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QuikSand · 03-21-2008, 10:07 PM

2036 Free Agency

A bunch of key decisions here. I think the first move we will undertake is an extension with DE Darren Newman. He missed a few games last year, and his contract demands have come down somewhat – he will still be expensive, but it’s not totally out of reach. Plus, I can live with his long term deal as he offers it, giving me more flexibility for my one later-season reneg. Done – six year deal, lock him up.

DT Jake Rolfe is a guy I think we will let expire, and then perhaps tag for a season or two as long as he remains productive and healthy. Solid player for sure, I’m just working the angles with the contracts. We can afford his $30m hit this year, and we’ll work on next year next year.

With that, we are looking at our free agents. I really want to bring back WR Montgomery, and since we only have two WRs signed to any contract, it’s pretty urgent that we do so. He is looking for a 5yr deal, which is very good news – that can be a real 5yr offer this time, rather than a 3yr offer with a time bomb imbedded. I load the deal with bonus money, and try to get him fairly cheap and roll the dice on a future injury.

We really have two choices with our one RFA re-signing – backup DE Junior Thomason, or our stud punter Skip Watson. I’m not wild about investing capital into a punter, but extending this guy keeps us from having to use a draft pick on another guy, while we might be okay at DL as it stands. I work out a new deal with Watson, who is, after all, a very highly rated player.

That gets us to about $33m left to spend under this year’s cap. And LT Matthew Collier is the defining player for us. Either we sign him, and work on an economy budget for the rest of the team – or we let him walk, and look for places to spread our cap space around. He is a very solid looking player – and while I have a couple solid LT prospects behind him, none project to look like him at any point, period. We have been trying to do better on the ground game – tough to see a better player to keep us on that track than Collier. I decide to put in a huge offer to him, and try to lock him up for 4 years. Our offer eats up $20m under this year’s salary cap.

Reneg – DE Darren Newman, 6y $104m
RFA – P Skip Watson, 3y $7m
1YR -
2YR – RB Jack Wright, $5m
3YR – DE Junior Thomason, $5.4m (minsal)
4YR – LT Matthew Collier, $105m ($40m bonus)
5YR – WR Timothy Montgomery, $65m ($25m bonus)
6YR – QB Timothy Murphy, $115m (3yr minsal)
7YR – WR Vernon Berry, $198m (3y $14m)

I was surprised to see QB Timothy Murphy at some point slip upward from “angry” to “unhappy” and therefore open to accepting a contract offer from us. I offer him three years at minsal, with three more at the end to slot it into the 6yr offer slot. That relieves me of searching through the dregs and the rookie class for a backup this season.

RB Jack Wright is a pretty good 5th year guy who has been productive for Baltimore in limited duty, and I’m intrigued enough to offer him two years. He has enough endurance to carry our main load – we’ll see how well he does as a #1 back instead of a backup.

By the way, I’m basically convinced that LB Ellis Gerald is out of gas, so I’m not offering him a new contract. Have two sophomores who look ready to step into the WLB role, and we will give them their shot, and let Gerald walk.

With these signees, we are up to 42 players, and have our roster nearly legal – we are only short a kicker. We have holes to fill, to be sure, but we got most of our crisis spots addressed via free agency.

03-21-2008, 10:07 PM	#114
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	2036 Free Agency A bunch of key decisions here. I think the first move we will undertake is an extension with DE Darren Newman. He missed a few games last year, and his contract demands have come down somewhat – he will still be expensive, but it’s not totally out of reach. Plus, I can live with his long term deal as he offers it, giving me more flexibility for my one later-season reneg. Done – six year deal, lock him up. DT Jake Rolfe is a guy I think we will let expire, and then perhaps tag for a season or two as long as he remains productive and healthy. Solid player for sure, I’m just working the angles with the contracts. We can afford his $30m hit this year, and we’ll work on next year next year. With that, we are looking at our free agents. I really want to bring back WR Montgomery, and since we only have two WRs signed to any contract, it’s pretty urgent that we do so. He is looking for a 5yr deal, which is very good news – that can be a real 5yr offer this time, rather than a 3yr offer with a time bomb imbedded. I load the deal with bonus money, and try to get him fairly cheap and roll the dice on a future injury. We really have two choices with our one RFA re-signing – backup DE Junior Thomason, or our stud punter Skip Watson. I’m not wild about investing capital into a punter, but extending this guy keeps us from having to use a draft pick on another guy, while we might be okay at DL as it stands. I work out a new deal with Watson, who is, after all, a very highly rated player. That gets us to about $33m left to spend under this year’s cap. And LT Matthew Collier is the defining player for us. Either we sign him, and work on an economy budget for the rest of the team – or we let him walk, and look for places to spread our cap space around. He is a very solid looking player – and while I have a couple solid LT prospects behind him, none project to look like him at any point, period. We have been trying to do better on the ground game – tough to see a better player to keep us on that track than Collier. I decide to put in a huge offer to him, and try to lock him up for 4 years. Our offer eats up $20m under this year’s salary cap. Reneg – DE Darren Newman, 6y $104m RFA – P Skip Watson, 3y $7m 1YR - 2YR – RB Jack Wright, $5m 3YR – DE Junior Thomason, $5.4m (minsal) 4YR – LT Matthew Collier, $105m ($40m bonus) 5YR – WR Timothy Montgomery, $65m ($25m bonus) 6YR – QB Timothy Murphy, $115m (3yr minsal) 7YR – WR Vernon Berry, $198m (3y $14m) I was surprised to see QB Timothy Murphy at some point slip upward from “angry” to “unhappy” and therefore open to accepting a contract offer from us. I offer him three years at minsal, with three more at the end to slot it into the 6yr offer slot. That relieves me of searching through the dregs and the rookie class for a backup this season. RB Jack Wright is a pretty good 5th year guy who has been productive for Baltimore in limited duty, and I’m intrigued enough to offer him two years. He has enough endurance to carry our main load – we’ll see how well he does as a #1 back instead of a backup. By the way, I’m basically convinced that LB Ellis Gerald is out of gas, so I’m not offering him a new contract. Have two sophomores who look ready to step into the WLB role, and we will give them their shot, and let Gerald walk. With these signees, we are up to 42 players, and have our roster nearly legal – we are only short a kicker. We have holes to fill, to be sure, but we got most of our crisis spots addressed via free agency.