hayden DB
2 Menelik Watson OL
3 Sio Moore LB
4 Tyler Wilson QB
6 Nick Kasa TE
6 Latavius Murray RB
6 Mychal Rivera TE
6 Stacy McGee DT
7 Brice Butler WR
7 David Bass DE

3 Tony Bergstrom OL
4 Miles Burris LB
5 Jack Crawford DE
5 Juron Criner WR
6 Christo Bilukidi DE
7 Nathan Stupar LB

-traded 2014 5th round pick for Matt Flynn

I'm sorry, I don't see it. Maybe I am holding him to a very high standard, but I see one starter drafted in Sio Moore in two drafts. I see a team that is going to lose two of it's best players in Veldheer and Houston to FA because they have 40 mil and didn't use their franchise tag. On a roster that bad, your rookies should stick because the talent is so poor. Those drafted players aren't sticking so far.

I'll give you the draft issues. I don't think he is a good GM, but I respected that he took the dead money issue all at once, rather than try to figure out how to spread it out over several years. That is the only decision he's made that I've agreed with.

 

[kerouac9]

Ok...so you can't play in free agency. I admitted McKenzie inherited a terrible situation. That being said he has had two drafts...and what has he added?

1 D.J. Hayden DB
2 Menelik Watson OL
3 Sio Moore LB
4 Tyler Wilson QB
6 Nick Kasa TE
6 Latavius Murray RB
6 Mychal Rivera TE
6 Stacy McGee DT
7 Brice Butler WR
7 David Bass DE

3 Tony Bergstrom OL
4 Miles Burris LB
5 Jack Crawford DE
5 Juron Criner WR
6 Christo Bilukidi DE
7 Nathan Stupar LB

-traded 2014 5th round pick for Matt Flynn

I'm sorry, I don't see it. Maybe I am holding him to a very high standard, but I see one starter drafted in Sio Moore in two drafts. I see a team that is going to lose two of it's best players in Veldheer and Houston to FA because they have 40 mil and didn't use their franchise tag. On a roster that bad, your rookies should stick because the talent is so poor. Those drafted players aren't sticking so far.

So... he didn't have first- or second-round picks in 2012 and you're wondering why he failed to land an impact player? He traded down in the 2013 draft to get back a second-round pick that had been traded earlier and didn't strike immediate gold in one of the worst draft classes in recent memory?

I'm not going to kill McKenzie yet because he had 8 sixth- or seventh-round picks and they're not all starters within two years.

 

[THESMEL]

What do I know - I expected Levi to take us back to the Superbowl! Thought he did well as a run blocking LT - on a team with the least amount of runs over his career the in history of earth, I like LD too!

With that said we are a pass first offense- I think the pendulum has swung to run first offenses having and advantage against Pass first defenses-

I wanna see what Cooper can do at guard - and if Veldheer is athletic as scouts say- we might be pretty damn good-

 

[Gandhi]

I think Veldheer will be a scoop if signed. Initially, I had both Albert and Monroe higher in my own rankings of the free agent-possibilities but I really trust Keim and Arians on this one. One of the things I am most excited about is that Arians more than once has spoken about how he takes input from the players already on the team in consideration. In my mind there is no doubt that Palmer has vouched for Veldheer, again if they are truly going after him. I wanted Veldheer when he came out in the draft, and now that he has proven himself at the highest level, I want him even more. I think he has all the tools to become a monster on the offensive line.

Like others, I find it kind of strange that the Raiders didn’t give him their franchise tag but several reports says that they in fact do want him back, and besides, it isn’t exactly the first time we have seen a somewhat weird decision from that organization.

I don’t really care about the cost as I think the team has to upgrade the position, and if that’s going to cost more than a reasonable fee, well, then so be it. That said, if he is indeed cheaper than Albert then obviously that’s all the better.

Dreaming is free, and if they can add Veldheer, re-sign Winston, draft someone like Antonio Richardson, Ja’Wuan James or maybe even Cyrus Kouandjio in the second round, or if Massie steps up, they can really put together a strong offensive line.

 

[Chopper0080]

So... he didn't have first- or second-round picks in 2012 and you're wondering why he failed to land an impact player? He traded down in the 2013 draft to get back a second-round pick that had been traded earlier and didn't strike immediate gold in one of the worst draft classes in recent memory?

I'm not going to kill McKenzie yet because he had 8 sixth- or seventh-round picks and they're not all starters within two years.

He didn't have to hit impact players, but with a roster that is league-low terrible, you are saying he couldn't land multiple starters? What talent are they flaunting that is holding players back? My issue with McKenzie isn't that the team isn't 7-9, it's that he has added very little talent and keeps losing the players he has. Tyvon Branch, Stefan Wiesnewski, Mike Brisel, and what...? He paid Marcel Reece 3yrs, 11 mil. Janikowski 4yrs, 15.1 mil. Nick Roach 4yrs, 13 mil. So his priority has been a FB, a P and an ILB other than their S Branch (4yrs, 26.6 mil)?

I get it, it was a crappy situation to take on, but who is their young talent they have added? They lost Desmond Bryant last year and they are poised to lose Jared Veldheer and Lamarr Houston this year. Who is Tracy Porter holding back? Mike Jenkins? Tony Pashos? Kevin Burnett? The roster is awful and in two drafts he has added Sio Moore and Mychal Rivera as starters. Trading back last year was a great move...drafting DJ Hayden at #12 who had heart issues wasn't. Re-signing Tyvon Branch was a great move...losing Demond Bryant and potentially Jared Veldheer/Lamarr Houston wasn't.

Maybe given 5 or 6 years McKenzie could turn the boat, unfortunately you don't get that kind of time anymore.

 

[Russ Smith]

Obviously the simple answer is Oakland is stupid. But maybe they simply don't think Veldheer is worth what they have to pay to keep him and even with all that caproom they don't want to just overpay guys to keep them?

 

[kerouac9]

He didn't have to hit impact players, but with a roster that is league-low terrible, you are saying he couldn't land multiple starters? What talent are they flaunting that is holding players back? My issue with McKenzie isn't that the team isn't 7-9, it's that he has added very little talent and keeps losing the players he has. Tyvon Branch, Stefan Wiesnewski, Mike Brisel, and what...? He paid Marcel Reece 3yrs, 11 mil. Janikowski 4yrs, 15.1 mil. Nick Roach 4yrs, 13 mil. So his priority has been a FB, a P and an ILB other than their S Branch (4yrs, 26.6 mil)?

I get it, it was a crappy situation to take on, but who is their young talent they have added? They lost Desmond Bryant last year and they are poised to lose Jared Veldheer and Lamarr Houston this year. Who is Tracy Porter holding back? Mike Jenkins? Tony Pashos? Kevin Burnett? The roster is awful and in two drafts he has added Sio Moore and Mychal Rivera as starters. Trading back last year was a great move...drafting DJ Hayden at #12 who had heart issues wasn't. Re-signing Tyvon Branch was a great move...losing Demond Bryant and potentially Jared Veldheer/Lamarr Houston wasn't.

Maybe given 5 or 6 years McKenzie could turn the boat, unfortunately you don't get that kind of time anymore.

I dunno. When your quarterback is terrible, and you have an offense-oriented head coach, what are you supposed to do?

They haven't lost Veldheer yet, and they don't have really an opportunity cost to overpaying to upgrade him. I think we agree that Veldheer isn't a top-level left tackle. If they have to pay $2M more per year to get Eugene Monroe, that's an upgrade, right?

Yes, it would suck to lose a piece like Justin Houston, but he's not an irreplaceable building block, either, and he hasn't left yet.

I'll re-iterate what I said a moment ago--Tony Bergstrom is the only player from their 2013 draft class who should be getting significant PT, and he was on IR last year due to a foot injury.

You can develop (maybe) fifth, sixth, and seventh round draft picks, but if you have better options available from you veterans, you have to play those guys.

Did you know that Menalik Watson was British?

 

[Azlen]

Obviously the simple answer is Oakland is stupid. But maybe they simply don't think Veldheer is worth what they have to pay to keep him and even with all that caproom they don't want to just overpay guys to keep them?

Ross Tucker's theory is that McKenzie isn't valuing Veldheer and Houston like the rest of the league because they aren't his guys. He doubts they would be hitting the market if McKenzie was the one to draft them.

https://twitter.com/RossTuckerNFL/status/443128712599707648

 

[Chopper0080]

I dunno. When your quarterback is terrible, and you have an offense-oriented head coach, what are you supposed to do?

They haven't lost Veldheer yet, and they don't have really an opportunity cost to overpaying to upgrade him. I think we agree that Veldheer isn't a top-level left tackle. If they have to pay $2M more per year to get Eugene Monroe, that's an upgrade, right?

Yes, it would suck to lose a piece like Justin Houston, but he's not an irreplaceable building block, either, and he hasn't left yet.

I'll re-iterate what I said a moment ago--Tony Bergstrom is the only player from their 2013 draft class who should be getting significant PT, and he was on IR last year due to a foot injury.

You can develop (maybe) fifth, sixth, and seventh round draft picks, but if you have better options available from you veterans, you have to play those guys.

Did you know that Menalik Watson was British?

They has an article about him last year that detailed that he was which is why he got such a late start into football. Him and Ansah shared a similar story that way. It didn't hit home until I heard him talk in a pre draft interview.

We will see with this offseason what the Raiders plan is I guess. They have money, but unfortunately also a dumpster fire of a roster will force them to hand out some stupid contracts if they aren't careful. They have draft picks, but we will see if they can deliver. The lack of QB is a huge issue, but I am not sure they are in a place to make the move in round 1. Honestly, as much as they could use Clowney or Sammy Watkins Jr., their best move might be another trade back as long as they don't **** it up again.

 

[Chopper0080]

Ross Tucker's theory is that McKenzie isn't valuing Veldheer and Houston like the rest of the league because they aren't his guys. He doubts they would be hitting the market if McKenzie was the one to draft them.

https://twitter.com/RossTuckerNFL/status/443128712599707648

Well...if that is true, I am pretty sure McKenzie's guys are going to get him fired so good luck with that. I am curious to see if he continues with his slow play or if he makes moves to try and keep his job.

 

[football karma]

Obviously the simple answer is Oakland is stupid. But maybe they simply don't think Veldheer is worth what they have to pay to keep him and even with all that caproom they don't want to just overpay guys to keep them?

maybe Oakland gambled with not franchising him --

and are now finding out that its not a money thing

maybe the Raiders have turned into the 90s era Cardinals

 

[az jam]

Perhaps the Raiders will draft either OT Jake Matthews or OT Greg Robinson with the #5 pick, One of them should be there. Additionally if they sign free agent Rams Stafford and put him at guard their OL will have some solid players for the future.

 

[Jay Cardinal]

maybe Oakland gambled with not franchising him --

and are now finding out that its not a money thing

maybe the Raiders have turned into the 90s era Cardinals

I think this is a very accurate statement. Right down to the "Losers tax" they will have to overpay free agents to come to their crumby team.

 

[Buckybird]

Perhaps the Raiders will draft either OT Jake Matthews or OT Greg Robinson with the #5 pick, One of them should be there. Additionally if they sign free agent Rams Stafford and put him at guard their OL will have some solid players for the future.

They could have 5 1st rounders every year & still suck 5 years down the line!
Whether it's old ass Al or his son, they are simply clueless how to build a winner & it's starts at the top!!! Sound familiar? Thank you Michael

 

[Buckybird]

Well...if that is true, I am pretty sure McKenzie's guys are going to get him fired so good luck with that. I am curious to see if he continues with his slow play or if he makes moves to try and keep his job.

They were discussing that exact same thing on Friday of NFL insiders...McKenzie & Allen's heads may roll in 2015.

 

[Jetstream Green]

The Browns have a much greater chance of digging out of the cellar this year than the Raiders and the Dolphins will have given a decade...wait, the Browns do not have a chance either. Those are three teams where even money could not get me to want to play there, I would rather go to Buffalo lol

 

[GatorAZ]

“@JohnMiddlekauff: As @RavensInsider first reported My sources say Veldheer to AZ is expected to be completed tomorrow.”

“@JohnMiddlekauff: Have also heard rumblings that Veldheer took less $ to play on Arizona.”

 

[juza76]

“@JohnMiddlekauff: As @RavensInsider first reported My sources say Veldheer to AZ is expected to be completed tomorrow.”

“@JohnMiddlekauff: Have also heard rumblings that Veldheer took less $ to play on Arizona.”

Do u know this mikkleduff?
Is he reliable?

 

[Finito]

“@JohnMiddlekauff: As @RavensInsider first reported My sources say Veldheer to AZ is expected to be completed tomorrow.”

“@JohnMiddlekauff: Have also heard rumblings that Veldheer took less $ to play on Arizona.”

If that's true GREAT!

Oh how the times have changed players taking less to play here cause they want to win.

 

[Jim Otis]

It's beginning to look like Carson Palmer is one hell - of - a - recruiter !

 

[GatorAZ]

Do u know this mikkleduff?
Is he reliable?

Ex scout and Bay Area football insider apparently.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Almost universally Raider fans are up in arms about losing this guy. Much more so then Houston from what I have seen. I have watched some video, read the PFF grades from 2012, but this seems to be the best indicator of how valuable he is to me. Palmer knowing him like he does says a lot to me too.

This seems like a smart move and for less money it appears too. Not your older brothers Cardinals, thats for sure.

Am I dreaming that if Dansby walks like we all expect, the Cards could be players for a humbled Jarius Byrd, TJ Ward, Roger Saffold, or gulp Demarcus Ware????