Should know about James and Alexander by Mar. 17

[ajcardfan]

The franchise rule states that if a team does not sign a player under the tag by March 17, they have to wait until July 15th to sign the player or they lose the tag for the length of the deal. So, if the Colts and Hawks are serious about making a trade it should happen by St. Patty's Day since they'll have to sign the player first. It could happen after that, but they'd have to give up the right to tag next offseason. So, I think we'll know soon what's going to happen.

 

[NFL_FAN]

Damn it!!! That's 5 days away! I need something now!!

 

[joeshmo]

Its actually March 16th 4PM EST.

 

[ajcardfan]

Its actually March 16th 4PM EST.

Even better! I had read the March 17 date in this story about Darius.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/JAC/7112740

 

[CardShark]

The way I read that article is that they lose their right to tag for the life of the contract if they sign after the deadline. That they get around that by signing a one year contract and then work out a multiyear contract after July 15th. The initial one year contract bears the tag restriction. So in essence they would still have their right to tag next year.

There is no real pressure to get something done other than how the draft will affect your position at the bargaining table. Right now the draft is making it a buyers market on runningbacks. This is why you see backs of James' stature being offered up for second round draft picks.

 

[SuperSpck]

I spent this morning on a road trip, giving me time to listen to Mel Kipper Jr. and his Co-host on Gameday (the guy's name escapes me), and according to Mel, the one position on a team that is highly replaceable this year is the RB. The teams that have shown intrest in Big-Time FA would probably be better suited to draft a RB, due to the quality of the young kids in the draft. The draftee would cost a lot less, keeping cap room free for signings and re-signings at other postitions of need.


I'm pretty sure that the board is about in a 50/50 split, so I was curious.

 

[slanidrac16]

Get me a guy like Bennett so I can get some sleep before the draft. It is going to be a long, pressure packed draft day if we wait until the second round to fill our void at rb.

 

[ThunderCard]

Get me a guy like Bennett so I can get some sleep before the draft. It is going to be a long, pressure packed draft day if we wait until the second round to fill our void at rb.

I was thinking the same thing, but recently changed my mind. Even if we go through the draft and all three top RB's are taken so then we will probably pick a good corner. Then in the second we will pick up Fason/JJ/Morency. Also if we do end up with someone like JJ then we could still turn around and get Henry from the Bills for a third or forth next year or still deal Shelton.

 

[ajcardfan]

There is no real pressure to get something done other than how the draft will affect your position at the bargaining table. Right now the draft is making it a buyers market on runningbacks. This is why you see backs of James' stature being offered up for second round draft picks.

Then why did both teams go public with the trade possibility about a week before this deadline? One team, it's a coincidence, two teams, it's not.

 

[CardShark]

Then why did both teams go public with the trade possibility about a week before this deadline? One team, it's a coincidence, two teams, it's not.

There is a blackout period that they can't do anything with their tagged players. With that and a runningback laden draft approaching, now is the time. Losing the right to tag is more of an illusion. Now if there are teams like the Cards that fail to fill their runningback needs in the draft, teams like the Colts wil be sitting in the catbird seat. They don't want to take that gamble so they are offering bargain deals right now.