DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Adalius Thomas

Zack ( Pa): Whats your thoughts on Dwayne Bowe and who New England will take with their two picks in rd. 1?

Mel Kiper: I think NE's needs are CB, WR and LB. You would think that those two picks will come from those positions. Who could they get? Is Leon Hall gonna be there? I don't think so, so they'll have to go up and get him. In the mid-'90s they got Ty Law in this spot, but I don't see it happening this time. Dwayne Bowe had a great year, and excellent Sr. Bowl week. He's big, fast and tough. I have him going to Carolina in the middle of the first round. The name I hear at LB for NE is Patrick Willis from Ole Miss. It will be interesting to see if they get aggressive and move up and get a Leon Hall or Dwayne Bowe with one of those picks. There's also talk about them going for Adalius Thomas in free agency, which could change things. There's a variety of teams interested in him, but you hear Cincinnati and New England the most.

Granted this is from Kiper who makes his living being wrong, but it took me by surprise to see us even mentioned.

well....your LBs are messed up right now.....whats the status on pollack(sp?)
And brooks who u wasted your 3rd round pick this year for isn't that great either....cuz of his off the field prbs...hell all of them have off the field prbs.....i'm not that surprised if u ask me...

Brooks was good when he played...he had something like 15 tackles in the Tampa screwjob. But he didn't play down the stretch b/c he was making the same mistakes Odell made, over pursuit, being out of position, and Marvin felt like Caleb Miller had more experience. He's been a model citizen so far.(bengals/model citizen sure sounds weird in the same sentence). It remains to be seen if he can stay out of trouble. Assuming he isn't in trouble, I think he'll pry the starting SAM LB this year.

As for Pollack, I've read that he has started rehab but there is no real time table for his return. If he can play football again, I wouldn't look for him anytime until late 07 or possibly 08. I sure hope he returns, but hope is the key word.

Cap room may be issue in decision on Thomas
By Jamison Hensley
Sun reporter
Originally published February 15, 2007
A week before the NFL deadline, the Ravens remain undecided whether to use the franchise tag to keep All-Pro linebacker Adalius Thomas.

The bigger question, however, is whether they have enough salary cap room to do so.





By using the tag for 2007, the Ravens can keep Thomas from becoming a free agent by paying him $7.2 million, which is the average of the five highest-paid linebackers in the league.

But it has been estimated that the Ravens have less than $3 million in cap space.

Asked whether the Ravens have to make cap room to use the tag, general manager Ozzie Newsome said yesterday: "We have not made a decision yet."

The deadline to use the tag is next Thursday.

The Ravens are expected to clear $3.3 million in cap room when they cut Jamal Lewis before the running back receives a $5 million roster bonus next month.

But that might be the only cap savings for the Ravens because Newsome said he doesn't expect the team to cut anyone else before free agency begins in March.

With not enough cap space, it could be difficult for the Ravens to keep Thomas.

Thomas, 29, finished with a career-high 11 sacks this season and ranked third on the team with 106 tackles.

Asked whether the Ravens have begun talks on a long-term deal with Thomas, Newsome said, "Not at this point."

Thomas' agent, Bus Cook, did not return phone calls.

Thomas would be a lucrative free agent for several teams, especially the San Francisco 49ers, who have an estimated $38 million in cap space. The 49ers are coached by former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who always considered Thomas the most valuable piece of the defense.

If Thomas goes elsewhere, the Ravens could try to sign Indianapolis Colts free-agent linebacker Cato June or re-sign underrated backup Jarret Johnson.

But if the Ravens create enough space to use the tag on Thomas, they would retain all the starters on the NFL's top-ranked defense.

The franchise tag allows a team to keep a player from becoming a free agent that season by paying him the average salary of the five highest-paid players at his position. Thomas still could sign a long-term deal with another team, but the Ravens would receive two first-round picks for compensation, making such a scenario unlikely.

The Ravens have been reluctant to use the tag in the past because it creates animosity by keeping the player off the free-agent market. The last time the Ravens used the tag was to keep cornerback Chris McAlister in 2003 and 2004.

Without the tag, Thomas would become an unrestricted free agent March 2. The possibility of letting Thomas leave was recently criticized by Ravens safety Ed Reed.

"You hate to see the Ravens even put him in this kind of predicament," Reed told Yahoo Sports at the Pro Bowl. "That goes to show you how shady and how bad the business is and how bad certain organizations are. ... He has been nothing but loyal to them. Not only the city, but the organization. If he gets away, it's a terrible decision on their part. It was a terrible decision to even let it get this far."


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Just a couple of thoughts on Thomas:

1. He's going to be looking for the absolute max he can get, which is going to exceed the "tag" 7.x million/year, not including a sizeable SB.
2. Thomas is an exceptional player in an excepitonal defense designed by Rex Ryan. It remains to be seen how well Thomas will do in another system -- even another 3-4 system. Because Ryan does not run a traditional 3-4. Thomas has a lot of freedom to be creative in Ryan's system, and that might not translate over so well into a different setup. But Thomas is a superb athlete, and he should do relatively well in any system.
3. Someone here mentioned a 3-year deal. That would seem to fit, given Thomas' age -- but he works out and stays in shape in the off season, so he might have more than 3 years of top tier play left.
4. The most likely team to get Thomas would probably be the 49ers, because of their cap room and because of the connection between Mike Nolan and Thomas. If the Browns do get him, they will be getting one of the best LBs in the game.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Av...o&type=lgns

INDIANAPOLIS – Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas was not franchised by the Baltimore Ravens and is expected to be one of the highest-profile free agents available this year.

The Ravens announced their decision Thursday afternoon after being unable to put the franchise tag on Thomas, which effectively would have taken him off the free-agent market.

Thomas and Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements are expected to be the top two free agents who will be available in what is considered a very shallow free-agent market. Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome had hoped to find a way to keep Thomas, who had a career-high 11 sacks last season and had 28 over the past three years.


Jason Cole is a national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jason a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

I'd love to have him here, but I just don't see it happening.

Quote:

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Thomas and Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements are expected to be the top two free agents who will be available in what is considered a very shallow free-agent market.

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Thats not good....that means they can ask for TON of money and the teams would have to pay cuz there is nobody else...boo

I will be happy if the browns pick up ONE of these w/o breaking the bank.... one can always dream