NFL Offseason Thread: Combine & Free Agency Version

The Lions don’t need DB’s with their tenacious style of defensive play. They need “SUH!”

Maybe the Bears can dupe the Lions into trading for Vasher for say a 5th round pick. Um, yeah…
Just heard Sal Palantonio on Mike and Mike and he’s saying that the Eagles are adamant that they aren’t trading Kolb or McNabb for anything short of a 1st round pick. Sal Pal is usually right when it come to the Eagles.

This is utter madness from the Iggles. McNabb isn’t that good, is in the last year of a contract and is due $11M next year. Not to mention that he isn’t that good! Kolb has thrown something like 130 passes in his NFL career. He’s young and people like his potential, but he’s got absolutely not credentials to merit a #1. Hell he wasn’t even drafted in the 1st round.

The Eagles are gonna end up eating all 3 contracts and they are going to be without a QB under contract in 2011.

Not only that, but most of the teams who need a QB are picking at the top of the draft, and no one is going to give up a top 10 or 15 pick for McNabb. They should be happy to get a high second rounder if they decide that’s the direction they’re going.

If I’m the Eagles I take the Seahawks 2nd rounder for McNabb and get Kolb’s agent on the phone immediately. If they’ve been sandbagging on Kolb and he’s actually not the second coming of Brady they should get the Seahawks to up their offer to a 2nd rounder and a 3rd or 4th rounder and ship him off and laugh all the way to the bank. Insisting on a 1st is completely counter productive.

That said, you’re spot on about all those teams at the top of the draft. By my count there’s like 7 teams who are pretty desperate for a young QB and there’s really only 2 guys in the draft worth that 1st round pick. Once Claussen comes off the board the Eagles might get one of these teams to panic and make a draft day trade for Kolb instead of keeping their fingers crossed and waiting to see if Lefevour or Pike last until the 2nd round.

From the WTF files, the Redskins signed Larry Johnson to a 3-year deal worth $3.5M and incentives up to $12M. I know Shanny is a RB savant and if anyone can squeeze a couple years of production from the guy it’s him, but that contract sounds absurd. His deal could end up being worth more than Thoma Jones, Chester Taylor and more than LDT is projected to get.

Sounds reasonable, depending on how the incentives are structured. If he sucks they’re only out a bit over a million a year. If they set reasonable goals for incentives - like if he rushes for 1200+ yards or something - then he’s worth the extra money.

Did he have competing offers out there? I bet they could have signed a 1-year deal with the same terms and been hunky dory.

Thomas Jones only got a 2-year deal for $5M. That contract is absurd considering the market for RBs this offseason.

Michael Strahan is a better “productive old guy” to use as an example than Simeon Rice. Here are their career numbers in their 30s:

Simeon Rice (turned 30 in Feb 04)


              ---Tackles---        Pass      
Year   G  GS  Cmb  Tot  Ast  Sack   Def  FF
2004  16  16   40   34    6   12     5    1
2005  15  15   40   33    7   14     3    6
2006   8   8   18   14    4    2     2    4
2007   8   1    9    6    3    1     2    0
              ---  ---  ---  ----  ---  ---
TOTAL         107   87   20   29    12   11

Michael Strahan (turned 30 in Nov 01)


              ---Tackles---       Pass      
Year   G  GS  Cmb  Tot  Ast  Sack  Def   FF
2001  16  16   73   60   13   22½    2    6
2002  16  16   70   55   15   11     2    2
2003  16  16   76   61   15   18½    5    3
2004   8   8   34   24   10    4     0    1
2005  16  16   81   59   22   11½    2    1
2006   9   9   38   28   10    3     2    0
2007  16  15   57   45   12    9     2    1
              ---  ---  ---  ----  ---  ---
TOTAL         429  332   97   79½   15	 14

Oh, come on. pass defense all starts with the defensive line. I say this, knowing full well that the Lions, quite literally, need help and could draft any position on the field, except quarterback.

Is Olsen even a mediocre blocker? Do the Bears ever use him that way? If not, I’m not sure the Pats will take him. Belichick is all about versatility, so if Olsen is only good for catching passes, that’s gonna be a problem. Watson could block OK.

I wasn’t really looking at it from a “over 30” perspective, but from a changed teams for a big contract in the middle of their career to eventually win a Super Bowl perspective.

Rice’s numbers after his move to Tampa.


Year ▴  	Age  	Tm  	Pos  	No.  	G  	GS  	Sk  	Int  	Yds  	TD  	Lng  	PD  	FF  	Fmb  	FR  	Yds  	TD  	Tkl  	Ast  	Sfty  	AV
2001  	27  	TAM  	RDE  	97  	16  	16  	11.0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	8  	2  	0  	0  	0  	0  	39  	5  	 	8
2002*+ 	28 	TAM 	RDE 	97 	16 	16 	15.5 	1 	30 	0 	30 	0 						42 	10 	1 	21
2003* 	29 	TAM 	RDE 	97 	16 	16 	15.0 	2 	12 	0 	12 	8 	6 	0 	1 	0 	0 	44 	6 		17
2004 	30 	TAM 	RDE 	97 	16 	16 	12.0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	5 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	35 	5 		9
2005 	31 	TAM 	RDE 	97 	15 	15 	14.0 	1 	6 	0 	6 	4 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	33 	7 		9
2006 	32 	TAM 	RDE 	97 	8 	8 	2.0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	1 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0 	16 	4 		4
2007 	33 	2TM 			8 	1 	1.0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2 						6 	3 		1

Not really. He can’t block well but at the same time he was rarely asked to do it. He was split out as a WR more often than he was asked to block. Though they did occasionally line him up as a full back, not that it was particularly successful.

I’m sure you’ll understand my amusement at this comment.

McNabb, 2009:

267-443, 3,553, 22 td. 10 int. QB rating 92.9

Jay Cutler, 2009

336-555, 3,666 27 td, 26 int. QB rating 76.8

McNabb trade request: 1 first rounder.
Cutler traded for: 2 first rounders, a 3rd rounder, and their starting QB (they did get a 5th rounder back)

I was totally joking. The Lions need help everywhere, like you said, except for QB.

You left out a couple important features.

Jay Cutler: 25 years old. Under contract for 3 years at $20M. Has upside.

Donovan McNabb: 34 years old. Under contract for 1 year at $11M. Has no upside.

So do you want to give a 1st rounder for a finished product who’s not shown an ability to win a big game and who isn’t under contract for more than 1 year and might retire at any point and is injury prone. Or do you want to give the equivalent of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick for a guy who has perhaps a decade left to play, has been durable and has unlimited potential?

I’d take Cutler right now over McNabb every day and twice on Sunday, even with the 26 picks. So would every single NFL GM and most football fans for their own teams.

That was the other possibility. I’m glad I can still have trust in someone else’s football knowledge.

I get it. You love Cutler, especially his “upside” and “unlimited potential”. Nevermind the 27 ints or his losing records; dammit he has “UPSIDE!!!”. Youth is the only reasons I’d take Cutler over McNabb today. But if I wanted to win a football game, it’d be McNabb in a second.

I finally figured it out. **Omni **is Jay Bilas. Reveal yourself, ESPN college basketball personality. That’s the only other person I’ve ever heard of that loves them “upside” so much.

Browns reportedly ink Jake Delhomme to a 2 year deal.
Um…

Good for Jake. He gets his guaranteed Carolina cash, and the Browns new money. Hope he does well.

As a Bengals fan, I welcome Jake Dell-hommie with the open arms of Antwan Odom, Tank Johnson, Domata Peko and Robert Geathers. Maybe Rey Maualuga too.

I’m sure they’ll give him a proper welcome to the AFCN.

And the Bengals resigned Roy Williams to a 1 year deal. Most think that he’s worthless, but that guy was just plain fucking vicious back in the secondary before re-injuring his broken forearm (allegedly for not wearing his protective, padded brace in a game) and coach Zimmer is really high on him, so if he can return to form in 2010, I predict a Hines Ward concussion in the very near future…