Sparano Hits It On The Head/ MIA Not Looking For "just a scatback"

No worries, DT will be backing up DeAngelo Williams a la Johnathan Stewart. I hope.

 

NFL.com had a segment with Bucky Brooks and a few other guys the other day talking about free agent RBs. A lot of them mentioned Miami as a primary destination for DeAngelo Williams, but they all seemed to think that John Fox might be able to "recruit" him to Denver to team with Knowshon Moreno. Brooks also said he really liked Ahmad Bradshaw as a complimentary back to Daniel Thomas (he's been my personal favorite this offseason) if he does become an unrestricted free agent.

 

Either Bradshaw or Williams. If we could get one of those, and replace Lex or Cobbs with Kevin Smith, I'd need to replace my drawers.

 

Brown would be nice to re-sign, IMO. Bush would also be great. After his performance in the Saint' Super Bowl post-season, I believe he'd be a great weapon to have, provided we move him around and use him a lot.

 

No thanks to Bradshaw. I like how he plays but his health is concerning.

 

"sparano not just looking for a scat back"

Through the Sparanofilter:

"I cannot bring myself to start any player on offense who weighs less then 220 pds, just cannot do it I do not care about speed"

 

Here's the thing with Reggie Bush... How are you going to get him to do more than what he does now? The Saints already use him fairly creatively. You're not going to get that upside through a different blocking scheme(The Saints mix man and zone pretty well), and nor are you likely to get more out of him for better blocking... The Saints have two elite guards. There's not a lot more meat on those bones, figuratively.

 

Ditto. But I like it better when we disagree .

 

Those knees bother me tbh about it, cannot see him taking the pounding and bouncing back for to much longer which is why he may be a nice weapon X type of player but he is just injured to often to really roll the dice on imo.

Jerome Harrison makes sense for us if FA plays out the way they think it will play out, but then again, I like Sheets more then most do.

I can live with a DTrain/Hillard/Sheets backfield, like the mix of skills but obviously concerned about the lack of experience.

 

no way Pod, those three aren't cuttin it, hell, you sure do have a lot of trust in a player that has done nothin but talk a good game..Williams, Bush or Bradshaw is a must sign for this team on many levels, including improving fan enthusiasm...

I'll bet you our first drinking session one day that one of those three is going to be in a dolphin uniform..Throw Sproiles in there too..

 

I have perspective on the way Draft hype works Deej, why is when a player is drafted or signed their rookie season, they are brilliant prospects, yet when a guy is traded or signed, their star has "dimmed"?

Jacquiz Rodgers comes to mind, he slid to the 4th or 5th rd (to be sure, Mr C will correct me) and to hear the hype around the guy he is the second coming of Darren Sproiles? Two yrs later is he still Sproiles if he does not play? Why not? How about CJ spiller? A player I liked but why is he "primed for a breakout" this yr, after doing nothing last yr?

One of the few cases were I agree with Colin Cowherd, take the emotion out of it, watch them play then decide if their game is any good or not, everything else is blah blah..ya know?

I liked Lexxy's 09 campaign, liked the stuff coming out about Sheets prior to the achilles, not really a mystery.

I also am maybe more Cap Conscious then most, not that I'm against Ross spending dollars to improve my favorite team, but there has to be a cost=benefit analysis, and to me, Bush flunks that imho.

 

I try to form my own opinion on players Deej, love the Gurus and they are far more right then I ( for example Boom called the drafting of Ed Gates in the chat), I also feel there are holes in the way the NFL does things that are actual opportunities if you have a sharp GM which I think Ireland is at the end of it all.

Heard Irish likes Lex, I happen to like Lex, saw Sheets' stuff on youtube, read the camp reports, like what I heard, same thing with Wake in 09 and Ike in 2010.

For the life of me though, cannot understand Pat Cobbs, he is the fly that lands in your drink in terms of logic for me, just a square peg in a round hole who really does not do anything well enough for my tastes, who was the Captain of a terrible ST unit, and yet...there he is..if he is not resigned I may have a nice, cold Beer and a Turkey burger in celebration, just do not like his game.

 

I agree with all of that Pod when talking about signings, Iam not talking about backing up the vault for Bush, I'am talking about a fair contract after an injury and a humbled career, if he has some soret of false perception of where he stands, we will find out soon enough..The way I'am looking at this is we have money, we have a need, we have a fanbase with low morale, all of the big four provide what we need, and their all good football players, there's no bad decision in signing any one of them in terms of putting our cap out of whack...what other unit on the offense needs that 1 player the most?, me, I got running back over tight end, receiver, or oline, and no way no how, am I gonna be looking to save money for our owner in such a pivitol year..

Hilliard and sheets can still make the team even if we sign one of the big four.

 

Me too bud, but Hilliard and Sheets is not enough imo..I don't think this is a year where you can just project that much responsibility on unproven players..

Whats wrong with this unit..Thomas..Bradshaw..Sheets...Lexy..somebody else.

 

The last 3 yrs, combined, Bradshaw has missed 2 games. Williams has missed 13. You're concerned about Bradshaw's health but not Williams?
Bradshaw is 3 yrs younger, and taken less pounding. Also according to PFF he is in the top 2 RBs for pass blocking efficiency. I think Tony will love that about him

 

My drawers are ok, but some new bookshelves would be nice.

 

Great post, Padre. It's true; he seems to think that way, and that thinking excludes backs like Barry Sanders.

 

Bro, man, I was joking Sparano never said any such thing.

 

I don't recall Tony ever saying that. I think that supposed quote was a product of Pappy's overly active imagination.

 

Well no Deej, if they were Rooks they would be "full of potential!" Because they have been around awhile, and not played much they are looking to be replaced by more expensive players?

Why? when you sign a FA for big money it means they will play and personally I think we should not overpay for Bradshaw or Williams as each one has risks of their own.

 

Yup. Picked it up just before you posted and changed my post. I guess I'm the one with the small mind, hehe.

 

DeAngelo Williams makes the most financial sense if you think about it. We wouldn't even have to make him a new jersey. Same name, same number, roughly the same size.

 

I hope that when Sparano said what he said, he did so because he had Michael Bush in mind.

Really like that guy. Would love to see him get more of a chance and come down to Miami. Of course, getting him would make Daniel Thomas' pick in the late 2nd round seem even worse to me, but nonetheless Michael Bush is a good player.

You can fast forward to 4:20 into this to see some Raiders footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKDfPjRTqso

And admittedly this is just preseason footage but it's impressive nonetheless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL5CBGEzbpk

 

I'm not sure we'd have to break the bank for Williams, there aren't many teams to bid against IMO. Cincy, Indy, Green Bay, Washington, NYG come to mind. Cincy doesnt spend big $ on FAs, even if they did who wants to play up there? Indy & GB dont spend in FA, Shanahan has a well earned rep for taking bargain bin RBs like Gary, Bell, Anderson, Davis etc. The Giants are possibility but they dont seem to value the RB position much and they're more likely to sign Bradshaw than Williams. We have 8+ million in salary coming off the books w/ Williams and Brown, DThomas will only make 5-600K, so there's plenty of $ to work w/ there.

 

Or the anti-Michael Bush...Reggie Bush.

Depth at the RB position isn't difficult to find. Re-sign Pat Cobbs and you're halfway there.

 

I think Irish has set his team up, gutted it, made it top 5 in youth, and is now ready to splurge a bit..everyone involved deserves the splurge..Bradshaw/ Lawson or Williams/Barnes is a well deserved caculated evolution..Its what he's supposed to do..You don't leave money on the table in this situation..

 

To be fair, didn't we splurge last offseason on Dansby and Marshall?

 

Getting rid of Wilson, Smiley, Grove, Ginn, Taylor, Porter, Ayodele, Torbor etc more than compensated for Marshall & Dansby. The dead cap space from the Wilson, Grove & Smiley contracts is gone, Ronnie and Ricky (8+millie) are gone, Pennington (2.5 mil) is gone. Soliai will be getting a big raise, perhaps Wake as well, but overall we're in good shape cap wise and we I think we can afford to bolster the RB spot and add another pass rusher.

 

Yes, but those two players are on a different level..This years splurge will cost a lot less..

Your statement here seems to paint the position he has set himself up with, in a negative light...I think your wrong in this case, The GM has us in an enviable position to aquire 2 to 3 nice moderate free agent signings, which only strengthens this roster by adding some nice players to such a young team, that is in a nice cap friendly position.

 

Dansby is one of the highest paid at his position.

Marshall is one of the highest paid at his position.

Jake Long is one of the highest paid at his position.

Soliai is going to become one of the highest paid at his position.

Wake is going to become one of the highest paid at his position.

This isn't including whats going to be paid for two QBs. Or what Kendall Langford is going to get paid. Or Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Also keep in mind we just gave Fasano and Bess extensions for about $10M a piece.

Deangelo Williams will be one of the top 3 highest paid RBs in the NFL. I'm not saying its impossible to sign him, but you can only have so many players that are among the highest paid at their positions. I wouldn't mind signing him, but there will have to be other sacrifices made.

 

I don't have an issue w/ any of that, all of them are among the best at their positions and all are in their prime. The only over paid guys we have are Carey and perhaps Bell & IMO 2 overpaid starters is not bad at all. You also have to take into account that Henne is only making 550K.

Sean has two years left on his deal @ 700 & 800K. Vontae has 3 yrs left @ 1.8, 2.0 & 1.9 million. Langford is due a big time raise but IMO we're not breaking the bank for him unless Odrick and/or Merling continue to disappoint.

After CJ2K and A.P. I cant name a back I'd rather have than DWill. He takes our offense to a whole new level IMO and I think he'd be worth the $.

 

Nobody has issue with it, until you are over the salary cap, until you have players holding out, and until you're losing key players in FA. You can't have a team full of highest-paid players. There isn't enough space. You have to get value-added from somewhere. There is no successful team in this league that pays for the production they receive. It's imperative to have players that are playing above their salary.

Yes, but most likely you're looking to extend them before their contracts end. Even if Merling and Odrick don't disappoint, then you're looking at paying them.

How much exactly is he worth??? Would you make him the highest paid RB of all time? Would you rather have Williams or Marshall? Williams or Wake? Its not a question of whether he'll take our offense to a new level. There are always players available that can do that. The problem is, this is a game of limited resources.

 

Yeah I said it

 

I agree. But we don't have anything approaching a "team full". We have 3 guys, Marshall, Long & Dansby. Wake and Soliai are due raises, that makes 5. Carey and Bell have high salaries as well. Other than that, the rest of the roster is very economical.

I'm looking at getting our running game back into the Top 5, some 20-40-60 yd runs, a credible threat out of the backfield on screens/checkdowns and not going into the season w/ 3 RBs who have a combined toal of ZERO 50+ yd rushing games. Planning for 2012-2014 is nice, but the season that matters most is usually the next one.

IMO DWill makes our offense pretty difficult to stop. The shell coverages we saw last year? Forget it. With a healthy OL & decent blocking DWill can destroy 7 man fronts. That helps the play action game, creates more room for Marshall, makes life easier on Henne, etc. Basically I think Williams forces defenses to respect, if not fear, the run game, which is something that didn't happen last year. And if you're going to compete w/ the better teams w/o a good/great QB then a dominant run game is pretty much a necessity.