Agreed, but I'd cut McClain, I don't see him being useful to us at all this year. Royal I could live with keeping, but his cap hit is $6M next year...way to much for a guy who got outplayed by Michael Spurlock in 2012.
When I think of injury prone, Rygina is the poster child. Some guys are able to play through injuries, Merriman could not, Rivers did, Tomlinson couldn't even when needed the most. It all comes down to the kind of injury and the position one plays and I don't just mean hurt, I mean injury as in damage done that requires medical attention for proper healing and not just rest and time.
My concern is that as you say, not all injuries aren't equal. If a player breaks a bone, it often heals back as strong (or stronger) than before. But, if he has muscle tears, they heal, but often become an area of weakness. Dumervil tore a pectoral, and last year he had shoulder problems. His position requires him to constantly use his arm leverage to get free and make plays. If, his arms/upper body start to wear down, then he won't be nearly as effective a pass rusher. And lets face it, he's pretty one-dimensional as a player. He has a lot of playing time, and at his age, guys start to lose something. I like him as a player, but I'd be cautious about investing that much money in a guy like him, considering all the other team needs. We're in a rebuilding mode..... we're not one pass rusher away from dethroning Denver.
Yeah, but you also have to consider that every player cut will need to be replaced. So i think with all the holes we already have, we can't just cut everyone, especially considering how little cap space we have
I agree about being cautious and i doubt we have the cap room to sign him even at a lower salary. But he has has 20 sacks in the last 2 years while playing out of position (Should have stayed at 3-4 OLB), and that is even with the shoulder injury.
I don't doubt his talent, I'm merely pointing out his age/condition and the current team needs/budget have to be taken into account. Some fans think we should bring in every "name" player that becomes available..... that isn't going to happen. Telesco has his plan, and he's going to stick with it. I question whether his budget includes a high $ pass rusher like Dumervil.
I 100% agree. I would like to have a guy like him to team with Ingram, but not if it costs us the ability to improve more important positions
The reality though is that (and this comes from numerous Raider fans who are actually intelligible - note: I didn't say intelligent, but there are a very few reasonable ones out there) DHB can't track the ball over his shoulder for squat. He's a faster-than-greased-owl-sheet possession receiver because all he's good for as a deep threat is a decoy - teams who have done their film room study know he can't catch the deep ball. It'd be about as effective as deploying Kassim Osgood on 9-routes.
I think they were grading him post-concussion/hit he took from Ryan Mundy last year against the Steelers. He's not the best tracking the ball over his shoulder, but he isn't that bad if you remember his 2011 season, he had some monster games. He runs really sharp routes, and the fact DB's play off of him because that respect of his speed allows him to run those sharp comeback routes. But after that Pitt game he just wasn't the same. Hopefully he's good now, I don't think it hurts us by adding a guy on a 1 yr./$1.5M-2 yr./$2.5M contract. Who knows how our receiving core adapts to McCoy/Whisenhunt's offense.
Can someone explain how guys like Royal and Gaither will have the same cap hit if released next year as they would if released this year? The only way I can imagine that being the case is if they have extra guaranteed money that kicks in if they are on the roster this year. Otherwise, the dead money should decline.
Where are you getting that they'd have the same cap hit if released next year? Royal's contract guaranteed $6 million, he's been paid $6 million. We however have only counted $3 million against the salary cap, so if we release him it's $3 million against the cap and only freeing up $1.5 million (not exactly the amount you're going to get a comparable replacement for). He's count $1.5 million against the cap if released next season and would free up $4.5 million in space. Gaither's costing a minimum of $6 million against the cap this season one way or another - either as a $6 million dead money cap hit if released or $6.5 million if kept on the roster. Moreover, I'm pretty sure since we guaranteed him $13.5 million and have only paid him $9 million to day, his base salary this year is effectively guaranteed (which means it's going to count against the cap even if he's released... so really make that that he counts as a $10.5 million hit this year if we release him - hence why I've been saying if he gets released it'll be after June 1st).
If thats true, then you are right, having a guy making millions who won't be used as anything but a goal line back, is a little wasteful
I wasn't 100% sure but had seen it before, which is why i prefaced it with "Correct me if i am wrong"
No worries I figured you were just repeating what you had heard earlier, which is also what I had heard around here. Was curious if anyone could provide clarification.
Well, the obvious has happened: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/16/elvis-dumervil-fires-his-agent/
Anyone know what the deal was for Woodhead? Someone said it was 11 mil for the 2 years and i laughed at him...lol
Yeah, i just laughed in his face basically. He was freaking out about it, because he decided thats what we paid for some reason. But it was on the CMB, so it was to be expected.
Pats signed OT Will Svitek. Think that tells you the direction they're going in, steering from Sebastian Vollmer. Vollmer will be 29 come July, I say sign him up to a 2 yr deal or so, but cut Jeromey Clary first, and also Charlie Whitehurst and that will save us $3.6M. Only guys I want right now are Sebastian Vollmer and Darrius Heyward-Bey, both on 2-3 year deals. Then I want to re-sign Aubrayo Franklin, Vaughn Martin and Ty Green. We can attack areas of need in the draft, such as OT, OLB, OG, NT, and ILB.
Raiders sign Kevin Burnett: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/17/raiders-sign-kevin-burnett/
I'd bring back Barnes and Franklin without a doubt, some other guys to consider... Sebastian Vollmer Laurent Robinson Lance Louis (on the cheap) Ryan Harris Andre Branch Larry Grant EJ Biggers Captain Munneryln (a guy to cover Welker) Quentin Mikell
When was Andre Branch cut? The guy was just draft in the 2nd round last year? Or are you referring to another Branch? Deion maybe?
Damn we still have so many needs. I was hoping to have some more questions answered at this point in free agency, but even with our signings I feel like every single position on the roster, with the possible exception of DE, could use a draft pick. Hopefully we can plug a few more holes over the next month.
I feel like the front office is moving on from Antwan Barnes, and he's pricing himself out of everybody's office. Maybe he comes back. But if we're making a list of players, 1. Sebastian Vollmer 2. Larry Grant 3. D.J. Moore, Christopher Owens (either or) 4. Darrius Heyward-Bey 5. Gerald Sensabaugh These are if they come at a reasonable price, and we don't over pay.
We're 6 days in, some really good players still on the market, waiting on some prices to drop I'm sure to make a move or somebody to run out of contention in a signing. Buckle in, Free Agency is a long process.
