Scott Wells has a chip on his shoulder, and has for awhile. Which has really helped him develop into one of the better Centers in the NFL. But he’s also 31. That said, I want him back. I’m not sold on Dietrich Smith taking over, and, while I understand the constant need to get younger, there should still be a place for an aging veteran at the right price. After sorely missing Cullen Jenkins last year (his price wasn’t unreasonable and he should have been resigned because Neal is clearly injury prone), I’d hate to get into the same position. Hopefully Wells will find the market soft, and be able to finish his career in Green Bay. But his pride may get the better of him. Either way, I’m pretty sure the Packers are going to draft more linemen, hopefully including a center, this year.
Right now, I think the Packers have a few things to get done before free agency and the draft take over. Resigning Wells at a reasonable price, either franchising or signing Finley longterm (god he’s frustrating. I’d hate to have to make the decision on paying him longterm because despite outstanding skills and talent, he’s still not an elite TE, but he wants to be paid like it). Other things (Is Graham Harrell and adequate backup QB?, can Nick Collins play?) will need looking at too.
I got a little sidetracked earlier and didn’t include this PFT story about the Steelers and Mike Wallace.
This harkens back to the exchange me and FoieGrasIsEvil earlier in this thread regarding Wallace. Wallace looks almost certainly to be a goner in Pittsburgh and they might have to absolutely gut their team this offseason even still. It hadn’t really occurred to me that the Patriots are such a perfect fit for a team to sign Wallace away. He would fit their needs incredibly well and they’d also undercut a rival in doing so. That they have a pair of 1st round picks makes the move almost a no brainer. As noted in the Article, the Ravens would also be a terrific guess to make a move for the same reasons as the Bengals and their 1st round pick is further down the order making it less costly. Because even a modest contract offer to Wallace might hamstring the Steelers he could actually come at a pretty fair price if there isn’t a bidding war. Suppose the Ravens and Bengals were to decide that giving up a 1st rounder is too high a price to pay when there might be a UFA available instead, the Patriots might find themselves the only team willing to give up that pick for his services and a below market offer might still be more than the Steelers can match. Could get REALLY interesting.
Yup, another good option. Any of those teams at the bottom of the draft would have to consider it if they can afford it. The Ravens would have to think hard about releasing Boldin, not sure what their cap situation/his salary is and the 49ers might consider losing Crabtree as well if Wallace’s price is high, but those would both be easy decisions to make.
Ironically, I would be against the Bears making this move, at least until I know what the Bears prospects at getting a top WR at 19 are. Right now I prefer Michael Floyd over Wallace for the long term.
Do teams get to give up their lower first round pick to sign a restricted free agents, or do they have to give up their natural pick? There’s been discussion that the Browns might be able to give up #22 to get Wallace, but I’d have assumed the rules meant we’d have to give up #4.
I assume it’s restricted to the natural pick, but I can’t prove that. Not sure what would happen if say the Raiders were to sign Wallace. I imagine the question has been asked somewhere before, but perhaps the fine print in the new CBA is different than previously.
Agreed, but I just don’t see Peyton going to the NFC East unless he has a really big chip on his shoulder about Eli’s second ring. Nah, even then, I still don’t see it.
NFL Network has a near-complete monopoly on combine coverage. No other cameras are allowed, and only a select few beat reporters are allowed to watch the QB-WR drills.
Well, scratch that one off the list. The Packers signed Finley to a 2 year deal yesterday. It seems like a nice compromise between a long term contract with lots of guaranteed money and the franchise tag. It has a roster bonus of about $4.5 million, but it’s due right before free agency next year. In effect, Finley gets a nice salary, but the Packers don’t have to really commit too much money to him until next year. It seems to me to be a pretty good balance. Nice to have one thing done.
It seemed like a no brainer that Flynn would be heading to Miami but we probably shouldn’t even be a little surprised that there’s substantial talk from the fans and now media that Manning should be an option for them. It’s actually not a crazy idea, the Phins are supposed to have a top flight line and Manning would probably go a long ways to making them look even better. They have Marshall and could pretty easily add a couple more weapons around him. The defense is no joke. It’s frankly a better landing spot than Washngton, and the lack of a Shanahan like egomaniac at the HC spot should really make for a seamless fit.
A Manning to Miami scenario means that Flynn might struggle to find a home and the Redskins would be back to RG3. All in all, very dramatic.
Dolphin fans remember Marino and know just what it means to have an elite QB, not just a decent one. I question if Manning will ever get back there, but if he does he’s a huge upgrade over Moore and Moore could be retained as a top shelf backup for when Manning either breaks down or retires.