[Ben E Lou]

2001 FREE AGENCY PERIOD

I'm only set at these positions: TE,WR,C,G,DE,DT,DT,CB,S,K. I'll take real starters in any of the other 14 slots. I have over $32M available under the cap and I only need a little over $6M for the draft, so I've got some cash to work with, plus I've got lots of stiffs I can cut if I need more money. Here are the offers I make:

QB Danny Weurffel (Florida)--3yrs, $6.0M--not great, but does have a 92 3rd-down passing rating, and he looks a lot better than what I've got
RB Duce Staley (USC)--4 yrs, $18.5M--Green is getting old.
FB Tony Richardson (Auburn)--3 yrs, $2.25M--nice blocker
G Chris Gray (Florida)--3yrs, $3.3M--Not great, but would start for me.
T Brent Smith (Miss St.)--3 yrs, $2.4M--27 in run blocking, 100 in pass blocking. If he signs, I'll put him at LT and never run behind him.
[i]DE Kevin Henry[i] (Miss St.)--3yrs, $6.0M--not great, but would start for me.
CB Calvin Jackson (Auburn)--4yrs, $10.0M--68 run defense, 74 pass.

LB Jeff Brady wants $1.92M to re-sign for 1 year, and I tender such an offer.

Week 1
Gray, Henry and Richardson all sign. Philly offers Staley 4 yrs for $20.39M., so I up my offer to $21.5M for 4 years.

Week 2
Weurffel signs, and Brady re-signs. I'm still leading $$$ offer for Staley, Smith and Jackson.

Weeks 3-4
no changes

Week 5
Jackson signs.

Week 6-7
no changes

Week 8
T Smith signs.

Weeks 9-10
no changes

Week 11
Staley signs with Arizona for only $12.79M over four years. Very strange. His play for winner rating is only 26. His loyalty rating is 56 so I would have thought if he didn't go for the money from us he'd sign with Philly even though they went 7-9 last year before Arizona (10-6).

Well, overall I am pleased, but not thrilled. I continue to put solid players in place, but still no real star-quality players. I'm hoping for a strong SEC-filled draft.