2013 preseason
With a few new rules to follow, we head into our next offseason. (I had finished the 2012 season in TCY, but just had not yet generated the draft file – so I’m re-starting with FOF, and will get to TCY after this season ends) Our Browns were bridesmaids this year – we’ll try to follow the goings-on with San Francisco a little bit, also – just to see what a dominant champion does to follow up.
Transitions and League Observations
We have no retirements, yet again. Eventually, that bug will strike – but we remain a pretty young team – our oldest players are just hitting their 10th year.
Front Office Decisions
My 62 yeard old Head Coach, Earnest Carlyle, is up for a new deal. He’s obviously presided over our rise to becoming a power team, and it would make sense to keep him on.
However, I feel like we have stagnated a bit, despite the incremental moves forward. And to the surprise of many, I bring aboard a new head coach – going a bit younger, cheaper, and getting a guy who might have a better focus on keeping our players fit and ready to play. I’ve been awfully frustrated by our annual parade of injuries.
Head Coach: K.C. Hansen, 50
Career Record: 70-94-1
EX: Injury Avoidance
VG: Off PC, Def PC
Good: Mot, Disc
Earnest Carlyle manages to latch on in Philadelphia, so he will get the chance to content for a championship there, as they have a powerful team coming back, with star QB Jacques Cheatham still there. Cheatham’s injury last year killed the Eagles’ chances to three-peat as champions, but if he can get back on track, they should be very tough again.
We have to reduce ticket prices a bit, to accommodate the lousy economy locally. (Cincinnati dropped theirs, and we are pinned to them, in part)
Roster Review
Do you make massive changes to a team that went 15-1 the previous season? The book says no – but we’ll have some tough decisions ahead. We have about $26m in cap space, and 31 players signed. Add it up, and see the players who are up for new deals, and it will become pretty obvious – we have a tight offseason ahead, and won’t be able to bring nearly everyone back.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Clancy, Marco 8 QB 5 61 61 1 yr.
Houston, James 7 QB 3 50 60 1 yr.
Gordon, Howie 3 QB 3 34 56 ---
Galbraith, Marc 4 QB 8 25 48 ---
Marco Clancy demanded and got a contract extension last season, but promptly reinforced our impression that he’s too fragile to depend on. James Houston is developing nicely, and is a solid #1A to Clancy for us – we’re fine if he has to play. Gordon will re-sign cheaply, and we’d love to bring him back he will be the #3 for the coming year, almost certainly.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Arsenault, Roderick 33 RB 10 49 49 ---
Ramsey, Kendrick 32 RB 8 38 38 2 yrs
Aguilera, Danny 30 RB 3 36 36 ---
Rodgers, Clifton 31 RB 3 20 31 ---
Problem contract #1 – Roderick Arsenault. He wants a deal for about $4 million per season – how can we justify that? The 49/49 is pretty far – that’s about what he rate at this point. It’s tough to say how much we would lose if we had to go with Ramsey, or some cheap free agent as our main back for the year.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Pritchett, Eric 45 FB 2 60 67 2 yrs
Goodwin, Ian 23 FB 5 43 52 2 yrs
Woodson, Mickey 36 FB 10 42 43 2 yrs
Eric Pritchett is a pretty complete player, and is clearly a better overall player than Mickey Woodson, who has taken an injury blow and is a lesser player than before. I still like the “get out of the way” model at FB, and Pritchett (who had 70 passes thrown his way last season) isn’t really that kind of guy. Tough to say what to do here. They are all cheap – all three can stay.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Holmes, Jonathan 18 TE 8 70 70 ---
Pariso, Wade 82 TE 4 35 43 1 yr.
Thomason, Tony 88 TE 2 26 41 1 yr.
Jonathan Holmes was a machine for us – only 9 starts, only on the field for 390 pass plays, but he got 132 passes thrown his way (fully 1/3 of the total) and racked up all-pro numbers in that time. Extremely productive when healthy – how much is this guy worth paying for? He wants over $6 million a season, which probably rules him right out for us – unless he slides until after the draft and rethinks. My guess is he gets paid – elsewhere.
Tony Thomason is a guy who would improve with playing time, I suspect – but I doubt he’ll ever really get the chance to show it. A last resort for us there.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Blair, Zach 81 FL 5 54 54 ---
Ellard, Jimmy 87 FL 8 48 48 2 yrs
O'Rourke, Nathan 80 FL 10 40 40 ---
Causey, Marvin 86 SE 4 57 57 ---
Sasser, Marlon 85 SE 8 50 50 ---
Rose, Mickey 89 SE 7 27 27 ---
Zach Blair has proven to be steady and reliable – two straight nearly identical seasons, with 44 straight healthy starts. That really helped last year. He’s only looking for $1.1 million to sign for this year – I’ll try to extend that into a longer term deal, and lock him up as our starter for the next couple of seasons.
That leaves us with a dilemma elsewhere – particularly at split end. I like the tandem of guys we used primarily last season, with Causey as the fairly stable guy and Sasser the big hitter. Problem is, Sasser now wants to be a star somewhere, and to be paid like one. If we go into this season with Blair and Causey as our starters, we lack that guy to “stretch the field” a bit. I think we probably need to spend either some money or a draft pick to add some flash to this group.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Owens, O.J. 51 C 7 66 66 1 yr.
Pond, Ellis 57 C 3 30 58 1 yr.
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 3 56 65 3 yrs
Gruber, Lincoln 63 RG 9 55 55 2 yrs
Hampton, Todd 67 RG 7 41 41 ---
Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 9 54 56 2 yrs
Norton, Danny 68 LT 4 16 38 ---
Thornton, Donnie 73 RT 7 64 64 ---
This unit has worked very well, and we ought to be okay coming into the year. RT Donnie Thornton had a very good season for us last year – a huge improvement over his first. I’d like to lock him up long term, but it will take at least $1.5m per year to do so. We may be in wait-and-se mode with this one – it won’t be an immediate offer.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Creighton, Lamont 9 P 3 69 69 1 yr.
Vallejo, Jeremy 19 K 5 60 66 ---
I will need to look at the Akron options here in the draft, but I like the twosome we have on hand right now, if we can keep them.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Moseley, Cris 94 LDE 8 59 59 ---
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 7 52 52 1 yr.
Bromley, Skip 78 LDE 5 50 51 1 yr.
Limon, Lincoln 95 LDE 10 42 42 2 yrs
Hendrix, Tim 99 RDE 7 64 66 1 yr.
Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 7 69 70 1 yr.
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 9 45 46 ---
Bailey, Zach 96 LDT 2 33 66 3 yrs
Gustafson, Harvey 75 RDT 7 29 29 ---
We have a solid returning corps of players here, but will not be able to re-sign DE Moseley (wants big bucks) or DT Gustafson (lost most skill after injury). DT Oliveira is the positional leader and the lynchpin for multiple affinities – so he should return. We probably need one more DE in the mix, especially since DT Bailey is no sure thing.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Davis, Curtis 55 MLB 8 67 67 2 yrs
Casey, Rick 90 MLB 10 57 59 ---
Goodwin, Cedric 92 MLB 10 55 55 1 yr.
Perez, K.C. 56 MLB 7 53 62 ---
Frederick, Clarence 58 SLB 4 35 50 ---
Hamilton, Wendell 98 SLB 2 20 49 1 yr.
DiGiacomo, Ricky 91 WLB 6 76 76 ---
Holmes, Warren 50 WLB 7 56 56 ---
Regalado, Darrin 52 WLB 5 53 53 1 yr.
Curtis Davis came from nowhere to become a star for us, and will return as our strong-side starter. Cedric Goodwin, though, is the tougher call. Can he still start for us in the middle? If, so we need to have a Plan B – Casey? Both Casey and Perez are looking for handsome payouts, so they might both be off the list.
Then there’s Ricky DiGacomo, who has worked out to be very solid – but he wants $8 million a year – well beyond anything we can afford for one player. Warren Holmes looks like a fairly affordable re-signing, and he may have to start at WLB this year if we lose DiG, as expected. Regalado is really a pass-rushing specialist, and has been helpful in reserve on the DL and at LB, but I don’t see him as a starting alternative.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Wickliff, Calvin 28 LCB 9 55 55 2 yrs
Freeman, Jamie 44 LCB 3 33 59 3 yrs
Maxwell, Brett 25 RCB 6 64 65 ---
Richmond, Deon 43 RCB 8 58 58 1 yr.
Callens, Zack 39 RCB 10 45 45 2 yrs
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 5 61 61 ---
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 2 70 75 4 yrs
Ellery, Deron 46 FS 6 62 62 ---
Specter, Rex 41 FS 3 37 52 1 yr.
We have Deon Richmond locked up, and it’s clear that he’ll start again. He doesn’t make a lot of big plays, but he has become a pretty reliable cover man in our man-up schemes. Zack Callens has been a starter, and is suited to our system. Calvin Wickliff is a decent player, but he’s not that great in man coverage, and that’s really what we want to do on defense. So, he ends up as a nice reserve player, but not a starting option, I don’t think. Jamie Freeman is never going to be a solid player – decent #3 or #4, that’s all.
Brett Maxwell’s contract demands all but rule him out – he’s thinking $6 million a year – no chance there.
Eskridge will be our starter and star at safety. I’d like to re-sign Kirk Weed, and assuming he comes back we’ll be okay here.
So – we have 3 offers in as the FA period starts: WR Blair, DT Oliveira, and S Weed. I have other players we will watch and hope to pursue, but for now, these are the top of our list.