[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The Bell experiment is over
He was released today.

We're working our way to getting under the salary cap. 15 players signed a new contract, at the end of the day, we improved our cap situation by about $66M. About $7.5M of that was opened up after we released our backup quarterback Brandon Bell. Yup, he's out of here with a 9-9 record, 3,632 yards, 21 touchdowns, 15 interceptions.

Was Bell's release result of our craptastic play in his seasons as our starter? Not really, things went downhill in his second season, in which he was the premier backup. But, my faith in him becoming a starting caliber quarterback ran out. Well, not for the full 100%, but time was running out. We do need to find a way to get Moe Sheldon happy and to sign a new deal, or we'll be all the way back to Francisco Farley...

On a long term scale, we're talking about a quarterback that came out of his rookie training camp scouted as a 50 out of 100, which in the IHOF is a starting caliber quarterback. But rather quickly, the staff felt that he was more of a "37" and that quite simply didn't change, at all. But Ellis McAlister? No comparison. McAlister came out of rookie camp as a "35" and improved season after season, peaking at "60" in his 11th(!) season. It didn't mean McAlister sucked all that time, we just hadn't figured out that he was starting caliber.

Which given Bell's statistics should make you think we could have given him the benefit of doubt after what has been an acceptable sample size. Bell also showed he can run, when needed. And fumble after getting sacked, which accumulated to the number of turnovers. Yes, it's safe to say I was done with his fumbling, pretending to be (or more correctly, to me looking like he was any good), but I was looking though the rosy glasses, a tainted look. And now, there's no return, he's out.

It also means we'll soon be offering a contract to our two restricted free agent quarterbacks. One of them should be a decent kick holder to replace Bell, no?

Elsewhere, we're trying to trade away our first and second round draft picks. Is the draft class void of talent? Not quite, I think I've seen about 10 or so really good players that would be in our team's top 3 in raw talent, but maintaining the guys we have is the way to go. I have one particular player that we interviewed and is a guy that should last way beyond the first round, providing no other GM is seeing what I'm seeing. Or better yet, my coordinator is seeing, he's convinced the kid is very underrated.

So much for that now. Tomorrow we hope to be under the cap and get stuff going.