Bordow: Cardinals address their biggest need

[Metal Militia]

Bordow: Cardinals address their biggest need
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist

How dare the Cardinals screw up a good column.
Here it was, early Saturday afternoon, and coach Dennis Green strode into the pressroom to announce the acquisition of backup quarterback Shaun King.

The excitement was overwhelming. Defensive end Grant Wistrom goes to Seattle, cornerback Ahmed Plummer stays in San Francisco, and the Cardinals land a 6-foot-1 second-string QB who’s played all of nine games the last three years.

"A lot of guys are getting extraordinary money," Green said. "That extraordinary money may not fit our plan."

Well, Green was throwing fresh meat into shark-infested waters, so this hammerhead took a bite:

If free agency was a crossword puzzle, the Cardinals would be stuck on 1 across.

But then Arizona ran a reverse. Green came back into the pressroom and said the Cardinals also had agreed to terms with fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo and, most notably, defensive end Bertrand Berry, who had 11 1 /2 sacks with the Denver Broncos last season.

"It’s been a real good day for us," said Rod Graves, Arizona’s vice president of football operations.

So it was, and now the constant ridicule should stop.

The Cardinals may not be throwing around dollars like Daniel Snyder and the Washington Redskins, but the organization isn’t standing on the train platform, watching free agency go by.

"We had a plan, and the plan was to improve the team and use our (salary) cap dollars efficiently," said vice president Michael Bidwill. "We’ve improved the team."

As big names like Wistrom and cornerback Shawn Springs won the lottery, it was easy to criticize Arizona for what appeared to be a languid approach to free agency.

But the Cardinals were working. Graves was on the phone with agents at 10 p.m. Wednesday, the first minute of free agency. Visits were lined up.

Arizona made Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Eric Hicks a lucrative multi-year offer, but Hicks, because of personal reasons, chose to stay in Kansas City for less money.

The Cardinals, in fact, wanted Hicks and Berry. Think that would have been a upgrade over Calvin Pace and Dennis Johnson?

"I felt confident that if we could get the players in the door, we had a good chance of signing them," Graves said.

Once Hicks turned Arizona down, Berry, the best pass rusher left standing, became a must get. And the Cardinals got him.

Berry had 1 1/2 more sacks than Arizona’s entire defensive line in 2003.

"He’s an explosive right end," Green said. "He should be a good guy to defend the run and rush the passer."

There are question marks about the 28-year-old Berry. He’s had one terrific season and was out of football as recently as 2000.

He’s also undersized at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, and if you’re thinking — uh, isn’t that Terrell Suggs? — yes it is.

But at least the Cardinals realized the error of their ways and didn’t let size trump productivity once again.

"Our style of play is ideally suited for him," Green said, and if that means Arizona will play at a faster speed defensively, well, all we can is say is that it’s about time.

The Cardinals still need an interior offensive lineman and a cornerback, but better to wait for the draft than spend ridiculous dollars for a mediocre cover corner.

David Barrett gets $21 million over six years? The same David Barrett who had one interception for the Cardinals last year? Who’s his agent, Donald Trump?

"As I heard Deion Sanders say, he’d like to come back and practice one day a week, and he could still play better than some of the guys getting big money now," Graves said.

Berry’s signing didn’t turn an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. But the Cardinals spent their money and addressed their biggest need.

It’s a start.

 

[conraddobler]

A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.

That is true however it can be said for about half the NFL teams. We should have one good CB in Starks to go with one decent nickle corner already on the roster take your pick of who is left so really it boils down to needing a starting corner to go with Starks.

To fill this hole you can either pay huge sums of money literally piles of it to get someone like Bailey... that would have been stupid for us and isn't an issue now. You can spend a smaller mountain of money on an average corner like Barrett. The last thing you can do is draft one.

We got a pass rusher we have others on the roster who should develop so if we don't get a CB it would be bad but not deadly.

Dennis Green is an offensive minded coach. Our offense will score more than last year and our defense can't be any worse. We should win about 5 more games just from plugging that into the point differential. Attitude and conditioning should account for a couple more wins putting us into a playoff spot.

To put it another way if you are the Ravens and you have our holes at CB you are dead. If you are Tampa same thing etc etc if you are the Rams or us it is not as important.

We are not going to field during DG's tenure a top 5 defense it is not going to happen now or ever and as such it will always lag the offense in playmakers and the size of holes.

The holes are shrinking faster than they are opening that is basically why soon enough we will be a playoff team.

 

[vikesfan]

Essentially the Cards signed an older Suggs as their FA. If they Cards had drafted Suggs last year - they would not have had to spend their limited FA funds on Berry, and they could have signed a CB or some other position with the money that went to Berry. This shows how 1 mistake can have long term reprcussions.

The guy (and Suggs) had more sacks then the whole Cards D line did. Scary.

 

[ajcardfan]

Originally posted by conraddobler

We are not going to field during DG's tenure a top 5 defense it is not going to happen now or ever and as such it will always lag the offense in playmakers and the size of holes.

When Green was coach in Minnesota his defense was in the top half of the league 5 of his 10 seasons. The Cardinals have only been in the top half of the league defensively twice since they've been in Arizona. Yes, Green is an offense-first coach, but it can be argued that we should also expect better D as well.

 

[az1965]

Originally posted by Metal Militia
Arizona made Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Eric Hicks a lucrative multi-year offer, but Hicks, because of personal reasons, chose to stay in Kansas City for less money.

The Cardinals, in fact, wanted Hicks and Berry. Think that would have been a upgrade over Calvin Pace and Dennis Johnson?

That would have been something. Both Hicks and Berry!

 

[spanky1]

Originally posted by vikesfan
Essentially the Cards signed an older Suggs as their FA. If they Cards had drafted Suggs last year - they would not have had to spend their limited FA funds on Berry, and they could have signed a CB or some other position with the money that went to Berry. This shows how 1 mistake can have long term reprcussions.

The guy (and Suggs) had more sacks then the whole Cards D line did. Scary.

Compared to Minnesota, yes we had limited FA funds......but only one/two other teams had more going into FA than we did.

 

[vikesfan]

Originally posted by conraddobler
A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.

That is true however it can be said for about half the NFL teams. We should have one good CB in Starks to go with one decent nickle corner already on the roster take your pick of who is left so really it boils down to needing a starting corner to go with Starks.

To fill this hole you can either pay huge sums of money literally piles of it to get someone like Bailey... that would have been stupid for us and isn't an issue now. You can spend a smaller mountain of money on an average corner like Barrett. The last thing you can do is draft one.

We got a pass rusher we have others on the roster who should develop so if we don't get a CB it would be bad but not deadly.

Dennis Green is an offensive minded coach. Our offense will score more than last year and our defense can't be any worse. We should win about 5 more games just from plugging that into the point differential. Attitude and conditioning should account for a couple more wins putting us into a playoff spot.

To put it another way if you are the Ravens and you have our holes at CB you are dead. If you are Tampa same thing etc etc if you are the Rams or us it is not as important.

We are not going to field during DG's tenure a top 5 defense it is not going to happen now or ever and as such it will always lag the offense in playmakers and the size of holes.

The holes are shrinking faster than they are opening that is basically why soon enough we will be a playoff team.

Actually just for the record DG had a #1 and #6 defense in Minnesota. His defense I believe was top 7 in TOs created 7 times and he had a top 10 defense in run and pass stopping 3 times each. That being said he is first an offensive coach but he does focus on defense as well. He knows you need a good defense to win in the NFL. When he was in Minne he addressed this with both FA and drafting.

 

[vikesfan]

Originally posted by spanky1
Compared to Minnesota, yes we had limited FA funds......but only one/two other teams had more going into FA than we did.

I meant in terms of bonus money you can offer. For example WASH had what 10 or 16 million dollars LESS in cap money then the Cards. Look at how many FAs they have signed. The key is the money you can give guys upfront and this is where the Cards come up short because of the limited income that Bidwells have.

 

[JeffGollin]

A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.
Holes.

Guys, please don't wimp out regarding our need for good corners.

Although the prospect of Air Coryell and 54 - 45 scores certainly is intriguing, the west coast offense wasn't that much in vogue when Don coached the Cards and Chargers.

Without our having solid corners, a smart west coast team will simply pick us apart, control the clock and play "keep away" in order to beat us.

 

[CardinalChris]

Originally posted by JeffGollin
A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.
Holes.

Guys, please don't wimp out regarding our need for good corners.

Although the prospect of Air Coryell and 54 - 45 scores certainly is intriguing, the west coast offense wasn't that much in vogue when Don coached the Cards and Chargers.

Without our having solid corners, a smart west coast team will simply pick us apart, control the clock and play "keep away" in order to beat us.

I still think we need 2 corners, at least one being a veteran..... It seems that the front office does not share my enthusiasm

 

[Cheesebeef]

Originally posted by JeffGollin
A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.
Holes.

Guys, please don't wimp out regarding our need for good corners.

Although the prospect of Air Coryell and 54 - 45 scores certainly is intriguing, the west coast offense wasn't that much in vogue when Don coached the Cards and Chargers.

Without our having solid corners, a smart west coast team will simply pick us apart, control the clock and play "keep away" in order to beat us.

not to mention that this offense is far from being a lock to be proficient - I love Dennis Green and have a lot of faith in him - but McCown really hasn't proven jack squat, our O-line has NEVER proven jack squat - and we only have proven receiver - I think eventually when given the pieces DG will get the ofeense on track and hell - he might have those guys already - but no one has been a proven contributor except for Boldin (now before you guys start touting BJ as having normal numbers for a first rounder - I agree - but how many first round WRs have those normal first year numbers and never improve - bust quotient on WRs - especially those who weren't taken high in the first round - and hell even those that were - Terrel, Taylor - isn't outside the norm).

This team still has cap room and would be well served by signing a GOOD corner and a WR - that way they could do ANYTHING with the third pick and just imrpove the team that much more - they have the cap room - and that cap room can help imrpvoe the team - this year - hell even possibly make it a playoff contender - go for it and start making this team something we can be proud of - Berry was a good first step - I just don't want it to be the only step.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by vikesfan
Bidwells

Who?

 

[john h]

Originally posted by JeffGollin
A lot of posters and threads on here make mention that we have a hole at CB.
Holes.

Guys, please don't wimp out regarding our need for good corners.

Although the prospect of Air Coryell and 54 - 45 scores certainly is intriguing, the west coast offense wasn't that much in vogue when Don coached the Cards and Chargers.

Without our having solid corners, a smart west coast team will simply pick us apart, control the clock and play "keep away" in order to beat us.

Will our defense use mostly man or zone coverage?? If we go zone then we have less need for the so called "shut down corner". I do not know what kind of defense our new coach has in mind.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

Originally posted by Metal Militia
[

The Cardinals, in fact, wanted Hicks and Berry. Think that would have been a upgrade over Calvin Pace and Dennis Johnson?

They wanted Hicks and Berry to start,

What a great 1st round last year, when both of your 1st roundpicks have a chance of not starting there 2nd year and your off looking for guys to replace them in the depth chart, what a good trade down, really filled the belly of the team. It would have been nice to have Leftwich or Suggs right now.

 

[TXCardinalsFan]

Once again we hear the Suggs train rolling in. But what you don't realize is that if we went with Suggs, do you think we would have Boldin now? I doubt it, namely because we would have went with someone else at WR before we picked Boldin. Heck, we even drafted Bryant before Anquan. So, enough of this needless Suggs talk. Suggs is better off where he is and we are better off where we are.

 

[vikesfan]

Originally posted by TXCardinalsFan
Once again we hear the Suggs train rolling in. But what you don't realize is that if we went with Suggs, do you think we would have Boldin now? I doubt it, namely because we would have went with someone else at WR before we picked Boldin. Heck, we even drafted Bryant before Anquan. So, enough of this needless Suggs talk. Suggs is better off where he is and we are better off where we are.

This is nuts. Teams should blow their first round picks so they can get good second round picks.

Suggs Leftwich Gross or Trufant was the pick at #6, even if the team trades down take 2 good players with the trade down say Steinbach and Barnett.


"It's okay to blow first round picks cause we got a good second round pick is loser thinking."

Boldin turned out but you can't count on that! Bryant might have gone before Boldin to another team. And you could have had Suggs and Boldin.

The point is you should have had Boldin rated as the #3 WR not Johnson. You should have taken Steinbach and Bolding and then used that #2 on somone other then Johnson like one of the good OL for eg.

Make the right picks at the right time lightening is not going to strike twice.

 

[TXCardinalsFan]

That may be the case Vikesfan, but last year's draft is already OVER.......OVER. No one can ever say who will and will not pan out in the NFL. But to continue to visit last year's draft is a waste of time. What has happened has happened. We need to move on and continue to address our holes. We have a new head coach and a new point of view. That is what we should all be concerned about right now, not who we missed out on last year or any other previous year.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

Re: Re: Bordow: Cardinals address their biggest need

Originally posted by DevonCardsFan
They wanted Hicks and Berry to start,

What a great 1st round last year, when both of your 1st roundpicks have a chance of not starting there 2nd year and your off looking for guys to replace them in the depth chart, what a good trade down, really filled the belly of the team. It would have been nice to have Leftwich or Suggs right now.

I wouldnt count either Johnson or Pace out at this point.

The problem with Johnson, it appears, is that he doesnt practice well or doesnt give it his all. Going into final cuts last year almost everyone thought he might get the axe.

Its Pace's second year, he has the neccessary physical tools: speed, strength, size, he just needs some coaching. Lets see if DG's staff can do this.

Personally IMO, Pace should be moved over to the other side instead of being a backup to Berry IMO. Lets see if Berry can be more successful against W.Jones and Orlando Pace than Calvin was. Thats a hard task going aginst those 2 guys twice each in a season.