2008 preseason
Transitions and League Observations
Pretty disappointing news with QB Bobby Silvers. He is healthy again, and will be ready for the season – but his injury from last year has taken a serious toll. He is now a fair QB, with some decent skills – but he’s definitely not the old Bobby “Quik” Silvers we were building around. Tough loss – and a tough decision ahead for us. Suddenly, QB is moving up our list of priorities.
We don’t have any retirements – as would be expected with such a young team. It will probably be a few years until we start worrying about that, without major injuries causing them.
DT Gary Cascadden is on “The Green Page” for top league prospects, and it looks like he will continue to develop toward being a titanic run stopper on our defensive front, exactly what I wanted. His run defense rating of 29/92 is very encouraging. DE Cole Harrison, the DE taken with the #2 pick I dealt away, was the DROY and looks like a future star for St. Louis.
Front Office Decisions
Zack Bates, our scout, is out of contract, 71, and declining. Time to look elsewhere. I put in a big $750,000/yr bid for Myron Hampton – who is 69, but looks really good.
Earnest Carlyle, our head coach, is 57 and out of contract. I want to re-sign him, despite our lousy record – can’t blame that on him.
After two weeks, both Hampton and Carlyle are aboard:
Scout: Myron Hampton, 69
EX: QB,Young Talent
VG: OL,PK,DL,DB
AV: RB,LB
FR: WR
Head Coach: Earnest Carlyle, 57
EX: Injury Avoidance, Off PC
VG: Discipline
AV: Motivation, Def PC
Even if we only get a few years out of Hampton, he seems worth it.
Roster Review
With a new scout aboard, we get a new look at our players – and we’ll walk through the position groups here, once again. This time, I will show each player’s contract – you’ll see my scout impression during camp.
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Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Silvers, Bobby 16 QB 2004 2009 5 $2,630,000 $1,890,000
Mathews, Shawn 18 QB 2007 2008 5 $2,240,000 $1,700,000
Davis, Steven 14 QB 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
Abueva, Jesse 12 QB 2007 ---- 2 $0 $0
Silvers, as I noted, is depleted badly. He may still be our starter, but now we cannot consider the position settled. Too bad. Mathews played okay last season, but is not a long term answer, I don’t think, at all. Davis is a nice #3.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Newman, Daniel 40 RB 2004 2008 5 $1,160,000 $1,110,000
Ramsey, Kendrick 32 RB 2006 2008 3 $470,000 $470,000
Hudson, Michael 21 RB 2007 2009 2 $380,000 $360,000
Adams, Donovan 28 RB 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
Newman remains our most proven quantity, and comes into the season as the projected “chairman” of a running back committee. The others are spot players, but nobody has really stood out with his performance to suggest he merits extra attention. Position is also unsettled, but not desperate.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Woodson, Mickey 36 FB 2006 2008 5 $550,000 $550,000
May, Pat 29 FB 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
I continue to like Woodson here, and he might have a job for a long time.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Metzger, Rich 82 TE 2006 2008 5 $890,000 $880,000
Simmons, Norm 87 TE 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
McConnell, Neal 86 TE 2007 ---- 3 $0 $0
Metzger cannot stay healthy, but is productive. We could really use a second contributor here, as I’m fond of the single back TE pairs set – and need a solid second TE for that, of course. (We can use Woodson, if need be)
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
O'Rourke, Nathan 88 FL 2004 2009 5 $990,000 $920,000
Ivory, Nick 81 FL 2004 UFA 5 $0 $0
Sanders, Randall 83 SE 2006 2008 5 $1,180,000 $1,150,000
Rose, Mickey 89 SE 2007 2009 2 $1,050,000 $630,000
Horner, Jerome 80 SE 2004 UFA 5 $0 $0
Sanders and O’Rourke are acceptable, but our offense could really benefit from a serious game breaker at receiver. We have picks #11 and #18 in the upcoming rookie draft, and I’d love to land an impact player here with one of them.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Hambrick, Antoine 54 C 2007 2009 4 $830,000 $770,000
George, Zach 57 C 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
Nichols, Kurt 56 C 2006 UFA 5 $0 $0
Hampton, Todd 67 RG 2007 2010 2 $540,000 $360,000
Clark, James 66 RG 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
Parrish, Desmond 61 RG 2005 ---- 4 $0 $0
Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 2005 2008 4 $1,510,000 $1,030,000
Sneller, Dan 69 LT 2007 ---- 3 $0 $0
Bass, Frank 73 RT 2007 2008 4 $450,000 $450,000
The scouting staff rates the OL (both G and T) as our top need position, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. Thing is, we got pretty decent performance out of our group last year – probably in part because of the carefully-managed chemistry that works well for them. But re-signing C Nichols and perhaps acquiring a solid guard would really help out. I’d love to pull down a veteran through free agency.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Cochrane, Paul 9 P 2004 2008 5 $780,000 $780,000
Wingard, Dennis 5 K 2006 ---- 3 $0 $0
I intend to re-sign Wingard, but it won’t be a top priority – he’s not too good on kickoffs, and quality kickers are just abundant.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Limon, Lincoln 79 LDE 2007 2008 5 $1,280,000 $1,160,000
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 2007 2010 2 $980,000 $550,000
Schulz, Deion 70 LDE 2005 2009 4 $500,000 $500,000
Schwirzke, Lee 59 LDE 2006 ---- 3 $0 $0
Huffman, Rodney 78 RDE 2005 2010 4 $4,590,000 $1,840,000
Blum, Dale 94 RDE 2006 2009 3 $600,000 $480,000
Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 2007 2011 2 $2,110,000 $880,000
Gibson, Kris 95 LDT 2006 2008 3 $1,450,000 $980,000
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 2007 2009 4 $600,000 $600,000
Our starting foursome of DEs Huffman and Fox, with DTs Cascadden and Gibson held up pretty well last season. We have depth here now, but I’m contemplating a trade offer for DE Limon – a 3rd round pick might be worth dealing him, I think. I’m feeling good about this group, but Jimmy Fox might end up being the weak link.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Goodwin, Cedric 92 MLB 2004 2009 5 $2,000,000 $1,600,000
Gaines, Daryl 55 MLB 2007 2008 4 $450,000 $450,000
Castaneda, Ronald 64 MLB 2007 2008 2 $300,000 $300,000
Tyler, Howie 99 SLB 2005 2009 4 $730,000 $690,000
Jervey, Kim 51 SLB 2006 UFA 5 $0 $0
Fisk, Stanley 98 WLB 2007 2009 2 $1,050,000 $630,000
Wiggs, Julio 52 WLB 2006 2008 5 $800,000 $600,000
Fuller, Luke 53 WLB 2007 2009 2 $360,000 $360,000
Cedric Goodwin continues to improve – he’s getting better in coverage now, too, gradually. A real star for us right up the middle, with crazy tackle numbers. Howie Tyle is turning into a pretty complete “sam” for us, and is helping with the QB pressure as our main blitz option. Julio Wiggs is a pure run-stopper, and I’m reluctant to sit him for the more well-rounded Stanley Fisk – so Fisk will probably remain our top backup for another season. Jervey is a pass-rusher, worth re-signing if he’ll come cheaply.
Code:
Player # Pos Start OnTm EndCnt Exp Cap Cost Save if Rls
Mace, Wes 23 LCB 2006 2008 5 $1,060,000 $800,000
Gomez, Craig 27 LCB 2005 2008 4 $540,000 $540,000
Lucas, Irving 30 LCB 2007 UFA 5 $0 $0
Richmond, Deon 43 RCB 2006 2010 3 $2,910,000 $1,390,000
Dunn, Scott 37 RCB 2007 2009 5 $960,000 $930,000
Richmond, Paul 34 SS 2004 2008 5 $580,000 $530,000
Jacobs, Thurman 41 FS 2005 2009 4 $1,080,000 $780,000
Politte, Marlon 38 FS 2007 2010 2 $440,000 $360,000
Pryor, Jerry 45 FS 2007 ---- 4 $0 $0
Deon Richmond is eroding gradually, and doesn’t really look like a star cover man after all. He’s still worth playing, but doesn’t look like a guy who will be with us for his whole career, after all. Irving Lucas, on a one year deal, started at free safety last year – and might get another shot if he’s willing. Jacobs is pretty good (though not a great man-up cover guy) and will stick around. No stars back here, but we’re okay.
Code:
Players Under Contract: 43
Salary Cap: $75,000,000
Cap Room: $31,310,000
Maximum for New Player: $26,020,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $870,000
That’s our status – we have plenty of cap space, and after we do the deal for DE Limon, we grab another roster spot and draft pick in the exchange. We have almost as much cap space as anyone – and probably fewer actual roster vacancies. Looks promising.
Free Agency
We look around, and quickly find that there are a number of players who would help us.
The first guy to strike my fancy in a big way is
RB Roderick Arsenault – the defending Player of the Year, with 5585 yards rushing in his first four years in the league – ouch! Predictably, he is looking for really big chunk of cash – nearly $10m a year. I could do that, but it would take a good share of our resources. I think I’ll put in a bid, though – he’d be the type of impact player that we really covet (even though his ratings aren’t truly extraordinary, he’s a proven commodity). Simple offer – 4yrs, $40, split up evenly.
WR Jermaine Aceves is a mixed bag receiver, but has really good skills (but not great production thus far). He only wants a modest deal – we put in a three year offer, and expect that he’d become our new receivers leader.
At QB, the best guy available seems to be
Tyrone Glover, a crisp underneath passer who has been pretty solid for the Giants. I’m not sure he’d be a great fit for a pass-happy attack, but he’d be a good complement to a more run-intensive plan, which we might seek out if we land RB Arsenault. I decide to put in a bid, but not a staggering one – just two years, $15m.
TE Arnie Whiting is another great fit – a dynamite receiving TE from Carolina, who topped 800 yards receiving two seasons ago, and made the all-pro team. Good fit, though not a great pass blocker. My offer is 3yrs, $12m.
RT Bert Schroeder is an excellent pass blocker, though his on-field results have been poor thus far. Regardless, we’ll bring him in, and will slot him on the vulnerable right side of our line.
I make a move for a few more decent players at DT, LB, and CB – but that’s the end of my big money pursuits.
We end up with no competition for any players we pursue – but after several weeks, I have locked up the cheap guys, and still have RB Arsenault, QB Tyrone Glover, and TE Arnie Whiting all sitting pending.
Week six – and we land our first major impact free agent, as RB Roderick Arsenault signs to play in Cleveland. He’s posted two 1,500-yard seasons, and has yet to post a season with under 4.0 yards per carry. Assuming he can deliver anything close to that with us now, he should make a huge impact right away.
I fall back a bit with QB Tyrone Glover, dropping my offer to one year, $6 million. If he comes, fine, if not, fine.
TE Arnie Whiting signs up after a couple more weeks, giving us one more potent weapon on the offense, and QB Glover comes with him. We have landed all three of our major targets – and now have a pretty significantly new look for our offense.
I zip through the remaining FA stages, as we are nearly out of cap space, and I get ready for the rookie draft.