Free Agency Thread? Free Agency Thread.

I'm not so sure either that he would escape, but I believe they aren't in the best of cap situations. Something like 5 million over. It's just a name I've kept an eye on. If they do franchise him, might make it so they can't resign Martellus Bennett.

 

Can't see him getting out of Tampa, they have boatloads of cash available to them. They can easily afford the Franchise Tag themselves, although I don't think they have a tendency to exercise it. Just on money and where their pass rush comes from - him, they'll try hard to keep him I'd imagine.

They have something like 30-31 million available to them.

 

Matt Shaughnessy, just so Ican get a jersey with my last name on it.

 

Greg Toler. Solid under the radar type of corner that Ireland may target to replace Smith because he can get him cheap.

 

Case for Chad Rinehart:

In 2011 (with injuries to Buffalo's Oline), Rinehart stepped in and was one of the top pass pro guards in the league.
569 passing snaps
0 sacks
2 hits allowed
8 pressures
Averages out to 1 pressure per 71 passing plays. (made all the more impressive IMO b/c of the shuffled & injured Oline he played in)

Not to mention the Bills run game tore it up with 5.4 YPC & 10 TDs between Jackson & Spiller.
Plus he should be well versed in the screen game, and he fits our scheme IMO.

As a current backup (behind Urbik who was just signed to a 4 year deal), he should come at a reasonable price.

 

Antoine Cason might make for a good reclamation project.

 

Personally I'd go after Gilberry & Rinehart. That's 2 improvements without spending much money.

Kenny Phillips should be in consideration at safety, and not playing much this year should bring his price down nicely.

So my updated list:
Nickel DT, Wallace Gilberry
RG, Chad Rinehart
S, Kenny Phillips
CB, Adam Jones
WR, perhaps Donnie Avery

Trade for Tramon Williams & Jermichael Finley (giving Finley a new contract)

 

I loved Antoine Cason in college, hard to believe he is still only 26 yrs old. Maybe a change of scenery would do him good. He was a fine ball athlete at Arizona.

 

Cap Munnerlyn is another corner that may come cheap. Fairly solid and the type I could see Ireland targeting.
Adam Jones has been very good for Cincy. Maybe Kevin Coyle would pound the table for him a little.

 

With the linebackers we have, if we can add another great safety and upgrade our pass rush, I personally wouldn't throw a lot of money at cornerback.

 

I'd love to get Kyle Arrington, if we thought we could pry him away from the Pats. Whenever we play them, he's seemed like their most solid DB to me.

 

Is that before or after he pounds on Jones' head to get his attention!?

 

Agree, Adam Jones would be a good signing, especially not that his head seems to be on straight.

 

Me neither. That is why I'm naming some of the 2nd tier types. Toler, Munnerlyn, Arrington.

 

You might be able to get a Cason and a Munnerlyn for the same price of Smith.

 

Is DRC a FA?

"D Rogers Cromartie"?

 

Yes.

 

Good point. Cap may be too small for the type of corner Ireland wants for a starter, but he seems to have developed into a solid starter. After all the ones I've named, I'm thinking if the cost was the same, I'd prefer Kyle Arrington.

 

DRC sucks.

Any chance Green bay trades Sam Shields for a second? They're obviously place a first round tag on him, but with Williams and Howard, they could afford to part with him and get picks...

Or straight up Long for Shields...

 

I'll stick to the tight end position, which is where I think we should go hard in free agency.

Brandon Myers (Raiders)

He replaces Fasano and immediately becomes the starting in-line tight end who, at 6'3" 256, offers blocking ability similar to Fasano's (6'4" 255), plus a whole lot more receiving ability. In 2012, Myers had 79 catches for 806 yards on 105 targets, for 7.7 yards per target.

Fasano on the other hand caught 41 passes for 332 yards on 69 targets, for 4.8 yards per target, which has been about the norm for his seven-year NFL career, which has spanned two teams, three coaching regimes, and five starting quarterbacks, including Tony Romo, Chad Pennington, and Matt Moore in his season in which he had an 87 QB rating and a 97 rating over a nine-game stretch. Fasano is what he is at this point, and that isn't the kind of pass-catcher at tight end needed in today's NFL.

Here's Myers in college. Notice the kind of agility after the catch you've rarely if ever seen from Fasano, who typically looks like nothing more than a bowling ball:

[video=youtube;LDeJzEfWDtA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDeJzEfWDtA[/video]


Dustin Keller (Jets)

Yes. You get both of these guys. You go out there and line them both up and play "New England Patriots" ball. I wanted Keller out of Purdue. This past year he missed eight games due to injury. In 2011 he caught 65 passes for 815 yards on 116 targets, for 7 yards per target, and from Mark Sanchez, no less. This is of course what Charles Clay was supposed to become but has not. Nowhere close, in fact. I've chosen Keller over Jared Cook here because I believe Keller has much more of a "player" mentality than Cook. Look at this tape of Keller from Purdue, and pay attention to the drivenness, the effort, and the emotion he plays with:

[video=youtube;WO-vS7o0PEs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO-vS7o0PEs[/video]


I really believe the perception that wideouts are what's needed on this team is only partially true, and slightly off-base in fact. I think we need just one wideout of the Greg Jennings type, joining Hartline and Bess, and two tight ends like the ones above. IMO you can't go into 2013 trying to develop a young quarterback without having the tight end position solved going in. You don't do it in the draft. You do it in free agency, with proven players, a la Atlanta with Tony Gonzalez when Matt Ryan was entering his second season.

 

EJ Biggers is a Miami native. He may give us a hometown discount. He's another 2nd tier type of corner that Ireland may target because he could get him cheaper.

 

Myers can't block per raiders fans. What are we going to do with another TE who can't block?

 

IDK, what is the better approach a small group of good Cb's, or the name Cb who can replace SS24?

Do not know which approach would be better, do think we need Cb's with better ball skills so a overhaul of:

Arrington/Jones/Munnerlyn do intrigue me, also think we should keep D Patterson

I like Marshall, and think he is primed for a bounce back season

 

Off topic but related, I'd consider a package deal for Tramon Williams & Jermichael Finley (only if Finley accepts a new contract), especially if there's no headway made with Sean Smith and the pickings at corner grow slim.

 

Dustin Keller

Heart and attitude. Did I forget that he catch the ball and run past LB's too?
5 years in the league and if we can get him at a reasonable price,questions will be answered at that position.
It would be nice for Tanny to see a TE that's open in the middle for his sophomore year.

 

That's all pointless. Just get a better QB.

 

What?

NO.

 

We'd likely never get Shields for a 2nd. Guy is playing at a top tier level and is VERY young and still can get better. Scary.

I really really want Chris Houston in Miami. Fantastic #2, at times a good #1. Chris Houston and Pac Man Jones for somewhere around 6 mil per would be a ****ing coup for Miami.

 

Any money spent on Pacman would be a waste. Philbin would not want that guy on this team.

 

Then that's a problem with Philbin then, to be frank.

 

Oh good, another guy that cares only about talent. The site didn't have enough those.

 

Yeah, I think we need to keep in mind what kind of coach Philbin is. The guy was riding players about having their shoes tied and throwing away their trash. I'd have a hard time seeing the team spend any significant money on guys that don't have strong character.

 

Pacman in South Beach....what could go wrong?!??!?!?!?!?

 

Is it a problem necessarily? Someone having a preference doesn't inherently entail it being a problem.

 

I mean I can see the team bringing in guys like that. But they are going to be on thin ice, ala Chad Johnson.

 

Yeah, its just not worth the risk.

 

Please no IMO he's garbage, the only reason he had some INT numbers is because everyone goes at him. He's easy to beat.

 

I think as a whole we're not thinking outside the box enough.
we're basically working with
a) a new coach
b) new schemes
c) new philosophy (it's not Parcells' team anymore)
d) a boatload of cap space & picks

Therefore, IMO, we shouldn't be looking at it from the mentality of signing our own guys first and then using the leftover cap space however possible. We should be looking at it from the mentality of- we have all this cap space to allocate however we want as if we're starting from scratch and this is an opportunity to change the dynamic of the team. I'm at the point now where I'm looking at our guys as if they're no different than any other FA on the market if we're not getting a hometown discount for signing them.

 

why? He seems reformed.

 

Fasano is an all time great but his numbers were hurt by his receiving passes from a developmental rookie QB.