wtf are they thinking i don't know. there is a guy out there that is a ball hawk and they don't bother with but they bother with a guy like Rolle (who missed 14 tackles) and a guy like Clark (who is suspect against hte pass according to some).

NO FS
NO WR
NO NT
NO TE
NO OLBs
NO ILB depth
NO CB depth

AWESOME!

 

Pathetic that they haven't contacted Atogwe yet. Absolutely pathetic.

 

I disagree with that assertion although I could certainly be wrong. I view it as insurance, not a declaration that Clemons cant be that guy. He had trouble with diagnosing plays which is typical for a rookie. Now you can go into 2010, a playoff year in the FOs mind, gambling that he makes a 2nd year leap or you can hedge your bets by offering low ball contracts to veterans in the hope that they will accept one and if Clemons turns into the real deal, the pain of cutting them wont be as severe. I would say the fact that we lowballed them might be viewed as a positive for Clemons. Its all speculation until we see him play in training camp

 

Hard to believe because the way people talk about the FO every player they draft is so great. So what players actually panned out?

Long, Langford, Thomas (if he can stay healthy) Hartline? Thats all I can think of at the top of my head.

 

Starting Clemons would actually have us take a step back in FS production.

 

well that settles that :lol:

 

Sharper would be a great mentor to clemons tell he is ready to take over

 

This really troubles me at least bring him in for a visit. Or maybe this time let the Jets bring him in for a visit then better it. They are interested in him it would be nice to steal from some team! Especially the JETS. :knucks:

 

Are you guys not aware he is coming off a shoulder injury and likely couldn't pass a physical? Why do you think he goes from the franchise tag to the right of first refusal? He's damaged goods.

 

Reading a lot of the stuff on the boards you'd think it was a day before our first preseason game. The draft hasn't happened, free agency just started a couple of days ago. There is no team in the NFL that has fulfilled all of their wants and needs yet, not one. Its a process that takes months not days. Crying about the offseason and declaring it a failure because we didn't sign every big name at a need position is pretty silly. We had a major breakthrough with Dansby, we still have the draft, future cuts, trading, etc. This front office has been pretty shrewd, we have a lot of talent considering what our roster looked like 2 years ago with that 1-15 debacle.

 

Sorry but Atogwe isn't happening. There's a 99.9% chance the Rams match any offer. It's a pipe dream. I'm thinking it's either Clemons or someone in the draft.

 

He gets 7.75 million from the Rams next year if noone signs him so figure we have to pay more than that and noone knows if he'll be the same player after the shoulder, probably can't even pass a physical yet...it seems totally understandable why no teams are looking at him. Sharper probably stays with the Saints regardless... It's looking like Az was pretty smart giving up a 4th for Kerry Rhodes at this point LOL

 

If we have to start someone then start Culver.

By the way Ken Hamlin I think will be released soon and will be the guy.

 

Seems like they want to go with at least 3 LBs this draft...2 being OLBs.
Also TE.
Also NT.
NOT Safety
Also apparently WR.

so now do you go with a FS in the first 3 rounds hoping he cna start or you go with LBs, NT, TE and hope a S in teh later rounds can start which points/leads you back to square one...might as well have Clemons play than especially if they put DEEP thought into Bethea that shows how desperate they are to address this via VETERAN route and not ROOKIE.

 

"Not ready to start?" Hell, Clemons isn't even ready to back up. Just becoming a serviceable rotation player will be a tremendous improvement for him.

Right now, our 2009 draft class can be summed up in one word: whiff.

 

Vontae Davis - good
Sean Smith, Brian Hartline - some good, but limited

Everyone else was not good.

I have to agree, as a class it was not a banner year for our FO.

Free agency was hit and miss too. Jake Grove was good, Gibril Wilson was catastrophic.

 

A whiff of what?

 

Wow no vote for Henne or Bess?:lol:

 

What the **** are you talking about? The kid isn't perfect, but he's no worse than Vontae Davis or Sean Smith were at times. In fact, in the limited snaps he got he was better. He might not be elite right now, but I think is going to have to throw him to the sharks if they aren't going to make a run at Atogwe.

 

The Rams won't match a sufficiently large offer. They've publicly stated that he will be ready for off-season workouts, the reason they didn't lock him up with the highest tender is because they have a new owner coming in and they don't want to be spending big money if they don't have to.

 

What B$, Clemons is "not ready to start"?

Well Wilson was a 8 yr veteran did he look ready to start in Miami?

Err..no...hold a competition between culver, clemons, will allen and jason allen and let the best man win, they are trying to hard to hedge their bets and even then there are no guarantees.

 

That's a pretty matter of fact statement considering the evidence that they low-balled Rolle and Clark suggests that they just might feel differently. They may not feel he is ready now and they are looking for some experience back there, but that may be it. The fact that they apparently haven't contacted Atogwe, perhaps the better of the three guys mentioned also suggests that they aren't as concerned as we may be. It's one thing to have a young FS to go along with young CBs, but it's quite another to believe they have no confidence in Clemons or Culver...Seriously, wouldn't Clark or Sharper be more along the lines of solid depth or a starter to fill in for a short period of time for those young guys to develop ??

 

Well it's going to be hard to convince a free agent to come in with only offering them a 1 year deal.
Offering someone a multi year deal doesn't mean they think Clemons won't be ready to start for years, if ever. It means they tried to sign a guy they liked.

 

Exactly, Az got a great deal for Rhodes. I'd actually have taken Rhodes before any safety that was available in FA.
No way would I want us to pay around $8M per year for Atogwe, frankly he's not worth it. I know there is no cap this year but last year I think the cap was around $128M or so. If we pay Atogwe $8M and we are already paying Bell $5M then that is 10% of your cap locked up to 2 safeties. Not the best use of resources I would argue.

 

And very rarely to players actually play out their contracts. It's all about performance. Exhibit A -- Gibril Wilson.

 

Let me Add, Smith, Davis and Henne to that.

 

Sean Smith hasn't panned out, yet. He had serious problems in coverage last season and had no defensive production to counter that. The jury's still out on him, IMO.

As for Nolan wanting a physical safety, Chris Clemons is it. I think the reason the FO went after Rolle and Clark is because they're not entirely comfortable with handing Clemons the keys to the castle, but I think they'll do it if they have to. At least for this season.

 

Clemons is a 2nd year 5th round pick. It makes sense they don't feel he's ready yet. He might not turn it around for a few years. If Chris Clemons continues to be a bright spot on Special Teams--he's a hit in the 5th round IMO.

 

Exactly he is just not ready plain and simple. Just because a player Dolphin doesn't mean he is going to be great. Culiver has been around for a while now and yet no matter how bad GERBIL stunk they did not look to him. Everyone on here preaches trust the trifecta. Well the trifecta has determined FS is a need and Culiver and Clemons don't fill it.

 

You shouldn't even put a label on them after one year, this is ridiculous.

And by the way, whoever said "THE FINS SAID THIS" is out of their mind. Do you honestly believe half the stuff they say? What did THE FINS say about Gibril Wilson? What happened to him?

 

Yeah, the Fins aren't saying **** about the safety position. Salguero is, or has everybody forgotten that this entire thread is based on speculation by MH's beat writer?

 

What did you see that led you to believe that Chris Clemons a)got better last season and b)is worthy of potentially starting at FS this season?

I saw nothing from him to lead me to believe he'll be anything more than a backup. Now, I'm not saying he won't be good someday, but he has shown 0 so far.

What I saw in his limited PT this year was a guy that was never anywhere near the ball, yards off receivers in coverage, and no big hits at all.

Now if you recall Y. Bell's second season when he had limited PT, we saw something much different. A big hitter who's around the ball often. And we knew he'd be at least a decent player for us.

 

My favorite thing about free agency is people acting like tremendous ****ing children.

 

If expect the team to have no holes, you are expecting too much.

In regards to the FS position, I don't see how Clemons is even close to Ty Culver on the depth chart at this point.

 

Now, this is what I'm going to disagree with. I don't recall exactly what game it was, but there was this one play where he was over the top of a guy running a middle out on the left sideline, saw where the ball was going and went after the guy running a deep seam. Damn near broke up the play, too. That's Ed Reed-like range. Obviously he doesn't have Ed Reeds knowledge of the game or elite instincts, yet, but he can learn that. What matters is he has the physical tools to be a good free safety.

And if you can criticize Clemons for all that, you must really hate how Sean Smith played last year.

 

To be honest, I don't remember this play, but I'll take your word for it.

Yes I did. I was one of the few that was hardly impressed with Sean Smith this season, and one of his biggest critics here.

Where I saw progression in Vontae Davis, I saw regression in Sean Smith as the season went on. That's worrisome to me.