Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Random Thoughts on Free Agency
The second phase of our non-playing season starts Friday at midnight. All three phases are filled with great storylines this season. If you didn’t get excited about what the coaching changes might mean to the defensive landscape, maybe free agency will pique your interest. There are a bunch of things that have my interest; rather than start a new thread for each one of them, I’ll just toss them all in one post.
The next eight weeks are going to be a crazy game of musical chairs for this linebacker group. There’s a huge list of unrestricted free agents on the market, which will then be followed by what looks like a very interesting group of incoming rookies. Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, Mike Peterson, Channing Crowder, Angelo Crowell, Michael Boley, Andra Davis, Paris Lenon, Keith Brooking, Zach Thomas are available. Jonathan Vilma, Freddie Keiaho and Kevin Burnett, too. Vilma and Keiaho, probably Lewis and maybe Lenon and Burnett stay with their current teams. Every other player could be someplace else. It’s going to be nuts.
And there are some primo roles to be had. Kansas City has no linebackers and could see a ridiculous amount of tackle opportunity this season. There are big roles for the taking – potentially – in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami and St. Louis. Goofy things could happen in Denver, Buffalo and Jacksonville. What if Mike Peterson lands in Detroit? How would Michael Boley look as a 3-4 WILB someplace? Could Channing Crowder end up as an ILB with Denver or Kansas City? Other than the rumors of Bart Scott in New York, none of these guys have a clear projection yet. There’ll be a long list of winners and losers here.
Two guys who got some nice play in these forums, then were mostly forgotten, might end up having huge increases in value after the music stops. Four months ago, Ray Lewis looked to be a lock to re-sign in Baltimore and Tavares Gooden was about to hit IR after getting very little practice time. If Lewis and Scott are both wearing another uniform this time next week, Gooden may end up having the value some hoped for last spring. And with Michael Boley and Keith Brooking out in Atlanta, it’s very likely time for Stephen Nicholas to move from his hardly reported nickel duties to an every-down role this season.
Then again, it’s possible that Peterson, Crowder, Crowell, Boley, Davis, Lenon, Brooking and Thomas get zero love on the market and fight for leftovers like Cato June did two seasons ago.
What would you do with Julius Peppers and Albert Haynesworth? Both arguably one of the top two or three talents at their position. Both arguably one of the top two or three flakes at their position. Would you give either a truckload of guaranteed money and picks in Peppers’ case?
I think the franchise tag the Rams put on OJ Atogwe means that Steve Spagnuolo sees him as his Brian Dawkins, Gibril Wilson, Kenny Phillips. I never really liked Atogwe and was surprised when he topped 70 solos last year (which may have had more to do with Will Witherspoon’s suckitude than Atogwe’s play), but I’m firmly in his corner now.
I think we find out very quickly whether Bill Belichick sees Brandon Meriweather as the true heir apparent to Rodney Harrison as his in-the-box, playmaking, all-around SS. Gibril Wilson and Sean Jones both look very much like Harrison. And Jones has plenty of experience in this playbook.
Sean Jones parallels Gibril Wilson’s recent experience in many ways, falling out of favor with the team that drafted him over coverage concerns despite seemingly making plenty of plays on the ball. Unless Jones goes to a team that’s going to ask him to play an interchangeable coverage safety role (and why would he with the glut of 4-3 teams moving to a more aggressive profile), he could have a career year in solos – just like Wilson did last year. How about Jones in Houston? Seattle? Detroit? Denver? New England?
Even though he played more of a strong safety role alongside Ed Reed, could Jim Leonhard’s potential signing in New York be enough to push Kerry Rhodes back toward the line of scrimmage. Probably wishful thinking there.
With Leroy Hill franchised, is it Kevin Burnett who jumps into an unexpectedly good situation as a very underrated all-around player? Or is he the next Landon Johnson or Niko Koutovides?
If Denver doesn’t add a big name ILB over the next few weeks, with Jamie Winborn gone, I think Wes Woodyard suddenly finds himself in a very favorable RILB spot in the 3-4 hybrid Mike Nolan is installing.
Oh, and a couple of leftover thoughts that really never made it out of the 2009 coaching and scheme change thread. How many more tackles can Barrett Ruud squeeze out of the highly favorable Jim Bates playbook? I think the arrival of John Marshall in Oakland could hurt Kirk Morrison as much as it did Lofa Tatupu. And I think Tatupu could be poised to see a big uptick in tackles with Marshall gone and Jim Mora bringing a more aggressive, downhill style to the Seattle front.
The second phase of our non-playing season starts Friday at midnight. All three phases are filled with great storylines this season. If you didn’t get excited about what the coaching changes might mean to the defensive landscape, maybe free agency will pique your interest. There are a bunch of things that have my interest; rather than start a new thread for each one of them, I’ll just toss them all in one post.
The next eight weeks are going to be a crazy game of musical chairs for this linebacker group. There’s a huge list of unrestricted free agents on the market, which will then be followed by what looks like a very interesting group of incoming rookies. Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, Mike Peterson, Channing Crowder, Angelo Crowell, Michael Boley, Andra Davis, Paris Lenon, Keith Brooking, Zach Thomas are available. Jonathan Vilma, Freddie Keiaho and Kevin Burnett, too. Vilma and Keiaho, probably Lewis and maybe Lenon and Burnett stay with their current teams. Every other player could be someplace else. It’s going to be nuts.
And there are some primo roles to be had. Kansas City has no linebackers and could see a ridiculous amount of tackle opportunity this season. There are big roles for the taking – potentially – in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami and St. Louis. Goofy things could happen in Denver, Buffalo and Jacksonville. What if Mike Peterson lands in Detroit? How would Michael Boley look as a 3-4 WILB someplace? Could Channing Crowder end up as an ILB with Denver or Kansas City? Other than the rumors of Bart Scott in New York, none of these guys have a clear projection yet. There’ll be a long list of winners and losers here.
Two guys who got some nice play in these forums, then were mostly forgotten, might end up having huge increases in value after the music stops. Four months ago, Ray Lewis looked to be a lock to re-sign in Baltimore and Tavares Gooden was about to hit IR after getting very little practice time. If Lewis and Scott are both wearing another uniform this time next week, Gooden may end up having the value some hoped for last spring. And with Michael Boley and Keith Brooking out in Atlanta, it’s very likely time for Stephen Nicholas to move from his hardly reported nickel duties to an every-down role this season.
Then again, it’s possible that Peterson, Crowder, Crowell, Boley, Davis, Lenon, Brooking and Thomas get zero love on the market and fight for leftovers like Cato June did two seasons ago.
What would you do with Julius Peppers and Albert Haynesworth? Both arguably one of the top two or three talents at their position. Both arguably one of the top two or three flakes at their position. Would you give either a truckload of guaranteed money and picks in Peppers’ case?
I think the franchise tag the Rams put on OJ Atogwe means that Steve Spagnuolo sees him as his Brian Dawkins, Gibril Wilson, Kenny Phillips. I never really liked Atogwe and was surprised when he topped 70 solos last year (which may have had more to do with Will Witherspoon’s suckitude than Atogwe’s play), but I’m firmly in his corner now.
I think we find out very quickly whether Bill Belichick sees Brandon Meriweather as the true heir apparent to Rodney Harrison as his in-the-box, playmaking, all-around SS. Gibril Wilson and Sean Jones both look very much like Harrison. And Jones has plenty of experience in this playbook.
Sean Jones parallels Gibril Wilson’s recent experience in many ways, falling out of favor with the team that drafted him over coverage concerns despite seemingly making plenty of plays on the ball. Unless Jones goes to a team that’s going to ask him to play an interchangeable coverage safety role (and why would he with the glut of 4-3 teams moving to a more aggressive profile), he could have a career year in solos – just like Wilson did last year. How about Jones in Houston? Seattle? Detroit? Denver? New England?
Even though he played more of a strong safety role alongside Ed Reed, could Jim Leonhard’s potential signing in New York be enough to push Kerry Rhodes back toward the line of scrimmage. Probably wishful thinking there.
With Leroy Hill franchised, is it Kevin Burnett who jumps into an unexpectedly good situation as a very underrated all-around player? Or is he the next Landon Johnson or Niko Koutovides?
If Denver doesn’t add a big name ILB over the next few weeks, with Jamie Winborn gone, I think Wes Woodyard suddenly finds himself in a very favorable RILB spot in the 3-4 hybrid Mike Nolan is installing.
Oh, and a couple of leftover thoughts that really never made it out of the 2009 coaching and scheme change thread. How many more tackles can Barrett Ruud squeeze out of the highly favorable Jim Bates playbook? I think the arrival of John Marshall in Oakland could hurt Kirk Morrison as much as it did Lofa Tatupu. And I think Tatupu could be poised to see a big uptick in tackles with Marshall gone and Jim Mora bringing a more aggressive, downhill style to the Seattle front.
He still seems to be flying well under the radar, but I'd guess there'll be a lot more discussion about him this summer. I've got him ranked 45 right now, but he'll move up a bit if he gets officially slotted on the weak side after the draft.
