Free Agency Talk Thread - 1/15/12-1/29/12

go figure

either way, yeah … we got space, but some of those guys can make it add up quickly

would be a waste if they didn’t, yanno? :-)

you know Flynn has a 1st Round Tender from the Pack (or so I heard) … he’s gonna cost more than just money (and most likely same with some of the others you’ve mentioned … nice wish list, though!)

why Hillis when we can keep McClain (similar player, better attitude)
why Colston when we can keep Bowe (similar player, less injuries)
Solai: ok, he’s good

Extend Carr and Bowe

They will be resigned by their current team

Campbell set career highs in tackles (72), sacks (8), pass breakups (a cornerback-like 10), and forced fumbles (2) in 2011.

The Cards won’t just let him walk, no way. But if he’s franchised, It might not be a terrible idea to work a trade with them. Perhaps our 1st & 4th round picks? Seriously, trade Dorsey for a 3rd rd pick, put Campbell in his position, and sign Shaun Rogers to be the run stuffer up the middle. For true overkill, draft Hightower in the 2nd round, and let people start comparing us to the ’85 Bears by the end of the season :D

here and up yonder :-)

Starting 2 rookies on the o-line is a recipe for failure.

Plus Saturday is probably retiring. Free Hudson!!!

His accuracy has gone down since going to Oakland. His ypa is about the same, his TD-INT ratio is down, and his QB rating is down as well. Jason Campbell hasn’t really improved. He just went to a better team overall. Still a very average QB

Cassel offers no upgrade over Matt Moore, so there’s no sense in trading for him. Dorsey isn’t a player they would feel they need. He’s adequate as a 3-4 DE, but they could do better by holding on to their draft picks.

definitely a step up from 2011

There’s a possibility that Powe will crush pocket better than Gregg was managing. If that happens, we might be surprised at how far upfield Dorsey can get on passing downs.

The better they get at NT, the more it’s likely to be featured, with the base look creeping into more 2nd- and 3rd-down situations. Your comment about KC only suiting-up one NT made me think along these lines. And if they continue as they did in 2011, maybe they’d be smart to get that extra thumper at SILB, playing big and smart on running plays and with a knack for occupying the throwing lanes, from how the bodies are breakin’ in front of him.

The more KC swaps out the NT for a pair of gap-shooters, like the Bailey-Gilberry duo in the middle, the more use they might have for a big-bodied LB to clean up on the draws, and otherwise making himself a nuisance to the offense. Teams were having some success running the ball against the KC nickel and dime last season, and a big keep-it-honest SILB can allow the front 3 to just build their fence, and fill the holes in that fence.

1) the Rams would have to want that trade
2) we don’t have an established run stopper to replace Dorsey just yet
3) we have no proven #1 WR other than Bowe, so RG3 would have nobody to throw to
4) it still doesn’t address the OLine (LG and RT) nor does it add depth at TE, S, CB, ILB, RB, nor would it allow us to get the best people to fill those holes in the OLine or elsewhere because you just spent our first rounder on RG3
5) we’d then have to fill the holes that were created by trading Bowe and Dorsey, thus wasting draft picks on holes and needs that we didn’t have before the trade, so we’d get a lesser WR and less talent all the way down the line to fill in with “prospects”

other than that it’s a grand idea

Hmmm…. I suppose that could happen.

Les attention would be on Breaston and Baldwin, and they both would have great years

From hogshaven

Fred Davis was one of those “can’t miss” guys—wasn’t he the award winner for best tight end in college football?
And he was not an upgrade over Cooley. If there was only one spot on the roster and Fred Davis was fighting Chris Cooley for it, Cooley would win that spot ten times out of ten. Fred Davis has not earned any kind of reputation for being a hard worker. He has earned a reputation for resting on his athleticism and physical abilities. I’m telling you that I was told by someone in the building that he does not have the passion to get better.
Fred Davis is not multi-dimensional. For all his numbers, it’s not like he was the difference between winning games that got us to the playoffs. Think back over the last season. He racked up a ton of numbers when it didn’t matter. Teams were leaving the middle and underneath areas wide open. I should know, because he was on my fantasy team. He got a lot of stats that did not contribute to wins.

Davis had better stats than Hernandez
16 game season extrapolated out then Davis ends up with over 1,000 yards. But it doesn’t count b/c it’s in "garbage" time?
If the "elite" TEs play is a result of elite QB play, then why doesn’t it make Davis that much more impressive that he is doing it with Rex/Beck?
Name another team in the NFL that Cooley would start on?

Fred Davis is also a capable blocker. Cooley is the worst blocker in the NFL
Shouldn’t that factor in somewhat, especially with and oldhead like you Ken?

From acmepackingcompany

I am torn about him. I do think that he is a great talent, and we are better with him than without. I’m not sure we really need him, especially with such a deep TE corps as well as his ability to make the easiest catches turn into drops and the hardest catches into the spectacular. The other TEs have 0 drops I think this season, whereas Finley leads the team…

Even without Finley, I would be fine with Quarless, Crabtree, Taylor and Williams. Undrafted rookie at best.

Spoiled brats!

Make no mistake. Jermichael Finley is a good tight end. But, is he a good fit for the Green Bay Packers? I would argue no. And here’s why. At the beginning of 2010, Finley was turning heads around the league. He had emerged as Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target and the inevitable comparisons to the great tight ends of the league like Tony Gonzalez were rampant. Rodgers was barely even throwing to anyone else. Then the unthinkable happened. Finley was out for the season which left the league wondering if the Packers weren’t done for after the earlier loss of Grant. But then something magical happened, A-Rod discovered that he had at least 5 other targets that he could throw to with confidence, and the rest, as they say, is history.

How were the Packers going to fit Finley back into the game plan? Would Rodgers go back to throwing every other ball to him? Would that kill the momentum from last season? After Finley’s performance against the Bears in week three, 3 TDs, 7 catches, 85 yds, the hope of keeping the winning formula was starting to fade. Finley treated us to our first YOTTO touchdown dance and it was widely reported that Finley had aspirations of becoming the highest paid TE in the league. It was becoming painfully apparent to us as fans that Finley was all about Finley and that sounded a lot less like a Packer and a lot more like an Eagle. But thankfully, that’s where the Finley-centric offense stopped. The following week, Rodgers went right back to spreading the ball around and “hitting the open man.” And true-to-form, the complaints from Finley came pouring in. So Finley wants to get PAID. Well, let’s see if that is warranted. Finley currently is in the top five in one single glaring statistical category……DROPS. He has 8! This one statistic alone, I believe, warrants letting him go. But, maybe he makes up for it in other areas. Let’s start with receptions. 17 tight ends have more than he does. 17! What about yards? Maybe he gets more yards. Okay, a little better, but still not in the top ten. What about YAC? Something the Packers offense pride’s itself on. He averages 4. The Gronk is almost double that. Finley finally cracks the top ten in 1st downs and TDs, but take away that one good game he had in Chicago and he almost falls off the list. There’s no consistency there.

I’m not sure what kind of leader Henne is, though.

Even though I don’t like Orton’s immobility, he still strikes me as a guy who could draw up plays in the dirt, if the headsets all went dead. I’ve alwas been suspicious of “offensive gurus,” as if it were rocket science. OC was more about training people and trusting your training, rather than micromanaging from the sideline. The ultimate expression of the game might be sidelines and booth in a SUPPORT position, providing intel, rather than calling the shots. Maybe give HC veto power or the ability to step in and make a STRONG suggestion at a key moment, but I’d really like to see a football team that ran itself. Everyone on the field has over a decade of organized football experience.

Heh. Pie-in-the-sky ivory tower sort of stuff. But it would be cool to have a football program that tilted its training towards players owning the playbook, even building the playbook, with their own private language and signals. Teach ’em how to work out their OWN systems of signals, and set ’em loose. Chances are good they come up with things no mere handful of coaches could.

I always think of this sort of thing as a teacher, trying to leverage the more skilled students, on the theory that 5 people asking 5 questions at the same time, can answer more questions than one guy (me) making a clever speech. Spend an extra half-hour with that Top 5, and shut up for a half-hour or an hour at a stretch, when I have everyone in the same room. Everyone in the room can see the clock and learn a structure for using the time available.

Definite pie-in-the-sky. It usually comes down to my giving my clever speech, because we MUST cover 50 sections of material in one semester, and the only way to get it all done is to wield the whip-hand. (sigh)

A pick you might otherwise spend on Poe or Cox or Still or … is freed up for another player. I’d like to see them accomplish at least as much as in 2011, and preferably more. They got good mileage out of Breaston, McClain, Gregg, and Gordon. Nada out of Gaither. Breaston’s on-board for the next few years.

Speaking of DL, I’m watching this Micanor Regis, #54, from the U, in the Shrine Game. Only stands 6’2’’, but carries 300 pounds very well, indeed. Walter has him 6th-to-UDFA. Mayock just mentioned him as a mid-rounder who’ll join somebody’s inside rotation. Kind of like a Shaun Smith, but faster and more explosive, at the same time. Looks like maybe a 4-3 DT, but sometimes a guy just catches your eye. That Conrad kid, next to him, #94 looks pretty good, too. It’s like being in a candy store, watching this game. Who’s that #90?

Solid FAs change the entire landscape of those 1st 3 rounds. Probably only secondary and tertiary effects in the later rounds, but Nicks or Grubbs would silence hostilities on the Decastro front. Maybe make Martin/Reiff or the best defender who slips much more attractive.

Seymour gave instant payoff. And if he plays at the same level for another year, it’s close to being worth the pick, although they’re gonna feel the bite when his body breaks down, which I expected to happen, already. Funny how the team that traded AWAY the great player remained among the elite, and the team that traded the pick remains in apparent disarray.

A year ago, I was concerned about having two separate defenses: one with Gilberry that sucked against the draws, and one without that sucked @ pass rush. Adding Bailey last spring didn’t change that concern, but then the way RAC played it, he got depth by rotating the starting DEs inside, with Amon Gordon giving them the depth to achieve this. Losing Jackson in 2010 really tied their hands, but they were much better situated in 2011, and they kept their guys healthy (imo, partly because they limited their snaps in the early going, ’til they got NFL tough, again).

Anyway, somebody like Campbell could make the defense very tough to figure out. With the right guys, RAC can come up with easy new wrinkles that are tough for opposing offenses to counter.

I think Gilberry comes back. I’m not sure they’ll want him to stay at the same weight, though. What they can accomplish with Gilberry’s inside move and inside stunts depends on what else happens on the front 5. Considering his humble beginnings, he must be one helluva hard-working player, to have lasted this long.

Yes he’s going to be a UFA, but there is no way that Arizona will let him go. They’ll either work out a new deal with him, tag him & keep him, or tag him & trade him…personally I’m hoping for the latter, and yes I’d give our first for him, no questions asked.

and one big hit away from retirement or worse. His injury is a bad one, I seriously think he should retire

We already have our two 3-4 OLBs

I wasn’t surprised by the Hudson pick, largely because so many APers made the call. But predicting Pioli would do the right thing and seeing him actually do it don’t always go together. That said, the fact that Hudson couldn’t crack the lineup on a struggling O-Line was troubling to me. Good pick on paper. Looks OK as a G. But why they hell wasn’t he starting by the end of preseason (or soon thereafter).

damn stag, you’re easy … cheap drunk too, right? ;-)

I like Bush

If it came down to a pure bidding war, I think KC could win it, with their cap sitch. It’d be my favorite outcome in FA, better even than Nicks or Grubbs. Depending on what they’re actually expecting to GET outta Hudson – again, why didn’t the #2 pick win a starting job through all of October, November, and December? – Myers would bring a top veteran presence to the middle.

Then, Demetrius Bell, if his price is reasonable, AND a 2nd- or 3rd-round RT prospect, for the long haul, preferably one of those southerners, who grew up fighting SEC D-Linemen, and who could slide inside, as needed, and still play big enough to take on DTs and NTs.

It might be a squeeze to sign Myers AND Bell, and it’s more likely Bell, the less satisfying of the pair, is the one who turns out to be in reach and grasp. I would certainly be looking to spend every nickel, to re-sign Carr and Bowe AND make a run at every one of the top 4 or 5 OLs in FA. And for all I know, they could maybe secure the services of TWO, which TOTALLY changes the emphasis in the draft, when maybe you’re waiting for best OL available in the 3rd round, and you’re doing wacky LB and RB stuff in the first two rounds.