Thursday Morning Crumbs

Question is: Who would want to trade for Glover and pay his roster bonus (when you make a trade, you take the guys contract as well as the player) when they have a chance of getting him for free if The ’Boys release him on March 3 to save the cap space. Who has enough need to go for it?

I’m sure Glover would do a sign and trade for the signing bonus.

That is the ONLY possibility. If he works out a new contract with the team that trades for him. The trade being contingent on Glover and they coming to terms. Stay Tuned.

Here’s a thought; If he is willing to modify his contract why not a “sign and stay”.

Sean,
Playing time. He wants what he can’t have in the new system.

If we do make a trade I see us throwing more than one player for a package of picks. It could be that we are working on something now and blowing smoke (i.e. Jerry saying that Ellis is staying etc.) to keep a lid on it until we have a deal set.

Which is exactly what Ellis wants, more playing time.

if we could move both of them we could at the least get a possible 2nd or early third for glover and another possible 3rd for ellis. that would put us in a good position to do some more trading to move up a couple spots for a certain player in the first as well. id like to see both stay, but ellis small but had yet another very good year. glover did very good to but if he doesnt want to renegotiate his deal then 7 million is a big cap hit for a part time player.

if dat does indeed retire what happens with his salary? does it still go on our cap?

Unrelated:
What’s the deal with Jerome Bettis? Is he the biggest nothing story in the history of football?
He’s the most average, nothing football “star” to be put on the Super Bowl media pedestal.
He’s WAY behind Marshall Faulk, LT, Sean Alexander, etc…
He was never the best back on his team, let alone hte NFL.

ENOUGH of him.

yeah, he is only the 5 ranking rusher in nfl history, not to mention just a physical marvel considering his size and granted speed he once had. He was always the best back on his team until the last couple of years when he got older, also all he did last year was rush for over 1,000 yards in 10 games, yeah he is not very good at all, not to mention that even though the steelers trade to replace him these last 2 years he still never complained

Mike-As I understand “capology” the unpaid portion of Nguyen’s signing bonus would accelerate into the year of his retirement. I don’t know if that could all be taken in this year(2005 season) if he retires prior to March 3 (or whatever date the new financial season starts providing we have the room). I don’t have any idea what his signing bonus was or even when he signed the contract. Dat’s unearned salary has no effect on future cap space.

I with you Jeff. All good points. I’m sure he’s HOF material since he’s not from Dallas.

Regarding Dat’s Signing Bonus: I found that he signed a 6 year contract that expires in 2007. His signing bonus was $2mil so his retiring would hit our cap for $660k ($2mil divided by 6 years) for the reamaining 2 years. Anyone know how much cap room we have left in 2005 season and could we take the hit now instead of 2006?

Jerry Jones “absolutely” committed to hiring a “veteran kicker”…….Hey Jerry you could re hire Hoffman for less than you are going to pay a “veteran kicker” and as most of us fans recall the kicking game…….while not long on kickoffs or accurate beyong 45…..was money inside 40…..and looking around the league…..that is about all you can ask for. Last time i checked………coaches don’t count against the cap…….if they did the Redskins would have to trade Brunell, Portis, and Arrington just to keep Bugle, Gibbs, Saunders and Williams……..along with Manny Moe and Jack……lol.

Maybe the fact that Hoffman is in Mobile right now looking for a job—over a year after he was canned—is maybe a little insight into just how effective he is.

in regards to Bettis……i would actually be rooting for a great rb to get a ring if he were not in steelers back. Just cannot ever root for the steelers…..too many flashbacks from Joe Green and the 70s. I also like the way he and the organization handled his aging process. Letting him go out on his terms with class. I mean would we have all liked to have seen Emmit go out that way? Instead of in Cardinal Crimson? Not like Emmit did not know how to run, block or score TDs. If a back was never a speed demon anyway he has less to lose when he “loses a step”…….oh well what’s done is done…..but in the age of free agency and win now……it is refreshing to see the Steelers and Bettis both show loyalty. I think Bettis has been a class act and will be a HOF guy…….i had almost forgotten about his years in LA and StLouie……with the rams. There is no way he is 5-11 255……he is more like 300…….any old lineman that watches him run thinks……hey maybe i could have been a running back too!!!

Having said all that a running back getting an opportunity after 30 to continue to be the back……is probably long past. Unless it is in the role of Bettis in Pitt or Allen in KC…..with FA being what it is and the success of the younger nameless backs……..for league minimum even sometimes…….Emmit’s record will be even more difficult to catch. LT might be everybody’s darling these days but the day will come when he is still miles away from Emmit and he is hitting that over 30 rb and then SD or whoever will just say see ya. Free Agency will almost insure that Emmit and Walter and the rest of the top tier guys are not caught until a guy comes along that can run for 2000 yards a year consistently…….and that ain’t going to happen ever.

Anyone who cannot appreciate the Bus’s career knows ZIP about football.

The 2005 season is over except for the SB.

What are the opinions of the previous draft after one season to see their on the field play?

Is Ware going to be better the the rookie pro bowler in San Diego?

Did Spears earn the #20 pick?

Can Burnett stay on the field and contribute?

Barber was pretty steady but playing on 3rd down where it can be run or pass (in BP offense) may have made him look better than if he played on 1st and 2nd.

Any complaints at all about Canty?

Beriault can hit in training camp but is he healthy and can he cover?

Petitti? Thought he did ok for a rookie, but hope he improves.

The last draft looked good to me.

How about T Thompson and Pepper JR

Forgot Ratliff who was looking good.

but my point is bettis is nothing. He’s the furthest thing from a difference maker. He’s a tiny, tiny footnote in the history of the NFL.
He’s overrated. He’s played behind the best rushing O Line in the NFL for years.
His story is that he’s durable. Whoopdidoo. He’s completely irrelevant. He’s not in the top 50 RBs in the history of the league. So what he’s heavy? Would you rather have him or Jamal Lewis? Jamal Lewis will make plays for you.
Every single team has a running back the equivalent of Jerome “Of Little Interest” Bettis. If Jerome Bettis weren’t on the STeelers, would their fortunes be ANY different over the past decade? No, they wouldn’t. Same team, with same win loss records.
Prime vs prime, he’s not half the running back of Tiki Barber or Clinton Portis. He’s not the equivalent of Ricky Williams. He can’t carry LT’s jock, Priest Holmes’ jock, Larry Johnson’s jock, Sean Alexander, Curtis freaking Martin, Corey Dillon, Edgerrin James, and on and on and on…
Only the Raiders and Eagles would want this guy as their feature back… The Steelers have been trying to replace him for 6 years.

If Stephen Davis was healthier over the past 4 years, he’s remembered significantly better than Bettis.

That this footnote is getting so much media exposure is nauseating. He’s a product of marketing. Somebody had to be ranked 4th in career yards, and soon after Bettis, it’ll be someone else. Drew Bledsoe is ranked fifth ALL TIME for Pass Attempts, and for Completions. 7th in passing yards. By the time he finishes up, he could be 3rd ALL TIME in some categories, and nearly 5th in passing yards.
So… now tell me what story stats tell.

The story of this Super Bowl is sean alexander and matt hasselbeck – two legitimate stars in ascension.
Roethlisberger is a better story. Hines Ward is a better story. Polamalu (not his hair) is a better story. That some Steelers want to “do this for Bettis” is meaningless to me, and to 95% of football fans.

It’s insulting to me that the media machine is trying to “Elway-up” the legacy of Bettis. They’re actually artificially manufacturing a non-existant story and spinning it into some fanciful legacy.
Great, he’s from detroit. Whoop di freaking doo. We’re all from somewhere.
Great, his parents are proud. No one else’s in the NFL are, so this is a truly significant story. I’m thrilled i’m being constantly pummelled by this news.

ENOUGH. God, I hope the Steelers lose and Bettis fumbles over and over. Now THAT would be a story worthy of ubiquitous media coverage and a cover on SI.

“Elway-up.” LOL, Joey2zs.

I had an e-mail exchange with a Sporting News writer a few years ago over this. I told him I had a line about Elway — that he was simultaneously a first ballot Hall of Famer and the most overrated player in NFL history.

My point was a comment the writer made, asking readers to rank Super Bowl 32 among Elway’s greatest comebacks. I pointed out to him that the Broncos never trailed after tying the game 7-7 halfway throgh the first quarter and that Elway’s passing day ranked among the worst ever for a Super Bowl winner.

So he went into this song and dance about “didn’t Elway’s run and helicoper on one of their TD feels ‘feel’ like one of his comebacks?”

It’s why I’ve kept SportsCenter off since Sunday and why my NFL watching won’t resume until 30 seconds before kickoff. Who needs this senseless hype, regardless of where Jerome Bettis sits in the running backs hierarchy.

Raf
I tell you Elway gets more love then any other QB in history( Fare is up there with him) If you didn’t know any better you would think Elway won 6 super bowls the way people talk about him.
Joey2zs
You made a good point about the stats. There are no super stars in this years super bowl. But the bus is in the top 50 for RBs I wouldnt put him in the top 10 though.

and how have his replacements faired?

you are making the exact same argument made against Emmit Smith and the Dallas Cowboys. great o line……longevity does not equal greatness……..well at the RB position…….where a guy like Terrel Davis was great for what 3 years? Bettis will be like Plunkett and require cortizone shots the rest of his life to get out of bed…….he is a grid iron warrior……and no he ain’t my favorite…….and i would not rank him in the top 10 of great rbs…….but the guy still got his yards…..and his tds…….

how efficient are the Steelers in the Red Zone? Would I take him on 1st 2nd or 3rd and goal at the one or two……..yeah. He rarely fumbles……..that Colts game was an anomoly……..and his replacement Duece Staley cant stay healthy long enuff to play. I think there is something to be said for his longevity. He also played for the La and stlouie rams and gained yards there. You are correct the steelers have always had good o line play……

If we were in the Super Bowl they would be overhyping Julius Jones…..who so far is more Staley like in his on the field off the field for injuries than Bettis or Emmit. Hey it ain’t a bad story hometown kid gets to play his last game in motown before retiring. I would dare say the entire pitts offense is overrated……their defense and rushing attack are what wins games……..if Tommy Maddox weren’t so bad Big Ben might still be waiting his turn…who was taken after Eli and Rivers. Personally since I have no interest in either team I will be glad when it is over and the football mediots turn their attention to the NFL draft where they will once again make themselves look like mediots.

I liked that Elway was willing to run for it. But he never gets the blame for starting the whole primaddona era of the NFL….he refused to play for the colts and said he would be a Yankee before he would be a colt. He breathed life into the likes of Drew Rosenhause and TO. Yet he rarely gets the deserved credit for that behavior.

Jon
People on this blog over hype JJ. Nobody is going to say a bad thing about Elway.

Some subjects:

- Hoffman won’t be back, this year struggles had more to do with the injury in July of the winner in the kicking competition. DeHaven was caught with his pants down, there’s nothing much he could have done. Last point on the subject, it’s intriguing to think what would have Hoffman done had he lost Cunningham or Cundiff when they already were the winners of their competitions. Dallas would’ve signed a street FA and struggles would have been on his way.

- I also like Croyle, but after hearing all the hype he’s getting at Senior Bowl practices and that I don’t see him hitting a wall in the recent future until Draft Day, I think that 4 QB’s will be selected before the 2nd Rounder of Dallas. Day dreaming with Jay Cutler and Brodie Croyle is nothing more than that, dreams.

- Manny Lawson certainly looks like a Ware’s clone and he’s headed to get out of the board in the top 15. As for Wimbley, I don’t think that he will be there for the 2nd Rounder as he’s also raising his Draft value.

- With the more I hear from Gabe Watson, the most it makes me think that if Dallas wants him they have to take him with the 18th pick, if he isn’t picked by then, but I’m not sold on it, there’s too little depth at OLB and there’s also a short amount of talented tweeners. With the possible departure of Glover Dallas won’t be caught with their pants down as they have Ferguson and a talented Pepper but they need to address DT in the Draft and I think Barry Cofield of Northwestern is a name that should be considered high on the Draft Boards in Rounds 3 and 4.

- About Palmer, we can all say that as an evaluator he hasn’t had any success in the League, but I do know this, while he was Coordinating the Jax O they recorded milestones that are still to be reached, first downs (331), Rush yards (2102), Passing yards (4110), Total yards (5760) and Points (396). Here in Dallas he will be back to where he was successfull, he will Coordinate a system stablished by his Head Coach.

just read that whitten will replace shockey on the fnc pro bowl roster. good for whitten, another trip to hawaii

Don’t you think we can be comfortable in taking Gabe Watson in the first, and then get someone like Ahmad Brooks in the 2nd, and be done defense except for late round CBs and Safeties?
Brooks and James in the middle is a stout duo.

Joey, what did the BUs ever do to you- I have not seen that kind of hate since the last time we discussed Q?

joey:
Ahmad Brooks didn’t entered as an underclassmen, he will go out as a Sr.

And Dallas doesn’t need another ILB, Burnett can play inside next year while Shanle and Fowler can play without ashaming themselves, Dallas needs help outside, Singleton can’t rush the passer, Fujita could be a great rotation player and Thornton is what he’s, an undrafted and not so talented DE that has the size of an OLB.

Chandus,

I’m not so sure Watson’s first round material, even with his strong Senior Bowl week. He’s got two years of up and down play to live down. Three days of practice can undo that somewhat, but not completely, IMO. I think he’s jumped into firm second round territory and could possibly be late first round stuff, but he’s a nose tackle and Casey Hampton aside, that’s not usually a first round position.

Watson is nice but see him in real action first. He has been jumping offsides all week and I’m not sold that he is a Vince Worfolk type that takes up 2 people. I want to see it first in the Senior Bowl Saturday, Randall Williams was great in practice and combines but couldnt do anything in the real games.

Adding an ILB early basically tells Burnett they give up on him. Get a OLB and give Burnett a chance, we all wrote Bradie James off before this year. And if I was to draft an ILB, it would be D’Qwell Jackson, hes going to be real good, dont let the size fool you.

Rafael:
If he maintains the level in which he’s playing and training for the Combine and the Michigan Pro Day he’s going to be selected in the 20’s. Watson may be a 1st Round bust that’s giving his best right now just to get the dough, and he’s going to get the dough if he keeps up.

BTW, you should have said Hampton and Ngata aside.

Chandus:

i completely agree that Burnett will be our ILB of the future but for next year we need to get a stop gap ILB from FA. Also i would love if we got Manny Lawson. he could be on the other side of ware and then we could have a really BEAST like OLB corps. all i have heard are great things from the kid.

Ngata hasn’t been drafted yet, but he should be higher than Hampton. That said, is Ngata being drafted to play NT? Hampton was and Vince Wolfork was, but nobody else I can think of.

Chandus and Rafael,

The one thing we really have going for us this year is the fact that 4-3 teams covet edge rushers much more than DT. So Watson can easily slip into RD #2, but I don’t think he’ll get past Crenell. Dallas can be movers in the second round, and move up past Cleveland to grab Watson (if he is there and if the price is right). …. Also about Lawson and Wimbley, although their talents are indicitive of a higher selection, they may fall due to their lack of size to be an “every down DE” in a 4-3 defense. Can they take the pounding there? They project as LB in the 3-4 better than they do at DE in the 4-3. So you never know where they will get drafted.

Everyone said Spears wouldnt fall to #20, and Ware could go as high as #3. But it worked out, so I have alot of optimism about this year too.

Rafe,
Have you guys seen this story on “scout.com”…
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=citadel-2_493374_112&prov=citadel&type=story

synergy,

I don’t see much to it. Henson wasn’t ready in ’04. Fisher might be right that his incentives played into it. So what? Why accerate a huge bonus on a guy if you have serious doubts that he can play?

I saw Henson in camp last year. He looked like crap. Had he been cut I would not have been surprised. There was no consistency in his mechanics or his play. There were times when it appeared he just said, *%$k it and chucked the ball up. He was lost and when you’re the bonus baby and you’re regressing, who can blame the coaches for thinking of dumping you?

Fisher’s bored, so we’re getting another Tuna vs. Jerry conspiracy story from “inside” sources. Probably the caterer this time.

EricR,

I’d still put Greenway and Carpenter ahead of both of those guys. Lawson and Wimbley are speed 4-3 ends. Jimmy Johnson used to bulk guys like that up and keep them as 4-3 DEs.

Parcells took Ware last year and converted him into a 3-4 OLB. Why do the same with another, when you have two guys as big or bigger (Carpenter’s 255) who have covered tight ends for years in good college programs and can play much better in space?

Not to knock either one of them, but their learning curves will be much steeper that either of the Big 10 guys.

Rafael,

No doubt, I would take either Greenway or Carpenter as the first options. But if the draft doesn’t work out that way, we can possibly trade down a few spots from 18th, draft Watson, and then draft Wimbley or Lawson later (possibly moving up from our 3rd selection). … There is also an outside shot that one of them falls to Dallas in the 3rd round after we have already drafted Carpenter or Greenway. From an athletic standpoint, and drafting with their board, would Parcells and Co. be able to pass on such talented players? I doubt it. Like I said its prabably not going to happen, but “tweeners” sometimes fall a bit, so there is a chance it does. .. Either player can move inside but also also back up Ware. Plus they can contribute right away on special teams. If we are lucky enough that something like that happens, our defense would be set for years to come.

Rafael:
Lawson and Wimbley may be above Carpenter if Ellis is traded (he won’t be waived, the only option for him to not wear a star next year is if he finds a trading partner) as they would bring the answer to the void left by Ellis in the nickel schemes. From the little that I’ve seen Carpenter playing, he knows how to bring pressure to the QB but I’ve only seen him running straight at the QB and I don’t see him as agile to get around the Tackle with quick cuts.

Chandus,

If we trade Ellis, Carpenter wouldn’t have to play DE. In fact he would never have to play DE at all. Parcells would probably just play 3-3-5, and attepmt to keep offenses guessing if he’ll be sending LB, and where they are coming from. The 3-3-5 nickle can be utalized as a max cover scheme, but also when blitzes are consealed properly it causes offensive linemen all types of problems. An offense just never knows if, when, and where blitzers are coming from. Pittsburgh has used well disguised delay blitzes in their 3 down lineman nickle sets. I don’t think we need a 4th down lineman for our nickle, we’ll probably just tweak the scheme a bit with more true 3-4 LBs.

BTW, Palmer signed with Payton instead of Parcells, who’s the next candidate for the job?

OT, did anyone read Spagnola’s column today? ESPN lists the seven greates Superbowl QB’s and Aikman is not one of them? Could someone explain how a guy like Steve Young gets a place on that list but not the guy who one three?

Chandus,

Carpenter is 255
Lawson is 245
Wimbley is 240

They’re all being scouted for 3-4 OLB and to put their hands down if Dallas goes 4-2-5 on sure passing downs, as Ware does now. None of them are being scouted to replace Ellis.

Chandus,

Where did you see the Palmer news?

Nevermind, found it.

Where is it? I can’t find it.

Poke

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=140772&src=0

Found that one, but nothing else.

Poke

Okay, now it’s on DC.com

Poke

I missed watching Senior Bowl practice yesterday, but I saw it today. Quite a few things jumped out at me from what I saw.

Nick Mangold is definitely the best looking OL out there. I don’t know what will happen with the Center position with the Gurode situation, but Mangold looks like he is an elite player at a position that this team definitely is in need of an upgrade at.

Dominique Byrd looked really good today, he stretched out and made an outstanding catch on a drag route and then kept his balance and got more yards after the catch. He looks outstanding. As good as he is though, I still like what I have seen from Mercedes Lewis and he is about 4 inches taller than Byrd. Lewis really reminds me of Antonio Gates and he would be deadly in 2 TE goalline situations because of his height and outstanding hands.

Greenway looked good overall, but he seemed a little lost in zone coverage in the 5-on-5 drills. One play he let Lawrence Vickers get about 15 yards behind him to the back of the endzone. Greenway tried to catch up to Vickers after the QB lobbed a very high and slow pass, but he got there about 2 seconds late. Luckily for him Vickers lost the ball in the sun and fell down into the wall behind the endzone. It kind of made me think…Greenway is a really good OLB, but I don’t think Carpenter would be much of a drop-off from him, if even at all.

Gabe Watson didn’t seem as good today to me. He jumped offsides on a crucial 3-and-1 during the 7-on-7 short yardage drill. What got me is that the Titans coach Jeff Fisher had just told the defense how important it is to focus,concentrate and hold their ground and make this stop to get the ball back for the offense. The commentators then mentioned that Watson had been jumping offside a lot this week, and while he has big size and looked great in 1-on-1 drills, he has stuggled in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. Mel Kiper chimed in that this Senior Bowl is extremely important to Watson because he had what Kiper described as a poor senior season and that his play was inconsistent and that his performance was disappointing. Kiper said that even though that is the case, he projects Watson to go as high as late 1st round and no further than mid-2nd because large DT’s always go higher than expected. He said he thinks Watson is a very risky 1st round pick, but will probably fit in better as a 4-3 DT. I am not sure what to think about Watson personally. He seems like an enigma to me.

Eric R:

If we got Carpenter and either Wimbley or Lawson too, then I would think the best move would be to have Carpenter move inside rather than one of the tweeners. The reason is that Carpenter is a true LB who is used to playing the position in a 4-3 defense at Ohio St. Wimbley is a pure pass rusher like Ware was in college, and he is used to playing DE and thus is more of an edge rusher, which is what you want from a 3-4 OLB. His game is getting to QB’s and RB’s in the backfield and tackling them while he is running at them in space. Carpenter is more used to stopping the run and reading offenses from being a 4-3 OLB and has more responsibilities than pass rushing. He is able to makes tackles head on or in pursuit. I think it would be a stretch to think we could get both Carpenter and Wimbley anyway, and even less likely Carpenter and Lawson. Carpenter, Watson, and either Wimbley/Lawson would be nice, but chances are even more slim.

Rafael & Chandus:

I completely forgot about the needs on 4-2-5 defense sets. That changes the calculus a bit considering how much we play nickel. Does anyone know what the personnel commonly was on 4-2-5 packages when everyone was healthy? What would the chances be of playing a 3-3-5 nickel as Eric suggested, especially if we land Carpenter and trade Ellis?

I’VE GOT OFF-SEASON DEPRESSION!!

Sterling,

Agree on everything with Byrd. He looked good today, looked like a solid prospect, but I think too that Marcedes Lewis will be a Antonio Gates type player. He will be a beast in the redzone. I think that if we were to draft a TE late, or sign a FA rookie, I would like to see Anthony Nix from Auburn. He could bulk up and might be a good backup to Witten.

Sean,

Dat Nguyen could retire immediately, but it wouldn’t make any difference.

The rules state the if a player retires after June 1, only that year’s pro-rated signing bonus counts against that year’s cap (2005), and the remainder goes into the next year (2006), which is precisely what will happen if he retires in 2006, before June 1.

That means that the Cowboys will incur a charge of $1.333 million in 2006 (for the remaining two years of his contract), not the $660k that you mentioned. But we would be charged nothing at all for his contract in 2007. Since his salary for 2006 was scheduled to be $1.625 million, that would result in a net gain of $292k. In 2007, we will then save his full salary of $2.5 million.

If Dat waits until after June 1 to retire, we get charged $667k against the cap in both 2006 and 2007, resulting in a net gain of $958k in 2006, and $1.833 million in 2007.

By the way, it is not when he announces his retirement that counts, but when he turns the paperwork in to the league.

joey2zs,

I can certainly understand your complaints about Bettis being overhyped this week. But that is what the Super Bowl is about — overhype! If it weren’t Bettis, it would be some other subject just as undeserving. The only remedy is to completely ignore it, as Rafael suggested.

But, while Bettis is not in the same category as Brown, Peyton, Sanders or Smith, he is still a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame. Jerome has run for over 1000 yards 8 times in his career [many careers don’t even last 8 years], with a high of 1665 and 3 others where he ran over 1300 yards. He has also been named to the Pro Bowl 6 times.

Those are accomplishments that are very difficult to overlook. They will get him into the Hall of Fame, if not on the first ballot, very soon after.

They are also not too bad, considering, as you claim, he was not even the best running back on his team. I wonder how he did that?

It appears to me, you are mistaking his last few years for his entire career. That would be an error.

Rafael:

I am sure you have already seen this, but in case you didn’t or if anyone else is interested in reading about Garrett Mills, there is a story about him by Ivan Maisel at:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=2305115

He sounds more and more interesting the more I read about him. He’s obviously a gamer, and if he can learn to block good he’d be a huge improvement over Lousaka Polite.

Sterling:
In the 4-2-5 when Ratliff was healthy:
RDE: Ware
DT: Canty/Ratliff
DT: Glover
LDE: Ellis
When Ratliff went down Ferguson, Spears and Pepper made a deep rotation with Canty.

Mr. Bill-I’m not following how you came up with the $1.33 million. The remaining 2 years of prorated signing bonus ($2mil/6yrs) is how I came up with my $660k. Where am off-track? I am not positive about his signing bonus amount. Do you have different figures?

Chandus:

Thanks for the info. So who were the 2 LB’s? Obviously James or Dat would be one, but was the other Singleton before he got injured? Was it Fujita after the Singleton injury?

I was thinking James and Carpenter would make a very strong LB pair in the 4-2-5 because of their complimentary talents. If we have Wimbley or Lawson I couldn’t see either of them playing LB in the 4-2-5, and with the depth on the DL they might not be as useful there either unless Ellis was traded and BP wanted more pass rush at LDE.

Rob01,
Interesting to hear about Hoffman being unemployed. I had been wondering about that as I had never heard of anyone picking him up. Still, IMHO, he would be a benefit to the staff rather than a detraction.

Fisher’s story about Henson has some good points but really does nothing more than illustrate that Jerry J is not the “master talent evaluator” he thinks he is. Henson was just another of his love affairs with ex baseball players. Besides, Fisher names one of his sources as Larry Lacewell. Judging from the Campo years, Lacewell probably told Jerry J what he wanted to hear about Henson rather than give him a true assesment. If Lacewell was still capable of assesing players by that time.

Sean,

You are correct. I flat screwed up my math!

So … If Dat retires before June 1, we get charged for the remainder of his signing bonus this year — $667k, and lose his $1.625 million salary, for a net savings of $958k in 2006, and a $2.5 million savings in 2007.

If he waits until after June 1, our savings for 2006 becomes, $1.292 million, and for 2007, $2.167 million.

Sorry for the confusion.

The 2 LB’s were James and Nguyen, when Nguyen went down in Oakland the one subbing him was Shanle. And as we all know, Shanle struggled and was benched by Fowler. Fowler did OK in the last 2 games.

Mr Bill-It sounds like it would be to our benefit to have Dat sign his retirement papers after June 1st. I’d rather push that dead money back as long as possible.