I could have predicted most of the comments made on this thread. To address them in general -
1. I continue to believe the reason why we appeared to have wound up in cap trouble despite having a big cap cushion earlier this off-season is because the "big" cushion was misleading and overhyped.
2. While I continue to be dubious about PFT's credibility, the fact that both the EVT and AZR ran with the story kind of lends it credence.
3. Lending even more credence was the comment by one of the dailies that the Cardinals were said not to want to restructure the contracts "to create cap room" but in order to pay backups "backup money" and starters "starter money" (the implication being that neither Brown or Clancy were expected to start).
4. To me, therefore, the wisdom of the moves to restruct Brown's and Clancy's contracts should be evaluated on the basis of whether or not they should start. That's in the hands of the coaches.
Personally, I like Brown better than Wells at LG because he's a more forceful run blocker. And I don't want to lose Clancy because I feel we should be 3-deep in quality depth at NT. But they pay the coaches big bucks to make those kinds of decisions, and I defer to them.
5. My guess is that Kendrick is 95% likely to be gone, but something might still be worked out with Milford. My reasoning: It would be tough for Clancy to leapfrog Watson and Branch to become a starter. Things are less deep on the O-line, and it would be easier for Brown to outcompete Wells at LG for a starting spot.
6. All of this begs the question - If Alan Faneca and the Steelers aren't compatable and Kendrick Clancy and Milford Brown don't seem to fit with the Cardinals, wouldn't a trade make a great deal of sense?
7. When a team puts itself in a position where it may have to cut a couple of talented players, it's natural for many of us to automatically feel that "we've somehow failed." There's some truth to that, but it's also possible that an infusion of talent (by addition or player development) can make a talented player less valuable relative to the other guys at his position.
It's premature to beat up on Cardinal management. If, later on, these personnel decisions turn out to backfire, there will be plenty of time to throw rocks then.