Free Agency Jets Fuel

The acronym FUBAR comes to mind when looking at the Jets. What I want to know is how they are going to possibly be able to get Abraham’s franchise tender past the league office even if they cut their best CB, half of their O-Line, and their backup QB. Plus they are going to have to figure out how to sign a Top 5 draft pick. Are they nuts? What if Abraham holds out on signing the franchise tender? I read somewhere that last year he waited until August!! They are going to cut most of their good players to keep one out of the FA market that they won’t be able to afford next year either.

On top of all of that, they don’t even know what they have at QB. No one even knows if Pennington will regain his arm strength that he seems to have lost a couple of years ago, yet they have bet the farm on him.

I wonder if Fabini would like to come play for Parcells? If so, and the money is right for both, I say get him. I think he’d be a huge upgrade, and balance out Flo really well. Sowell is intriguing to me too, but I don’t know enough about him to say one way or the other.

The Jets could be one-stop shopping for Parcells this offseason!! Man, I’d love to see Abraham in a Cowboys uniform next season.

I watched some Jets games in 04, Jerald Sowell is a solid FB, hes a real good pass catcher. I’ve never seen a team like the Jets in 04 that dumped sooo many passes to the RB and FB. Thats why Pennington’s numbers looked so good, they just did slants and outs, and if they werent there with Moss they dumped it out to Sowell or Martin. He would def be an upgrade to Polite and would cost less than the other guys out there.

The article mentions Washington as being interested in Abraham (what else is new????) How can they do that if they have no 1st round pick to deal? I’m sure that idiot Snyder would find a way to overpay for yet another FA. Esp. when they are 15 mil over the cap.

After reading this article in the NJ Star Ledger I am not sure I buy their story. I know Ty Law counts a lot against the cap, Pennington and Martin will get restructured to some extent, and these other players getting cut will help…but c’mon, $34 million worth? Plus they still have to sign their draft picks. I just don’t think it adds up. If they are somehow able to franchise Abraham, they still can’t be guaranteed that they will be able to trade him, and the way he sounds about this I wouldn’t be surprised to see a holdout on the franchise tender.

I would love to see this offseason, but does everyone think its realistic with our cap?:

Sign RT Fabini and FB Sowell from the Jets. Sign Longwell. Sign Akin Adoyele. Sign Corey Chavous.

Restructure LA. Trade Glover for a 2nd or 3rd round pick (this is what I think we would get for him, just based on his age and what others are offering for All-Pro type players)

1st round pick: OLB Bobby Carpenter
2nd round pick: OG/OT Davin Joseph
3rd round pick: TE Anthony Fasano
3rd round pick: FS Pat Watkins

2nd day:
5th round pick: C Ryan Cook (may be a reach)
6th round pick: NT Montavious Stanley
7th round pick: QB Drew Olsen (if Henson doesnt impress, or a WR if he does)

Then our roster could look like this:
QB: Bledsoe, Romo, Olsen
RB: JJ, MBIII, Thompson
FB: Sowell
TE: Witten, Fasano, Ryan, Peirce
WR: KJ, Glenn, Crayton, Copper
OT: Adams, Petiti
OG: Allen, Peterman
C: Johnson, Cook
OG: Rivera, Joseph
OT: Fabini, Columbo

DE: Canty, Ellis
NT: Fergie, Stanley, Pepper
DE: Spears, Ratliff
OLB: Carpenter, Burnett
ILB: Adoyele, Burnett, Fowler
ILB: James, Shanle
OLB: Ware, Thornton
CB: Newman, Glenn
SS: Williams, Beirult, Davis
FS: Chavous, Watkins
CB: Henry, Reeves, Jones

P: McBriar
K: Longwell

I think that lineup is very do-able as long as LA gets restructured and they can trade Glover as you suggest. I like the look of that lineup a lot.

I was curious what you guys thought the liklihood of LenDale White falling to the 18th pick was? Granted I’m not saying we use him as our RB. I’m saying he would be great trade bait for the Jets IMO. Since it is unlikely the Jets would use the fourth pick in the draft on a RB (DBrick will be the pick), I can see them grabbing a future RB early to replace Martin. This draft is very shallow in RB depth after the top four (Bush, Maroney, Williams, White), so it would be logical for them to pull the trigger on a trade. I’ve heard suggestions that we should drop out of the first round altogether and I don’t think thats a terrible idea. If we could grab a trade similar to the Bills trade for Losman a couple of years ago. We could grab the Jets second and fifth for this year and the Jets first round pick for next year. Its not out of the question to nab a first round talent with the Jets picking so high in the second round this year. I could seriously see us grabbing Max Jean Giles there or maybe even a Manny Lawson. We would pick up an extra fifth rounder hopefully replacing the fourth we lost on Canty last year. And we hold onto hope that the Jets bomb next year and we take a very high first rounder in next years draft. (Ted Ginn Jr. or Brady Quinn maybe) What do u guys think?

Sign Abraham, Fabini, and Longwell.

lou c:
If you’re going to draft a 1st day FS, signing a Free Agent is a luxury. There’re other needs and I’m still not sure about Ayodele as ILB, he lacks too much in coverage to play there…

And btw, with the more I read about the Draft, the more I think that Greenway and Carpenter may be well gone when pick 18 arrives, as at Cleveland is going to snatch one of the 2 and there’re alot of teams in need of LB help in there (Green Bay, Oakland, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Minnesota).

Chandus
I would think that Ayodele be a much better SOLB because he used to be a DE in college. He had to make the transition to OLB and he has done that very well. Obviously a former DE will not have as good as coverage as other players but he isn’t terrible either. If we got Carpenter, he was an OLB in college in the 4-3 so with his cover skills you could easily slide him into the MLB position where Burnett will most likely be this year and have them compete against each other. This not only makes them both better but can be substituded on a constant basis because Carpenter would be a rookie and Burnett still needs to improve. Play time will do that to you. Now i’m all for getting Abraham instead of Ayodele because he gives you even more Versatility as a DE and he is bigger than Ayodele. Either way if any of these 2 guys or on this team next year expect Ware to have Double Digit Sacks. Now if we were to get Abraham they would both most likely have double digit sacks if they stay healthy. With Ayodele he would probably get you about 5 with the team that we have. The one thing that stands out about Ayodele over Abraham is that he hasn’t been hurt since he entered the league and Abraham has a history of injuries. Either way i’m happy.

clam625:

That’s a great idea, I hadn’t thought of that. How cool would it be to grab a few of the Jets cap casualties like Fabini and Sowell, and then trade down into the top part of the 2nd round and get their 1st next season. My guess is we could still get the players we want this year, and would probably have a top 3 pick next year. I guess it all depends on whether or not they trade down from the 4 spot as it is, and if they could possibly afford to sign two 1st rounders this year and still stay under the cap. I’d love to see the Cowboys do a deal like that though.

Chandus:

I agree about Greenway and Carpenter possibly not being around at pick 18. I’ve been reading more and more about this, and I have a feeling that they are the top 2 after Hawk, and a lot of teams want LB’s. I’ve been wanting one of those two all along, but it wouldn’t shock me if the Cowboys try to draft another Ware type DE and do the conversion thing again.

Regarding Ayodele, my thought would be for him to take Dat Nguyen’s old spot as weakside ILB, so he wouldn’t be required to cover too much at all. Besides, it seems like usually the strong side OLB is the one who usually draws coverage responsibility most of the time. That was my main reason for wanting Carpenter or Greenway on that side more than a Lawson or Wimbley type player.

Chandus
1 more thing about you thinking that Greenway and Carpenter will be gone by the 18th pick i totally disagree with you and here’s why.
1st-Green Bay picks # 5 and that is where DE Williams will probably go
2nd-Oakland would be the place where OLB A.J. Hawk would go if Green Bay picks Hawk. Then Oakland will most likely go for DE Williams since they need someone opposite of Burgess.
3rd-San Fran has so many needs that getting Greenway or Carpenter this high would be a huge reach. They need DB help and all of the quality DB’s are still on the board not to mention they need an upgrade for a RB.
4th-The Iggles could go for Greenway here but they also need a WR along with a power RB.
5th-The Vikings defenitely have pressing needs at RB. They could go for Lendale White or their hometown boy Lawrence Maroney.
If anything we would trade down and still be able to get Carpenter as I have stated before that history says that LB always fall on draft day. Plus you think that these teams would let all of these guys go by to draft Carpenter.

Reggie Bush
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Matt Leinart
Vince Young
Mario Williams
A.J. Hawk
Jimmy Williams
Michael Huff
Jay Cutler
DeAngelo Williams
Vernon Davis
Chad Greenway
Haloti Ngata
LenDale White
Santonio Holmes
Winston Justice
Laurence Maroney
Tamba Hali
Demeco Ryans
Tye Hill
Mathias Kiwanuka
Marcus McNeill
Nick Mangold
D’Qwell Jackson
Ko Simpson
That is 25 players. How many of those would you bumb for Greenway. Me maybe 5 max but it’s hard to see him going top 15 along with the other top OLB/ILB

clam:
I’m one of the guys claiming that they could trade down and it would be of particular importance if they already have in board an OLB through FA (I’m also in the I’m not believing that the Jets will afford to sign Abraham to that huge price tag while losing 4 starters) and they aren’t convinced that Ko Simpson is a whole lot better than the next level of Safeties.

Possible trade partners and what Dallas could get in return:

- Denver: Kansas City has the 20th pick, right ahead of picks 22nd and 29th, and they are set to upgrade their DT corps with Bunkley or Watson, if Denver trades up from 29 to 18 they would be set to acquire the one that they like best. Dallas in return would get pick 29 and Denver’s 1st pick next year.

- Tampa Bay: If Winston Justice falls to pick 18 (which is unlikely, but weirder things have happened), San Diego will be licking his chops as they need an upgrade at OT, Tampa also needs an upgrade making them desperate to trade up and getting the 2nd Top Tackle. Dallas in return would get pick 23rd and Tampa’s 3rd Rounder.

-Cincinnati: Just like Denver, they would be euphoric if they get Bunkley as they need a disrupting force in the middle and if they stand pat at pick 24 they may be waving goodbyes to both Bunkley and Wroten. Dallas in return takes pick 24 and a 3rd Rounder.

-Chicago: Chances are that if they fell in love with one of the top 2 corners (Williams or Cromartie) one of them will be there for the taking at 18, but not after pick 21 (New England) and after those 2 the competition takes a slight step backwards with Youboty and Tye Hill, that could be enough for Mr. Lovie to trade up and take one of the best. Dallas in return takes pick 26 and pick 58, giving back a 6th rounder.

- And Seattle: The needs for Seattle are quite apparent, if Alexander walks they’re in huge need of a top RB and they’re also in need of a top flight WR. At RB one of the couple of LenDale or Maroney will be available at pick 18th, but after that Carolina, Jacksonville and Indianapolis will be in need of one, the couple won’t survive for pick 31st. At WR though, the picture looks a little better they already have 2 possession receivers in Jackson and Jurevicius so they need a speedster to complement them and Santonio Holmes, Chad Jackson and Sinorice Moss have that and at least one of them will be available for pick 31, but if they fall in love with one of them, chances are that the full trio will be available at 18 and Gil Haskell might salivate. Dallas would get in return pick 31 and a 4th Rounder this year along with Seattle’s 1st pick next year.

Those are the possible trade partners I see this year, Free Agency could take 3 teams out of this list but at least 2 will survive and will remain as possibilities. I wouldn’t want to trade out of the 1st Round as I don’t see a team that was so bad last year willing to sell the farm for 1 player as they have several needs.

if we were to draft a lb in the first anyways wouldnt it be just as good to trade our first for someone of abrahams stauts compared to a rookie who might perform??? i know the salaries would be a huge difference, so i guess i answered my own question.

lilbeast:
I’m thinking that way because the level of the LB’s drops considerably from AJ Hawk, Greenway and Carpenter, after them you could cite that D’Qwell Jackson and DeMeco Ryans have good levels but then the level drops one big step backwards to Sims, Parham and the other OLB’s that are late 2nd and 3rd round levels.

I agree with you, Green Bay looks poised to grab Williams and then Oakland Hawk, but after that everything is not that clear, for one instance, San Francisco doesn’t has depth at LB and they won’t sign back Julian Peterson and Derek Smith, that’s 2 starters at LB in the 3-4, they have to sign a LB even if it’s so high. Cleveland also needs an OLB as Kenard Lang and Chaun Thomson (Chaun who?) aren’t getting the job done and they’re also playing the 3-4. And you can make a case out of the Eagles or Vikings signing someone in Free Agency as they have the cap space (and I’m starting to fear that Reid might be looking to Edgerrin) taking their top need out and leaving LB at the top. And you know, they could also opt to avoid drafting a RB in the 1st Round, as far as I know, Joseph Addai is a good back and I can bet that he will be there for the taking in the 2nd Round.

I’ll post my first Mock Draft after the Combine, and you’ll see my case the clearer as I’m counting that some players value will sky rocket.

I like keeping L. white if he falls but
Raf said he was moving up not down in
the mock drafts.

Becker2,

The mocks I’ve seen have him going to places like the Cards at 10, the Ravens at 13 or the Vikings at 17. He’ll probably be the first back off the board after Reggie Bush, unless some team falls in love with Deangelo Williams, though Williams is 5’10", 217 and White is 6’2", 235.

If you’re a one back team, and Dennis Green is a one-back guy, White should be the better option cause he can make his own holes better than Williams.

Raf,
Thanks for the update.
What are your thoughts on the Cowboys
taking him if he falls?

I would defineately sign Abraham. To me he is worth a 1st roud pick ! The man is an animal. Why take a chance on a rookie when you know what he can do ! With him & Ware on the outsides we would be DOMINATE ! Also depending on the cao situation I would look into Fabini & or Mawae. I know we also need a kicker But what really are you talking 1-2 Mil. I think BP drafted all 3 of these players & most seem to want to play for him again. It just seems that the Jets are ready to make some cao moves with the exact players we need.
Abraham is self explanitory. Fabini would give us instant experience at right tackle, As far as Mawae goes I don`t really know if center is a pressing need but if the price is right it would be a huge upgrade from Al Johnson. Back to Abraham he is quoted as saying get me the hell out of here ! Also he mentioned Texas as a place he would like to move to ! So he himself planted the first seed !

One more plus one sowell,he is a good
sp. teamer.

A question on Franchising a player.If a
team Franchises than trades the guy do
they get to Franchise another or is it a one time thing?

JesseNY,

Abraham apparently wants $18M in guaranteed money. Now, he may be inflating his price to get out of New York, but that’s still a lot of money for a guy who’s had some injury problems. I’d consider him for the money but not for money AND the #1 pick.

Raf:
I don`t think in this cap era anyone is going to give 18 mil guarenteed. Maybe 10 with an incentive laiden contract but I have seen more 1st players fall on their face than be productive NFL players. Also anyone picked in the 1st round is going to get 1st round money which these days is right up there. I am not saying Abraham doesn`t come with without issues but he is an outstanding NFL OL which in my opinion happens to be our most prtessing need. No matter what you do Draft 1st round or go FA you are taking a chance.

All I am saying is you pay big bucks for a 1st round draft pick. And we need an OLB & Abraham is one of the best in the league!

No way on Mawae. He’s old and has a hurt back. Sound familiar?

And lets not forget about Abraham’s injuries. His groin and knee I believe have been cause for concern. I remember he also didnt want to play in playoff games because of his injury, although many thought he was fine enough to play. He was a free agent the next year and didnt want to risk getting injured further. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on him if hes going to reinjure anything and we will be in the same position as we are right now.

The Cowboys would only have to give up the 1st round picks if the Jets are able to franchise Abraham, and despite what the NJ Star Ledger says, I’m not sure that’s a done deal. In order to franchise him they have to have the $8 million cap space cleared for the franchise tender to be approved by the league. The franchise designation date is next week, so the clock is running out on them fast.

Abraham’s injuries might concern some, but they must not be much of a deterrent because he is projected to be the top FA target of many teams if he hits the market. Yeah, he will be expensive, but he is also considered to be the best at his position, even above Julian Peterson. I think the odds are very long that he ends up on the Cowboys…but if he does watch what happens to the team’s Super Bowl odds on the betting lines.

Sterling:

Like you said he cannot be franchised at this point with the Jets 20 mil over the projected cap & no major players willing to rework their contracts.The Jets are not just going to release him & come away with nothing . That`s why I am just considering The # 1 pick as trade bait ! No way I would go for any franchised player. (2) #1 picks is crazy because you are now giving away your future. The Galloway trade was a Joke for us & got Seattle to the bowl. But if you consider him our #1 pick this year that`s pretty good. Don`t get me wrong I don`t want to just give away our # 1 But if we can solidify that position it would be a major aquisition

Jesse-I really can’t where the Jet’s have any leverage encourage us to trade anything for him. If they had another 1st thats more $$ they would have to pay out this year. I would trade something for him if we had to but who are we bidding against? Another team or the Jets problem with the cap.

Nope, it’s not going to be a major acquisition, Dallas would spend top dollars on a Free Agent to sign him and they would also lose a 1st Rounder.

If Abraham’s franchised it would turn my attention out of him to the top OLB’s that are likely to be available and those are 2 players with injury questions, Peter Boulware (who had knee and toe injuries that sidelined him for 2004 and limited him last year) and Julian Peterson (who injured his achilles tendon in 2004 and was still somewhat limited last year as he accomplished his 3rd best record of tackles with 82 as he played more against the run and in coverage as Andre Carter was the pass rusher).

BTW, some news keep me updating my top guys in Free Agency.

MLB: Word out of the Titans reached my eyes, Brad Kassell will test the Free Agent waters. Also, Nick Greisen of the Giants will be a FA. Haven’t heard much from Bart Scott of Baltimore and Kendrell Bell of Kansas, just that they could.

FB: Sowell jumps to the top of the Free Agency FB’s.

DT: Another suitor for Glover might be surfacing, people in the Lions organization wonder how much juice can they get out of “Big Daddy” Wikinson and an upgrade to complement Rogers is likely to come from Free Agency or from the Draft, Glover could be shopped to them for Wilkinson and a 2nd Day pick. Wilkinson frame is suited for NT play in a 3-4 if it’s in a limited role, just like the one he would play here.

Chandus-It would be great to see Gerguson and Wiklinson rotating at NT ot both of them in the 4-2. Talk about a solid middle.

Sean:
Not only that he would also be lots cheaper than say Ma’ake Kemoeatu or the guy that’s allowed to walk out of St. Louis (Pickett or Lewis) as he would only sign a 2 or 3 year deal based on the thread of his tires.

Cool,

I’ve talked to Raul about possibly going to a scoop-based platform in the future and this thread shows it would help things. Several of you have post, news, etc. that should get front paged, rather than buried in the threads.

To Chandus and anybody else with mocks, news, etc. contact me through the site link in the left hand margin and we’ll see about perhaps getting you accounts, so you can post yourselves.

That’s for anybody with a good story to write. If you’re on a campus and know how to contact players coming out this year (and yes, I’m still after players to interview, have not been successful yet) contact us.

Chandus
I agree with you a bit more now about Carpenter going to one of the teams you have mentioned but I also see Cleveland going more for the WARE type player in Wimbley or Lawson. Now about the Eagles you know they always draft for replacements towards the future and i see them trying to replace Dawkins in the near future since he’s getting up there in age. My pick for them is the next highest rated DB or FS after Huff. I’m more than likely wrong but that is just how i think it might play out. Minnisota didn’t like what they saw out of Fred Smoot so they too need an upgrade in the DB plus they need a major upgrade in their run game. Now once the combine comes depending on how well Carpenter does and his competition you can probably change my mind alot easier about him going in the top 17 but for me right now he will probably go in the 20-27 range if we don’t take him of course with the 18th pick. If we don’t grap Carpenter with the 18th pick (which i will be mad) then and Jacksonville lets Ayodele walk in FA then that is where i see Carpenter falling to.

Can some one give me some information on Ma’ake Kemoeatu, the NT from the Ravens? How much would he cost? From what I’ve read he is a perfect NT for the 34, great against the run, and strong as hell. An article on sportsline.com said LeCharles Bently was raving about him, saying hes the strongest DT hes ever faced. If Glover goes, he could be a great backup.

With the recent news coming out of Virginia I think our 2007 1st round pick is gone! Why you ask, Ahmad Brooks has supposedly been dismissed from Virginia, and will likely enter the sup. draft. He seems like a perfect fit for Dallas and there is no way that anything less then a first would do to get him. If we were to draft Parham in the 2nd round and someone like Jimmy Williams in the first to play the FS. Ahmad Brooks could be the missing peace to the D. Spears-Ferguson-Canty
Ware-Parham-James-Brooks
Newman-Williams-Williams-Henry
Can you say scary.

Chandus
I also just stumbled across the Eagles version of our The Ranch Report and it says that they are interested in Tamba Hali. I went ahead and looked at the Browns version of TRR and like i said earlier they are really eyeing Wimbley.

Matt
where did you hear that about Brooks. This guy had he come out this year would have been at least a top 15 draftee. If this is true and he comes into the sup draft man where do we sign. I know we wouldn’t have the first shot at him because of the way the sup draft goes but if he somehow reaches us i wouldn’t be mad if we gave up a pick to get him even if it’s a high pick because he would have been a high pick this year.

here is a link:
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=514271

I don’t follow college football, but scout.com states that Brooks would be a 6th round pick at best if he were eligible for the draft. Scout.com does say that he may fare better in the supplemental draft.

How was he dismissed (Ahmad Brooks)? If he made something that expelled him from College I don’t se how on earth would Parcells be willing to take him when his coach in College is Al Groh. Parcells will know the reasons for him being dismissed and he’ll act accordingly.

madcowboy
before college players were able to make them selves eligable for this years draft many people had Brooks in their top 25 players if he was to come out this year

Hey, folks. Regarding Brooks, see my new thread.

lilbeast,

Brooks would NOT have been a top 15 player. In fact, it was unclear he would even have been a first rounder. That’s why he went back to school in the first place.

If he was dismissed for drug or behavior problems, he might not be a first day pick. We’ll have to see what got him kicked off the team.

LSU DE Claude Wroten dodged a draft bullet last month when drug charges against him were dismissed. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute which any lawyer will tell you is much worse than being busted with a joint or bag of the stuff. But, as I said, the charges were dismissed. He’ll probably be drafted in the late 1st/early 2nd range.

Antajj Hawthorne of Wisconsin was considered a high second rounder last year but tested positive for pot at the combine. He was taken in the 6th round.

In other words, nothing is sure about Brooks until we get all the facts.

43 posts and not one mention of how much
Drew Bledsoe S-cks??What kinda of Lame
A-s Homer site is this?

lol

Has anyone considered packaging Ellis and Glover and maybe MBIII for another first rounder this year? Does that even seem feasible? Then maybe we could get White and Carpenter if they fall that far. I really liked what I saw of White in the bowl game. He looked like he was running down hill all the time.

Judging from the photo of Henson on the DC home page he seems to be using some new form of throwing the ball. Is it Zen and the Art of Football? Is he channelling Bruce Lee? (I don’t really mean to be snarky but if that is the best photo they can get after several days of practice we need to write him off right now). I’ve never played QB so maybe someone can explain what he is doing. Maybe having his left hand up helps him block out the oncoming rush(kinda like pinching someone’s head off with your fingers at arm length).

Sean:

I doubt if Henson is capable of channeling Bruce…he does not know the Way of the Dragon.

BECKER2,

A question on Franchising a player.If a
team Franchises than trades the guy do
they get to Franchise another or is it a one time thing?

Only one per year, but, in the case you described, they could franchise another player the next year.

The restriction on franchising another player comes in when you re-sign your franchised player to a long-term contract. If you don’t do that within certain time frames (as set out in the CBA), you lose the ability to use the franchise tag for the length of the contract. I believe a team can re-sign a franchise player without that penalty from the time for tagging Franchise players (around February 15) until two weeks into free agency, and then again after July 15.

Mr. Bill,
thanks for the explaination.

Mr. Bill:

I am not sure all the exact reasons for the league putting in the franchise and transition player designations in the old CBA, perhaps you could enlighten us about that. Does it have something to do with a concession from the big market owners and the players union to the small/mid market owners in return for unrestricted free agency? Obviously the salary cap was intended to help the small market teams compete with the bigger ones by discouraging sky high bidding for free agents, but what of the tags?

The tags seem like they kind of give the teams who have not been responsible in their cap management (Jets, 49ers, etc.) a bit of an advantage in keeping their star players at least a season or two longer than they otherwise would have been able to since they can keep them off the free market. I can see where smaller market teams who are less affected by the salary cap don’t want to have their young stars cherry picked by the wealthier, big market teams (like the Yankees in baseball, for instance)…but ironically the tags seem to be benefitting teams who have not been managing their salary cap very well. At least lately. Any insight on this?

Sterling,

The only reason I have ever seen for implementing the franchise and transition tags was the straightforward one — to allow a team a chance to keep its best players. The owners were afraid that EVERYBODY would want to test free agency. I never saw it posed as a ‘big market’ vs. ‘small market’ issue.

The salary cap, itself, is the method for preventing big-market teams from sucking up all the best players. The ‘tags’ allow teams to keep their ‘stars’, presumably the players that fans most identify with on each team.

By the way, the transition tag may only be used in place of the franchise tag. That is, you may only use one or the other in a given year. This was not the case during the first two years of the CBA. In 1993, each team got two transition tags, in addition to a franchise tag. In 1994, that dropped to one transition tag, plus the franchise tag. I suspect the reason for the extra tags at the beginning of the CBA was because most teams were well under the salary limit and the teams with ready cash could have bid highly for more players. In those years, it does look like it was a protection for the ‘small market’ teams.

If I remember correctly, we used a transition tag once to keep Alvin Harper with us for a year. I can’t recall any other uses of that tag by the Cowboys. I also believe that Flozell Adams was our only use of the franchise tag.

Mr. Bill:

Interesting information. Now that you mention it…I don’t recall the Cowboys ever using either tag, but if Harper and Flo got it then I can’t think of too many others (in the FA era) without long-term contracts who deserve the designation.

Aside from the Cowboys, I believe the whole idea of it distorts the free market. Yeah, yeah…I know…blah, blah…you’ve probably heard it all before. It’s not like anyone has to wait in breadlines to feed their children. I know all this. It still seems very anti-competitive if I may say so…which isnot terribly NFL. So yeah…whatever…they know guys like of us grew up with the Cowboys and will still watch. Maybe that’s why Trump and his pals proved their case in a court of law and still only got $3 cash in compensation for proving that the NFL is a monopoly.

Sterling,
I think you make a very good point.The
Franchise tag is anti-competetive.It
is mostly used by a team to control a
player.Look at both Abraham and Alexan
der what has changed from last year…
.not a whole lot both guys still want
to leave and want more money than the ir teams can pay.Pay em ,trade ‘em or
cut’em and move on.

Just as a note about how much athletes
make.It’s all relative athletes are
entertainers.I don’t see people
complaining when actors get 20-30 mil
for a single picture that stunk nor do
i see any singers or actors having to
pass drug tests…just my 2 cents

Sean,

The ball position Henson displays is good assuming his accuracy and velocity is okay. The higher position you can throw from the better, for the reasons you suggest.

At Michigan he was awesome (I think 159 QB rating for the year in the Big 10), enough to keep Tom Brady at bay. Why he went baseball is beyond me except that he was good there as well. Basically he was athletic and skilled as a QB and had NFL scouts drooling.