Wells likely to be matched ----Cards will wait on other free agents.

[nidan]

Everything I've read suggests there aren't many good OL FA prospects out there right now.

These things aren't black and white as you are painting them sundevil.

He isn't saying all we should do is resign 'projects'. Just atm Wells is the nest option available. If our coaches [and Buff] are to be believed then Wells is a project that is about complete, ie ready to become good starter.

 

[spanky1]

how about a 29 yo stephen neal

He's every bit the "work in progress" that Wells is. Apples for oranges. Wells is way more "position versatile" that Neal is.

 

[sundevil04]

Go

Everything I've read suggests there aren't many good OL FA prospects out there right now.

These things aren't black and white as you are painting them sundevil.

He isn't saying all we should do is resign 'projects'. Just atm Wells is the nest option available. If our coaches [and Buff] are to be believed then Wells is a project that is about complete, ie ready to become good starter.

explain how i am painting thing black and white?
________
Honda Cb125

 

[joeshmo]

i understand your point about market value but that does not mean that market value is fair value in everyones mind, in my mind wells is not worth 3.5 mil/year...flanagan and mitchell are. where did you hear that about gb isnt it more likely that they werent willing to pay what buf was, they dont lose anything by extending an offer why would they care if the cards matched?

Thats your value though, not market value which is a value by two different teams willing to pay that price.

And what would GB have lost if AZ matched. Thats easy about 3+ Mill in cap space for a week until AZ gave its answer, 3+ mill. they could have used an another FA that is now gone suring that 1 week period. I already know what your question to that will be, "Well then why did Buffalo do it then", buffalo thought they put a big enough poison pill in the deal of the 2 mill Roster bonus payable this, they mis judged what it would take as they did for another RFA they gave an offer to same time as Wells that another team will match as well. In both cases Buffalo severely misjudged their poisons pills on both accounts.

 

[sundevil04]

Go

And what would GB have lost if AZ matched. Thats easy about 3+ Mill in cap space for a week until AZ gave its answer, 3+ mill. they could have used an another FA that is now gone suring that 1 week period. I already know what your question to that will be, "Well then why did Buffalo do it then", buffalo thought they put a big enough poison pill in the deal of the 2 mill Roster bonus payable this, they mis judged what it would take as they did for another RFA they gave an offer to same time as Wells that another team will match as well. In both cases Buffalo severely misjudged their poisons pills on both accounts.

thats not true about tying up the cap space, if they saw necessary they couldhave retracted their offer and used the cap space. and no, that wasnt my next question.
________
Montana dispensaries

 

[joeshmo]

thats not true about tying up the cap space, if they saw necessary they couldhave retracted their offer and used the cap space.

No, you cannot retracted a RFA offer as it is a signed contract between that player and the new team. Which goes into effect once the old team denies or accepts the terms of the signed contract.

Only the original team can rectract a RFA tender offer as it is only a tender to keep their rights, it has not been signed by the player yet.

 

[BigRedArk]

explain how i am painting thing black and white?

Maybe this will help sundevil. Think of it in terms of continuity that K9 and others often refer to on the OL. Also keep in mind the "he knows us and we know him" factor that someone else mentioned in this thread too (can't find it right now). We (the Cards) know Wells. Our coaches know Wells and more importantly the other O Linemen know Wells. There is some chemistry/continuity there. To let him go and bring someone else in disrupts that to a certain extent perhaps. I am guessing the team feels that keeping Wells and preserving and building on that chemistry is more important than bringing in someone else and disrupting that. Perhaps even moreso after all of the OL injuries last year too. Add to that Milford Brown and likely another R OL from the draft and it would perhaps be too much upheaval to try and replace Wells. Therefore keeping him at this price is better in the long run, or at least that is my guess. I was thinking it was a pricey deal for Wells also until I read joe's explanation of the cap impact. He sounds more affordable now.

 

[vinnymac]

i remeber the last game againist the bucs in the 2004 season that wells dominated simeon rice at the left tackle position. i bet he will improve this season.

 

[artp]

I would like to see Wells one year with a (hopefully) decent OL coach.

 

[nidan]

using this logic we should never go after fa's just keep re-signing all of our own guys and wait with our fingers crossed that they develop.

You are suggesting that the argument is that we should never go after FAs.

Well it's clear the Cardinals are going after FAs. It's just they don't agree with you on the relative worth of Wells vs the other FAs that they might sign.

but not when the only thing standing between us and a strong playoff run is a glaring need at ol.

Your assumption here IMO has three issues.

1. That the guys on the squad currently suck. This may or may not be true. We don't know, we didn't see enough of them last year to tell and what we did see was poorly coached.
2. That that Cardinals haven't already done something with the other signing.
3. That there actually better guys out than Wells. All I have heard is that good FA OL guys were pretty thin on tyhe gound this year.

 

[earthsci]

so i take it you dont like the clancy signing, you would have rather kept davis?

...you keep the better players on your team while looking to improve...

Your reasoning makes me feel like Keanu Reeves.
Whoa!
We didn't keep our player but we improved IMO.

 

[sundevil04]

Go

We didn't keep our player but we improved IMO.

exactly as i feel we would by letting wells go and using his money on a rt like ashworth while moving ross to G and possibly going after a vet center like jeff mitchell
________
How To Roll Blunts

 

[CardinalChris]

This article and the one Somersdid tells me They wanted Wells long term and that the Cards strategy the whole time was to let Wells find out his market value and let another team do the negotiations for them. They wanted Wells long term and now they do.

This would be intelligent, sneaky, thoughtful and cunning. I like that.

 

[earthsci]

exactly as i feel we would by letting wells go and using his money on a rt like ashworth while moving ross to G and possibly going after a vet center like jeff mitchell

I wouldn't be opposed to signing someone and then not matching Wells contract but I think that it would be a mistake to allow Wells to leave without a player signed. Like I said earlier, just because we want someone and are willing to show them the money doesn't mean they will sign.

 

[duckfallas]

Wells did well for himself.

 

[john h]

Wells likely to stay
By Darren Urban, Tribune
March 19, 2006
The Cardinals lost starting defensive tackle Russell Davis Saturday. But they’ll probably keep starting offensive lineman Reggie Wells.


While Davis departed as a free agent after agreeing to a three-year contract with Seattle, Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves said it is likely the team will match the five-year, $17.6 million offer sheet Wells — a restricted free agent — received from Buffalo Friday.

“I expect a decision to come sooner rather than draw it out,” Graves said. “But unless there is something bizarre in the contract (language), we’ll expect to have him back.”

Graves said he planned to evaluate the Wells offer sheet Monday. The deal would pay Wells a $3 million signing bonus and a $2 million roster bonus this season plus his salary, a giant raise over the $712,000 tender offer the Cards gave him.

Wells has been a starter at left guard the past two seasons, although he played in just nine games in 2005 before fracturing and dislocating his left ankle against Detroit. The team, already trying to upgrade the offensive line, can’t afford to have Wells bolt.

“He’s made steady improvement, and he may well have been our most consistent lineman last season,” Graves said.

The situation was different for Davis, a starter for Arizona since arriving in 2000.

Graves acknowledged after the Cards signed free agent defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy that it was unlikely Davis was going to return. Davis, who missed all but three games last season with a biceps injury, should be part of a defensive line rotation for the Seahawks.

The team was aiming to re-sign Davis as defensive line depth and their contract offer reflected as much.

“After we signed (running back) Edgerrin (James), the landscape changed for us,” Graves said.

Davis did not return a phone message.

Graves said the Cardinals are not necessarily finished with free agency but plan to wait on the second wave of free agents.

Contact Darren Urban by email, or phone (480) 898-

Why would we tender such a low offer of $755,000? The consequences are if Wells goes to Buffalo we get only a 7th round draft pick which is where we drafted him. If we had offered him $1.55 mil then we would be entitiled to a #1 pick if he leaves. Clearly this guy is worth more than more than $755 thousand if another team will pay him three times as much. It is not like we are over loaded with talent. One has to wonder if our people were smart enough to think this thing through to the end. If we match the offer all will be ok but if we do not and we end up with a 7th round pick rather than a #1 we are dumb in the best sense of the word.

 

[john h]

second wave?
I hope "second wave" doesn't = "guys we wanted to sign who waved bye-by."

Like in a Tusnami the second wave is often the worst wave.

 

[john h]

thats a rediculous contract for an average G like wells, that money would be spent much more wisely on a player like mitchell (c) or neal (g), let the bills overspend on him

We cannot take that approach lest we lose every guy available. You got to go with the market as the market determines a guys worth not what our idea of what a guy is worth. Money does not block a charging DE or tackle a RB.

 

[john h]

IMO Wells after three years is just coming into his own. To lose this talent at after the investment years would not be a good idea. I say match it this kid has a lot of upside and we know him and he knows us. To wait another three years with another newbe is ridiculas.

GBR
40

That is it in a nutshell. Saving money never won a championship.

 

[Pariah]

Why would we tender such a low offer of $755,000? The consequences are if Wells goes to Buffalo we get only a 7th round draft pick which is where we drafted him. If we had offered him $1.55 mil then we would be entitiled to a #1 pick if he leaves. Clearly this guy is worth more than more than $755 thousand if another team will pay him three times as much. It is not like we are over loaded with talent. One has to wonder if our people were smart enough to think this thing through to the end. If we match the offer all will be ok but if we do not and we end up with a 7th round pick rather than a #1 we are dumb in the best sense of the word.

We'd get a 6th round pick.

Also, as for why make him offer him the low-tender, I think it's because we thought that's what he was worth. The question in my mind isn't why make him the low-tender, but rather "why match?"

I'd rather have the pick, personally. Wells has never really impressed me all that much. And, as people liked to ask me when I was a proponant of keeping Shelton around--if he was so good, why did our line suck so bad? I think he's very replacable.

 

[TheCardFan]

We'd get a 6th round pick.

If we are not going to match, why not tell them that we are going to match unless they increase their compensation...i.e. 3rd/4th/5th rd pick instead or a player?

I think that is very legal and it is currently being done with John Abraham...

 

[john h]

Wells contract is not to much. It is just right becuase he was allowed to go into the market of which his market value was set. So we are paying his market value. His cap value will only be big this year since the 2 Mill roster bonus counts all towards this year.

GB was going to give him an offer as well but they new Buffalo was going to at the same time and also had a good feeling that a none cap strapped team that needs OL such as our selves were going to match anything.

Wells is contract is what the FA market has established it to be. We either step into the market place and compete or we sign cheaper and cheaper players who will not be as good as Wells. Buffalo's management are not idiots. They have determined this guy to be worth the offer and probably think we are dumb enough not to match it else they would not have made it. Let us see if we are the same Cards or just what we are? If we cannot keep our own players how on earth are we going to attract other OL. I just do not understand what we are doing with our offensive line? Someone please help me out here.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

Can we just have the 6th round pick already??

We could use that draft position to draft somebody to help out with ST coverage.

Next to backup QB.....STs is still our most glaring weakness on this team.

 

[Pariah]

If we are not going to match, why not tell them that we are going to match unless they increase their compensation...i.e. 3rd/4th/5th rd pick instead or a player?

I think that is very legal and it is currently being done with John Abraham...

Abraham isn't a FA, I don't think. Wells is a RFA, so we made a bed and now we're sleeping in it. We either have to match the Buffalo offer or decline to and receive a 6th rd. pick in compensation (pre-determined by the tender we designated).

We simply aren't allowed to do anything else.

 

[TheCardFan]

Abraham isn't a FA, I don't think. Wells is a RFA, so we made a bed and now we're sleeping in it. We either have to match the Buffalo offer or decline to and receive a 6th rd. pick in compensation (pre-determined by the tender we designated).

We simply aren't allowed to do anything else.

Abraham is a FA but he is the franchise player.

Can you trade a RFA? I think you can...and if so, we could just tell the Bills that we are going to match unless we get better compensation.

IF in fact, they are planning on using him at LT, higher compensation would be easy to justify for them, IMO.

I can see them willing to trade a 3rd rd pick for a starting LT, who is young and locked in for 5 years at only 3.5/yr.