2013 FA Thread (Updates on OP) New: Merling, Brace, Pashos, Trueblood, EJBig, Tapp, White, Williams, MATTHEWS; Re-up: Rex, Hall, Davis, Paulsen, DY, RJax, Lich, Sundberg, Baker, Sav, Golston, Kehl, Polumbus; Paycuts: Carriker, Moss, BMeri, J. Wilson

[redskindan07]

I think we should bring Rob Jackson back as well

[DogofWar1]

I gotta disagree with you in saying that he isn't quite a starter. When we put him in that position, the guy made plays. All throughout our 7 game win streak he was a monster on the field. He could be starting somewhere in this league no doubt. Hell, he could even start here, he looked great doing it. The problem is he's sitting behind a young, dynamic, 1st round selection pass-rusher. I would argue that Jackson is a more complete player at the OLB spot than Orakpo is, but in terms of pass-rush, Orakpo blows him out of the water, and it became evident after having to watch QB's take their sweet time and pick apart our porous secondary. Having the trio of Jackson, Kerrigan, and Orakpo to shuffle around on defense would be a huge boost for us.

IMO, Jackson doesn't generate enough pass rush to be considered a starting quality OLB in the 3-4. Maybe he would fare better as an ILB, but to me for him to truly be starting quality, at least as a 3-4 OLB, he needs to be generating more pass rush. I still really like him, but I think he's a poor team's starter.

Now, he most certainly makes plays, it seemed like every game he had a big play, like an INT or forced fumble. My other worry with him is that if he didn't have 5 turnovers (4 INTs, 1 FR, in addition to 2 FFs), he'd be viewed in a much less favorable light. Don't get me wrong, I love that he can make plays, but as a linebacker I don't know if we can consistently expect lots of turnovers.

Now I just looked up the tender rules (something I hadn't done in a while), and if I'm reading the rules right, you can either tender a guy with a 1st round tender at 2.742M, a 2nd round tender at 1.927M, or a 1.26M tender tied to the round the player was drafted in (Kory was drafted in round 4, which is why he had a 4th round tender). If that's the case, any tender besides the 1st or 2nd round one would require teams to only offer a 7th rounder to get him.

So in that situation we would either have to A) put a 7th round tender on him and probably watch him snagged, B) put a 2nd round tender on him at 1.9M, or C) sign him longer term.

When they were talking about a 8M/3Y deal they were probably talking about option C, by signing him long term we can keep his cap hit to lower than 1.9M for this year...maybe, and lock him up long term.

At least, that's how I'm understanding the situation now, if that's off someone correct me.

[acuratl1984]

I think we should bring Rob Jackson back as well

Believe they said hes a RFA due to his Practice Squad years, if so tender him and if someone sign him, we get a pick. 2nd Tender?

2013 Tender #s
first-round tender would cost a team $2.88 million,
second-round tender would cost $2.02 million. <-- Best option possibly, dont believe a team would give up a 2 for Rob Jackson, but if they do we get a 2. (Not sure if our Cap would allow this tho).
original-round tender would cost a team $1.33 million <- No worth considering as we would only get a 7th.

[rick1796]

DC9 and this love affair with Rob Jackson. Truly dude, i want him back, but you are overrating him by a lot. If you actually look at the 3-4 defenses in the league and who plays the position. There are VERY few spots RJ MIGHT be an upgrade. He is a quality player, but he is not the kind of player another team grabs to be their starter. Especially when the draft is perpetually ripe with tweeners.

[Monk4thaHALL]

I think we should bring Rob Jackson back as well

You can bet your bottom dollar on that one partner.

[Bangee7]

BTW, I'd be curious everyone's ranking of our FAs.

My keys guys to retain....

R Jackson - big enough for ILB, fast enough to play OLB- Sign This Guy!!!
L Paulsen - RFA - Tough as nails, keeps getting better
L Alexander - Versatile, always shows up
C Baker - RFA - solid
R Doughty - didn't see him listed, but if so, this is where I'd rank him
D Young - RFA

Love to have these guys back, but only if the money fits....

L Fletcher - cannot be anywhere near the $6M mark
F Davis - would not pay Top FA money to retain, but this is a big hole
T Jackson - has to be low,low contract or I'd move on
K Lichtensteiger - he battles, but LeRibeus looks good
T Polumbus - good stop gap, big liability on Pass Pro
K Golston - consistent, but getting older
Ced Griffin - play would only improve with better safety help
N Sundberg - RFA (I know he's tough, but the kid who filled in for him did just fine)


Sadly, it's time for these fine folks to move on....

C Cooley
S Rocca - meniscus issues...yikes
J Black - we have Hurt (and Compton and whoever we draft late this yr)
B Kehl - has to be a cheaper upgrade avail.
Mad Williams (it's funny, he does make me Mad!)
J Brown
B Banks - RFA one trick pony- needs to go
Chris Wilson - has to be a cheaper upgrade avail.

All fanaticism aside, we have to honestly evaluate where players are in their life cycle.

The salary cap restrictions we face again this year are drastic.
and......"Drastic Times Call for Drastic Measures"

This team needs to continue to upgrade certain positions...RT, FS, & hopefully CB

If we can get those three positions better through some combination of FA & the draft, I think we'd have a strong chance to continue improving next year.

Hail!

[Monk4thaHALL]

(Q) Fred Davis or Jared Cook?
... Thoughts

Personally I'd say neither. Tender Paulsen bring him back.

Go to the draft, focus on Kelce or Escobar.

The trend recently has the draft sleeping on TEs. Last year the #1 overall TE went at the top of the 2nd - Fleener. Fleener was roughly a 1st round talent, probably par, maybe better than Ertz - at least fairly similar.

Then Indy stole the market by doubling-down with Allen, who I thought was def a 1st round talent. He went at the top of the 3rd. Entering a year early is the only conceivable idea I could have, as to why he lasted unitl the 3rd. I mean his production and size and movement on the field "popped" off the screen. And one could argue his impact was bigger than Fleener for Indy.

Getting both those guys where they did was just a boon. And surprising to me. It seemed counterintuitive that the draft slept on TEs, while the NFL gameplans have been incorporating TEs with such success recently. Grigson obviously valued TE and prioritized it. I thought he did a great job getting Fleener, then Allen, then Hilton in consecutive selections, to pair with Luck. Just awesome.

You'd think the importance would drive the market.

Point being, you can get an impact TE in the 2nd or 3rd.

Kelce is already at the level of Davis. He could step in and recreate the same production. Kelce is more utilitarian than the fans boys want to admit. He's a steady and good blocker, really good in space and blocking while on the move. He's a steady catcher on simple stuff. He plays it conservative with his YAC. I must admit he's about as even and consistent as you'll get in both blocking and catching.

Escobar reminds me of Pitta. Not as quick twitch as others, not a runner like Ertz or Eifert, but solid to really good hands. Still needs a year or two of seasoning, strength needed. He's a 4th year Redshirt Junior with 3 consecutive years of starting and 3 years of conference honors (2x 1st team / 1x 2nd team).

With Ertz and Eifert being the top, it allows a few other to slide, focus on Kelce or Escobar.

[thesubmittedone]

^^ If we don't re-sign Davis nor nab Cook then we really should bring in James Casey. It'd be foolish not to.

Oh, and has anyone heard whether or not Brown's contract actually voided yesterday? I know everyone was saying it was "set to", but did it actually void and is he a UFA now?

[skinny21]

Saw this article on fixing the pass rush in RBN section

http://www.csnwashington.com/footbal...x-it-pass-rush

I'm thinking Jenkins and Jackson saw a lot of improvement in this area as they gained experience. Cofield was near tops in the league for hurries by a NT. With Orakpo and Carriker back and an improved secondary, I think we're back up to top 10 in sacks (or there about).

Thoughts?

[DC9]

DC9 and this love affair with Rob Jackson. Truly dude, i want him back, but you are overrating him by a lot. If you actually look at the 3-4 defenses in the league and who plays the position. There are VERY few spots RJ MIGHT be an upgrade. He is a quality player, but he is not the kind of player another team grabs to be their starter. Especially when the draft is perpetually ripe with tweeners.

We'll see man. Someone will take a shot at him.

And keep in mind... he didn't rush the passer a lot on 3rd down until the first Eagles game... and even then he didn't get more than 50% of the snaps to rush the passer.

But PFF had him as the #1 rated OLB in pass coverage in the NFL. That would include 4-3 guys. He's a baller. Someone will pay the man. I hope he is restricted so that we are pretty much garunteed one more year with him.

Look at it this way, Rob Jackson is the kind of guy that this team is looking for in Free Agency from other teams. He's a dude who may have been "hidden" behind someone or who has been a solid role player. This is the first year he got actual considerable playing time and he was impressive. I honestly don't think that we win the division or make the playoffs if he wasn't on the team this year.

---------- Post added February-9th-2013 at 04:05 PM ----------

Saw this article on fixing the pass rush in RBN section

http://www.csnwashington.com/footbal...x-it-pass-rush

I'm thinking Jenkins and Jackson saw a lot of improvement in this area as they gained experience. Cofield was near tops in the league for hurries by a NT. With Orakpo and Carriker back and an improved secondary, I think we're back up to top 10 in sacks (or there about).

Thoughts?

If we get a starting Safety, we will have a top 10 defense. If we get two starting Safeties, we will have a top 5 defense. ESPECIALLY with the emergence of Jackson, Orakpo coming back, Carriker coming back, Jenkins getting better, maybe replacing Zo with a playmaker like Vic So'oto?

This defense is going to be MUCH better next season with NFL caliber Safety play.

---------- Post added February-9th-2013 at 04:12 PM ----------

Oh, and has anyone heard whether or not Brown's contract actually voided yesterday? I know everyone was saying it was "set to", but did it actually void and is he a UFA now?

I looked for a couple of hours this morning and couldn't find anything other than a reference to the source from 980. After review it makes sense to eat it this year. If we kept him on (even until June 1st) it woul cost us $4.6 mil against the 2014 cap. This way it accelerates it to this year ($3.3 mil) and it's done.

[thesubmittedone]

I looked for a couple of hours this morning and couldn't find anything other than a reference to the source from 980. After review it makes sense to eat it this year. If we kept him on (even until June 1st) it woul cost us $4.6 mil against the 2014 cap. This way it accelerates it to this year ($3.3 mil) and it's done.

I agree, I hope we just eat it this year and be done with it. That's why I was wondering why nothing has come out about it. You'd think it'd be mentioned somewhere on rotoworld or the like since it's a team transaction.

[DC9]

Dinner hour nuggets (or in my case, raviollis) from rotoworld.com:

DallasCowboys.com's Bryan Broaddus says there's a "good possibility" the team releases RT Doug Free.
The team's official website called Free a "sunk cost" after the season ended, and CBS' Jason La Canfora recently said "it looks like the end" for Free in Dallas. Free is due a $7 million base salary in 2013, and he's set to count $11.2 million against the cap. Free and Jeremy Parnell rotated at right tackle down the stretch.

The Carroll County Times says LB Brendon Ayanbadejo could be a cap casualty.
Ayanbadejo is due just a $940,000 base salary in 2013, but with Baltimore right up against the cap, every penny counts. The 36-year-old has been a mainstay on special teams, but his play has dipped as he's aged.

The Carroll County Times says impending free agent CB Cary Williams is not expected to be re-signed.
The Ravens are expected to try and re-sign Williams, but he'll undoubtedly find more money on the open market than Baltimore will be able to offer him. The Ravens have a couple of capable in-house corners that can replace Williams on the right side in Corey Graham, Chykie Brown, and former first-rounder Jimmy Smith. LCB Lardarius Webb is also set to return from a torn ACL. Williams is said to be seeking upwards of $8 million annually.

The Tampa Tribune expects the Bucs to "go after" Martellus Bennett in free agency.
Beat writer Roy Cummings says he would be "surprised if the Bucs don't target" Bennett once free agency opens on March 12. Bennett, of course, has stated his desire to return to the Giants, even saying he'd be open to giving the G-Men a "hometown discount." However, Martellus' brother, Michael, has spent the last four seasons in Tampa, and is a free agent. The two have expressed interest in playing on the same team.

ESPN New York says re-signing impending free agent LT Will Beatty "might be the Giants’ highest priority" among their own free agents.
Beatty and TE Martellus Bennett are the two free agents the Giants appear dead-set on keeping for the 2013 season and beyond. Beatty, 28 in March, battled back issues last offseason, but he stepped in and started 15-of-16 games in 2012, grading out as Pro Football Focus' No.12 overall tackle. He's part of a strong offensive tackle free-agent group.

[Monk4thaHALL]

The Carroll County Times says impending free agent CB Cary Williams is not expected to be re-signed.
...

Williams is said to be seeking upwards of $8 million annually.

There's just no way he gets that.

He might ask ... ... but people won't give him that. Maybe Vinny would ...

Anyway he'd get laughed at for asking for 8 million per.

The best he should ask for is double his base from this year (1,927,000), at most 3.8 to 4 mil/per, maybe bonuses and an escalating scale. Realistically he should ask for 120% to 150% raise from his base this year - working somewhere between 2.3 to 2.8 mil/per.

[DC9]

There's just no way he gets that.

He might ask ... ... but people won't give him that. Maybe Vinny would ...

Anyway he'd get laughed at for asking for 8 million per.

The best he should ask for is double his base from this year (1,927,000), at most 3.8 to 4 mil/per, maybe bonuses and an escalating scale. Realistically he should ask for 120% to 150% raise from his base this year - working somewhere between 2.3 to 2.8 mil/per.

This is one of those positions that'll be interesting. It's so deep in the draft that I doubt more than three guys get that kind of money... and they'll probably all be re-signed by their team.

I agree, no chance he sniffs that kind of coin.

[Binton]

Its funny how overrated Jackson has become just because he intercepts one of the biggest chokers in a prime time game