SI.com's take on the Cardinals' offseason

RugbyMuffin · February 16th, 2012, 12:13 PM

http://nfl.si.com/2012/02/16/free-ag...sct=nfl_t11_a0

Bodha · February 16th, 2012, 01:23 PM

That report doesnt take into consideration that a number of our largest cap hits will be gone. Levi #1. Possibly Kolb #2 and Porter #3. Besides Larry, thats our top 3 paid guys. Take them out of the equation and weve got cash out the ass to spend in FA.

Catfish · February 16th, 2012, 02:37 PM

Porter will be gone,-----Levi maybe,----Kolb will stay and become our #1QB after finally having a real off-season to get accustomed to our O-line. There won't be a lot of cash to throw around, so Haggans will probably be back because he is ok at the OLB backup position, and is a big help in the locker room. Campbell will be franchised, and I believe that we will re-sign Batiste at OT, and bring in a FA and maybe draft one. If we don't draft a tackle for the O, then we will either draft DeCastro at guard, or Keuchley at ILB in my opinion. Not a lot of FA work will be going on. We will re-sign many of our own FA's.

Crazy Canuck · February 16th, 2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bodha

That report doesnt take into consideration that a number of our largest cap hits will be gone. Levi #1. Possibly Kolb #2 and Porter #3. Besides Larry, thats our top 3 paid guys. Take them out of the equation and weve got cash out the ass to spend in FA.

Zero CAP hit for Porter, he's off the books. His contract was revised last year and he's a UFA. We are just over $4M under the CAP. The Cards can add a $7M one time carryover from last year's CAP and $1.5M against future years. So, approximately $13M. Levi's $17 will obviously go down, but one must consider the new deal to either Levi or someone else... hard to know how much more this will add in the final instance.

The best estimate is the Cards could muster relatively 25 to 30M.

From this one has to find and pay 1 or 2 0-tackles; CC; Marshall(?); a no. 2 w/o; a OLB; D & O-line backup; RFA's; Kicker, punter, snapper, Draft class; contingency fund.

Conclusion: Cards will have some $$$ to play, but hardly "cash out of the ***"

Cards Czar · February 16th, 2012, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Canuck

Zero CAP hit for Porter, he's off the books. His contract was revised last year and he's a UFA. We are just over $4M under the CAP. The Cards can add a $7M one time carryover from last year's CAP and $1.5M against future years. So, approximately $13M. Levi's $17 will obviously go down, but one must consider the new deal to either Levi or someone else... hard to know how much more this will add in the final instance.

The best estimate is the Cards could muster relatively 25 to 30M.

From this one has to find and pay 1 or 2 0-tackles; CC; Marshall(?); a no. 2 w/o; a OLB; D & O-line backup; RFA's; Kicker, punter, snapper, Draft class; contingency fund.

Conclusion: Cards will have some $$$ to play, but hardly "cash out of the ***"

I have not found on any site that when Porter re-did his contract that he/Cardinals took off the 2012 season. From what i have gathered is he was only paid 1.45M for 2011. If that is true then i an asuming that we will save another 1.45M for 2012. Porter will wait until the FA starts to state that he is officially retiring.

Here is what I would love to see happen:
Name------------------------Savings
J. Porter - Cut/Retire - 1.45M
C.Stuckey--Cut-----------2.45M
F. Womack - Cut----------.925K
L. Brown-----Cut---------18.25M

Possible Savings-----$23.075

If Manning is signed cut K.Kolb 2M

Redo Fitz's Roster Bonus. He is to receive 15.25M in 2012 and if they change it to Signing bonus and spread it over the remaining years of his contract we will have a savings of 13.3214M for 2012.

Est 2012 Cap space is 4.553M
Carry over from 2011 - 7.03M
Exemptions for 2012 ---1.5M

Total from Fitz and cap space is 26.4044M

Total Est Cap space savings (does not include Kolb) - 49.4794M

Now we can redo Browns contract and with the draft rookies and signing maybe Manning and our own FA, Campbell,Marshall we will have only around

Manning Est 14 M
Our own FA - 12 M
Campbell - 8.5
Rookies- 6

Total - 40.5M

that leaves us only around 9 mil. That would only let us get maybe 1 FA.

Question is what FA shoud we go after???

Bodha · February 16th, 2012, 07:29 PM

I feel like well have enough money to spend when the time comes. Its not like were going after Mario and Marques and Nicks and Desean and, etc.

Our defense is largely complete. I could go for another stud CB, but overall, they were viscious in the later half of the season. Gotta bring back Marshall, although I fully expect him to diva up and demand J.Joseph money. Hes not THAT good. could nab Omar Bolden out of ASU undrafted for minimum pay and I guarantee he'll be a stud slot DB in this league.

So FA and draft should be WRs and Oline. When we're talking Levi, remember that the only way hes coming back is for less than whatever Porkchop makes. He is statistically the worst LT in the NFL. If he gets more than 3 mill, itll be a travesty. So we will recap that 17 mill. Spread that pay to CC and Marshall. Then we just gotta pay for 1 legit WR. And I think we'll have enough for 1 stud. Id like that guy to be Carl Nicks or Brandon Carr.

*If we get Nicks then we could use our 1st rounder on a WR (Wright perhaps), try to recoupe that 2nd rounder and take a LT. Or vice versa.

Phrazbit · February 16th, 2012, 08:03 PM

I dont want to try to do cap math. Dallas had one of the highest payrolls but was somehow one of the leaders for Nnamdi, the Eagles seemingly signed everyone and made it work under the cap, the Jaguars were by all reports below the minimum payroll level and then they cut their highest paid player.

Do we even know what the cap is going to be next year? I figured we wouldnt know until the revenue totals for last season were all added up.

Cbus cardsfan · February 17th, 2012, 03:21 AM

Other than an incentive laden contract for Manning, I doubt the Cards sign any big time free agents. My prediction:
cut/released, UFA: Porter, Haggans, Rhodes, Stuckey, Kolb(if a Manning deals is done), Womack, Zastudil, Feely
Tag Campbell
Re-sgn Marshall, Jefferson, Doucet, Johnson, Levi
FA signings:
James Lee OT, Anthony Collins OT they'll be brought in for the RT position and will be said to "provide competition" for Levi.
Robert Meachem
Mike Nugent

That would lead to the draft which would leave OG and OLB as the main areas to look at with DeCastro and Nick Perry being the 2 that jump out.

Crazy Canuck · February 17th, 2012, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cards Czar

I have not found on any site that when Porter re-did his contract that he/Cardinals took off the 2012 season. From what i have gathered is he was only paid 1.45M for 2011. If that is true then i an asuming that we will save another 1.45M for 2012. Porter will wait until the FA starts to state that he is officially retiring.

Here is what I would love to see happen:
Name------------------------Savings
J. Porter - Cut/Retire - 1.45M
C.Stuckey--Cut-----------2.45M
F. Womack - Cut----------.925K
L. Brown-----Cut---------18.25M

Possible Savings-----$23.075

If Manning is signed cut K.Kolb 2M

Redo Fitz's Roster Bonus. He is to receive 15.25M in 2012 and if they change it to Signing bonus and spread it over the remaining years of his contract we will have a savings of 13.3214M for 2012.

Est 2012 Cap space is 4.553M
Carry over from 2011 - 7.03M
Exemptions for 2012 ---1.5M

Total from Fitz and cap space is 26.4044M

Total Est Cap space savings (does not include Kolb) - 49.4794M

Now we can redo Browns contract and with the draft rookies and signing maybe Manning and our own FA, Campbell,Marshall we will have only around

Manning Est 14 M
Our own FA - 12 M
Campbell - 8.5
Rookies- 6

Total - 40.5M

that leaves us only around 9 mil. That would only let us get maybe 1 FA.

Question is what FA shoud we go after???

I had several exchanges with Darren Urban and he assures me that Porter is off the books. Like you, I couldn't find any online support of this point, but decided to go with the insider in the final instance.

I'll stick with my generalized figure of $25/30M and, as you point out, there are other creative ways of dealing with any shortfalls, though I think the FO would be wary of putting too much off to the future.

Crazy Canuck · February 17th, 2012, 05:28 AM

[quote=Phrazbit;2590866]I dont want to try to do cap math. Dallas had one of the highest payrolls but was somehow one of the leaders for Nnamdi, the Eagles seemingly signed everyone and made it work under the cap, the Jaguars were by all reports below the minimum payroll level and then they cut their highest paid player.

Do we even know what the cap is going to be next year? I figured we wouldnt know until the revenue totals for last season were all added up.[/QUOTE]

They agreed to a de facto freeze for 2012, with a big jump in 2013. Most estimates have this years' big number around $122/123M.

RugbyMuffin · February 17th, 2012, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Canuck

I had several exchanges with Darren Urban and he assures me that Porter is off the books. Like you, I couldn't find any online support of this point, but decided to go with the insider in the final instance.

I'll stick with my generalized figure of $25/30M and, as you point out, there are other creative ways of dealing with any shortfalls, though I think the FO would be wary of putting too much off to the future.

Concerning Porter I believe he is a free agent.

Before JoeSchmo dissapeared he said that most football sites never caught up to last offseason because everything was done so fast, and there were so many transactions at once, that he didn't know when it would all get sorted out.

From what I have seen, they never caught up to last offseason.

CHEAP PLUG ALERT!

If you look at my signature I have a link to the current roster. I have Joey Porter on it, based on what his information at Rotoworld.com has for him.

Yet, like I have read around this board, and from Urban, I believe when he re-did his contract he shortened it so that he would be a free agent this year.

Furthermore, as much as Porter still has a passion for this game, his knee is going to force him to retire, IMO. I would love to see him stick around with the Cardinals. He was completely locked into the games on the sideline this year. He knows Horton's defence very well and could help Acho, and Schofield (especially Schofield) IMO.

Crazy Canuck · February 17th, 2012, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbus cardsfan

Other than an incentive laden contract for Manning, I doubt the Cards sign any big time free agents. My prediction:
cut/released, UFA: Porter, Haggans, Rhodes, Stuckey, Kolb(if a Manning deals is done), Womack, Zastudil, Feely
Tag Campbell
Re-sgn Marshall, Jefferson, Doucet, Johnson, Levi
FA signings:
James Lee OT, Anthony Collins OT they'll be brought in for the RT position and will be said to "provide competition" for Levi.
Robert Meachem
Mike Nugent

That would lead to the draft which would leave OG and OLB as the main areas to look at with DeCastro and Nick Perry being the 2 that jump out.

Porter, Haggans, Zas, Feely are already UFA.

Wouldn't be surprised if Stuckey gets cut, but, doubt very much that they'd cut Rhodes. I would imagine that virtually all RFA's would be tendered. CC, whether through Tag or long term contract is a keeper and there'll be a real effort to sign Marshall and re-jig Levi's deal. There are quite a few FA w/o's, so whether Doucet comes back is very much a question.

Crazy Canuck · February 17th, 2012, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RugbyMuffin

Concerning Porter I believe he is a free agent.

Before JoeSchmo dissapeared he said that most football sites never caught up to last offseason because everything was done so fast, and there were so many transactions at once, that he didn't know when it would all get sorted out.

From what I have seen, they never caught up to last offseason.

CHEAP PLUG ALERT!

If you look at my signature I have a link to the current roster. I have Joey Porter on it, based on what his information at Rotoworld.com has for him.

Yet, like I have read around this board, and from Urban, I believe when he re-did his contract he shortened it so that he would be a free agent this year.

Furthermore, as much as Porter still has a passion for this game, his knee is going to force him to retire, IMO. I would love to see him stick around with the Cardinals. He was completely locked into the games on the sideline this year. He knows Horton's defence very well and could help Acho, and Schofield (especially Schofield) IMO.

Agree. If retirement is where he's headed, it would be nice if the Cards hired Porter as a consultant to work with OLB's in training camp and perhaps beyond.

RugbyMuffin · February 17th, 2012, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Canuck

Porter, Haggans, Zas, Feely are already UFA.

Wouldn't be surprised if Stuckey gets cut, but, doubt very much that they'd cut Rhodes. I would imagine that virtually all RFA's would be tendered. CC, whether through Tag or long term contract is a keeper and there'll be a real effort to sign Marshall and re-jig Levi's deal. There are quite a few FA w/o's, so whether Doucet comes back is very much a question.

Rhodes is not a free agent.

He is under contract this year, and has an option for next season.

He is going to get paid 4.5mil over the next two seasons, which I think is a fair salary for what he brings to the team, IMHO. Plus he is only 29 years old. Not to mention there is no one to replace him at FS.

ARZCardinals · February 17th, 2012, 07:47 AM

The second he said "either Porter or Hagans will be back" he lost all credibility.
Porter has NO SHOT, NONE at being on this team next year...even at league min.

His days are over.