Free Agency 2009

[rajuncajun]

Totally agree with you DWID about Strief, when he played last year he was above average, and held his own. I am REALLY hoping that we (The Saints) have at least 2 brothers starting on the OL next year to give us 6 (Brees, Karney, Shockey, Karney and the OL's) as well as 3-4 on Defense. A solid white brother #1 pick like Laurenities or Cushing would help. We also need to sing a couple of backup OL guys as well...

 

[white is right]

LB Mike Vrabel has been traded from the New England Patriots to the Kansas City Chiefs for draft picks. Ex-Pats front office executive Scott Pioli has added a familiar face for some veteran leadership and solid play.

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The Steelers have re-signed G Chris Kemoatu to a four-year, $20 million deal, $6 million guaranteed.

LINK

The Titans and QB Kerry Collins are reportedly close to a new two-year deal. Collins has allegedly been promised the starting job in 2009.

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I don't understand the trade from a New England perspective. Cassel showed that he is more than a competent starter and Vrabel is a fringe All-Pro type. A 2nd rounder seems below what one player is worth, let alone both.

 

[Don Wassall]

Vrabel will be 34 before the new season starts. A year from now he might have no trade value whatsoever. Cassel is due to make a huge amount of money this year even though he is still practically a rookie when it comes to experience, and the Patriots have Tom Brady. So they get an extra high draft pick and unload about $18 millionin salariesthey can use to sign some free agents with and only weaken themselves a bit at LB, where they're in the process of reloading anyway.

 

[Thrashen]

As far as Mike Furrey going to the Patriots, I wouldnt hold my breath. The NFL's racial politics simply dont work that way. Don't forget, the Pats still have Ray Ventrone, a ST / CB / S / WR.


However, ifFurrey were to sign with NE, I'm sure super-scrubs like Kelly Washington, Sam Aiken, or Matt Slater would be considered for the WR spots over him.


I also heard Furrey to the Bears, where WR's go to die. In Chicago, Furreycan fade into the same racist oblivion as BrockForsey, Eddie Berlin, DavidBall, and MikeHass.


I'm actually most shocked that Jacksonville signed Sean Considine with the intention of starting him. I thought for sure his career was over after the tongue-lashing he recieved while starting in Philly. He's one of the best tacklers in football, but those kind of things dont matter much.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

has there been any word on Matt Jones?

i'd sure like it if he went to either the Colts, Broncos, or Patriots.

 

[Don Wassall]

Jones will be in the final season of his original five year contract in '09.

 

[celticdb15]

Its interesting that McDaniels went after David Anderson right away trying to find his Wes Welker? Houston matched his offer though didnt they? So will Anderson stay or go? I guess they can only go after the already apprenticed and establsihed white slot players. You know its too much of a risk to draft and develop your own "Wes Welker"

 

[dwid]

Ward goes to Bucs, hope this is good news for Hillis

 

[dwid]

Does anyone know anything about Igor Olshansky? Is he a good player? someone on a saints forum suggested we get him, i dont think he was resigned. He was called just a big stiff and someone who benefited from the other players on the line. I called BS even though im not familiar with him or Dlinemen. They said we dominated him all day in the Saints Chargers game and i watched it and he didnt look like he got dominated from what i saw. I made the video of every defensive snap from the first quarter, but i have to go to school.

If he is solid i wouldnt mind the Saints getting him. One thing i have noticed on that Saints board, if enough people post on there about certain players or certain things the FO seems to take notice, and it has been said several times that players and personell read it. Charles Grant used the board as a leverage to get his big contract, saying about all the people that liked him and thought he deserved it. I dont know how much they go by what some msg board fans say (although many are season ticket holders) there seem to have been some odd coincidences, and they may take into consideration the fans opinions, so it doesnt hurt to stick up for the White players that get bashed all the time. Last time that happened the Snow Patrol gained Vilma, who is solid at best and LB was not our main problem.

Igor

 

[Don Wassall]

I'd call Olshansky an average DL, kind of a disappointment considering his brute strength. I read yesterday that the Packers were trying hard to sign him.


Jim Leonhard signed a three year deal with the Jets and looks to be the starter at free safety.

 

[dwid]

Well if Igor is solid i wouldnt mind having him, beats having Hollis Thomas who cant even stay in shape.
Damn I was hoping the Saints would get Leonhard. They are currently bringing in Heath Evans and Leonard Weaver to look at for fullback.
I love Mike Karney though, and dont want to get rid of him. If anything they better be signing Heath Evans to solve our power running game, as a HB. Karney is one of the best blocking fullbacks in the league, it makes no sense to get rid of him. All the fans want to, they want a more "athletic fullback" like Hester or Hillis when in reality those guys should be halfbacks. I keep mentioning, since fullbacks get maybe one or two passes a game and a few touches, why put someone so talented in that role and basically waste the talent? Leave the blocking to guys like Mike Karney, who are good at what fullbacks do in the league right now, LEAD BLOCK.

 

[whiteathlete33]

By brute strength I would suppose you mean Olshansky's reported 515 lb bench press. Wikipedia has him doing 43 reps on the bench at the 2004 combine. Is that accurate? Does anyone know? I just noticed Mike Kudla, former Ohio state player, had a 610 pound bench press raw.Edited by: whiteathlete33

 

[whiteCB]

By brute strength I would suppose you mean Olshansky's reported 515 lb bench press. Wikipedia has him doing 43 reps on the bench at the 2004 combine. Is that accurate? Does anyone know? I just noticed Mike Kudla, former Ohio state player, had a 610 pound bench press raw.

Yeah Kudla broke the all time bench press record at Ohio St with a 610 lbs lift! He also tied the 225 lbs repetition record at the 2006 NFL Combine. The man was a pure beast in the weight room. Somehow he never managed to get drafted despite all this and being an all Big 10 pick his senior year, hmmmm I wonder why?? He signed a free agent contract with the Steelers, torn his hamstring in training camp, and has never really been heard of since.

 

[Freethinker]

Jim Leonhard info: He is expected to start at strong safety along side Kerry Rhodes. He will also be the primary punt returner. He will displace Abram Elam at the position. Eric Smith will be the other backup safety.

link

I love this move for Jim. He is reunited with Rex Ryan who absolutely loves the way he plays. Ryan seems to be very fair to white players on the defensive side of the ball, so I'm hoping the Jets will get whiter with caste boy Mangini gone.

As for the Ravens, hopefully Tommy Z will take advantage of the opening and win the starting spot along side old man Reed.Edited by: Freethinker

 

[Taco]

Do you mean eric smith will be the primary punt returner or leonard?

 

[Gi-15]

leonhard

 

[Jack Lambert]

The Ravens signed C Matt Birk, the former Viking, so they'll have one more white starter on the O-Line next year, assuming Terry can beat out old sumo Willie Anderson.

http://profootball.scout.com/2/844316.html

 

[dwid]

Saints officially release FB Mike Karney, this is a very sad day for me.
The only way i will feel somewhat okay is if we pick up Heath Evans, i hope we do. The other option is Leonard Weaver, but i dont know much about him and dont want him either way.

edit: MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED, WE GOT HEATH EVANS, Thank god it wasnt Weaver. I am still heartbroken about Karney. I was dreaming of a i formation line up with karney at fullback and evans at hb. that would have been a force to reckon with

Its amazing how many saints fans dont give a crap about Mike Karney, the guy that played his heart out paving the way for Deuce Mcallister, he was a vital part in Deuce's success. They cried when Deuce was released. The guy that paved the way for him gets no love whatsoever? it is ridiculous.

There is speculation that they got rid of him because he made some comments about pierre thomas being the main back, and didnt mention much about reggie bush. It has been said he doesnt like Bush. I wouldnt either, he doesnt follow his blocks that are set up for him. He didnt bash Bush on the radio, but he just praised Pierre and said hes going to be THE guy. If he got released because of that, that is ridiculousEdited by: dwid

 

[Gi-15]

This is insane, Karney is the best pure lead blocker in the league. Somebody will pick him up and be most pleased.

Heath Evans is a better fit for Payton's offense though...

 

[dwid]

yeah he will fit better in the offense, but i have loyalty to Karney, i dont see why othe fans of the Saints dont, he was one of my favorite Saints players, and now he gets no respect, people saying "i wont miss him". Also, we struggled in the running game which hurt us some, because of the sumo line that missed assignments and got no push, the last thing to do is get rid one of the best lead blockers (ive seen him take on 3 guys before). Karney is more of a pure blocker and Payton was talking about using the power running game more last season when we failed on several short yardage situations causing us to lose the game, of course Evans is good at blocking but Karney is one of the best. So im guessing the coach was full of crap about running more and is going to do things his way. He better utilize Evans to his full potential (carries, catches), otherwise whats the point of having a more versatile player if he doesnt see the ball?

of course im not familiar with how good of a blocker Evans is, but i know he can run and catch. So hopefully Payton is not stupid and utilizes that. Im just happy we didnt get Leonard Weaver like fans wantedEdited by: dwid

 

[white lightning]

Latest rumor is the Broncos are shopping Tony Scheffler around(poss. Cle.)and considering moving Peyton Hillis back to fullback. What a joke! This is the worst news yet if it happens. They did go get a couple of running backs so it doesn't look good for Hillis.

 

[White Power]

Igor Olshansky signs with the Dallas Cowboys which is suprising in some respects. By the way do you guys know that Olshansky is a Ukranian Jew that immigrated to this country at a very young age. Any way I hope he does better than the brota's he'll be competing against, and ends up starting for the Cowboys. Edited by: White Power

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Igor Olshansky is ridiculously strong; I think he made the Combine list of top performers in the Decade in the bench press. He's athletic enough to play DE OR DT.

 

[Thrashen]

Olshanky is as strong as they come, however, he's hasnt really accomplished too much on the field.


He's one of the incredibly few white players allowed to start on defense who IS NOT an undeniably outstanding player.


If you look at every white defensive starter in the NFL, 9 times out of 10 he's one of the absolute best players at his position in the NFL....that's the only reason he's there. Generic white players are few and far between.

 

[White Power]

I think he has the chance to be a pro-bowler if he steps up his game, and plays up tp his talent level.