NFL 2011 Post-Lockout, Pre-Season Thread

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The CBA is in the bag. Ten years, no opt-out. Enjoy the next decade free of labor disputes (except for the whole 18-game regular season stuff, which will fire back up again in a couple of years - but at least there will be football).

Free agency begins very soon. Let the chatter begin.

Our long national nightmare is over!

I have a feeling that I won't be doing anything at work tomorrow but constantly refreshing PFT for free agency signings and trades.

I'm ready for some football!

First the lockout ends and then GWJ gets a new NFL thread, today rocks!

Chatter!

The Bucs need a CB, but I'd prefer Jonathan Joseph over Asomugha. Nnamdi's a better player, but Joseph is younger and has some great skills on his own, and Asomugha's "lock everybody within five miles" ability isn't needed as much in the Bucs' defense. For Tampa, re-sign Davin Joseph ASAP; he was injured last year and played not at all well, but, when healthy, he's really been a phenomenal run-blocker. Steal Tyson Clabo from Atlanta for RT and then set Jeremy Trueblood on fire.

Keep Aqib Talib for now, with the understanding he do counseling yadda yadda all that. He's a pinhead, but damn, is he a talented pinhead. Give the Bucs Talib and Joseph or Talib and Asomugha, and just try to pass against them.

Edit: Oh, and re-sign Cadillac Williams. Sure, he's lost his burst with the dual knee surgeries, but he's a great 3rd-down back. He's an excellent receiver, great blitz pick-up guy, and he really helped Josh Freeman last year by pointing out the defensive tendencies.

Woo!

Looking forward to hearing about Eagles CB and WR pickups, and NOT talking about Brett Favre!

Jacksonville looks poised to do some spending in free agency for defensive help.

A veteran safety is a no-brainer. Eric Weddle will get a long look. He'll be costly but he's only 26.

Linebacker will be targeted too, although it could be veteran depth more so than a starter. If they can find a starting middle linebacker, they'd like that. If not, they could keep Kirk Morrison and try to get another outside linebacker. Daryl Smith is the lone "star" of the group. Justin Durant is a bit of an underachiever in part to recurring injury, so another outside linebacker to fill his spot may be in the cards.

They could still use more of a pass rush, but they've got some good young investments going on the opposite side of Aaron Kampman, and I don't see them spending what it will cost to get anyone more promising than what they have. Maybe a rotational veteran?

After the team re-signs Marcedes Lewis, they will still have cap room that they have to use up.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Steal Tyson Clabo from Atlanta for RT and then set Jeremy Trueblood on fire.

I can't imagine Atlanta will let him get away very easily.

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

I'm feeling Asomugha to Houston. They badly want a difference maker on defense. A real one, not a linebacker with heavily padded tackle stats due to a bad D-line and generous stat counting.

Weee, and I got into the work fantasy football league today with a bunch of people who appear to be not good at it! Maybe worse than me!

Oh great; now I have to think of stuff to write for the regular season. And find pictures.

Kolb will be in Arizona by the end of the week. Probably traded at midnight tonight. That's my bet.

*Legion* wrote:

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

Not to mention the Bengals. I read somewhere the other day they only have around 65 million in salary against the cap right now. Imagine Mike Brown having to open his wallet for another 40 million? He must be going crazy.

LeapingGnome wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

Not to mention the Bengals. I read somewhere the other day they only have around 65 million in salary against the cap right now. Imagine Mike Brown having to open his wallet for another 40 million? He must be going crazy.

Last year, the Bucs spent $84m, the Bengals $93m. Yes, even Mike Brown spent more.

*Legion* wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Steal Tyson Clabo from Atlanta for RT and then set Jeremy Trueblood on fire.

I can't imagine Atlanta will let him get away very easily.

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

I thought there was no team salary floor for 2011 just a league collective min.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

Not to mention the Bengals. I read somewhere the other day they only have around 65 million in salary against the cap right now. Imagine Mike Brown having to open his wallet for another 40 million? He must be going crazy.

Last year, the Bucs spent $84m, the Bengals $93m. Yes, even Mike Brown spent more.

Ah, here is the Clayton article where I saw the $60m number, it assumes Palmer and Ochocinco are gone.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/67...

The last thing Bengals owner Mike Brown needs is more cap room. If Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco aren't on the roster, the payroll goes to $60 million, and Brown will be forced to spend $46.8 million just to reach the league's new cash floor
*Legion* wrote:

I'm feeling Asomugha to Houston. They badly want a difference maker on defense. A real one, not a linebacker with heavily padded tackle stats due to a bad D-line and generous stat counting.

I hope so. Houston sports radio has been talking about him since the season ended, and a lot of the talk has been "Why the hell would he want to come here?"

I really hope our new DC can turn it around. We've been very good* on offense, and pathetic on D.

*most of the time

Holy crap. The Ravens are going to cut McGahee (expected), Todd Heap (surprised), Derrick Mason (somewhat surprised) and Kelly Gregg (not much of a surprise).

Clearly these are salary cap moves, but I really hope they manage to bring Heap back. Those young TEs didn't look ready last year.

Panthers owner Jerry Richardson in a letter to fans wrote:

You have my assurance we will make the necessary investments and aggressively pursue every avenue to make that dream come true.

After last year's fire sale, I hope to hell he lives up to what he says. Carolina was way under the floor last year, so they've got money to burn. Problem is, I think they're going to spend in on D. Williams and Charles Johnson.

P.S.: I have three dates circled -- Sept. 25 vs. Jax, Dec. 4 at Tampa Bay and Dec. 24 vs. Tampa. Should be three easy wins right there.

If Carolina doesn't resign Johnson then something's severely wrong in their organization.

Enix wrote:
Panthers owner Jerry Richardson in a letter to fans wrote:

You have my assurance we will make the necessary investments and aggressively pursue every avenue to make that dream come true.

After last year's fire sale, I hope to hell he lives up to what he says. Carolina was way under the floor last year, so they've got money to burn. Problem is, I think they're going to spend in on D. Williams and Charles Johnson.

P.S.: I have three dates circled -- Sept. 25 vs. Jax, Dec. 4 at Tampa Bay and Dec. 24 vs. Tampa. Should be three easy wins right there. :D

Well, with all we've seen from Cam Newton in training camp, there's certainly reason for optimism. I mean, he smiles well.

Charles Johnson had one good year, and he's going to get very rich somewhere. He and Jason Babin should go somewhere together and perform as the One-Year Wonder line.

I can concede your point about Babin, but it wasn't like Johnson was a bust before. He's only been in the league 4 years now. And he backed up Peppers before, so ...

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Well, with all we've seen from Cam Newton in training camp, there's certainly reason for optimism. I mean, he's not Jimmy Clausen.

FTFY.

Smart money is on the Panthers re-signing DeAngelo. Which means Cam will have to learn to hand off.

That also means the rest of the NFC South will need some depth on their D-line.

LeapingGnome wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

But the good news is, new CBA = strict salary floor = Glazers gotta spend = Milkman gets some free agent action.

Not to mention the Bengals. I read somewhere the other day they only have around 65 million in salary against the cap right now. Imagine Mike Brown having to open his wallet for another 40 million? He must be going crazy.

Last year, the Bucs spent $84m, the Bengals $93m. Yes, even Mike Brown spent more.

Ah, here is the Clayton article where I saw the $60m number, it assumes Palmer and Ochocinco are gone.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/67...

The last thing Bengals owner Mike Brown needs is more cap room. If Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco aren't on the roster, the payroll goes to $60 million, and Brown will be forced to spend $46.8 million just to reach the league's new cash floor

I heard Boomer Esiason talking about this earlier. It'll be interesting to see how the Bengals spend their money.

garion333 wrote:

I can concede your point about Babin, but it wasn't like Johnson was a bust before. He's only been in the league 4 years now. And he backed up Peppers before, so ...

It was pure snark, to annoy Enix. I would most definitely take Johnson over Babin (last year screams fluke, at his age) or Ray Edwards, who has to have had one of the easiest jobs around in the past, as it's not like anybody's double-teamed him with Jared Allen and the Williams Wall playing next to him. Suffice to say, with Johnson, having a breakout year as (A) the best defensive player on a terrible team (B) in a contract year = red flags.

Bengals should resign Boomer.

Leroyog wrote:

Bengals should resign Boomer.

I hear Icky Woods is coming back to replace Cedric Benson.

All they need then is James Brooks, Eddie Brown and Tim McGee.....SuperBowl!

TheGameguru wrote:

I thought there was no team salary floor for 2011 just a league collective min.

Technically, yes. In 2011 and 2012, the teams must collectively spend 99% of the salary cap. Effectively, all teams will be using up their cap room.

Going forward, 2013-2020, the cap floor becomes 89%, but there remains a league-wide 95% collective minimum. So, for any one team to be down by 89%, other teams must be exceeding 95% to keep the average up.

89% will heretofore be referred to as "the Glazer Line".

I find the music from the latest US Bank commercial they play during PFT Live's commercial breaks to be fitting.

Giants sign Herzlich from Boston College. I'm really rooting for him to do well there.

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