Thursday Morning Cup O’Chiefs
A pretty good football team could be made up of just the players who have been released by NFL teams in the past two weeks as a precursor to the start of free agency.
That was especially clear on Wednesday, as even more veteran players hit the waiver wire. Tampa Bay released five players, including 11-time Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks (left), running back Warrick Dunn, wide receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard and linebacker Cato June.
The New York Jets sliced veteran wide receiver Laveranues Coles. The St. Louis Rams dropped quarterback Trent Green and wide receiver Drew Bennett. The Houston Texans sent packing defensive end Anthony Weaver, tackle Ephraim Salaam and safety Will Demps. The Carolina Panthers released guard Jeremy Bridges, wide receiver D.J. Hackett and running back Nick Goings.
That was just Wednesday.
On Tuesday it was names like Marvin Harrison, Donnie Edwards, Pat Surtain and Damon Huard. In the 10 days before it was Fred Taylor, Gibril Wilson, Chris McAlister, Deuce McAllister. Dre Bly, Marcus Washington, Drayton Florence, Ronald Curry, Jerry Porter and more.
And we can expect a few more familiar names on Thursday. The league’s personnel season begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, when all teams must be under the salary cap with their 51 most expensive players. It’s also the start of unrestricted and restricted free agency.
But free agency has already begun for the players who were released in the last few days. Many of those players will play in the league for the ’09 season. Some may even have big seasons.
So why were they released? It’s an essential part of the NFL’s yearly dance with personnel and the salary cap. Once a player has a salary and/or cap number that exceeds his expected contributions, he becomes susceptible to getting the proverbial pink slip.
It’s always been part of the game. Team A thinks Player B can’t perform up to his Salary C. Team A seeks a redo of Salary C. Player B says no way. Team A releases him from Salary C and Player B goes out and finds employment with Team D for Salary E.
This is not new. Franco Harris finished his career with an ugly six games in Seattle back in 198 after a dispute with the Steelers. Right here in Kansas City, long-time All-AFL tackle Jim Tyrer wasn’t ready to quite when the Chiefs thought he was done, so he finished his career in 197 with one season playing for the Washington Redskins. Same for Otis Taylor, who after he parted ways with the Chiefs following the 197 season, landed with the Houston Oilers.
The days when a player would have a long and successful career with just one team are pretty much gone. We see that again with Harrison, who will play somewhere else in ’09 after 13 seasons with the Colts.
It never quite seems right, but it’s the way of the NFL world.
A STARTING LINEUP FROM THE WAIVER WIRE
Not sure just how good this team would be, if it was put together just from the waiver wire of the last two weeks. Although this team still needs a center and defensive tackles, here’s how the rest of the starting lineup could look:
WR – Laveranues Coles had 70 catches for 850 yards and seven touchdowns for the Jets; Marvin Harrison had 60 catches for 636 yards and five touchdowns for the Colts.
TE – Chris Baker caught 21 passes for 194 yards for the Jets.
OT – Ephraim Salaam played in 14 games for the Texans; Kwame Harris played 13 games with the Raiders.
G – Jeremy Bridges played in 14 games for the Panthers.
C — open
QB – Trent Green threw for 525 yards for the Rams; Damon Huard threw for 477 yards for the Chiefs
RB – Warrick Dunn ran 186 times for 786 yards with the Buccaneers
FB – Justin Griffith caught nine passes for 85 yards and a touchdown with the Raiders
DEâ€â€Anthony Weaver had 43 tackles and one interception in 16 games for the Texans; Kalimba Edwards had five sacks in 15 games for the Raiders
DT — open
LB – Derrick Brooks had 111 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble for the Bucs; Cato June had 104 tackles and one interception for the Bucs; Marcus Washington had 40 tackles in nine games with the Redskins.
CB – Chris McAlister had 19 tackles, three interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Ravens; Dre Bly had 62 tackles, two interceptions and one forced fumble for the Broncos.
S – Gibril Wilson had two interceptions in 16 games for the Raiders; Will Demps had 30 tackles in eight games for the Texans.
MOVES WITH THE COMMISH AND LEAGUE OFFICE
It was black Wednesday at the NFL, as some 45 people saw their jobs eliminated by the league in a cost saving measure.
Earlier some 76 workers had taken a buyout. Wednesday was their last day of work. There were 48 open jobs that were not filled, for a total of 169 spots cut from the league ranks.
Two weeks ago USA Today reported that Commish Roger Goodell has voluntarily taken a cut of 20 to 25 percent from the $11 million salary and bonuses he was to receive in the 2008 fiscal year, which ends March 31.
The league said 2009 salaries have been frozen and projected expenses for 2009 have been reduced by 20 percent.
The job cuts affected NFL headquarters in New York; NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J. and the NFL Network in Los Angeles
FOLKS WHO ARE MOVING, STAYING OR LEAVING AROUND THE NFL
CARDINALS – signed safety Keith Lewis. He played in ’08 for San Francisco.
DOLPHINS – re-signed linebacker Channing Crowder to a three year deal.
GIANTS – re-signed franchise player running back Brandon Jacobs to a four-year deal, worth $25 million with $13 million in guaranteed money.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …
Former Chiefs running back Ted McKnight was born on February 26, 1954 in Duluth, Minnesota. McKnight played six NFL seasons, with all but the last one in a Chiefs uniform (1977-81). He came to the team off the waiver wire, after he had been released by the Oakland Raiders, who selected him in the second round of the 1977 NFL Draft. With the Chiefs, McKnight played in 65 games with 49 starts, and finished with 2,344 rushing yards on 528 carries with 22 touchdown runs. McKnight also caught 99 passes for 717 yards and handled kickoff returns in several seasons, including a 70-yard return in ’77. He was the team’s leading rusher in the 1979 and 1980 seasons. He still has the longest running play in team history, going 84 yards for a touchdown against Seattle in 1979.
Bob, you better have some good backups, as those old guys are going to get dinged up pretty often. The biggest problem is most of those players are at or very near the end of their careers. Unless they are willing to go play for a minimum salary, they will be one year and done. As most of those players can not do much more then be good back ups who are there to help train the young guys.
Ya know, if the NFL wants to save some money, they could start by firing half of the clowns working at the NFL Network. Jamie Dukes could go first, I don’t need to listen to his agenda on a daily basis.
Hey Bob.
Thank again for the great work you do. Much appreciated.
I have a question about RFA Jarrad Page and RFA Rudy Niswanger. What kind of tenderoffers have they received? The deadline is today, os I suppose something has happened. Do you know anything?
nice post Bob.
I am a Trent Green fan, and hope he retires.
I think the team listed above would lose to the Lions. So maybe their release is more than justified. The Chiefs did not fair very well after the SB in the 70′s. God love him but HS kept guys around out of loyalty past their prime and it showed. Fresh, young, hungry, motivated, and disciplined, the right 53. We should have T shirts made with the chiefs logo, 2009, and “THE RIGHT 53″ on them. Sell them for $20 and give the money to the Salvation Army. Give to those who need it and show your real cheifs pride.
GO CHIEFS!!! THE RIGHT 53 2009
Good Man Devildog!
A very nice idea DevilDog! I’d buy one. Also, interesting concept in this article Bob. Out of those players mentioned, I’d be surprised if any of them do much next year in the NFL. However, DJ Hackett and Gibril Wilson are still young and could have nice years ahead. Marcus Washington and Lavernius Coles could help our team in the short term as well. I can’t wait for free agency to start. I think the Chiefs sign one big time player and several role players before the draft. Of course there will be lots of speculation about Matt Cassel, but if I’m spending the money, I’d try my damndest to sign these players.
C Jason Brown
DE Igor Olshansky
DT Mike Wright
Personally, the only free agents I’d bring back from last year are Page, Babin (who is more suited to play OLB in a 3-4), and McGraw. The rest can walk for all I care.
During the draft, I’d take C Alex Mack out of Cal in round 2 if he’s still there and move Brown to RG. Then the only question mark on the line would be at RT where we MIGHT be able to squeeze one more season out of McIntosh if Taylor or Richardson don’t have what it takes to beat him out.
As far as QB goes, I like Thigpen but he needs some legit competition. I’m not a huge Stafford fan and I don’t like Sanchez at pick 3, nor do I want to give up pick 3 for just Matt Cassel in return. If they trade down and get some more picks, then Sanchez would make more sense. If Rhett Bomar is there in round 3, he’d make a real interesting choice. Thigpen and Bomar could duke it out and Quinn Gray could be the veteran presence in there. Croyle is the wild card who will probably be on the PUP to start the year. Maybe he replaces Gray midseason.
Lots of good LBs in the draft. The Chiefs need to draft at least two, and sign two or three more rookie free agents. Let the best LBs win.
Here’s a little tidbit. Looks like CB Ricardo Colclough could soon join Mike Merritt in the pink slip club.
– Ricardo Colclough Pleads Guilty –
Thu Feb 26, 2009 –from FFMastermind.com
#
The Rock Hill Herald reports Chiefs CB Ricardo Colclough pleaded guilty Thursday to driving while intoxicated, charges stemming from the arrest last August that led to his release. Colclough was stopped the night before final cuts for Carolina were due last season, and in a startling coincidence, was released about 14 hours later. He would have made the team, as he had a decent training camp. He signed with Kansas City last November, and remains on the Chiefs roster through 2009. Colclough appeared at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, and was sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence, ordered not to drive in North Carolina for a year and was fined $150 plus court costs.
I agree, and hope Brown,Igor are brought in, along with Chris K Rg from the steelers…then in the draft, we wont have to go mack, can hope english falls, take curry in the first if hes still there…gives the team good flexibility.
I also wonder about Page/Niswanger.
From ESPN INSIDER
I paid, figured id give my fellow KC fans something back. Enjoy a blurb on the guy i want at 3. we will see how it plays out.
Curry finished with the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.56 seconds) and longest broad jump (10 feet, 4 inches) and tied with two other players for the best vertical jump (37 inches) among the linebackers. He also impressed with his work during drills, particularly one that’s designed to simulate a linebacker shifting through traffic between the tackles.
In that drill, each prospect steps over a set of pads while sliding laterally in one direction, quickly reverses direction, slaps the pads with his hands as he shuffles back and then explodes through the cones to finish. It’s important to be fluid and quick,and just as important to keep your eyes up because teams want to know whether you can locate the ball as you scrape down the line of scrimmage. Most prospects were seen peeking down at the pads, but Curry did an excellent job of keeping his eyes up. It’s a small difference but an important one. And weighing in at 254 pounds and measuring 6-foot-1 made Curry’s performance that much more impressive.
One of the reasons Curry hadn’t been getting much predraft hype was the overshadowing presence of the trio of USC linebackers in this class. After all, MLB Rey Maualuga, OLB Brian Cushing and OLB Clay Matthews all could hear their names called in Round 1. Furthermore, fellow Trojans OLB Kaluka Maiava projects as a middle-round pick. We expected this group to continue dominating the headlines here at the combine, but their performance Monday was met with mixed reviews.
PFT.com is reporting that the Chiefs are $57,000,000 under the salary cap for 2009, second most in the league. Only the Bucs have more at $61,000.000. You can Ck.it out here.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/02/26/buccaneers-61-million-under-the-cap/
Mort from ESPN is speculating (take it for what it’s worth, we’ve all seen how far off he can be) that the Bucs may have some cash flow problems, related to their ownership of an MLS team who may be in financial trouble. You can hear it here (starts at 2 min’s. 56 sec’s. into the podcast)
http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=3936358
Just me thinking out loud but, it’s kinda ironic that the two teams with the most cap room for 2009 also both own MLS teams. You don’t suppose that Mort hit it right this time and that the Chiefs are in the same boat do you?
NAAAAAAA!
Clark’s team (lamo, I don’t even know the name of his MLS team, off the top of my head)won the MLS championship! They had to have made a profit! Right?!?
That thought is a bit disturbing!
And The Plot Thickens……
Damn!! This is getting to point of being more trouble than it’s worth to post a comment on this blog, this will be the third time I’ve tried to post the following.
PFT.com is reporting that the Chiefs are $57,000,000 under the salary cap for 2009, second most in the league. Only the Bucs have more at $61,000.000. You can Ck.it out here.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/02/26/buccaneers-61-million-under-the-cap/
Mort from ESPN is speculating (take it for what it’s worth, we’ve all seen how far off he can be) that the Bucs may have some cash flow problems, related to their ownership of an MLS team who may be in financial trouble. You can hear it here (starts at 2 min’s. 56 sec’s. into the podcast)
http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=3936358
Just me thinking out loud but, it’s kinda ironic that the two teams with the most cap room for 2009 also both own MLS teams. You don’t suppose that Mort hit it right this time and that the Chiefs are in the same boat do you?
NAAAAAAA!
Clark’s team (lamo, I don’t even know the name of his MLS team, off the top of my head)won the MLS championship! They had to have made a profit! Right?!?
That thought is a bit disturbing!
And The Plot Thickens……
i can’t post most days
Now that I can post, I dont have much to say. HA. Oh, except GO CHIEFS!!!
and, CONGRATS to Donnie, Damon, and Pat. Great CHIEFS. Wish we had more like them. Only ones left is Tony and Brian Waters!
Colby, I can’t agree with you on Babin…I don’t think he’s suited to even play Arena ball…I definitely think they should keep Page and McGraw though.
I agree that Thigpen needs competition too…and I’m not a Stafford or Sanchez fan…apparantly Josh Freeman performed well at the combine…better than Sanchez…maybe he would be worth looking at? Heck, if they decided to stay with the spread, you could probably pick up Chase Daniel with a 3rd or 4th round pick…