What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Flowers cut by KC (1 Viewer)

jurb26

jurb26

Footballguy
Not sure how this doesn't have a thread already. Pro Bowl CBs don't grow on trees and one is now available as a FA. This should be a blow to KC and an early Christmas present to some other team.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000358558/article/seven-landing-spots-for-brandon-flowers

"Brandon Flowers is 28 years old and made his first Pro Bowl in 2013. That honor was mostly a lifetime achievement award, but there's no doubt he's been among the NFL's top 20 cornerbacks over the last five years. He doesn't fit the normal profile of a player released in June.

Cut by the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday because of salary cap concerns, Flowers immediately should become the most sought after free agent in an otherwise underwhelming market.

Flowers is coming off a mediocre season, but this release was more about money and the team's new coaching staff. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport noted that Flowers did not love playing on the inside last year and could have skipped minicamp next week. He was on the trade block earlier this offseason, and this move will save the Chiefs $7.5 million against the salary cap. (Alex Smith says thanks.) Kansas City had to create cap room, and this staff prefers bigger cornerbacks. But Flowers was still probably the Chiefs' best player at the position.

Flowers will not lack for suitors. If he had been a free agent back in March, he would have cracked our top 25 free agents. Here are some potential landing spots:

The Favorites

1. Atlanta Falcons: Rapoport reports that the Falcons have been monitoring Flowers' availability, and they could be ready to pounce. Second-year pros Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford are a very promising duo, but the group lacks depth. A Flowers addition would give the Falcons one of the best trios in the league. New Falcons front office member Scott Pioli signed Flowers to his "$48.75 million extension" in Kansas City. (Flowers only got half that money) This marriage makes a lot of sense, and the Falcons have the cap room to get it done.

2. Houston Texans: There's another direct connection from Kansas City here. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel coached Flowers, who is perfect for his system. Flowers could combine with Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson to form a strong cornerback group.

Logical fits

3. Carolina Panthers: General manager Dave Gettleman has taken his salary cap medicine for much of the offseason, but their huge need at cornerback is hard to ignore.

4. Detroit Lions: Flowers would be a massive upgrade from Chris Houston, who was released on Friday.

5. New York Jets: Dee Milliner and Dimitri Patterson are a grisly-looking starting combination. Can GM John Idzik move quickly enough?

6. San Francisco 49ers: This is totally subjective, but signing Flowers just feels like a 49ers kind of move. The 49ers have a lot of players at the position, but not many they can rely on.

7. Oakland Raiders: They sure like to spend money. If anything, Flowers is too young to fit their free-agent profile."

 
Don't see Carolina spending the money, but perfect timing for Detroit.

In idp his value should increase some.

 
Depending on the cost this is a perfect situation for the Panthers. Custom made.

I could have sworn he was bigger than 5'9. Oh well we will still take him. We have a bit of cash under the cap.

 
St Louis spent the season avoiding the FA route, preferring to let the roster stay as it is and bake for a while so they can see what they've got with all that youth. But It hink this would be the perfect signing for rounding them out. This would give them a corner trio of Flowers, Janoris Jenkins and Tru Johnson. Tru played the third corner/slot as a rookie and could go back to that role. This would allow rookie Lamarcus Joyner to rotate back to FS and get used to the speed of the game rather than get thrown into the deep end in covering WRs man-to-man as a rookie. In fact, the way Gregg Williams likes to use his safeties as the playmakers, this might be the most beneficial place for him to play.

Behind that sadistic front seven, Flowers would be the missing piece in making this defense an elite, possibly historic, unit. The only questions are 1) Can they afford him, 2) how does he fit into the youth movement plan the Rams are tied to, and 3) are they willing to be flexible with their plans?

When the Rams made no moves in FA, I was fine with it, figuring they'd be saving their FA ammo for the training camp waivers that happen. This comes a bit earlier than expected, but it's precisely the kind of move they need to make.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
He would be a great fit for the Texans.

But how good is Flowers right now?
Click to expand...
from PFF

How the mighty have fallen. It wasn’t that long ago that Brandon Flowers’ name was mentioned in the same breath as the league’s best. In 2010 he graded out as PFF’s second best cornerback and allowed just one touchdown all season. Fast forward to 2013 and Flowers missed two games, still gave up five touchdowns, allowed 0.95 yards per snap (third worst) and his 66.7 percent pass completions allowed ranked him fifth worst in the league. The net result is that the Chiefs are reportedly looking to trade him.

In defense of Flowers, he is a special breed of shadow corner (five games) in the fact he played 50 percent of his snaps in the slot. The closest comparisons would be Kyle Arrington (seven shadow games, 55 percent slot) and William Gay (five shadow games, 43 percent slot) and both Arrington and Gay are more a product of the usage of the other cornerbacks on the roster (Talib in New England, Taylor in Pittsburgh), whereas Flowers, Kansas City’s top corner, is specifically given that role. As a result of the way he is used, Flowers sees extended playing time against smaller, faster receivers, running routes that get them open quickly. His shadow duties last season were on Dez Bryant, Cecil Shorts, DeSean Jackson and Wes Welker (twice).
Click to expand...
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/05/13/best-fantasy-cb-matchups/

he came in 5th on their list of most fantasy points given up per snap played.

 
more from PFF

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/03/07/jvm-kansas-city-chiefs/

JVM: Kansas City ChiefsNathan Jahnke | March 7, 2014
In[SIZE=small] this series of pieces, Pro Football Focus is hammering into the value of players. To us it’s a “Jahnke Value Model” number, telling you what players were worth (by our grading) in 2013. You can read about the work we’ve done to create it [/SIZE][SIZE=small]here[/SIZE], but in short:[SIZE=small]•　It’s solely about what a player did on the field in 2013[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]•　Players are grouped by positions so their play essentially earns them a portion of the positional salary pool [/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]•　It’s all about cap hits (these values are approximate)[/SIZE]

Here are 2013′s most undervalued and overvalued Kansas City Chiefs:
Click to expand...
Overvalued

2. Brandon Flowers, Cornerback

Year after year, Flowers has been among the best cornerbacks in the game so it’s no surprise that his cap hit was so high in 2013. Part of the problem is the Chiefs tried to move him to slot cornerback in their nickel and dime defense. He also had a lot of trouble trying to cover Dez Bryant early in the season and allowed two long touchdowns to Eric Decker later on in the season. On the year, when quarterbacks threw to the receiver Flowers was covering, they had a passer rating of 101.6. That all adds up to a season to forget.

2013 Cap Hit: $6.6m
2013 Jahnke Value Model: $700k
Value Differential: -$5.9m
Click to expand...
also, this:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/03/05/jvm-cornerbacks/

Here are 2013′s most undervalued and overvalued Cornerbacks:

[SIZE=medium]Overvalued[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]

7. Brandon Flowers, KC – Cap: $6.6M; JVM: $700k; Value Differential: -$5.9m
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Phenix said:
ImTheScientist said:
Junior McSpiffy said:
And how has there not been a headline yet about "Freshly cut Flowers" yet?
Click to expand...
:moneybag:
Click to expand...
NICE!

If the Lions do not get this guy they clearly will have an inability to understand their weakness.
Click to expand...
the lions 1) don't have the cap room to pursue flowers, 2) don't have a history of dropping the kind of cash flowers will probably want, and 3) don't run a defensive scheme that particularly fits flowers' player profile.

 
As a KC fan it didn't bother me one bit that we cut him. He was absolutely terrible last year. I didn't expect him to get cut until after this season though.

 
DerekR said:
As a KC fan it didn't bother me one bit that we cut him. He was absolutely terrible last year. I didn't expect him to get cut until after this season though.
Click to expand...
He was awful last year but still better than any Chargers CB.

I'll take the chance that he returns to what he was for the previous four years with his downside being an improvement on last year's secondary.

 
Interesting Read:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/pat-kirwan/24591553/with-nfl-short-on-cover-corners-why-is-brandon-flowers-still-free

Every June, a few players are released who appear to be as good as any free agents from earlier in the offseason. The Patriots' grabbing jettisoned Chargers safety Rodney Harrison comes to mind. He led an all-rookie secondary to a Super Bowl victory over the Eagles.

Last week, the Chiefs cut cornerback Brandon Flowers. In a league starved for cover corners, it seemed he would be gobbled up in a few minutes, but he's still free. Ten teams were rumored to be interested, but only a few were identified.

Interest and commitment to signing him are two different things. There is a progression to resolving his situation, and it isn't as smooth a road as one would assume.

Step 1 -- Does he make a team better? While there are indications he may not be a top-flight corner, teams looking for a starter that have the cap space have Flowers on their radar. I found seven teams fitting those qualifications (in alphabetical order): 49ers, Jaguars,Jets, Panthers, Raiders, Steelers and Titans. Note the Falcons -- where former Chiefs GM Scott Pioli is now an assistant GM -- are not on the list.

Step 2 -- Review his 2013 season: Why did the Chiefs release him? One teammate said Flowers was the club's best tackler, but his current salary (his cap hit was a reported $10.5M for 2014) is out of line for any team to match this upcoming season, so Flowers must come to grips with possibly getting half of what he was making in Kansas City amid concerns about where he fits.

One opposing coach who schemed against him twice said, "[Flowers] appeared out of gas.DeSean Jackson exposed his lack of ability to run with speed receivers, and he probably belongs as a slot nickel and not an outside player."

Other evaluators expressed concerns about Flowers' maturity level. A sampling:

One coach: "He wants to be the leader of the secondary, but he belongs in the nickel position and he's more of a zone cover two guy than a man-to-man guy, and that will be a problem with his ego."

Another position coach: "He tends to blame the coaches when things go bad."

A scout: "Flowers wasn't particularly good to Romeo Crennel or Emmitt Thomas."

Those comments raise doubts about coachability which need to be resolved in a day-long interview.

A former teammate said, "There was a time when Flowers was the man. Now he's kind of out a gas." But another coach said, "I wish we signed him, because he is an upgrade."

There is some debate about how many big plays he gave up last season, but the range is between 9 and 13.

Step 3 -- Determine what he is: Rather than a starter, signs point to Flowers as a nickel corner who probably belongs in underneath zone coverage and not isolated on speed receivers who prefer vertical routes.

Step 4 -- Does he fit in the locker room? One former teammate described Flowers as a bit of a loner. It doesn't appear he would come to a new team and try and dominate the locker room. He was one of only two players who didn't show up for the spring offseason program in Kansas City and he has lost a lot of money by being released. He appears to be more of a one-year rental who is young enough (28) to reinvent his career with a solid season.

Step 5 -- Bring him in for a workout and interview: If he declines, walk away or make a low-ball offer and hold your ground. Despite his perception among some observers, some teams will see him as an upgrade and the pool of free agents isn't very strong at this point.
Click to expand...
 
One opposing coach who schemed against him twice said, "[Flowers] appeared out of gas.DeSean Jackson exposed his lack of ability to run with speed receivers, and he probably belongs as a slot nickel and not an outside player."
Click to expand...
Oh c'mon, how many CB's can run with DJax? Besides, Flowers has never been fast.

If Flowers signs with the Chargers put Verrett on the fastest WR and have Flowers cover the other one.

 
cstu said:
One opposing coach who schemed against him twice said, "[Flowers] appeared out of gas.DeSean Jackson exposed his lack of ability to run with speed receivers, and he probably belongs as a slot nickel and not an outside player."
Click to expand...
Oh c'mon, how many CB's can run with DJax? Besides, Flowers has never been fast.

If Flowers signs with the Chargers put Verrett on the fastest WR and have Flowers cover the other one.
Click to expand...
Yeah, DJax can run past 99% of the CBs in the NFL. Using that against Flowers is kind of weak IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hankmoody
NFL salary cap discussion
Replies
26
Views
649
Anarchy99
Anarchy99
Joe Bryant
Round One Losers and Winners - Sigmund Bloom
Replies
39
Views
2K
Golden Gopher
Golden Gopher
Ministry of Pain
Redraft from the 4-Hole, PPR 10-12 Team, want to share a mock and compare notes
Replies
1
Views
414
rockaction
rockaction

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top