[Chief Rum]

Day Two

Big Signings

DE Lamar King signs with the Niners Ouch, big get for one of my division opponents (won't say rival, since historically, the Cards are an NFC East team, and let's face it, we ain't rivallin' no one in this division...). The Niners let John Engelberger go to free agency and got much better in return in King, the #6 DE and the fourth of the top six to sign in the first two days. King signed pretty cheap, too ($2.34/2-years), and didn't get any other offer, including from his old team, another NFC West squad, the Hawks. I gues that actually is a break-even thing from the Cards' viewpoint.

OLB Ian Gold signs with Carolina The Panthers were surprisingly bad on defense this year, so signing the #1 OLB is a step in the right direction. Gold signed a $10.54/3-year deal with Carolina, and actually turned down a richer contract ($15.39 M/4 years) from the Chargers. The San Diego contract was also richer in per annum, so he must really like Carolina. The Broncos didn't make an offer, and the Chargers were the only other team interested in Gold.

S Mark Roman signs with the Skins Washington is quickly rebuilding their secondary, despite the loss of Bailey. With Vincent in the fold, they signed Roman, the #10 S to a $1.74 M/2-year deal. Roman turned down a smaller contract from the Vikings to take this job. He did not receive an offer from his old team, the Bengals.

OLB Marcus Washington re-signs with the Colts The Colts are getting pretty good at this re-signing thing. With Gold and Emmons signed up, Washington was the best OLB left (#3). Henry Wayne, who also got Ted Johnson a nice deal with the Vikings, got Washington a sweet deal as well ($17.4 M/5 years). Washington was only being pursured at this point by his old team.

T Matt Hill signs with the Cards Technically, this isn't a big signing, since Hill isn't even on the top ten free agent tackles' list, but I am happy with it. The developing tackle signed a $460 K/1-year deal to leave the Hawks. Good, hurt a division opponent and gain myself. No one else bid on Hill.

DE Anthony Pleasant signs with the Steelers The Patriots' defense is getting picked apart. An amazing fourth high-profile free agent has left the team now. This time it is Pleasant, who signed a $7.33 M/2-year deal with the world champs. Pleasant, the #3 DE and highest profile DE left on the market, turned down a richer contract ($11.84/3-years) from the Boys and another, lesser offer from the poor Seahawks (who are off to a bad start in this free agency), to replace Aaron Smith as Kimo Von Oelhoffen's shade on the other side of Pittsburgh's defensive front. Pleasant's departure alo means the entire starting defensive line for the Pats is now in differemt uniforms. Pleasant was the first free agent to receive more than one other offer since Vincent signed on Day One.

OLB Mo Lewis signs with the Bills Lewis was the top OLB left (#4) when he inked a $1.95 M/2-year deal with the Bills, a division rival of his former Jets squad. That's sure to cause a ruckus in NYC/Jersey. He also signed for a pretty small amount, I think. The Falcons were the only other team to make an offer.

DT Dana Stubblefield re-signs with the Raiders The Raiders are doing a good job of keeping the defensive line strong, at least. They bring back the #2 DT and one of the top defenders available in this free agency. He joins new DE Greg Ellis in a fearsome beginning of a defensive line. Stubblefield returned to the Raiders for $7.19 M/2-years, which is actually a pretty cheap contract, I think. He turned down longer and richer contracts from the Packers ($12.27/3-years) and the Steelers ($11.92 M/3-years), on top of offers from the Giants and Texans that were similar to the Raiders' offer.

G Adam Timmerman signs with the Bengals The top guard and the first of the big time offensive linemen signed his deal after two days and the biggest negotiations yet in this free agency. No less than ten teams had offers in on Timmerman when he signed, and an 11th, the Colts, had to withdraw their offer when the re-signings of Manning and OLB Washington,a nd the signing of CB Williams, pushed them over the cap with their Timmerman offer. Timmerman signed a $21.87 M/4-year deal, which was actually the cheapest of the four four-year offers he received (he got slightly richer deals from the Colts, Texans and Panthers--the highest being the last). The other seven teams all offered 3-year deals.

NOTES FROM DAY TWO

There weren't any changes for the Cards and our offers, or if there were I know I topped them again, with the exception of Tait, whom I remained in on, but didn't top the best offer.

The free agent class took another big hit. Now, 5 of the top 6 DEs are gone, and the top 3 OLB. The #2 DT in Stubblefield being gone now means that Warren Sapp is the only DT of the top four that remains unsigned. Timmerman, of course, was the first major offensive lineman to sign.

My tackles are weak enough that Hill might end up starting for me, so in that respect that was a good signing. Still, even at his highest rating, he will just be an average tackle. I still plan to make additions at this position.

CR