Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Steve Keim's "Draw A Line in the Sand" FA & Pre-Draft Policy: CB
Prior to the start of this year's free agency period, Steve Keim said the following:
“In some instances we’ll make (contract) offers yet those offers won’t linger,” Keim said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting combine. “It’s a situation where, ‘You know what, if you leave it on the table and test free agency, the offer may not stand.’ To me, that’s where you have to be disciplined, so you don’t get caught flat-footed. You have to draw your line in the sand, this is where we are at and if you don’t want it, we’re willing to move on as well. But you can’t say you’re willing to move on unless you are truly willing to move on.”
Keim is becoming particularly astute at judging players' market value.
Case In Point---prior to the FA period, MJ reported from his sources that Jerraud Powers was looking for a 3 year deal that averaged $6-7M per year. MJ said on is show a few times that, "the Cardinals should be able to offer $5.5M per and get the deal done." Now---to be fair to MJ---he and many of us were of the belief that Powers was still a favorite of BA's and that the Cardinals should and would like to keep him in the nest.
While there is no proof that Keim offered Powers a deal prior to the start of free agency, either one of two things happened: (a) Keim offered the "draw the line in the sand" deal and Powers declined it and entered into the FA market; (b) Keim did what he said he was going to do and moved on---which can be corroborated by Keim's selections of CB Brandon Williams (3rd Round) and CB Harlan Miller (6th Round) and highly coveted UDFA CB Elie Bouka.
Back in late January Keim signed three CBs to "futures" contracts: Asa Jackson, Shaun Prater and Cariel Brooks. Jackson has a few NFL starts under his belt. Prater and Brooks have been PS squad players who made it all the way to final cuts with their teams last year.
Keim has also shown a degree of interest in FA CB Leon Hall---Hall is coming off back surgery, but, when healthy, he's a tenacious cover man. According to Larry Fitzgerald, Hall covered him as well as any CB he faced last year. Hall recently met the with Falcons and apparently the Falcons were not convinced that Hall will be ready to play.
Curiously, the Cardinals took a gamble on TE Jermaine Gresham last off-season as he was coming off back surgery. Perhaps Gresham can convince his former Bengals' teammate to come to AZ at the veteran minimum plus incentives to reset his market as Gresham is doing.
What's curious about Powers' situation is that having tested the FA market and realized that he was not getting the type of lucrative contract offers he was hoping for, reports were a few weeks ago that Powers was "visiting" the Cardinals. But---it now seems quite clear that Keim had done what he had said he was going to do---draw the line in the sand and move on. Powers signed a one year deal worth $1.75M...apparently Keim wasn't even willing to match that figure.
ESPN's Josh Weinfuss blogged after Powers' signing with Baltimore that the Cardinals still very much need to add a veteran CB.
What do you think?
Keim has stockpiled the position with young talent---talent that i believe he wants to keep on the roster and not risk losing to the waiver wire. I do not think Keim wants any other team to get anywhere near the trio of Brandon Williams, Harlan Miller and Elie Bouka.
If adding those three rookies, plus Asa Jackson, Shaun Prater and Cariel Brooks weren't enough, the last two UDFA CBs Keim signed, Trevor Hartfield of SW Oklahoma St. and Ronald Zamort of Western Michigan are classic sleepers and a testament once again to the far-reaching scouting the Cardinals are doing.
Interview with Trevon Hartfield:
http://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/nfl...ld-cb-southwestern-oklahoma-state-university/
I also believe that Keim is confident in Justin Bethel and in knowing that if Bethel struggles they can turn to Tyrann Mathieu or Tyvon Branch at RCB if need be, if the rookies are not quite ready.
Moreover, I think that Keim is confident that if need be he can make a training camp trade or waiver wire acquisition for another CB.
I think Keim's line in the sand is clear---I think he doesn't want to give up a roster spot for another CB, because, as it is, they may have to risk waiving one or two of the talented young CBs they have on the 90 man roster.
Prior to the start of this year's free agency period, Steve Keim said the following:
“In some instances we’ll make (contract) offers yet those offers won’t linger,” Keim said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting combine. “It’s a situation where, ‘You know what, if you leave it on the table and test free agency, the offer may not stand.’ To me, that’s where you have to be disciplined, so you don’t get caught flat-footed. You have to draw your line in the sand, this is where we are at and if you don’t want it, we’re willing to move on as well. But you can’t say you’re willing to move on unless you are truly willing to move on.”
Keim is becoming particularly astute at judging players' market value.
Case In Point---prior to the FA period, MJ reported from his sources that Jerraud Powers was looking for a 3 year deal that averaged $6-7M per year. MJ said on is show a few times that, "the Cardinals should be able to offer $5.5M per and get the deal done." Now---to be fair to MJ---he and many of us were of the belief that Powers was still a favorite of BA's and that the Cardinals should and would like to keep him in the nest.
While there is no proof that Keim offered Powers a deal prior to the start of free agency, either one of two things happened: (a) Keim offered the "draw the line in the sand" deal and Powers declined it and entered into the FA market; (b) Keim did what he said he was going to do and moved on---which can be corroborated by Keim's selections of CB Brandon Williams (3rd Round) and CB Harlan Miller (6th Round) and highly coveted UDFA CB Elie Bouka.
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Back in late January Keim signed three CBs to "futures" contracts: Asa Jackson, Shaun Prater and Cariel Brooks. Jackson has a few NFL starts under his belt. Prater and Brooks have been PS squad players who made it all the way to final cuts with their teams last year.
xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
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Keim has also shown a degree of interest in FA CB Leon Hall---Hall is coming off back surgery, but, when healthy, he's a tenacious cover man. According to Larry Fitzgerald, Hall covered him as well as any CB he faced last year. Hall recently met the with Falcons and apparently the Falcons were not convinced that Hall will be ready to play.
Curiously, the Cardinals took a gamble on TE Jermaine Gresham last off-season as he was coming off back surgery. Perhaps Gresham can convince his former Bengals' teammate to come to AZ at the veteran minimum plus incentives to reset his market as Gresham is doing.
What's curious about Powers' situation is that having tested the FA market and realized that he was not getting the type of lucrative contract offers he was hoping for, reports were a few weeks ago that Powers was "visiting" the Cardinals. But---it now seems quite clear that Keim had done what he had said he was going to do---draw the line in the sand and move on. Powers signed a one year deal worth $1.75M...apparently Keim wasn't even willing to match that figure.
ESPN's Josh Weinfuss blogged after Powers' signing with Baltimore that the Cardinals still very much need to add a veteran CB.
What do you think?
Keim has stockpiled the position with young talent---talent that i believe he wants to keep on the roster and not risk losing to the waiver wire. I do not think Keim wants any other team to get anywhere near the trio of Brandon Williams, Harlan Miller and Elie Bouka.
If adding those three rookies, plus Asa Jackson, Shaun Prater and Cariel Brooks weren't enough, the last two UDFA CBs Keim signed, Trevor Hartfield of SW Oklahoma St. and Ronald Zamort of Western Michigan are classic sleepers and a testament once again to the far-reaching scouting the Cardinals are doing.
Interview with Trevon Hartfield:
http://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/nfl...ld-cb-southwestern-oklahoma-state-university/
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I also believe that Keim is confident in Justin Bethel and in knowing that if Bethel struggles they can turn to Tyrann Mathieu or Tyvon Branch at RCB if need be, if the rookies are not quite ready.
Moreover, I think that Keim is confident that if need be he can make a training camp trade or waiver wire acquisition for another CB.
I think Keim's line in the sand is clear---I think he doesn't want to give up a roster spot for another CB, because, as it is, they may have to risk waiving one or two of the talented young CBs they have on the 90 man roster.
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Thanks for the reading material Mitch. Always enjoy your posts whether I agree or not. Much better than the guy that goes around giving your posts a one star rating acting like an immature adolescent. 
