James Conner & SMB Restructures - Will Be Back

[Proteus]

Apparently Gillikin and Ryland signed one year deals.

Ryland should have some competition. He wasn't that good last season.

 

[PDXChris]

Ryland should have some competition. He wasn't that good last season.

He has a knee issue in his plant foot, that was why they ended up shutting him down.

 

[GatorAZ]

what the actual **** are they thinking?
Im as big a JC fan as anybody,...dude beat cancer...helluva story..provides leadership...awesome, that has worked so well for us to date...
but dude is 31 and only the rarest of elites are effective past this point...

bad move...should have sent him back to Pittsburgh to retire a stiller

It makes more sense to keep Conner for say $5m than it does to cut him and still get hit for half that. Given his leadership and backup role next season depending on the contract details.

 

[ajcardfan]

I am usually getting pretty excited about the beginning of free agency. Not this year.

These moves are "meh".

 

[Redsz]

See…you know how this is going down but you don’t want to admit it.

You are probably right my man. I just hope you are wrong lol

 

[slanidrac16]

Love Connor but he is coming back from injury, he’s 31 years old and more importantly is he is a PLODDER. No defense is going to worry about him busting a 60 yard run.
I want to believe ML is not planning on 12-14 play drives. Do we really want to hope that Benson is suddenly “ The Guy”?
Love would provide this offense with speed and an instant home run threat.
That 15 yard run by Connor could be a 60 yard td with Love.
Think McCaffery. Think our opponents playing a bit closer to the LOS. Think Wilson and McBride with more room to run.
Add a couple o-linemen and the threat of Willis instead of Brissett.
Let Connor take some snaps but depending on him to be the guy is stupid.
But then again, we are good at stupid.

 

[ajcardfan]

If we drafted Love at #3 we all know what will happen. It goes without saying.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

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[JosiahLee]

Surely the plan at RB in 2026 is not JC and Benson…I mean right? How dumb would you have to be. I don’t buy that Monti is that dumb.

I love JC but he’s slow as molasses, and he’s only gonna be slower this season. It’s gotta be Love at #3

 

[JosiahLee]

Love Connor but he is coming back from injury, he’s 31 years old and more importantly is he is a PLODDER. No defense is going to worry about him busting a 60 yard run.
I want to believe ML is not planning on 12-14 play drives. Do we really want to hope that Benson is suddenly “ The Guy”?
Love would provide this offense with speed and an instant home run threat.
That 15 yard run by Connor could be a 60 yard td with Love.
Think McCaffery. Think our opponents playing a bit closer to the LOS. Think Wilson and McBride with more room to run.
Add a couple o-linemen and the threat of Willis instead of Brissett.
Let Connor take some snaps but depending on him to be the guy is stupid.
But then again, we are good at stupid.

Exactly. The era of elite RBs is back IMO, and they make a huge difference on winning teams.

 

[Stout]

It makes more sense to keep Conner for say $5m than it does to cut him and still get hit for half that. Given his leadership and backup role next season depending on the contract details.

This is the Cardinals. They aren't bringing JC back to be a backup.

 

[BritCard]

Conner 100% prohibits any meaningful addition at RB UNLESS Monti just gives up on Benson which would be another failure in already bountiful bouquet of bad.

Similarly, why bring back SMB unless you have little to no faith in Melton and E Jones? STV is coming back as well which potentially further banishes two of Monti’s day 2 draft picks to the shadow realm.

Unserious franchise that could have freed up 14.8 mil combined and now will likely save 10 or less.

Teams should be drafting for the future, not the present. Keeping Conner for another year shouldn't prohibit changes at RB, depending on his cap number, especially as it doesn't look like they will be bring Emari back.

Monti should be drafting for how he sees the team next year after Conner is gone.

Nobody should be judging either of these restructures and what they mean until we see the details.

 

[BritCard]

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[kerouac9]

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1900 followers and no one here has ever heard of this guy before

 

[Chopper0080]

You are probably right my man. I just hope you are wrong lol

Me too

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Glad that JC is back at a lower number. I feel he still has value as a goal line and short yardage back and a leader in the locker room.

When healthy, he has been the heart of the team.

 

[Chopper0080]

Teams should be drafting for the future, not the present. Keeping Conner for another year shouldn't prohibit changes at RB, depending on his cap number, especially as it doesn't look like they will be bring Emari back.

Monti should be drafting for how he sees the team next year after Conner is gone.

Nobody should be judging either of these restructures and what they mean until we see the details.

Cutting Conner would have adjusted him 9 mil cap hit to a 2 mil cap hit. Saving 7 mil. If your goal is to invest heavily into another RB (high draft pick or significant FA contract) to be your primary RB, why would you pass on saving 7 mil by cutting your backup?

If you are drafting a RB at 3, a position that has a notorious short career span, why would you waste one of those years?

 

[Chopper0080]

When healthy, he has been the heart of the team.

The heart of a terrible team. That isn't an indictment of Conner, but the reality of his impact.

 

[DVontel]

JC is washed.

Don’t give a damn about “heart of the team”.

He’s washed.

 

[oaken1]

JC is washed.

Don’t give a damn about “heart of the team”.

He’s washed.

even if he aint...even if he tapped in to that frank gore AP longevity...
let someone else take the risk to find out.

 

[kerouac9]

When healthy, he has been the heart of the team.

The team with a heart condition?

 

[FB94]

JC is now our short yardage goal line back period. Benson is still a ?. Drafting a RB is still viable

 

[Stout]

JC is washed.

Don’t give a damn about “heart of the team”.

He’s washed.

He looked washed even before he got hurt.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

He looked washed even before he got hurt.

He looked like he was running in mud

 

[azgreg]

JC will be just fine in a "RB by committee" group.