well another season in the toilet, in our hearts we all new this would happen, we are just not ready yet. It wasnt a wasted year in fact it may have been a blessing, seeing who we could play without and getting a higher pick. This is just my opinion folks and would like some of your input into our needs. so here goes. First dont cut Ginn, he isnt paid much. let him be our return man, and the occasional just run deep and hope he can catch it. (unless we can package him with someone else to get a return< he by himself will bring us nothing!) we need to trade brown, he can get us a wr which to me is the most pressing need but not to draft one, we need an experienced FA or trade, dont waste time grooming a wr!. hilliard, ricky and sheets can carry the rock. Draft must be ALL defense, safety, lb,and lineman we cant stop crap rolling uphill let alone a football team. FA and trades must be wr, te, dl and draft for you safety and lb unless ireland can pull a great one and trade for them. Let me know what you guys think?

An awful lot depends on what happens with the CBA. If they don't work out a new CBA, then 2010 is an uncapped year, and there are a lot of changes in free agency. Players will need 6 years of service time to be unrestricted free agents instead of the current 4 years. Teams will get two transition tags in addition to the franchise tag. The end result will be about 250 players that would have been unrestricted free agencts will now be restricted free agents, requiring draft pick compensation to sign. That's not the way to build a roster, giving up draft picks for free agents. And it will eliminate basically all of the top free agent WR talent.

And it's a big impact on Ronnie Brown. With no new CBA, Ronnie will be a restricted free agent. It's quite easy to see negotiations with Ronnie not going that well. You can see his agent talking about how valuable he is to the team as a running back and trigger man on the wildcat. And you can see the team talking about how he's had 2 major injuries in 3 seasons. It's very easy to see such negotiations turning ugly. If there is a new CBA, then there's an option in Ronnie's contract that kicks in for a 1 year deal. But, it all depends on the CBA.

And then there's Anthony Fasano. With no new CBA, he's a restricted free agent. If a new CBA is struck, and free agency rules are the same as they are now, then he's an unrestricted free agent. I think that the team does need to explore finding a new TE who is more of a receiving threat. But, there is no denying that Fasano is a quality run blocker who has shown flashes of being a productive receiving option. His status determines whether or not we need one or two TE.

And then there's the whole uncapped year thing. If it's an uncapped year, then it's an ideal time to unload bad contracts, like Joey Porter, Jason Allen, Akin Ayodele, and Gibril Wilson. And you'd even have to consider guys like Justin Smiley (too injury prone) or Channing Crowder as having contracts the team may want to get out from under. If there is a wholesale housecleaning, who knows how many spots we'll need to fill.

On offense, a WR who is dependable, big, physical, and fast is a must. A pass catching TE would be a nice thing to add. You have to ask if we have the answers at G. We allowed too much of a pass rush up the middle, and that's mostly Donald Thomas' fault. He can run block, but he was a major liability in pass protection. Are Garner and/or Berger capable of being the answer at that position? And how the team feels about Lex Hilliard and Kory Sheets will dictate if they need a RB.

On defense, they have to evaluate what happened to the run defense. It collapsed in the second half. Is that all because of Ferguson? Soliai played some solid games, or so it seemed. So, was the poor run defense all on the LB? And they need to evaluate the lack of a consistent pass rush. I'm not talking about sacks, because we produced a good amount of those. But, too often, we allow the QB to be too comfortable in the pocket. I have to think that at least 2 new LB will be priorities. And how the team feels about Chris Clemons and Tyrone Culver will dictate whether S is addressed or not.

Good points....

I definitely think that Porter is gone....Sparano sugar coated his importance to the team, but I believe that his benching at different points of the season says it all about his true value.

J Allen probably stays....his salary is $2.2 million next year and he is a beast on special teams.

Would not be surprised to see Wilson and Crowder go also...

We need youth at the LB position and although Crowder is still young...injuries are taking their toll...

Porter will probably be gone.

J Allen may or may not be gone. He'll have serious competition at DB as we'll have 4 good CBs and we'll be addressing safety. I'm not sure we'll hang on to him for special teams only.

Wilson SHOULD BE gone. I hope he is, but we'll see.

Crowder will NOT be gone. He's under contract and will play well at WILB if he has the chance. We're already thin at ILB as it is. I see us drafting 1 or 2 ILBs and keeping who we have in TC. I see us cutting Torbor and benching Ayodele. Then we move Crowder to WILB and get a real SILB (McLain?). If we get Spikes also, he'll play behind Crowder until he's ready to start.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2010 06:42PM by montequi.

Remember next year is uncapped meaning anyone with a big contract will have their head on the chopping block.

It's a one time GET OUT OF FREE JAIL card on all big contracts because the landscape of the next CBA is still unkown.

You could see some surprise cuts of guys who are good players but the Fins just want to clear payroll.

It will be a crazy year if it's truly uncapped. Teams with lots of $$ will be stockpiling players to make a run for one year. I'm not sure we can do that.

montequi Wrote:
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> It will be a crazy year if it's truly uncapped.
> Teams with lots of $$ will be stockpiling players
> to make a run for one year. I'm not sure we can
> do that.


An uncapped year may not be that crazy. There will be over 250 fewer unrestricted free agents. And playoff teams will be restricted as to how much money they are allowed to spend. It will likely result in a very quiet free agency season. Except for the scores of guys that will be cut from bad contracts.

This is why I think this highly touted "uncapped year" won't happen. The players' union will get grief from some of their most senior guys, the very ones who are subject to getting cut in an uncapped year.

I predict the Union will compromise and a deal will be made during the offseason, no uncapped year.

From all reports the uncapped year will happen. In early 2011 there will be a lockout at some point. And this is going to court in March 2011. Until then nothing will get settled. The Owners want this March 2011 court date for some reason.

Mike knows everything....end of discussion.

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"When you suck long enough, you get a Hickey"

MikeO Wrote:
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> From all reports the uncapped year will happen. In
> early 2011 there will be a lockout at some point.
> And this is going to court in March 2011. Until
> then nothing will get settled. The Owners want
> this March 2011 court date for some reason.


Mike, what are next week's lottery numbers?