2006 preseason
Incidentally, Cincinnati defended their Superbowl title in 2005. My DE Phil Banks and S Steve Frank were named to the all-pro second team, and Frank also nabbed Defensive Rookie of the Year.
We start off the new season with an inspection of our finances. Our profits tumbled this season, from $41, to $34m—not the end of the world, but enough to give us some concern. We had to lay out more in bonus money that last season, which will continue. In fact, it’s easy to forecast what’s likely to happen here—I’m turning nice profits lately, but they are less than the amount I remain under the salary cap. If everything else stayed the same, and we just started spending up to the cap, we’d find ourselves in some financial distress (which is what I’m looking for).
Nevertheless, I decide that it’s time for a change at head coach, and I make a push for the Bears’ coach—who has one ring already, and looks like he’s about as good as they come. I offer him $8m a year—which is well beyond what I’m paying my current coach. He declines, however, and takes a slightly lesser deal from Washington. Since I can’t get the top guy, I decide that I don’t want to increase spending too dramatically, and I sit back to see if anyone nibbles on the current Jags’ coach. The Jags get in their offer of $5.2m, which is more than I’ll spend (my guy makes $2.4m). I end up with my same guy in place for another year—I’m very worried about our tendency to fall apart when we have a lead, and I blame the coach.
I’ve decided to add another house rule on the fly, in part because I rather like the way this team is shaping up, and I’d like to keep it on course. I’ve decided that
I will pursue no outside free agents during the first ten weeks of the FA signing period. I rather like to develop my players from within, and this will strike a balance. I’ll be out of the picture for the star-caliber players, but this will allow me the chance to grab some fill-in caliber players from time to time, as I have been doing. That’s my new house rule for this career—added to the lengthy list already in place. I realize that it will have a pretty dramatic effect on this team, but I think it will keep things more interesting for a longer period (even though it does admittedly compromise realism).
For this year, I have 40 players already signed, and $55.3m in room under the 112.3m cap.
Here is the rundown on my current free agent players, and comments on those I’ll try to keep.
Name # Pos OnTm Ctrc Exp Stat Cap Cost
Lister, Max + 30 RB 2002 UFA 5 ----- $0 –career underachiever, he’ll walk
Thomason, Thomas 32 FB 2002 UFA 5 ----- $0
McCaughey, Matt 85 WR 2002 UFA 5 ----- $0 –have to hold on to him
Buggelli, Brenden 11 P 2002 UFA 5 ----- $0 –Colorado player, will watch
Gregory, Marvin + 90 DT 2003 UFA 5 ----- $0
Rogers, Travis + 49 CB 2003 UFA 5 ----- $0 –tough call after dud season
Weathers, Ken + 5 QB 2003 ---- 4 ----- $0
Chau, Thurman 61 C 2003 ---- 4 ----- $0
Bozarth, Rufus 62 T 2003 ---- 4 ----- $0 –would like to keep him
Riley, Danny 94 DE 2003 ---- 4 ----- $0
Vaughn, Rex 97 DE 2004 ---- 4 ----- $0
Freeman, Shawn 65 G 2004 ---- 3 ----- $0
McCardell, Walt 96 DT 2004 ---- 3 ----- $0
Scott, Ellis 58 LB 2005 ---- 2 ----- $0 –one-year injury fill in from Colorado
I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble—I should be okay signing WR McCaughey and T Bozarth for a total of about $12m. CB Rogers will be another call—I don’t even know if he’ll listen to an offer from me, as he’s been officially “unhappy” for nearly two seasons now. Tough to say if he’s worth big money anyway.
I start off with a 4yr, $32m bid for WR McCaughey—more than I had expected to have to pay, but I’m still willing to pony up here. I then see that T Rufus Bozarth is demanding a good deal more than I had imagined—he wants a deal about the same size of McCaughey’s. He’s restricted, so I’ll wait him out a while. This guy allowed 21 sacks in the last two years—he’s not exactly the greatest tackle I’ve ever had. CB Travis Rogers is asking for even more than the other two—he’ll have to wait, too. (As it turns out, he won’t even listen to any offer from me, so it’s a moot point)
I’m relieved when WR McCaughey takes my generous offer right away – probably a sign that it was, in fact, too generous. Regardless, the guy is a stat machine when healthy, and with my passing game in some trouble, the last thing I can do is lose my most productive player. I’m also not surprised that CB Rogers has yet to get any nibbles.
In week 7, RB Max Lister gets his deal from Cincinnati if all teams, so he’ll get to join a winning club. My FB Thomason signs with the Redskins. In week 8, CB Travis Rogers gets his deal—Chicago (another winning team) gives him $35m over 4 years. My Colorado punter Buggelli took a deal in week 15, to my surprise, and now I’m without a Colorado-based “specialist.”
In the late FA stages, I pick up WR J.R. Huffman, a second year guy with pretty decent potential, and though he costs me almost $3m a year, he isn’t demanding any bonus money, so he’ll be an easy cut if need be. He looks like he’ll make a solid #3 or 4 receiver, though. I also get C Dwayne Finley, a solid backup-quality C who is only looking for three years and minsal—my kind of contract. DE Jackie Spurgeon comes aboard for a four-year deal—he’ll be a decent backup at DE, replacing our departing free agents who are looking for about twice as much money as Spurgeon’s $2.5m/yr.
We have the 11th pick in the draft—should be an opportunity to grab a top-tier player somewhere. DT is a high priority for my team now, but I’m more worried about our offense than our defense. I’ll look for the biggest stud player in round one, and then focus on need later, I suspect.
Amateur Draft Report:
Rnd 1 - Bo Wayman, WR, Oregon – looks like he’ll be a top-notch player (79/80/98/100…)
Rnd 2 - Tracy Cassidy, DT, Colorado – very solid (74/57/57), and from Colorado – woo hoo!
Rnd 3 - Matt Madison, DE, Nebraska – decent reserve (58/45/39)
Rnd 4 - Wayne Troglia, C, Florida State – real value at non-need position (86/43/98)
Rnd 4 - Darnell Fairfield, K, Colorado – another Colorado player, a real stud kicker, too
Rnd 5 - Wesley Winston, FB, Pittsburgh – fills need area, good run blocking skills
Rnd 6 - Tyrell Pool, QB, Purdue – reserve quality QB, potentials in 30-60 range
Rnd 7 - Bo Stone, DT, Auburn – so-so reserve at need position
I’m very happy with DT Cassidy—DT was a need position, but the two studs of the draft went in the top 5 picks, leaving me to pick from among several solid guys. I almost took Cassidy in round one, but held off and was rewarded—he’ll definitely help my Colorado quota.
I sign T Rufus Bozarth to a new deal worth about $4-5-6-7m. I don’t like escalation that much, but it’s what he offered, and haggling turned out to be unproductive.
I fill up on URFAs, trying in particular to come up with a usable RB, and I head toward camp with this group:
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Paul de los Santos 15 16 5 2008
QB Ken Weathers 6 11 4 ----
QB Tyrell Pool 5 12 1 2007
QB Bennie Dell 2 6 2 2007
RB Seth Preston 9 12 3 2006
RB Kenyon Copeland 8 11 1 2009
RB Nick Kemp 8 8 3 2007
RB Andy Jones 8 10 1 2009
RB Oliver Miller 7 7 1 2009
FB Stan Dunkin 6 8 3 2007
FB Brandon Carter 6 10 1 2009
FB Maurice McGregor 6 9 2 2008
FB Wesley Winston 5 8 1 2008
TE Ellis Forest 11 16 2 2009
TE Leonard McDaniel 7 10 1 2009
TE Brandon Starling 3 7 2 2008
WR Matt McCaughey 14 14 5 2009
WR Bo Wayman 11 15 1 2011
WR Buddy Henry 11 12 3 2007
WR Brad Kerr 6 10 2 2007
WR Tyrus Mitchell 5 6 3 2007
WR Jared Antonick 5 9 2 2008
WR Russell England 4 5 4 2006
WR J.R. Huffman 4 9 2 2009
C Jeff Lang 11 11 4 2006
C Thurman Chau 7 10 4 ----
C Wayne Troglia 5 14 1 2008
C Chuck Blake 5 9 2 2008
C Dwayne Finley 3 10 2 2008
G Darrin James 8 10 3 2006
G Shawn Freeman 6 8 3 ----
G Ricardo Morrison 4 11 2 2007
G Irv Brooks 3 9 2 2008
T Rufus Bozarth 10 11 4 2009
T Duane Winslow 8 11 3 2006
T Norm Drake 4 6 3 2007
K Darnell Fairfield 9 11 1 2008
K Julio Garboushian 7 9 2 2008
DE Burt Horner 14 15 4 2008
DE Phil Banks 10 14 3 2007
DE Danny Riley 7 9 4 ----
DE Rex Vaughn 5 7 4 ----
DE Matt Madison 3 12 1 2009
DE Deion Chandler 2 10 1 2009
DE Jackie Spurgeon 2 11 2 2009
DT Walt McCardell 8 9 3 ----
DT Tracy Cassidy 8 13 1 2009
DT Jay Singleton 6 9 4 2006
DT Marvin Gregory 5 7 5 UFA
DT Bo Stone 3 10 1 2008
LB Sam Hwang 8 13 2 2008
LB Reggie Peters 7 8 6 2006
LB Jumbo Woodson 7 15 2 2007
LB Carlos Sheldon 6 9 5 2006
LB Wally Newman 4 10 3 2007
LB Byron Pierce 4 11 2 2008
LB Skip Allen 4 9 2 2007
LB R.J. Willis 4 10 1 2009
LB Ellis Scott 1 4 2 ----
LB Lester Sylvester 1 4 2 2008
CB Stephen Hickson 11 14 3 2006
CB Clyde Salinger 7 9 3 2008
CB Kevin Gordon 4 10 2 2007
CB Leon Carpenter 2 2 4 2006
S Steve Frank 9 15 2 2009
S Donald DeLamielleure 8 13 4 2006
S Zach Schneider 6 10 1 2009
S Robert Bronson 5 11 2 2008
S Robert Howe 5 8 1 2009
S Julio Shapiro 3 8 2 2008
After training camp (and its related defections) I have the following roster:
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Paul de los Santos 16 16 5 2008
QB Bennie Dell 3 9 2 2007
QB Tyrell Pool 3 9 1 2007
RB Seth Preston 9 11 3 2006
RB Nick Kemp 8 9 3 2007
RB Kenyon Copeland 8 12 1 2009
RB Andy Jones 8 9 1 2009
RB Oliver Miller 7 7 1 2009
FB Stan Dunkin 6 8 3 2007
FB Maurice McGregor 6 9 2 2008
FB Wesley Winston 6 10 1 2008
FB Brandon Carter 4 8 1 2009
TE Ellis Forest 13 15 2 2009
TE Leonard McDaniel 9 11 1 2009
TE Brandon Starling 5 6 2 2008
WR Matt McCaughey 13 13 5 2009
WR Buddy Henry 11 12 3 2007
WR Bo Wayman 11 15 1 2011
WR Jared Antonick 8 8 2 2008
WR J.R. Huffman 7 9 2 2009
WR Brad Kerr 7 9 2 2007
WR Tyrus Mitchell 6 6 3 2007
WR Russell England 5 5 4 2006
C Jeff Lang 11 12 4 2006
C Dwayne Finley 6 9 2 2008
C Chuck Blake 6 10 2 2008
C Wayne Troglia 6 13 1 2008
G Darrin James 9 10 3 2006
G Ricardo Morrison 7 9 2 2007
G Irv Brooks 6 9 2 2008
T Rufus Bozarth 10 11 4 2009
T Duane Winslow 9 11 3 2006
T Norm Drake 4 6 3 2007
K Julio Garboushian 9 10 2 2008
K Darnell Fairfield 7 12 1 2008
DE Burt Horner 14 14 4 2008
DE Phil Banks 13 14 3 2007
DE Jackie Spurgeon 5 10 2 2009
DE Deion Chandler 3 8 1 2009
DE Matt Madison 2 10 1 2009
DT Tracy Cassidy 8 13 1 2009
DT Jay Singleton 5 9 4 2006
DT Bo Stone 2 7 1 2008
LB Sam Hwang 8 13 2 2008
LB Jumbo Woodson 8 13 2 2007
LB Reggie Peters 7 7 6 2006
LB Carlos Sheldon 7 8 5 2006
LB Byron Pierce 6 10 2 2008
LB Skip Allen 5 10 2 2007
LB Wally Newman 4 9 3 2007
LB R.J. Willis 3 10 1 2009
LB Lester Sylvester 2 3 2 2008
CB Stephen Hickson 14 14 3 2006
CB Clyde Salinger 8 9 3 2008
CB Kevin Gordon 7 10 2 2007
CB Leon Carpenter 2 2 4 2006
S Steve Frank 11 17 2 2009
S Donald DeLamielleure 10 11 4 2006
S Robert Bronson 7 13 2 2008
S Zach Schneider 5 9 1 2009
S Robert Howe 4 7 1 2009
S Julio Shapiro 3 5 2 2008
The short answer is that everyone looks fine—no busts in this camp. Regrettably, we didn’t have any real booms either—none of the young RBs I procured really worked out well.
I end up making a few last-minute changes and substitutions (adding a punter, and in the process finding a few other URFAs to pick up). We head into the season with 53:
Roster for the Colorado Springs Black Squirrels
Name # Pos HT WT Exp Stat College
de los Santos, Paul 6 QB 6-2 218 5 ----- Southern Methodist
Dell, Bennie 9 QB 6-3 212 2 ----- Ohio State
Pool, Tyrell 12 QB 6-2 211 R ----- Purdue
Kemp, Nick 24 RB 5-11 232 3 ----- Baylor
Preston, Seth 21 RB 5-11 190 3 ----- West Alabama
Copeland, Kenyon 42 RB 5-10 200 1 ----- Hawaii
Dunkin, Stan 33 FB 5-10 261 3 ----- Air Force
Winston, Wesley 41 FB 5-11 255 R ----- Pittsburgh
Starling, Brandon + 17 TE 6-2 241 2 ----- Colorado
Forest, Ellis 82 TE 6-7 267 2 ----- Ohio State
McDaniel, Leonard 89 TE 6-2 241 1 ----- Duke
McCaughey, Matt 85 WR 5-11 207 5 ----- Oregon State
Henry, Buddy 81 WR 5-11 217 3 ----- Notre Dame
Kerr, Brad 86 WR 6-2 189 2 ----- Michigan
Huffman, J.R. 88 WR 6-2 190 2 ----- Morehead State
Antonick, Jared 16 WR 6-0 184 2 ----- Wyoming
Wayman, Bo 84 WR 6-0 191 R ----- Oregon
Lang, Jeff 52 C 6-2 315 4 ----- West Virginia
Finley, Dwayne 57 C 6-4 258 2 ----- Kansas State
Troglia, Wayne 55 C 6-5 294 R ----- Florida State
James, Darrin 60 G 6-1 336 3 ----- Oregon State
Brooks, Irv 75 G 6-0 344 2 ----- San Diego State
Morrison, Ricardo 73 G 6-3 309 2 ----- Southern California
Bozarth, Rufus 62 T 6-5 315 4 ----- Murray State
Drake, Norm 67 T 6-8 293 3 ----- Air Force
Winslow, Duane 63 T 6-4 317 3 ----- Akron
Lazetti, Jimmy 74 T 6-6 305 1 ----- Oregon State
Sanderson, Mo 14 P 6-4 182 1 ----- Washington
Fairfield, Darnell 11 K 6-1 185 R ----- Colorado
Horner, Burt 92 DE 6-6 253 4 ----- Wyoming
Banks, Phil 98 DE 6-2 287 3 ----- Notre Dame
Spurgeon, Jackie 93 DE 6-3 260 2 ----- Texas Tech
Madison, Matt 77 DE 6-0 281 R ----- Nebraska
Chandler, Deion 78 DE 5-11 293 1 ----- West Texas A&M
Singleton, Jay 71 DT 6-3 278 4 ----- Lafayette
Stone, Bo 76 DT 6-4 317 R ----- Auburn
Cassidy, Tracy 91 DT 6-0 319 R ----- Colorado
Peters, Reggie 51 LB 6-5 217 6 ----- Georgia Tech
Hwang, Sam 54 LB 5-9 257 2 ----- Cal. - Poly SLO
Sylvester, Lester 99 LB 6-2 264 2 ----- Colorado
Pierce, Byron 95 LB 6-2 239 2 ----- Navy
Woodson, Jumbo 56 LB 6-4 240 2 ----- San Diego State
Allen, Skip 59 LB 6-1 243 2 ----- Tulsa
Willis, R.J. 29 LB 6-4 234 1 ----- Clemson
Hickson, Stephen 20 CB 5-8 192 3 ----- Auburn
Salinger, Clyde 27 CB 5-8 183 3 ----- Lafayette
Gordon, Kevin 38 CB 5-10 207 2 ----- Georgia Tech
Stanton, Donald 47 CB 5-8 192 1 ----- Southwest Baptist
DeLamielleure, Donald 23 S 5-11 225 4 ----- Notre Dame
Bronson, Robert 43 S 5-10 204 2 ----- Minnesota
Frank, Steve 37 S 5-9 226 2 ----- Rice
Shapiro, Julio 40 S 5-8 202 2 ----- Tennessee - Martin
Schneider, Zach 45 S 6-2 191 1 ----- Colorado
Salary Cap: $112.3 million
Room Under Cap: $42,180,000
I have now fulfilled my commitment to fill my roster with at least one Colorado college player at each position group. I’ll make a general effort to bring in and retain Colorado players as much as is feasible. With a quality player like DT Cassidy or Fairfield, I’ll hope to keep them around a long time.
This year, we obviously want to put 2005 behind us. We should be improved on offense, though I’m not sold on our running game at all. As for our defense—I don’t think we lost much, and I do think that our LB corps is steadily improving. Last year’s rookies will likely step into leadership roles this season, and we should be getting better there. I’ll look for a return to the playoffs, and a postseason victory.