Free Agency
Initially, I have $22 million in usable cap room this year, with 38 players signed. With no first round draft pick this year, we’ll be looking to free agents for most meaningful changes in the roster.
I start with an offer to RG Lincoln Grurber, who has been very solid for us and is a position leader and mentor. Solid guy to keep around.
I also put in an offer for LB Curtis Davis - $4.8m per year, which will make him among our top-paid players. He deserves it – I just hope we can get him back, after three great seasons.
Three year modest deal to FB Goodwin, a solid reserve FB/TE for us. I decide not to put in an offer to FB Eric Pritchett, who wants nearly $2 million a year. Maybe later, but right now I’ll be looking for a replacement starter – a better blocker, less of a receiving target.
With needs at DE, I put in a new offer to Henry Garner – decent run-stopper, able to play DT if needed. He’s not asking for a huge sum – a good fit if he will return.
With no offer in to QB Marco Clancy, this means we have cap space to pursue another player or two from the outside. My first target is LT Claude Nieto, I start with a solid one-year offer.
Marco Clancy has a huge offer in from Chicago, and it looks like he will finally depart. I simply won’t put up $10 million a year for him. In week two, it’s official – he has signed with the Bears.
Week two brings us news about LB Curtis Davis, who is listening to a big offer from Pittsburgh. I still think our offer will prevail, and I stand pat.
With T Nieto signed, I target a receiver – Van Harmon is a great returner, and looks like a solid third down receiver. I don’t expect him to take the starting job, nor to become a major impact player, but he looks like a good fit.
DE Henry Garner decides to accept a one-year deal with New Orleans, leaving us a bit thinned on the DL. But we do sign LB Curtis Davis, and I think our defensive front will be okay.
In week 8, WR Harmon signs with us, and I can target another addition. I’m disturbed that Harmon doesn’t get along with Jimmy Ellard – but that makes two conflicts there, and I’m thinking Ellard will be gone. So, we will sort out the chemistry after training camp.
CB Monty Diaz is a 4th year player with solid man coverage skills, and is a big hitter to boot. Good fit for this secondary scheme – we pick him up cheaply. DT Nate Winters has been a nice run stopper for Philadephia, and we grab him next for a pretty affordable deal.
I am very interested in a top-grade center Monty Nunley, but his $5m+ demands are keeping me and other teams away for now. I’d love to lock him up after the draft – we have the money, but I just don’t want to commit multiple years at that kind of price. OLB Kurt Dodge is a similar case – but I’m not quite as fascinated there. If his demands come down, though, I will pursue him quickly, I’m certain.
2015 Rookie Draft
We’re at pick #30, but missing first and third rounders – but we’ll console ourselves with the reigning league MVP.
Code:
Amateur Draft Report:
Rnd 2 - Ty Enochs, CB, Pittsburgh
Rnd 4 - Bucky Olivas, WR, Air Force
Rnd 5 - Glenn McIntyre, FB, Mississippi State
Rnd 6 - Blake Lane, DE, Oregon
Rnd 7 - Erik Davison, RB, Millersville
We get a potentially good fit for our secondary in CB Ty Enochs, and fill in mostly need areas otherwise. Glenn McINtyr played TE in college, but we will try him out at fullback – where I hope he can step into a starting role for us.
Late Free Agency
I make an offer to WR Alex Garcia – he’s a 12th year player, who doesn’t look like a starter for us. However, he brings a lot in intangibles. He is an established mentor to wide receivers, he will probably become the positional leader for us, and he is a solid special teamer – probably a gunner for our team. All told, a pretty valuable addition, even if he never catches any passes.
Safety Ricky Flannery looks like a decent pickup – especially if I want to cut Deron Ellery in the name of chemistry. He takes a very affordable deal, also.
C Monty Nunley is still out there, and his demands are gradually dropping. I certainly have the cash right now to sign him for this year – the question is do we try to lock him up long term? He is quite devastating. After week 5, we have our two target free agents signed, an I put in a 4yr, $15m offer to Nunley. He accepts the following week – and we have a new big hitter on our OL.
My next move is to go after LB Kurt Dodge, who I think is better than any of my current starting options at WLB. 4yrs, $11 million, and he is locked up. Not quite as cheaply as I might have liked, but he should start right away.
My last move is to lock up T Bennie Heinlein to a new multi-year deal. He is currently injured, and may well be worth nothing when he “recovers” but I think it’s fair to put up a few dollars to a guy who has given us so many seasons at a key position. If he returns in good form, then we’ll have great depth on the OL.
Training Camp
I put in a little extra time in the weight room, trying to avoid another injury-marred season, and hope for the best from here.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp CE FE CE FE ChgC ChgF
Houston, James 7 QB 5 60 60 64 64 4 4
Brock, Deion 2 QB 3 33 50 36 50 3 0
Ward, Ray 16 QB 1 17 41 19 36 2 -5
Duncan, Kendall 11 QB 1 17 39 19 36 2 -3
Griffin, Dexter 14 QB 1 12 42 13 37 1 -5
Stewart, Gus 39 RB 2 75 81 77 81 2 0
Newman, Daniel 27 RB 12 38 38 38 38 0 0
Aguilera, Danny 30 RB 5 33 33 33 33 0 0
Baker, Joe 36 RB 1 31 47 32 48 1 1
Davison, Erik 35 RB 1 28 41 29 38 1 -3
Battle, Jeremy 25 RB 3 23 27 23 27 0 0
Goodwin, Ian 23 FB 7 43 45 45 45 2 0
McIntyre, Glenn 48 FB 1 15 46 16 45 1 -1
Norton, Devin 6 TE 7 76 76 76 76 0 0
Chambliss, Todd 85 TE 2 27 48 28 48 1 0
Brandon, Dean 84 TE 1 17 59 20 66 3 7
Blair, Zach 81 FL 7 50 50 50 50 0 0
Tilton, Cornelius 83 FL 3 38 38 38 38 0 0
Garcia, Alex 88 FL 12 35 37 35 37 0 0
Barton, Ben 32 FL 2 21 38 22 38 1 0
Witcher, Frankie 37 FL 2 13 31 14 31 1 0
Causey, Marvin 86 SE 6 55 55 55 55 0 0
Harmon, Van 89 SE 5 49 51 49 51 0 0
Olivas, Bucky 82 SE 1 15 42 15 36 0 -6
Nunley, Monty 54 C 5 84 84 84 84 0 0
Pond, Ellis 57 C 5 49 60 52 60 3 0
Weber, Jesse 59 C 2 17 38 19 38 2 0
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 5 58 60 58 60 0 0
Lyon, Edwin 64 LG 2 30 46 34 46 4 0
Dugas, Hunter 68 LG 1 0 32 2 39 2 7
Gruber, Lincoln 63 RG 11 51 51 51 51 0 0
**Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 11 54 56 54 56 0 0
Nieto, Claude 78 LT 7 54 55 54 55 0 0
Ford, Deion 69 LT 2 17 32 19 32 2 0
Thornton, Donnie 73 RT 9 61 61 61 61 0 0
Creighton, Lamont 9 P 5 56 56 56 56 0 0
Crain, Mo 15 K 2 96 96 100 100 4 4
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 9 49 50 49 50 0 0
Lynn, Neal 90 LDE 3 43 53 46 53 3 0
Coleman, Skip 99 LDE 11 34 34 34 34 0 0
Taylor, Bryce 74 LDE 1 17 31 18 32 1 1
Lane, Blake 70 LDE 1 16 40 17 37 1 -3
Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 9 70 71 70 71 0 0
Bailey, Zach 96 LDT 4 53 69 55 69 2 0
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 11 42 44 42 44 0 0
Winters, Nate 92 NT 5 40 55 42 55 2 0
Davis, Curtis 55 MLB 10 69 69 69 69 0 0
Perez, K.C. 56 MLB 9 56 57 56 57 0 0
Dodge, Kurt 91 SLB 5 61 61 61 61 0 0
Frederick, Clarence 58 SLB 6 43 49 45 49 2 0
Meyer, Herb 50 SLB 3 28 48 29 48 1 0
Sinclair, Curtis 94 SLB 2 24 55 26 55 2 0
Regalado, Darrin 52 WLB 7 50 50 50 50 0 0
Stuff, Blake 49 WLB 2 36 60 39 60 3 0
Diaz, Monty 40 LCB 4 43 44 45 45 2 1
Freeman, Jamie 44 LCB 5 40 49 42 49 2 0
Enochs, Ty 43 LCB 1 11 62 12 57 1 -5
Douglas, Darrell 26 RCB 5 62 62 62 62 0 0
Callens, Zack 34 RCB 12 33 33 33 33 0 0
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 7 59 59 59 59 0 0
Flannery, Ricky 42 SS 9 51 51 51 51 0 0
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 4 78 78 78 78 0 0
Ellery, Deron 46 FS 8 59 59 59 59 0 0
QB James Houston had a very good training camp, his first as our first option. I’m not really sold on anyone behind him – and we might need to worry there. Deion Brock looks like a decent enough “don’t lose the game” kind of guy, but I don’t know if he can successfully throw the ball 30 times and win.
Ian Goodwin will probably step in and become our FB starter – rookie Glenn McIntyre might develop into a starter, but he really isn’t ready right away. TE Dean Brandon, undrafted rookie, had a very good training camp – and now looks like he might wrest the #2 job away from Todd Chambliss, whom I also like a good deal. I eventually decide to switch Brandon to FB, where he might be a better option than McIntyre.
I had planned to consider releasing S Deron Ellery, due to two chemistry cocnflicts. Turns out we get a trade offer from Philadelphia for him. It’s only a 4th round pick and a washed-out OG, but it’s better than I had planned to see. (The guard gets cut immediately)
Season Analysis
We head into the season looking a little different. We will still be passing a lot, but we won’t be a QB-centered offense. RB Gus Stewart is clearly the lynchpin of our attack now – we’ll count on James Houston and our fleet of receivers to keep things opened up. But this should be a more effective ball-control offense than we have had in years past.
Defensively, I think we are stronger with our three LB starters than we have been in years, which will allow guys like Regalado and Frederick help with the DL pass rushing duties. If DT Cascadden and Bailey can stay healthy, then I think we will be okay up front. The secondary will again feature budget cornerbacks Douglas and Callens – every year Callens looks like the guy we should cut, but four straight seasons with a PDPct over 20 says something – he is productive in our system, period.
Our cohesion is very high – 100(96)/96/88/95. We have also regained the 100 roster rating, with the Jets at 90 and Arizona dropping all the way to last place. I look through the list of transactions the Cards made – it just looks like they ran into cap hell this year, and were unable to lock up their expiring contracts. They will presumably go through a rebuilding, and I can’t see them being contenders this year.
We get Deion Brock a lot of work in the preseason, as he will step into #2 role for us this year. He looks solid – very good, even. We run through an unbeaten preseason, and I feel like the team is looking very sharp. I expect better things from our defense this year, and I think the big question is whether the offensive changes will compromise our chances. I think we will be a little bit more like the teams that got us to the top – dominate on defense, play smart on offense, let the other team adjust to us, and capitalize on their mistakes.
We’ll be shooting for the top again – we ought to be top contenders.