Restricted Free Agents

I wanted to make a thread about this since the concept is starting to get some love.

A LOT has been made of Jeff Ireland's signing guys to contracts with artificially deflated 1st year salary cap numbers and much bigger 2nd year cap numbers. Supposedly it's a naked attempt to save his own skin, going "all in" on 2013 to save his job and letting his successor deal with the mess if it fails.

I doubt it. If he operated like that, there were moves in 2012 (when his seat was just as hot) that he'd not have made.

On the other hand, what do you have to do if you want to sign a Restricted Free Agent? The ORIGINAL "poison pill" concept involved artificially inflating the 1st year salary cap number so that the team that tendered the player cannot match. Later, this concept was perverted into contract clauses that fully guarantee the contract if the player plays more than 4 games in the state of Minnesota, or some such nonsense. The NFL did away with that in the new CBA (thankfully). But the original poison pill tactic is still valid. Make his guaranteed money into first year salary or roster bonus instead of signing bonus, and suddenly you've got a mega 1st year cap number and then smaller ones thereafter.

If you want to do this obviously you've got to maintain a lot of cap space in the present year. The Dolphins have done that. They're poised to be able to toss out one or maybe even multiple "poison pill" contract offers.

So which RFAs stand out to me? The answer is, a number of them.

CB Sam Shields (2nd Round Compensation), Green Bay - The Dolphins had a chance to sign Sam as an undrafted free agent out of Miami. Shields was relatively new to the CB position at UM and clearly still getting used to it, but his athleticism and ability to run were never in dispute. This guy could run a mile at top speed the whole way. I remember a kick return he ran one time that was actually a reverse. He started around the 40 and ran all the way backward looping around his own end zone to take the hand-off, and then ran 100 yards forward for the kick return touchdown. Amazing. As the story goes, Miami hosted him for a visit after the Draft and refused to offer him because they didn't view him to be smart enough. Shields was a standout with the Packers IMMEDIATELY and was a key part of their Super Bowl run. His second year was a little bit of a disappointment but he was fantastic this year. I doubt you find a corner in this draft as good as him in the 2nd round. He has 13 interceptions in 2 years including playoffs with the Packers. This year he had 9 PDs, allowed 7.2 yards per attempt purely from the perimeter (which is stellar). He is 25 years old, 5'11" and 185 lbs, and in my opinion worth every bit of a 2nd round pick.

FS Stevie Brown (2nd Round Compensation), New York Giants - Brown was a former linebacker at Michigan and has been fantastic since his position switch to safety with the Giants. An underrated athlete that came out 5'11" and 212 lbs, running a 4.51 with a 1.51 in the 10 yard split, a 10'2" broad jump, and 23 bench reps. This year he got a chance to play Free Safety in place of Kenny Phillips and he was a STAR. He had an amazing 8 interceptions, plus 2 forced fumbles. The Dolphins have vowed that they want to add takeaways to their secondary? This guy provides that. Not for nothing but he only allowed 1 touchdown in direct coverage too so it's not like the guy was giving up plays left and right and gambling all the time. He is only 25 years old. 8 interceptions.

RB Isaac Redman (No Draft Compensation), Pittsburgh - I don't think the Steelers want to lose this guy. He only averaged 3.7 yards per carry this year (the entire unit averaged poorly including Mendenhall, which tells you something) but he averaged 4.4 yards per carry a year ago and 4.8 yards per carry in 2010. He's 6'0" and 230 lbs. He only took 6 carries inside the 10 yard line this year but produced 2 touchdowns which is good enough. The important thing here is the Steelers gave Redman an "original round" tender. The problem with that is, he wasn't drafted. This means all Miami has to do is give him a contract with an unpalatable 1st year salary cap number. It doesn't even have to be a big number on an absolute basis, it can just be a number big enough that it would put a dent in the Steelers' free agent plans for 2013. They may decide he's not worth that and suddenly you've got a fairly proven tailback to pair with Lamar Miller.

WR Danario Alexander (No Draft Compensation), San Diego - Danario at 6'5" and 220 lbs was always a big time size/speed combo guy at Missouri. He helped make Blaine Gabbert a good prospect. He had mega production his final year there, 113 catches for 1781 yards and 14 TDs. My discomfort with him was related to his knee injuries (several major ones) and how I thought in the wake of those knee injuries he played really soft at times even while he was producing. He flashed in St. Louis but had more injury issues. He caught on with San Diego and right away was off like gangbusters. He played about half snaps in Week 9 but became full time in Week 10 and beyond. Over those 9 games we're talking 37 of 54 for 658 yards and 7 TDs...on 327 pass snaps. That's incredible, though only a short period of time. Again, undrafted player, yet he received an "original round" tender. All you have to do is offer him a contract with an unpalatable 1st year cap number and you might get him.

Other RFAs
DT Clinton McDonalt (7th Round Compensation), Seattle
OG Evan Dietrich-Smith (No Draft Compensation), Green Bay
TE Jeff Cumberland (No Draft Compensation), New York Jets

 

No. Not with respect to players. He promised not to rob them of all their coaches immediately.

 

Really surprised no Stevie Brown love here.

The guy had 8 interceptions and forced 2 fumbles in 2012 and it was his first real action as a safety. Isn't this what we're supposed to be adding to the secondary? Takeaways? And it's not like he's slow or unathletic, or gave up a bunch of plays.

 

Stevie Brown highlights from 2012:

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

 

Gonna be honest I didn't know until today that Stevie Brown was on a 2nd round tender. Nor did I know that Sam Shields was on a 2nd round tender.

If you were to walk out of the 2nd round of the Draft with Stevie Brown (8 interceptions in 2012) and Sam Shields (5 interceptions in 2012) you would absolutely thrilled. Thrilled. You've turned the secondary into a strength. You maybe have the best safety unit in the NFL.

Yet you still have a 12 overall pick and two 3rd round picks to get more work done.

 

Walk out of the rest of free agency pulling Sam Shields and Stevie Brown, while also managing to re-sign Jake Long, and then draft Bjoern Werner or Cornellius Carradine at 12 overall, and Jeff Ireland will have done something I thought impossible.

 

What that essentially means though is in order to do it, Miami would have to trade the 54 pick up to 41 or above.

 

Where there's a will, there's a way. You could look at trading of a player to get that 54 pick moved to pick 41 or above. There's all kinds of options to get it done. The question is whether you want to get it done or not.

 

I would cut Dimitri Patterson.

I am not at all a big fan of Richard Marshall in the roles they've tried to use him, and I'm wary of his health, but at least I know his attitude is right. He's a team player. A leader, even. Patterson is good from the slot. Probably better than Marshall from the slot, to be honest. But the thing I heard that affected me was how he basically told the Browns he wanted to stay inactive on game day until he was a total 100% because he didn't want to put out bad tape. Unforgiveable if true. And the Browns cut him less than a year into a brand spanking new 3 year deal, so that suggests it's a true story. And you know what he did when he got here? Got hurt. Played one game, then got hurt immediately in the next game.

That's a bad news player. I'd cut him and bank that $4.5 million.

 

Carradine is an excellent, excellent player.

I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle continuing to rate Werner higher. I'm down to 3 things:

1. Bjoern Werner consistently shows better awareness, and I mean far better awareness. He's like a J.J. Watt when it comes to knocking down passes. He's excellent at it. His reaction time to things he sees on the field is really among the best I have ever seen at any position. Jedi-like. Carradine has never knocked down a single ball. Each knockdown is like a 0 yard sack.

2. We're learning now as much as ever that once these guys get off their rookie deals, you're either paying for what you get, or they're off to another team. So the bulk of the value you get off drafting a guy lies in how he performs on his cheap rookie deal. If Carradine's ACL means he's ends up having to redshirt 2013, or is very limited...you're getting 75% of what you would with Werner. That's a factor.

3. I like Bjoern's back story better. A true self-made guy. Unusually mature at an unusually early age. A "do everything right" guy.

On the other hand, though the concept of "potential" is a funny concept that is often bastardized, mis-used and poorly estimated, there's no denying off the film that the physical potential to be a consistently dominant player lies with Carradine. The advantage is with Carradine, for sure. Not only that, Carradine has by far the better motor.

I just wish more people wouldn't see the need to make like Bjoern Werner is trash in order to pump up Carradine. They're the best defensive end tandem I've seen in college in quite a while, if not ever.