Cardinals won’t tag Davis
Darren Urban, Tribune
The Biggest player personnel decision the Cardinals had this offseason has been made — and it all but cements the fact left tackle Leonard “Big” Davis will be playing elsewhere in 2007.
Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves said Thursday night the team will not use the franchise tag on Davis, who becomes a free agent next month. NFL teams must decide by Feb. 22 whether or not to tag players.
The team will not use the lesser transition tag either, Graves said.
Beyond that, Graves declined to comment, other than to say the Cardinals have not closed the door on bringing Davis back. But Davis’ agent, Ryan Tollner, said Wednesday the team had still not engaged Davis in any new contract talks. With free agency set to begin at 10 p.m. (Arizona time) March 1, it is obvious Davis will be allowed to shop himself around the league.
Given the dearth of offensive tackles on the market, Davis will be the top tackle available in free agency despite play the Cardinals and many scouts have deemed inconsistent.
Some team — possibly San Francisco, which has a lot of cap space and Davis’ former offensive line coach George Warhop, or perhaps one of the two teams in his home state of Texas — will be willing to pay more than the Cardinals will want to offer.
The decision not to tag Davis isn’t a surprise, given the Cards would have to commit a guaranteed salary of more than $11 million to a player they do not feel is worth such a price.
The Cardinals never talked to Davis about a contract extension at any time this season, making their plans fairly clear.
That bothered Davis, especially after the team extended defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and linebacker Gerald Hayes.
The last time the Cardinals used their franchise tag was in 2002 on safety Kwamie Lassiter.
The Cards had been planning to tag wide receiver David Boston in 2003, but there was a last-minute decision to allow Boston to become a free agent.
Boston signed with San Diego, but the choice became a good one when Boston’s career flamed out after a series of injuries and off-field problems.
With the Cardinals making an attempt to re-sign their young core players to extensions before their contracts ran out — such as safety Adrian Wilson, receiver Anquan Boldin and kicker Neil Rackers — the team hasn’t had any franchise tag candidates the last few seasons.
In December, Davis wasn’t thrilled about the idea of being franchised and said he was intrigued with the possibility of being a free agent.
“It’s kind of like the draft all over again,” Davis said.
“In the draft, you are a high pick but you don’t know where you’ll be with 32 possibilities. (With free agency) there are 31 other possibilities besides here.”
The Cardinals’ front office, coaching staff and scouts have been holed up at the team’s Tempe complex this week reviewing the current roster and preparing for next week’s scouting combine.
While coach Ken Whisenhunt has remained appropriately neutral when asked about Davis, the Cards — who seek much more depth on the offensive line — will likely use the money they won’t spend on Davis to chase multiple linemen in free agency in addition to the draft.
That may be difficult, given that top tackle prospect Joe Thomas will probably be drafted before the Cardinals’ fifth overall pick and the vacuum of good tackle free agents. The team does have holdover tackle Oliver Ross, who may regain some credibility under new offensive line coach Russ Grimm, who coached Ross in Pittsburgh. Reggie Wells has also played left tackle.
