So long Leonard

[Covert Rain]

"we don’t feel that the investment that would be required to keep him is equal to the performance."

 

[Mulli]

"we don’t feel that the investment that would be required to keep him is equal to the performance."

I loved that as well.

 

[football karma]

I think we all saw this coming a mile away --

There must be more here than meets the eye --

Could it be that Big confirmed to Wis what was reported earlier -- that he doesnt want to play tackle anymore? If so, did he ask for tackle like money?

Earlier in the year Jurecki was talking about leadership on the offensive line -- noting that Big was the leader -- but was perceived as having too laid back a personality to give the o-line the "nasty-ness" that it needed. Could this be it?

Who knows.

 

[Duckjake]

chase multiple linemen in free agency in addition to the draft.

Yay! More guys like Liwienski, Gorin,Reuber and Ross.

 

[Alan]

Judging by the size of the contract he should receive, the Cardinals could still get a high compensatory pick for him. A third or fourth round pick wouldn't be so bad. But it also depends on who the Cardinals sign.

 

[Pariah]

LT is highest paid position on the line because teams need to protect the blind side of the QB. This is football basics man. Now our blind side is the right tackle. There arent many left handed qb's. Its kinda rare.

Leinart can see the DE coming from his left. Not his right.

I understand your position. But you act like QBs don't ever get sacked except from their blindside. Do you know how many sacks we'll give up if we flip the strength of our line because the cardinals are under the mistaken belief that ML will be able to avoid the incredible pressure coming from guys like Dwight Freeny playing Oliver Ross? A mis-match is a mis-match is a mis-match. RTs are better suited playing LDEs than RDEs.

 

[phillycard]

God Speed Big! May you succeed elsewhere kind sir.

 

[spanky1]

If letting BIG go allows us to land both Adalius Thomas and Nate Clements in FA then I'm all for it......and IMHO we couldn't get these two and keep BIG.....mathematics aside. We still have to extend Dansby at some point in the near future and have some RFA's to deal with in players like Leckey etc.

None of us know for sure what Gorin might look like at LT with some solid coaching what with Grimms on board. For that matter, Oliver Ross may be able to be saved.

 

[40yearfan]

I'm sure Russ Grimm had input into this decision. Are we ready to throw him under the bus already?

 

[ajcardfan]

Well, I'm a bit disappointed that we've made our position going into free agency and the draft much tougher. All I can say is that I hope it looks as good in hindsight as the decision to not tag Boston was.

On the other hand, not tagging Boston resulted in us having Larry Foster and Bryan Gilmore as starters at WR the next season.

 

[CaptTurbo]

I understand your position. But you act like QBs don't ever get sacked except from their blindside. Do you know how many sacks we'll give up if we flip the strength of our line because the cardinals are under the mistaken belief that ML will be able to avoid the incredible pressure coming from guys like Dwight Freeny playing Oliver Ross? A mis-match is a mis-match is a mis-match. RTs are better suited playing LDEs than RDEs.

I understand where you are coming from as well. But with a lefty your most talented guy needs to be the RT. Blind side sacks = fumbles.

 

[Renz]

Also, what are the chances Davis changes positions with his new team?

If he does, which I doubt, he won't be makin' $9 mil a year.

 

[Gambit]

I'm worried, but I have hope. I think the plan is to throw everything at Steinbach and hope he can play tackle as well as he can play guard. A weird plan, but I think that's what it is.

 

[ajcardfan]

I'm sure Russ Grimm had input into this decision. Are we ready to throw him under the bus already?

Before I start with anything close to "In Grimm (or Whis) I trust", I'll need to see a winning team on the field. I've heard too much about "plans" the last two decades.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Well, I'm a bit disappointed that we've made our position going into free agency and the draft much tougher. All I can say is that I hope it looks as good in hindsight as the decision to not tag Boston was.

On the other hand, not tagging Boston resulted in us having Larry Foster and Bryan Gilmore as starters at WR the next season.

Would we have been any better off had we tagged Boston??

 

[ajcardfan]

Would we have been any better off had we tagged Boston??

We'll never know. But, he was a hot commodity at the time. A better replacement than Larry Foster via a trade doesn't seem very far fetched.

 

[82CardsGrad]

If he does, which I doubt, he won't be makin' $9 mil a year.

Very true!

Screw Leonard! Talent? Well, if you believe being the leading False Start guy is a talent, then sure...
I am very, very happy with this move. See ya Leonard!!!!!

 

[Mulli]

Does sitting on the bench count as a position change?

 

[Gambit]

Heck anyone would play equal to Davis. Put Gorin in. He will do as well if not better.

Also to make your LT the highest paid OL on a team with a left handed QB is INSANE!

This is a great point

 

[Gambit]

I may have to put this in my sig: Defenses do not generally switch their pass-rushing DE to a lefty-QB's blind side. They still play against the LT most of the time.

But it's not Leinart's blindside. If the pocket collapses he can see the pass rush and adjust.

 

[kerouac9]

I'm sure Russ Grimm had input into this decision. Are we ready to throw him under the bus already?

And what is this assurance based on? Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt aren't Denny Green. Neither has any personnel experience, and both come from a team that had a good/strong General Manager who made the personnel decisions. Nothing that has come out suggests that this was a football move and not a money move. Last comment coming from Whisenhunt was a vote of confidence to Leonard. Now he's essentially gone.

This is Rod Graves' team. This is Rod Graves' decision. It seems pretty certain that this was not a decision made to put the best possible team on the field in the attempt to make Super Bowl XLII a home game.

 

[DKCards]

I'll take it even one step further;

There are ten people who need a car. There are only five Jeeps and one Hummer. Given the scarcity and the fact that all ten people have money to spend, the price of the Jeeps is much higher than normal model years. You have the opportunity to lease the Jeep at a rate slightly higher than last year, but have the ability to get rid of it next year, no questions asked when you realize it's a piece of crap that rarely starts on time. In the meantime, you had a decent vehicle that did the job and was better than what four people got (nothing).

Maybe the mechanic you hired looked at the jeep and knew they could not fix it. It runs great sometimes but is just not dependable and nothing they can do will fix it. But they do have this Dodge sitting in the garage that they are sure they can get running. It might not be as powerful or look as good but they think they can make it very dependable. And then there is this auction coming up that doesn’t have a lot of great looking cars right now but you never know until it starts what late items will be added. After that auction the new models are coming out and your mechanic might just have his eyes on one of those. So I say since you hired this mechanic you have to trust him to do his job.

I really do not agree with letting LD walk with no compensation, but I was not in on the meeting he had with Whiz. I have not been in the locker room, weight room, or on the field with LD. I don’t know if LD’s agent told them they would sign that 11Mil the second they placed it on him or if Whiz wouldn’t even want him for 1 Mil. Whiz never fully indorsed LD so I think he (and Grim) had a lot to do with letting him walk. As much as we think we know about the players we don’t; Whiz is the new head coach and I have to give him the benefit of the doubt at least until it until it plays out on the field.

 

[BACH]

And what is this assurance based on? Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt aren't Denny Green. Neither has any personnel experience, and both come from a team that had a good/strong General Manager who made the personnel decisions. Nothing that has come out suggests that this was a football move and not a money move. Last comment coming from Whisenhunt was a vote of confidence to Leonard. Now he's essentially gone.

This is Rod Graves' team. This is Rod Graves' decision. It seems pretty certain that this was not a decision made to put the best possible team on the field in the attempt to make Super Bowl XLII a home game.

PLEASE!!!!

Do you really think Whisenhunt doesn't look at the salaries.

Big would have cost $11.4M!!! Don't you think Whiesenhunt looked at BIG, then looked a Adelius Thomas and then said so long BIG.

The cap is part of the NFL and part of coaching in the NFL.

 

[earthsci]

As the Bard would say, "What's done is done". If Whis and Grimm didn't think he was worth keeping then I can live with it.

I don't think Whis and Grimm would have let Davis walk if they didn't think he could be replaced. I'll trust their football knowledge until proven otherwise.

I was all for franchising Davis but this is my attitude.

 

[kerouac9]

PLEASE!!!!

Do you really think Whisenhunt doesn't look at the salaries.

Big would have cost $11.4M!!! Don't you think Whiesenhunt looked at BIG, then looked a Adelius Thomas and then said so long BIG.

The cap is part of the NFL and part of coaching in the NFL.

Not when you have a strong general manager, as the Cards are reputed to have.

And what if Adelius Thomas doesn't reach the free agency market, BACH? What are you going to say then? What if Buffalo re-signs Clements? The Cards had enough cap room to sign Davis and sign a Clements or Thomas in free agency. It wasn't a zero-sum game this season.

Now the Cards are stuck hoping that they can sign two of the top 3 FAs that aren't Leonard Davis, and hope that they can get a serviciable LT in a FA period that doesn't have any besides the guy that's leaving and a draft class much thinner than last season's.

You still don't answer the question: Why does anyone think that this is the HC's choice and not Graves'? The only possible answer is blind hope, because everything suggests that this is a money decision, not a football one. There's no disputing the fact that this team will be weaker on March 1 than it would have been on February 28.

Hope is not a plan.