GroupThink Little Rock Rollers - 1994 offseason

[QuikSand]

This is a continuation of the GroupThink career, managing the Little Rock Rollers. The career started in 1990, and has been jointly managed by several of the regular FOFC members, with input from numerous others.

All are welcome to download the game files, and join in the discussions. (Note: the game files will renams your cities and teams, so back up your own universe directory before overwriting those files)

File locations to be pasted here later


For the history of the Little Rock Rollers, here are previous threads:

Thread locations to be pasted here later



So, join in, play along, join the staff or just let us know what you think!

[QuikSand]

GroupThink 1994 Offseason

First things first… retirements. We have several players who are candidates. And our perusal of the list of league defections shows…

nada.

We remain unscathed… Roger Pritchett is back, our injured guys are back, everything’s copacetic.


As for our injury report, LT Hardy Woolridge is listed as out for 14 more weeks… with luck, that means we get him back mid-season. He doesn’t seem have lost much in ratings – so hopefully he’ll be raring to go. We can use him, no doubt. MLB Lonnie Bell and unsigned wunderkind TE Lamont Dresow are both listed as probably, with still-nagging hammies. We’ll live – indeed, that might depress the FA price for Dresow, who has gradually developed into a major talent, I’d note.


Or scout, Tony Shields, has served us rather well, I’d say. We re-sign him for r years at $900,000 – a decent increase, but well deserved.


The team cleared a modest profit once again this year, $4 million in the black. Our scouting costs will go up some, so that may not b stable looking forward. We’ll also have to see about bonuses, the big variable.


We have some quality players sitting out there as free agents – S Donnie Bridgeman has been with us for 12 seasons, suffering through the bad times and now the good. He wears our ring, and is a fan favorite – we must offer him a deal.

RB Duane Crawford, as we know, is idolized by the fans, as his shirtless promotional poster has become something of a cult icon in the sizable Little Rock ‘alternative lifestyle” community. Okay, we cannot afford to alienate our fans – we must offer him a deal as well.

The rest is up to us. It seems to me that making SS Donnie Bridgeman our franchise player might actually make sense here. He probably only has a few years left in him (though he remains very solid), and maybe going one at a time would be sensible. Of it would give us a chance to comfortably reach a new deal. I’d be in favor of tagging Bridgeman.


I’ll distribute the files here, with the saved game intact (before we make a “tag” decision). You may, when you get the file, go on into free agency, to see for yourself the contracts that players are requesting – as we work through these issues. However, understand that you won’t be seeing the correct rookie draft pool – that will only come once we have advanced the official game, stationed with me. Should come soon, but I think the decision on the franchise tag ought to be made collectively.

[QuikSand]

Here is the first updated file:

[QuikSand]

The second update file:

[QuikSand]

Hmmm... just checked, and I think the franchise tender for S Bridgeman would be $9.3 million this year - that's the average of the top five salaries at safety. Whoa, I didn't realize it would be that high.

His starting demands, if left un tagged, are 2 yrs, $20.7m... not too much more than the franchise level. So, depending on our rules (which I have totally forgotten for this issue), we could probably let that drift down a little bit, and sign him fairly long term at around $9m, I'd guess.

That is, I'll admit, a bit more than I might have been prepared to spend at safety.

[QuikSand]

RB Duane Crawford's initial demands:

4 years, $50.7 million
$11.8m in bonus
$9.7m in cap hit for 1994

Heh.

[Bee]

Just to clarify in my mind the Bridgeman franchise tag proposal...

If we franchise him and can't sign him long term, will we have to use the franchise tag on him every year until he retires (since he is a fan favorite)?

[QuikSand]

And, it looks like we'll need to go fishing at TE... both of our guys are looking for big money. I was hoping that Lamont Dresow would be reasonable, since he has yet to start... but his big ratings have him thinking jackpot instead. He wants $32, over four years - at TE, there's just no way we could afford that.

[Bee]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Hmmm... just checked, and I think the franchise tender for S Bridgeman would be $9.3 million this year - that's the average of the top five salaries at safety. Whoa, I didn't realize it would be that high.

His starting demands, if left un tagged, are 2 yrs, $20.7m... not too much more than the franchise level. So, depending on our rules (which I have totally forgotten for this issue), we could probably let that drift down a little bit, and sign him fairly long term at around $9m, I'd guess.

That is, I'll admit, a bit more than I might have been prepared to spend at safety.

I think we have to offer him a deal in week 1 (whatever he is requesting at that time).

[Bee]

Originally posted by QuikSand
And, it looks like we'll need to go fishing at TE... both of our guys are looking for big money. I was hoping that Lamont Dresow would be reasonable, since he has yet to start... but his big ratings have him thinking jackpot instead. He wants $32, over four years - at TE, there's just no way we could afford that.

I haven't downloaded the files yet, but I thought one of the TE's was a fan favorite.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Bee
Just to clarify in my mind the Bridgeman franchise tag proposal...

If we franchise him and can't sign him long term, will we have to use the franchise tag on him every year until he retires (since he is a fan favorite)?

I think that is true. I believe that in FOF4, if you fail to work out a long term deal with a tagged player, he becomes irate, and will no longer accept any offer from you. Thus, to keep him you must keep tagging him year after year.

This is one to chck our rules on... I'll go digging for that link sometime tonight, hopefully.

[Bee]

Yep. Dresow is a fan favorite, so we'll have to squeeze that $32 million in someplace.

[Bee]

Wayne Hill is also a fan favorite and our most popular wide receiver, so he'll have to be offered a contract. ($26 mil over 3 years)

[QuikSand]

Okay, for my benefit and everyone else's as well, here is the list of players who are either "idolized by fans" or "fan favorites." Under our rules, we must offr a new contract to any such player, unless there is a more highly revered player at the same position. This list is in descending order of popularity, for those purposes.

- - -

Player                #   Pos  Leadrsp Intlgnc Loylty  PlayWn  FanPop  
Pritchett, Roger        2   QB   42      6       61      41      100       
**Wooldridge, Hardy     63  LT   51      62      65      30      100       
Crawford, Duane         35  RB   19      55      15      90      98        
Ramsey, Clifton         76  RDT  50      44      49      18      95        
Barker, John            6   QB   31      68      75      86      89        
Hill, Wayne             19  FL   22      44      97      83      83        
Bridgeman, Donnie       48  SS   26      4       96      62      83        
Hammond, Howard         99  LDT  2       3       49      68      83        
Newton, Benjamin        4   QB   79      98      2       8       79        
Oksenberg, Brent        49  RB   5       47      85      56      76        
Perea, Deion            83  FL   41      70      0       96      74        
Coghill, Otis           5   QB   36      78      6       49      72        
Bell, Lonnie            57  MLB  29      45      38      31      71        
Dresow, Lamont          88  TE   53      53      75      15      70        

So, to answer Bee's question, "yes, I am an idiot."

We have to make an offer to Dresoq, and since he is restricyted, we know he'll take it. So we shoudl pencil in something like $5m this year for our starting TE, and more after that - we will be with him for a while, at quite a cost. Funny, DT Howard Hammond makes this list, too - that will get costly in time, too.

[Bee]

So we have
First year salary cap hits of:

Crawford ~ $9.5 mil
Hill ~ $7.2 mil
Bridgeman ~ $10.2 mil (unless we tag him)
Dresow ~ $6.2 mil

Total ~ $33 mil or so?

That's a lot of money for 2 backups, an aging safety and a tight end.

[Bee]

The only "classy" veteran we have I believe is Bridgeman, so we won't be able to renegotiate any contracts.

[primelord]

So I am guessing we have little choice but to trade The Ox? I don't see how we can pay both Crawford and The Ox that kind of dough. I guess there is the possibility that we will be outbid by someone else for Crawford. He does have good ratings. And he has a very low loyalty rating.

[Bee]

Just glancing at it, I think we'll need to trade or cut someone just to have enough cap space to offer our 4 fan favorites contracts. With only 30 other guys under contracts, we'll need Quiksand to work some cap magic.

[Bee]

I'll just go ahead and throw out some thoughts for discussion:

1. I think we should franchise tag Bridgeman. It saves us cap money and we REALLY need cap space right now.

2. I think we trade the Ox. I hate to do it because he is very productive when healthy, but he's been injured several times the last couple seasons. His last full season was 1990. He costs too much and with Crawford's demands(damn fans ), I can't see keeping him.

3. I think we trade QB John Barker. It will save us decent cap space and even when Pritchett leaves he'll still be behind Coghill. We'll need to bring in a young cheap backup if we do this, but I think Barker is too much money for a backup QB.

4.(look away primelord) I say we trade CB Alonzo Armstrong. He's a great player, but he's killing our cap right now. His contract is up after this season and his demands are going to be too much next year for us to resign him IMO. I say cut our ties now and use that cap space to try to rebuild faster.

[Doug5984]

Originally posted by Bee
I'll just go ahead and throw out some thoughts for discussion:

1. I think we should franchise tag Bridgeman. It saves us cap money and we REALLY need cap space right now.

2. I think we trade the Ox. I hate to do it because he is very productive when healthy, but he's been injured several times the last couple seasons. His last full season was 1990. He costs too much and with Crawford's demands(damn fans ), I can't see keeping him.

3. I think we trade QB John Barker. It will save us decent cap space and even when Pritchett leaves he'll still be behind Coghill. We'll need to bring in a young cheap backup if we do this, but I think Barker is too much money for a backup QB.

4.(look away primelord) I say we trade CB Alonzo Armstrong. He's a great player, but he's killing our cap right now. His contract is up after this season and his demands are going to be too much next year for us to resign him IMO. I say cut our ties now and use that cap space to try to rebuild faster.

1. Ditto- It saves us about a million straight up, then we can take our time in negotiating a new contract since he is a 'classy veteran' (i think atleast).

2. Same- Hopefully we can get atleast a good first round pick for him, I hate to see him go...but there is just no way we can keep both of them, maybe if Crawford gets a better offer and does not sign with us then we can keep him, but I just can't see us keeping both, and paying both 9+ million, if we do trade the Ox I think we should consider drafting another RB in the first 3 rounds.

3. I agree here also, we can probably get a 2nd rounder for him, and it will save us some cap space...we can fill his spot with a late round pick or maybe an undrafted free agent.

4. eh- maybe, we need to decide if this year is a purly rebuilding year, or if we want to be competitive...if we decide we are going to be completly rebuilding then I think it might be best to trade him and get some more draft picks.

And another thoughts- Is DT Wolfe on the FA market? He signed only a 1 year deal, so i figure he will be a free agent, if so how much is he asking for?

Also- what are the early thoughts on the QB position next year? Pritchett is a very old and now pretty injury prone- Coghill seems to be our QB of the future, and the more we play him now might help us in the long run.

[primelord]

I am not sure our house rules will let us take a wait and see approach with The Ox. Since we have to make all of our bids in the 1st stage of free agency we have to have the money available in case they all sign. So we are going to need The Ox's salary if Crawford does sign.

We have to be careful when trading The Ox. If we go for a first round pick and the team declines it we have to cut him. That saves us salary cap wise, but it would be a shame to get nothing for him.

As far as Armstrong I am actually fine with trading him. He has been getting better for us every season, but I really think in our system we can get by with a lesser corner. If we decide to move him I think corner should be our first priority in the draft.

I also agree with putting the tag on Bridgeman.

The Wolfe is on the market again, but he is asking for 4 years and 60 million. If we can make the numbers work and we can land him I would love to get him back. I have a feeling though that with our cap problems the money just won't be there.

[cthomer5000]

can we trade fan favorites/idolized players?

QB John Barker is a "fan favorite" making the QB situation ridiculous... 2 fan favorites and 1 idolized player!

[QuikSand]

cth, at one position, our rules only hamstring us with the most popular player of the group... this became an obvious adjustment, as we saw what was going on at QB.

[cthomer5000]

Thanks for the tip Quik...

a few thoughts...

QB: Barker must go, trade him.

RB: I think we've got the cap room to wait out the Crawford situation, and we should use it. I think there are some concerns about whether Crawford can be the back in this offense. Ideally we might be better off if we lost Crawford and drafted another back. Of course the positive of Crawford accepting the deal would be the draft pick we recieve in exchange for the Ox.

FB: It's porbably time to decide whether Ethan Brock is the guy we want. His popularity is heading towards "fan favorite." That could prove to be a neagative in the long run.

TE: Clay it is, end of story.

[QuikSand]

Okay, with a pretty quick consensus on S Bridgeman, we use our franchise tag for the first time. I think that will turn out to be wise – it looks like working out an extended deal with him will be practical for us, and a money-saver. Good move.

I have put in three free agent re-signing bids, to RB Crawford, WR Hill, and CB Godfrey (who’s so chaep I don’t see how we can not try to re-up). They total about $19m this year, if they all come to pass (fairly likely).

That would give us 34 players, and an upcoming draft with 8 picks costing us $11.4 million. That would pretty much wipe out our salary cap space right there – with 18 more players yet to be signed. Okay, those calling for heads to roll are nodding their heads… this is what we’ve been talking about. There won’t be any easy way out – somebody we like is simply going to have to go.

I’ll distribute the new files now, so was can also talk about the upcoming draft. Our tactic with providence worked out pretty well – we have their pick #9 overall from last year’s trade. That, along with our own selection at #31 (or course) and we should get two impact players here. We’re pretty clearly going to have some holes to fill.

[QuikSand]

First file

[QuikSand]

Second file.

[QuikSand]

Overall, it looks to me like our offseason priorities are already:

- Sort out the RB position, keeping one guy
- Fill in defensive line (LDE, LDT spots are shaky)
- Fill strong-side linebacker spot
- Fill free safety spot

Of course, if we trade away or cut expensive players, that could add to our list of potential need areas.

[cthomer5000]

I think we'll end up landing a potential superstar at #9, there is some nice talent at the top of the draft.

[QuikSand]

Looking at free agency, there are (as always) numerous good interior linemen available. We're paying Isaac Terry $5.5m to play right guard... we certainly could cut (trade?) him, eat only a modest bonus hit, and then sign a decent free agent and come out something like $2-3m ahead.

It's not delightful, but it might not be the worst thing on the table to save us some cap room.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
I think we'll end up landing a potential superstar at #9, there is some nice talent at the top of the draft.

I agree... in fact, it looks to me like if we want a top-drawer CB, we can probably get one with that pick. I like several guys, and it would be a longshot to see them all gone.

That could factor into our decisions with cutting/trading players... Armstrong might be a better cut if we knew we could fill that hole with a capable youngster (Reggie Borders or Austin Maffet, for instance).


With our late first rounder, if we could snag LB Vincent Wellman... ooh, LB problem solved.

[cthomer5000]

I think we should resign LDT Marshall Castillo. He played pretty damn well last year, just a tad behind the seemingly monstrous Clifton Ramsey. He's not looking for too much money (about 3 mil a year) and just a 1.5 million bonus.

EDIT: and in theory Castillo and Hammond make a nice 1-2 punch against the run and pass respectively. Although Hammond really showed nothing last season.

[QuikSand]

Yes, and it looks like Hammond actually has regressed in his ratings since last season, which is both surprising and disappointing. I'm hoping he gets better... he's a fan favorite now, so we may be in it for the long haul with this clown.

[Bee]

I kinda like the trade offer we have from Mazatlan for our center.

The DT looks solid and a 2nd round pick should be a decent player. Our center is in his last season and I don't see giving him the kind of money he's going to be asking for after this year. The DT that's being offered is under contract for 3 seasons. There are a couple centers we could pick up in FA that should be able to start although not as good as the guy we have. Up to Quiksand, but I think it's worth considering.

[cthomer5000]

D-Line:

LDT: I think Castillo should be retained. For fairly cheap we could a good pair of specialists in Castillo and Hammond. Teddy Hill wants so little money that he's at least worth bringing into training camp. Hammond is inexplicably a fan favorite though, which could be a problem 2 years from now.

RDT: Ramsey is here to stay. He should become a demon, and is idolized by fans

LDE: Davison is a free agent, and likely out of our price range. Zessin played pretty well last year, so i think we can deal with him at starter for now if necessary.

RDE: Finley was amazing last year, and will be here through 1996. Greer might eventually develop into something more, but is nothing special right now. If his 1.2 mill becomes a problem, I'd say cut him loose. Skip Battle looks to be worth giving a shot this upcoming year, he's pretty cheap and has some potential.

[Bee]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Looking at free agency, there are (as always) numerous good interior linemen available. We're paying Isaac Terry $5.5m to play right guard... we certainly could cut (trade?) him, eat only a modest bonus hit, and then sign a decent free agent and come out something like $2-3m ahead.

It's not delightful, but it might not be the worst thing on the table to save us some cap room.

I agree. Terry looks like a prime candidate for helping us ease the salary cap problem. I say try to trade him. I'm kind of surprised we haven't had any trades fall through yet. I figured the one offer trade rule would have caught us by now. Maybe we are underpricing our guys or have we all played the game so much we know what the computer will accept?

[Bee]

Offensive Line:

Tackle:
With Marshall Cunningham's contract up, we'll need to decide what to do at right tackle to backup (or compete against Johnston). I like FA Bobby Zimmerman. He's slightly cheaper than Cunningham. A better player and especially a better run blocker. If we don't have the cap space (which is very possible), I guess we'll look at what's available in the draft in the mid rounds.

Guard:
I say we trade Terry and pick up Ray Gardner. He's a RG, so we wouldn't have to switch him and take an experience hit. And he's cheap.

Center:
I like Jackson as a backup. If we take the trade for Kramer, I say we just promote Jackson and draft a center to back him up. The affordable centers available in free agency aren't significantly better IMO than Jackson.



Recommendations:

1. Consider trade for C Kramer (I'm not up on the DT situation so I don't know if it is a good trade for us or not).
2. Trade RG Terry.
3. Sign RT Bobby Zimmerman (FA).
4. Sign RG Ray Gardner (FA).

Fill in rest of o-line in draft or with URFAs.

[cthomer5000]

originally posted by Bee
I kinda like the trade offer we have from Mazatlan for our center.

The DT looks solid and a 2nd round pick should be a decent player. Our center is in his last season and I don't see giving him the kind of money he's going to be asking for after this year. The DT that's being offered is under contract for 3 seasons. There are a couple centers we could pick up in FA that should be able to start although not as good as the guy we have. Up to Quiksand, but I think it's worth considering.

While the trade offer for our center looks good, Here's why I don't like it:

1. We'd be giving up our best player and a very good O-lineman.

2. Our RDT is our 2nd best player (Clifton Ramsey), and he has enormous potential.

3. Would the tackle we'd be trading for be big enough to make a position switch to LDT? I think he's sub-300, so i'm not sure he can pull it off. We might get stuck with someone we don't need, and lose our top offensive lineman for just a 2nd round pick. In my opinon, it's not worth it.


Astrology Report:

• Trading QB Barker will clear up the conflict he has with LG Andre Penick.
• Re-signing TE Clay Dresow and letting TE Marc Loftis go will alleviate the feud between those two.
• letting FB Anuson go would alleviate the tension b/w him and QB of the future Coghill. The downside is that Anuson is currently our backfield leader, although maybe clearing the way for someone else to assume that role would be a good thing.
• DT Castillo (who i'm very much in favor of re-signing) is considered the defensive front leader. Keeping him would leave just 1 conflict within the team, between him and RDE Riddick Finley.

It looks like most our prospective moves will make for a happy family!

[cthomer5000]

Some Bargain-Bin Free Agents
----------------------------
RB Stephen Crites - tough inside runner
RG Ray Gardner - cheap, pretty respectable starter
RG Conrad Kelly - young and on the rise. Good 1st season as starter
LT Irving Armstrong - quality run blocker
FS Bubba Nichols -
FS Derrick Decker - coming off a big season


There really is a lot of pretty good (and cheap!) talent available at guard. I think it's time to ship Issac Terry out of town.

[QuikSand]

Okay, it sounds like we're agreed on trading G Isaac Terry. Bermuda leads the list of interested teams with a 100 rating, and they have draft slot #23, with nothing extra added. I'm thinking that we ask for a 2nd round pick for Terry... sound reasonable for him? (I don't think we could get a 1st, considering his salary)

[Bee]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Okay, it sounds like we're agreed on trading G Isaac Terry. Bermuda leads the list of interested teams with a 100 rating, and they have draft slot #23, with nothing extra added. I'm thinking that we ask for a 2nd round pick for Terry... sound reasonable for him? (I don't think we could get a 1st, considering his salary)

I say go with either the 2nd rounder, or a 1st rounder next year.

[cthomer5000]

Play it safe and go 2nd round.

[wade moore]

Sorry guys, you know how my schedule can be..

Here are my thoughts on the discussion so far..

OL: For the most part I always agree with what Bee thinks, because.. well.. he has more time to go over the line than I do since I have to look at all of the skill positions also . However, I'm not sure that I do this year... Everyone is prepared to get rid of Terry.. I think it may be useful to us, but I think we need to accept that that would be a big hit to our team. He is just swinging into his prime and should have a big impact on whatever team he is on in the future. I look at Ray Barker and I say "ugh, what a downgrade".. in fact, I personally like Conrad Kelly better to fill that void if we trade Terry. At C, I think I agree with the points that ct made. We're considering trading our best OLineman for a second round pick. While I know his money for next year is going to hurt us, I would think that if nothing else we should shop him around elsewhere and see what we can get?

RB: THe talk seems to be neutral about what is going to happen with The Ox. I suppose it revolves around what happens with Craw? If we can wait out to see if he accepts (probably will), then I would love to do that. Otherwise, I would think we have to ask for a first rounder? ATLEAST a second rounder? The only problem I see with this whole scenario, is the RB Draft class is pretty week -- definately no one who will ever be much better than Craw. If we do lose The Ox, I'm very tempted to just get a filler in the late rounds, use Craw for this year, and hope for something big next year in the draft. If we lose The Ox, I'm pretty much set on the fact that we're going to have to rely on our passing game more this year.

QB: Trade Barker? Yes.. Having two young stud QBs is great, but in the long run it really doesn't help us too much.. My bigger concern here is.. what do we do about a starter? Everyone likes to just let me make that decision (man, you'd think i was the OC or something?! )... At this point, I'm really torn.. Pritchett has been quite injury prone, but when he's in he's still great.. Cog has been very inconsistent, seem slike he either throws 4 TDs or 4 INTs... So, right now I'm leaning towards keeping the reigns with Pritchett, and just accepting that if he goes down Cog will be the starter. I know this hurts some cohesion, but if he stells healthy, Pritchett gives us a better shot. And btw, wha's with Cog throwing more than I tell him to?! I assume either way we're keeping both of our guys.. Pritchett is not costing us much for the quality he gives us..

FB: I really like Ethan Brock, but it is difficult to pay that kind of money to a blocking FB. But, he's more than that.. he caught 49 passes last year and 5 TDs. So, I'm inclined to re-up with him, but I can understand if we don't.

Money overall: If we trade Armstrong, Terry, don't re-sign Brock, trade Barker... any chance of keeping Craw and The Ox?

Draft: Is there any chance of of G Jessie Holguin actually being for real? If so, he would be a nice acquisition. G Warren Tery (Isaac's brother?!) might be a nice pickup if he's there late in the second, or if we pick up some other second round picks..

Priorities for Offense in the draft:
RB (except I think they all stink)
RT
G/C

[wade moore]

Side Notes:

Anybody Else realize that good old Full Contact got coach of the year last year?!

Records:

Anybody else notice that our guys hold most of our team records now? It's nice to know we're impacting the team.. and it's nice compared to normal when I play because I don't keep so many guys long term, so I don't see so many records being set... we're really establishing a TEAM instead of one years worth of football players who try to win a championship.. it's nice, real nice..

[wade moore]

Second Rounder sounds good to me with Terry.. or as Bee said, first next year... might be safer on our cap.. but my thinking is we could probably replace Terry with that #23 in the second..

[Bee]

Originally posted by wade moore
Sorry guys, you know how my schedule can be..

Here are my thoughts on the discussion so far..

OL: For the most part I always agree with what Bee thinks, because.. well.. he has more time to go over the line than I do since I have to look at all of the skill positions also . However, I'm not sure that I do this year... Everyone is prepared to get rid of Terry.. I think it may be useful to us, but I think we need to accept that that would be a big hit to our team. He is just swinging into his prime and should have a big impact on whatever team he is on in the future. I look at Ray Barker and I say "ugh, what a downgrade".. in fact, I personally like Conrad Kelly better to fill that void if we trade Terry. At C, I think I agree with the points that ct made. We're considering trading our best OLineman for a second round pick. While I know his money for next year is going to hurt us, I would think that if nothing else we should shop him around elsewhere and see what we can get?

I like Terry, but financially I don't think it makes a lot of sense to keep him around. Guards are easy to find and Terry just isn't that dominating to pay him big bucks IMO.

As far as the center trade. I'm not saying we necessarily should make the trade, but it's a good value trade and should be considered. We really can't shop him around because of our house rules. We'd have to set a value and see if the top team interested wants to give it to us for him. The danger is we get nothing if they reject and we have to release him. If we make a trade for the center, I think we take what we have on the table instead of taking a chance but that's just me. It might be difficult to keep him around past this season, so I think for that reason we should at least consider it. If it's decided not to trade him, believe me I'll be happy with that because I like him a lot.

RB: THe talk seems to be neutral about what is going to happen with The Ox. I suppose it revolves around what happens with Craw? If we can wait out to see if he accepts (probably will), then I would love to do that. Otherwise, I would think we have to ask for a first rounder? ATLEAST a second rounder? The only problem I see with this whole scenario, is the RB Draft class is pretty week -- definately no one who will ever be much better than Craw. If we do lose The Ox, I'm very tempted to just get a filler in the late rounds, use Craw for this year, and hope for something big next year in the draft. If we lose The Ox, I'm pretty much set on the fact that we're going to have to rely on our passing game more this year.

I agree if it's possible, we should wait and see if Crawford signs with us before we release the Ox, but I don't know if that will be possible if we want to sign any free agents. I guess it will be up to Quik to determine that.

I figure we should be able to get at least a 1st rounder for the Ox, maybe more.

QB: Trade Barker? Yes.. Having two young stud QBs is great, but in the long run it really doesn't help us too much.. My bigger concern here is.. what do we do about a starter? Everyone likes to just let me make that decision (man, you'd think i was the OC or something?! )... At this point, I'm really torn.. Pritchett has been quite injury prone, but when he's in he's still great.. Cog has been very inconsistent, seem slike he either throws 4 TDs or 4 INTs... So, right now I'm leaning towards keeping the reigns with Pritchett, and just accepting that if he goes down Cog will be the starter. I know this hurts some cohesion, but if he stells healthy, Pritchett gives us a better shot. And btw, wha's with Cog throwing more than I tell him to?! I assume either way we're keeping both of our guys.. Pritchett is not costing us much for the quality he gives us..

I think we'll need to wait until after training camp to determine who should start. I think it will really depend on what kind of strides Coghill makes and what kind of decline we see in Pritchett. JMO.

Draft: Is there any chance of of G Jessie Holguin actually being for real? If so, he would be a nice acquisition. G Warren Tery (Isaac's brother?!) might be a nice pickup if he's there late in the second, or if we pick up some other second round picks..

Holguin looks legitimate to me, but he's so far above all the other players in the draft he'll go very early for a guard IMO.
Warren Terry looks ok to me, but might be a slight bust. I'd prefer Andre Norton later in the draft myself, but I haven't looked in detail yet at the draft class.

[cthomer5000]

If we trade Isaac Terry and our high-priced CB, would we have room to try to make a few free agency moves and wait out the RB situation?>

[primelord]

I don't think you're going to get a first rounder for The Ox. The AI doesn't value RB's very highly in trade value. I would be shocked if someone agreed to a first round pick for him.

[wade moore]

Originally posted by primelord
I don't think you're going to get a first rounder for The Ox. The AI doesn't value RB's very highly in trade value. I would be shocked if someone agreed to a first round pick for him.

Another concern.. if you go in and do recommend player, and do Current Value on RBs with no money restriction, The Ox isn't even in the top 20..

Man I wish we had gotten one of those top two guys.. how the hell did neither of them start last year?! It's unfortunate that they both have long term contracts..

[wade moore]

On the same note.. a search of Free Agents shows crawford as tops in future potential and second as current value... so we may get outbid?