I'm not sold on the idea that we are releasing players for money. I look at the "questionable" players we've released:

David Martin - It is clear the team wants to keep only 2TEs this year. We have 5WRs and now 5 RBs, and David Martin can't block. That is a "numbers" cut.

Jake Grove - A constant injury risk, that may be injured today. If he is still injured, then it is likely no team will touch him, and with his contract he will clear waivers. In that case, we just "floated" him to FA while he was injured.

Charlie Anderson - Nothing to do with money, he was cheap. The team signed Carpenter and didn't want to carry an extra LB. I know a lot of us thought Anderson was better than Moses, but I'm sure the team has its own logic here - perhaps Moses practices better or has more position flexibility. Maybe they wanted to go with the younger player or the guy with more years on his contract.

Marques Douglas - Not a very good preseason. He's a Vet that simply didn't produce.

Charles Grant - This is the closest thing to a "Money Cut" that I've seen. But the guy has been known to have some behavior problems, and perhaps the team just didn't want to take the chance after being bashed for having behavior problems in the off-season.


I think some of the fans don't see the bottom of the roster the same way the team does. We don't have all the information, and we are very used to the team operating in a certain pattern over the past few years. But I don't think any of this is out of the ordinary. Our team has switch modes - from looking for talent to form a solid core, to having an established solid core. Players that were once thought to be solid and are now marginal. This is a good thing.

In an effort to explain what is going on, some are grasping at what they can - in this case the team trying to "save money". But I don't think that is the case.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2010 08:37AM by DolfanMike.

But, the fact is, these cuts have all saved money. And they come in a year when there is no salary cap hit to take. And don't forget the Will Allen move. When Allen gets healthy, he will demand his release from IR, and the Fins will be forced to reach a settlement and oblige him. And that move will save $6.5M next season.

Jake Grove is a much better player than Cory Procter. He's better than Joe Berger. He's just not healthier than Berger at the moment. The only reason for dropping him at this time is to save money. If money was not a concern, you keep him around as quality depth.

Guys obviously the past ways of doing things hasnt worked, so F. it what do we got to lose??

We lost every year, so maybe this dramatic changes will bring a change of winning?????

Good teams make fiscally responsible personnel decisions. Overpaying for mediocre performance doesn't usually help anybody win a Super Bowl.

dolfanmark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jake Grove is a much better player than Cory
> Procter. He's better than Joe Berger. He's just
> not healthier than Berger at the moment. The only
> reason for dropping him at this time is to save
> money. If money was not a concern, you keep him
> around as quality depth.

If Jake Grove is constantly coming out of games or forcing us to reshuffle the O-Line because of injury, then he is not a better player.

Mia1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guys obviously the past ways of doing things hasnt
> worked, so F. it what do we got to lose??

The Grove move was exactly the kind of thing this organization has done over the years. Think Matt Roth. It only took so long because they paid Grove so much.

Some of the other moves - Douglas, Anderson, and Martin have more to do with the fact that this team is very comfortable with the core that they have. The fact they see these three as bottom of the roster says more about the players we have rather than the players we picked up. We are just picking up prospects hoping to find a diamond in the rough.

As for Grant, I think that has more to do with his behavioral history than anything else. We were getting slammed this offseason for keeping Merling on the roster, and Grant is just an accident waiting to happen.

So, if Grant and/or Douglas are brought back next week, and the two youngsters are slid to the practice squad, it will be pretty clear that those moves were about money. Right?

The way we are cutting injury prone guys, you can take it to the bank Ronnie Brown won't be back next year.

I mean is there any question now? Seriously, lets look at the past calender year....Matt Roth, Will Allen, Justin Smiley, Greg Camarillo, Jake Grove...all injury prone guys we kicked to the curb one way or another.

Hey Ronnie...put the house on the market! Channing, not far behind!

Phinsfan2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not 100% sure that Ronnie is gone, but he's
> going to have to take a paycut to stay.


He might get that Jason Taylor type of offer on a post-it, and if he says no there will be no 2nd offer. lol

dolfanmark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, if Grant and/or Douglas are brought back next
> week, and the two youngsters are slid to the
> practice squad, it will be pretty clear that those
> moves were about money. Right?


Don't know. These two could have been released for different reasons. I doubt Douglas would be brought back - why? He did nothing.

Grant may have been released for character reasons.

Northeast Fin Fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good teams make fiscally responsible personnel
> decisions. Overpaying for mediocre performance
> doesn't usually help anybody win a Super Bowl.


And if Grove is brought back, then this move is for cap reasons next season.