2017 preseason
After two seasons atop the league, Cleveland will make a run for an unprecedented three-peat. We’ll have some challenges – our top-paid player is going to miss the season with an injury, and we have some critical players up for new contracts, and expect to suffer more attrition. We’ll see if we can hold enough of this ship together for another title run.
Transitions and League Observations
We don’t have any retirements, which is good news. I had half-feared/half-hoped that DT Gary Cascadden would retire, but he is still around – preparing to suck $7 million of our salary cap so he can sit in his recovery bed all season.
Front Office Decisions
My head coach, K.C. Hansen, is the three-time defending Coach of the Year. Now he’s up for a contract. Right. I have offers inn to retain both Hansen and my scout Kim Donaldson.
Donaldson is pretty easy:
Scout: Kim Donaldson, 43
VG: WR,PK
GD: QB,DL,LB,DB,Young Talent
AV: RB,OL
Hansen takes a pretty big contract – as well he should. He has four bidders in the first week, and I have to up my $4m offer pretty substantially, eventually landing him with an offer of $6,600,000. He’s now the highest-paid coach in the league – but makes a shade less than the highest-paid OC in the league. (Dumb)
We keep our ticket prices in place. We remain profitable, in part due to getting an extra playoff game or two every year.
Roster Review
We have 32 signed players, and $25 million available to spend on free agents. We’ll walk through the roster, and see where we might focus this money. This will certainly be yet another challenging off-season.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Houston, James 7 QB 7 63 63 ---
Brock, Deion 2 QB 5 49 51 2 yrs
Irwin, Melvin 12 QB 8 21 39 ---
Hayes, Jeff 18 QB 2 12 40 1 yr.
The scouts say Houston is the better QB, but the numbers say that Deion Brock has earned the top spot. Brock had a 103.8 rating last year, and was clearly the better leader for our offense. I doubt we will re-up with Houston, who wants $7 million a year. We’ll probably look for a cheap journeymen to fill in behind Brock, and perhaps draft a promising youngster again. (I don’t see Jeff Hayes as a viable option, either)
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Stewart, Gus 39 RB 4 83 83 2 yrs
Baker, Joe 36 RB 3 38 50 ---
Frederickson, Renaldo 28 RB 2 35 47 3 yrs
Aguilera, Danny 30 RB 7 33 33 1 yr.
Joe Baker and Renaldo Frederickson are passable reserves, but nothing more than that. Danny Aguilera is a receiving back who really can’t run the ball well. I’d like to get a solid #2 back – may go fishing in the draft there again.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Goodwin, Ian 23 FB 9 42 42 1 yr.
Brandon, Dean 45 FB 3 25 59 ---
Sellers, Karl 80 TE 2 49 78 3 yrs
Chambliss, Todd 85 TE 4 40 50 2 yrs
I like Dean Brandon at FB better than Goodwin – more of my style of “get out o the way” fullback. Karl Sellers needs to get more involved in the passing game to justify his #1 selection. TE Chambliss is actually developing into a pretty solid player himself, but he will never be a star receiver.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Newsome, Joey 87 FL 6 56 56 2 yrs
Tilton, Cornelius 83 FL 5 38 38 2 yrs
Garcia, Alex 88 FL 14 32 33 ---
Harmon, Van 89 SE 7 50 52 ---
Lesky, Omar 32 SE 2 29 46 2 yrs
Badalyan, Matt 31 SE 2 22 43 2 yrs
Mixed results from this group. Newsome is the most productive guy when he is healthy, and it’s hard to deny Tilton’s effectiveness when he is used. Van Harmon has been a nice complementary player and returner for us, and may well be worth the $1.5 million he seeks. I won’t put in an initial offer, but might go after him if it pans out.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Nunley, Monty 54 C 7 85 85 2 yrs
Pond, Ellis 57 C 7 56 62 ---
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 7 56 56 2 yrs
Wells, Joseph 77 LG 2 19 29 1 yr.
Gruber, Lincoln 63 RG 13 51 51 1 yr.
Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 13 54 56 1 yr.
Gaines, Cris 75 LT 2 13 30 1 yr.
Glaspie, Nathan 78 RT 5 37 37 2 yrs
Most everyone returns, except our super-sub Ellis Pond. Pond got 14 starts last year, filling in for injured players across the line. But, he now seeks big money, and won’t be practical to keep around. We’ll look for a free agent or two to give us some seasoned depth – preferably at T or G.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Creighton, Lamont 9 P 7 57 57 ---
Crain, Mo 15 K 4 97 97 ---
I’ll try to retain both guys – but Mo Crain might want a truckload of money. Creighton is solid, but replaceable – he’s not that great with angling punts to the corner.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 11 49 51 ---
Coleman, Skip 99 LDE 13 22 23 ---
Lynn, Neal 90 LDE 5 22 24 ---
Lane, Blake 70 LDE 3 21 30 1 yr.
Eldridge, Wendell 65 RDE 2 26 29 1 yr.
Prescott, Wendell 56 RDE 2 13 35 3 yrs
**Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 11 70 71 1 yr.
Bailey, Zach 96 LDT 6 65 69 ---
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 13 42 43 2 yrs
Winters, Nate 92 NT 7 54 56 ---
DT Gary Cascadden is out for the year already, and will then be out of contract. He might be a dead man walking – who knows how he will look after resolving his injury issues. But look around at this group – we just don’t have much talent here, and that’s being kind. Zach Bailey is very solid, but would cost a fortune to sign again (he’s thinking about $8m a year), and who else is worth a damn? Jimmy Fox is fine – he’d make a nice #3 DE, but last year he was leaps and bounds our best true DE. Willie Oliveira is okay, but really a reserve-quality guy as well. I had to patch through by using linebackers as reserves and pass-rushing specialists last season, and may have to do so again. High priority to pull a bit more together here – maybe our top draft pick.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Davis, Curtis 55 MLB 12 64 64 1 yr.
Blackwell, C.J. 97 MLB 6 62 73 2 yrs
Dodge, Kurt 91 SLB 7 60 60 2 yrs
Frederick, Clarence 58 SLB 8 49 49 ---
Sinclair, Curtis 94 SLB 4 29 55 ---
Regalado, Darrin 52 WLB 9 47 47 ---
Stuff, Blake 49 WLB 4 35 44 ---
Speaking of linebackers, we have three starters already signed – and absolutely nothing else. Frederick and Regalado have been effective as situational pass rushers, and I’ll probably be looking for more guys of that type. The rest can be replaced with cheap free agents or youngsters. I don’t expect we’ll have the depth that we had last season.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Diaz, Monty 40 LCB 6 50 50 1 yr.
Turner, Leland 27 LCB 2 19 46 3 yrs
Caston, Adam 46 RCB 12 47 47 1 yr.
Callens, Zack 34 RCB 14 32 32 ---
Foreman, Thurman 26 RCB 2 28 47 2 yrs
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 9 55 55 ---
Arnold, Jason 47 SS 6 55 55 2 yrs
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 6 77 77 ---
Zack Callens is in his 14th season, and has practically no skills left. He also comes off his sixth straight season with a PDPct rating over 20—and if you follow that rating like I do, you’re impressed (that’s a pretty unusual feat for a top-tier player, not to mention an apparent scrub like Callens). Zack is rated 60 in man coverage and 58 in interceptions, and has nothing else above 30. Perfect for our defense—I love him. We’ll get by with our CB group.
At safety, it’s decision time. Kirk Weed has been a long time starter and anchor player, and Kenneth Eskridge is just a star. Weed wants about $3m a year, and Eskridge wants over $5m a year – so it will be very tough to land both of them. Arnold is a passable starter if we need him, which I think is fairly likely.