DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Dielman Could Top Guard Market -- Browns Apparently Interested

Bills' McGahee in play
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
February 24, 2007

Jason Cole
Yahoo! Sports

INDIANAPOLIS – New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese acknowledged Saturday that his team has heard from the Buffalo Bills regarding a possible trade for running back Willis McGahee, who has expressed unhappiness in Buffalo. A Bills source said Saturday there is growing unhappiness with McGahee from Buffalo's standpoint as well.

Reese said Saturday during a press conference at the NFL scouting combine: "There is some Willis McGahee talk, there is some talk about Willis out there … We'll investigate Willis, we'll do that. We'll investigate everybody out there with the trade talk. We'll leave no stone unturned as far as that goes."

The Giants lost starting running back Tiki Barber to retirement after last season. Barber and coach Tom Coughlin have exchanged verbal jabs since then, with Barber complaining that Coughlin overworked him during practice over the past couple of seasons.

Likewise, the 25-year-old McGahee complained last month about Buffalo, saying he is unhappy playing for the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2003. A Bills source said that McGahee's unhappiness seemed to affect his play last season.

McGahee didn't spend any time in Buffalo last offseason learning the new playbook under coach Dick Jauron. The Bills are expecting more of the same this offseason.

"Willis literally didn't know what to do on the plays," a source said. "After the play was called, we'd have another coach signaling to Willis what to do because he didn't know. He'd miss blocks [in pass protection] a few times, not because he was beat, but because he didn't know what he was doing.

"He just doesn't study. … His teammates noticed it, and it affected how they viewed him in the locker room."

McGahee missed two games last season and rushed for a career-low 990 yards. He averaged 3.8 yards per carry last season and has averaged 3.9 for his career.

McGahee has only one year left on his original contract, which could pressure the Bills to try to get something in trade before McGahee has a chance to leave as a free agent.

As for the Giants, Reese said the team hoped to have third-year back Brandon Jacobs take over as the starter this season. The interest in McGahee makes it obvious that such interest could be subject to change.

DIELMAN COULD TOP GUARD MARKET

San Diego guard Kris Dielman appears to be the most sought-after player among the offensive linemen who will be available in free agency.

Several executives indicated that Dielman will receive in excess of $6 million per year on his contract after the start of free agency Friday. That figure could top $7 million, perhaps making Dielman the highest paid interior lineman in the game.

Last year, Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson received a seven-year, $49 million deal from Minnesota to make him the highest paid interior lineman.

Dielman, who turned 26 this month, became a starter in 2005. He was an undrafted free agent in 2003 who started on the Chargers practice squad before becoming a top-flight left guard.

Among the teams supposedly most interested in Dielman are Cleveland, Miami and Dallas. Agent Mike McCartney declined to comment.

Beyond Dielman, Cincinnati guard Eric Steinbach, who also is considered a tackle by some teams, is expected to top the $6 million figure when he gets an official contract offer next week.

JENKINS MULLING EXTENSION

Green Bay defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins is mulling whether to accept a four-year contract extension from the Packers or accept being tendered as a restricted free agent.

Jenkins has been offered a deal worth approximately $16 million, according to a source. That includes roughly $7 million in guarantees. The deal is not a premium offer because of injury concerns. Jenkins has a chronically bad ankle and has had a shoulder injury during the first three years of his career after being an undrafted free agent.

Although Jenkins might opt for the security of the deal, the flip side is that it quickly could become outdated with the expected growth of contracts around the NFL. That could leave Jenkins underpaid by the third and fourth years of the deal.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, whose team has the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, was his pointed self Saturday with a series of humorous comments. But he did have one particularly good comment when asked about Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn by the Tampa area writers.

"Somebody asked me the other day why his stock is falling. Who said his stock was falling, the NFL Network?" Gruden said.

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 was under the assumption based on what I've read that Steinbach is considered the better of the two.

So why would they assume Steinbach would sign a contract for less money?

Yeah.......Dielman doen't get a contract like that in my book. No way. Hutchinson is a far better guard than any of the FA Guards this year. Like Hutchinson is an A and Dielman is a B. 6-7 mil per year, give me a break......

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I was under the assumption based on what I've read that Steinbach is considered the better of the two.

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I was under the same impression.. But hey,, more power to the kid of he can get the dough right!

I guess what that's saying is that if we got both of these guys, we would be paying out about 14 million or more per year not counting prorated signing bonus money,,, that's a lot,, (I don't think we will end up with both guys, but I'd be happy with one of them)

One thing for sure, if we ended up getting these guys and Fraley and Drafted Thomas and moved Shaffer to RT,,,, I'm guessing that the Oline won't be any reason (after they gel a little) for a lack of production from RB's and QB's etc,,,,,

We will finally, once and for all, know if Frye or Anderson is the man or not.... If not, then yes, it's time to move on..... JMO however

Well, I for one don't think Dielman is the best in the market..

Steinbach, in my mind, would suit us better..

But, what makes me happy that the Browns are interested and looking into 2 of the best offensive guards in the FA..

Which clears a path to draft Adrian Peterson

I agree OT - I'm not sure which is better, but let's hope we can get one of them...

those who believe Steinbach to be better...

not accusing anyone, but could that perception have something to do with Steinbach being a guy we talked about targetting prior to 04 draft?...i mean, there's name recognition there...he was expected to do well, and he has...meanwhile Dielman came out of nowhere as an UDFA...

i'm as guilty as the next guy with getting a bit too caught up in names i know vs names i don't...just thought that may be the case around here...

and as for either of em...they don't deserve to be on the Hutchinson payscale, but that's the nature of FA...if you're in a coveted position, you need only be the best available in your FA class to command an elite salary...and given that, i say pay the man!...

Nice post Vers... and I agree with you on building through the draft, but you hit the nail on the head when you said that they are still young... either one of these guys could be a starter for us for 6 or 7 years... I'm ok with paying some big bucks for them to come in and be a corner stone of our line..... but I still feel we need to draft at least 2 lineman in this years draft (and really should always draft at least one lineman a year)

Sure we need to draft.

The myth is many around here feel you have to overpay.....I say you don't....at least for the good players

Cincy and SD had these guys and they are losing them(more than likely) because they aren't paying.

The sad fact is the life cycle for a player on any team is about 4 years....once the contract is up, you lose way more than you keep.

Just the nature of the business. The only guys teams keep are their nameplates...the others end up leaving.

Good Pull Man...

This is where we're sitting...And it is directly related to the pee-poor drafting philosophies of Policy/Clark and Davis...THOSE 2 regimes should have had us set up at this stage...We should have linemen developing and be ready when a high pick or FA has come to the end of his contract...We should be able to let guys leave for the big bucks and have a replacement ON HAND...But we don't...

The next 2 years in particular we better have FOUR Linemen that will be ready to start on this line by 2009...Tell ya' why...

Bentley has a huge contract...

Shaffer has a huge contract

Steiner or Dielman will have a huge contract

Joe Thomas will have a huge contract

U CANNOT HAVE FOUR CONTRACTS THAT SIZE FOR LONG...

So we MUST invest QUICKLY to be replacing a Bentley/Shaffer in the next couple years...We're gonna sign a FA Guard next week...Whether it be Steiner or Dielman is all that's to be determined...

WE WILL NOT CARRY THESE GUYS THE LENGTH OF CONTRACT...

MY plan is this...

Sign Steinbach...Long term keeper just as tho we drafted em' and re-signed em' long term...He's a STUD...

Draft Thomas and forget about LT till 2020...He's a STUD...

Back him up with Sears or Blalock at 36...Low cost till re-sign time...STUDS...

Right there u have your LT and TWO Interior STUDS...Now u work your way to finding a Center and a RT for the future...One may come as a FA (Center)...The RT from the DRAFT...

It's gotta be done...U cannot carry FIVE 40+ M contracts on the line...I don't care how large the cap is....You're looking for trouble if u do...And I'm not talking being in Cap Hell and 15M OVER the Cap to have to PURGE...I'm talkin' being 7M UNDER the Cap and not being able to address other positions...Remember nearly 5M will always go towards DRAFT PICKS...

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The myth is many around here feel you have to overpay.....I say you don't....at least for the good players

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?????

How do you explain this?

Several executives indicated that Dielman will receive in excess of $6 million per year on his contract after the start of free agency Friday. That figure could top $7 million, perhaps making Dielman the highest paid interior lineman in the game.

Last year, Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson received a seven-year, $49 million deal from Minnesota to make him the highest paid interior lineman.


I have said it numerous times. GMs are not stupid. Good OL are extremely valuable and cost a ton of money.

Good stuff. I can't add much and won't. Just wanted to give you props.

Explain what??....I said I don't feel you do overpay for the good players.

You might for middle of the road guys when you get into a jam....but the good ones are going to make their cash. Drafting Steinback and Dieleman(or signing them to rookie deals) didn't help the Bengals or Chargers.

Teams in the NFL overpay all the time...

It's just a matter of how it works out (Ryan Leaf, Leonard Davis)

But if you overpay, and the player becomes a great player, then the player thinks he is worth the top dollar when he is not, just because he was overpayed a couple years back........

Point is, I don't want us to overpay for ANYBODY this draft, and FA.....I don't care who it is, because it's a big risk...

But who knows, it could be one of the best moves we might have made since 1999.....

I can't think of many occasions where you get a 5 year player by underpaying.

If you want to run on the cheap, you will always have a roster of rookies or not so good players.

Do not want Magahee. It would be one more Brababy.... Doesn't want to learn the playbook, only cares about himself. One more player doing the me, me, me, bit in the huddle. Just say NO to Magahee....

Dielman, or Steinbach either one or both. We need Guards, we need Tackles. I prefer Steinback. Why? If we still have Tucker, big question mark, and he has a relapse, we'd have someone who could fill in at Tackle, SHORT TERM.

If we pick up Thomas, that scenario doesn't happen, but I agree with Vers... I think if we pick up Dielman, Steinbach or both, Savage will skip Thomas for Peterson...... Shotgun approach, try to fix as much as possible in one year. It doesn't fix tackle, but it does improve the line and RB...

I expect Savage will try for Dielman, Steinbach, and Clements....and hopefully resign Hank.....

Just Clicking,,,

It's good to see we are looking at these two guys,,,, both/either would seem to be a huge upgrade from where we are.

Does anyone think we would/could sign both and maybe do something totally unexpected in the Draft,,, Like maybe taking Branch instead of Thomas, Quinn or Peterson as has been speculated from here to high heaven?

You know, I don't think I'd be upset with that at all! Branch may be a reach at 3,,, But he certainly appears to be solid..

And there is always the chance that we drop down a few picks,,, maybe Branch would still be there and we get another Second or more?

I think if Dielman and Steinbach ARE signed, you will see a tradedown if at all possible.
Then either Branch or Okoye, according to how far down we go.
Then you have 2 second rounders to address RB and OL, then go defense in the 3rd.
I would not be against that at all, you could get a right tackle, maybe someone who could grown into the left tackle in a couple of years.
JMO though.

Great post, Vers. I've been waiting for that for awhile now. Haha...just giving you a hard time.

I agree with all your points except for one. I think you have to consider that fact that Dielman is from Ohio and that could put Cleveland ahead of the other guys.

My biggest fear is the same: that Savage will ignore OL in the draft if he thinks he fixed the line in FA. I think that will be a big, big mistake.

I think the best scenario for us would be to land one of these guys and still focus on OL in the draft AS IF we hadn't addressed the line at all. We don't just need quality starters on the OL, we need quality guys that can come in and fill in for us when a starter goes down.

For some reason, I don't see that happening. But I'd be willing to pass on some incredible skill players and maybe not make a huge jump in improvement next year in order to draft Thomas and two guards with the 2nd and 3rd picks. And this would be on top of landing a top guard FA.

Let's start setting the table so the OL is never a weakness again. Cincy is losing Steinbach but they have a guy waiting in the wings next year that they drafted relatively high. I guarantee you their OL doesn't miss a beat.

We need to get to the point that through turnover or injury, our OL doesn't miss a beat.

Let's start this year.

What about Levi Brown?
I could see us trading down to between 7 & 10 and still getting our new LT and either another second round pick or Carr from Houston for trading picks so they could get Peterson.

Only way I see us taking Branch is if we trade down... I could see us trading down with Houston (so they can get Peterson) and then taking Branch at 8....

Sounds like the right range.....

I see 4 teams as trade partners....

Houston, Atlanta, Minn, and Det....Det as part of a 3 way trade after they trade down below us, then back up into our slot.

I can see Det trading with Minn or Atl who want Johnson, then them trading up with us into #3 to get Quinn.

wouldn't it b sweet if we pull what the chargers did few years back with manning and rivers? we draft quinn and rip someone off...tht b sweet

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I can see Det trading with Minn or Atl who want Johnson, then them trading up with us into #3 to get Quinn.

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Not disagreeing with ya, but for Detroit to trade with minnestoa who's in thier same division,it's gonna have to be a sweet deal for them, but heck it's the NFL anything can happen..we traded with the ratbirds last year.

Sign Steinbach...Long term keeper just as tho we drafted em' and re-signed em' long term...He's a STUD...


I say ...look at the options...see what the actual cost of Dielmen/Steinbach is gonna be..Opie also has to see how he's gonna attack the Dline/CB in FA..it might be he lands a top tier OG or he may go to the next best..but I still want him to get D.Dockery at RG...

Getting Dielman or Steinbach along with Dockery would do wonders for our OL. Getting Fraley back is a must.

I also think we need to address DL in free agency, but who out there would work best for us?

Defensive line in free agency is extremely thin. Corey Redding and Charles Grant were candidates for defensive end. Both have been tagged. Terdell Sands was a popular choice but reupped with Oakland already. Ian Scott from Chicago could be a 3-4 end. Hollis Thomas is old but might still have a little left in the tank and could play NT. Tony Williams from Jacksonville could be a stop gap at DE. But anyway you slice it, the free agency market is thin for DL.

Also keep this name in mind for a possible center..Al Johnson of the Cowboys...

Well, I dont know why my thread got deleted since I denoted it as "rumor", I really think a "lock" or quick PM would do the trick...what did I do wrong? Duplicate threads? Ok, here it goes again:

"Indy media is reporting a deal between linebacker London Fletcher and the Redskins is done....The deal I hear is almost done is Kris Dielman going to Cleveland, because of LaCharles Bentley's possible career ending injury and the fact that his longtime Chargers coach is now the new OC in Cleveland....I got some hits on Donte Stallworth too -- it looks like its Tennessee and San Francisco, because they seem willing to pay the price....As for Tennessee, their deal with Travis Henry fell through on guaranteed money, so he could be a cut.....Wide receiver Drew Bennett could get some love from San Francisco, Oakland and Atlanta."

linky: http://www.draftdaddy.com/blog/blog.cfm

We should know in a couple of days, the bigger names often go fast....

I'd love to have him, but I agree with what Vers posted the other day about building through the draft, to an extent. You gotta have a good balance between the two, and we never have since our return.

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but I agree with what Vers posted the other day about building through the draft, to an extent. You gotta have a good balance between the two, and we never have since our return.

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This is the year we SHOULD begin the process...

Sowells was a start...Even as depth...

IMO Shaffer's a short termer...He'll never see all 7 years of that contract...

I look at Bentley as OUR Draft Pick that Studds out and we re-signed him long term to keep him from FA...

I look at Dielman and Steinbach the same way...

Hopefully GONE are the days of signing ANCIENT [censored]'s to short term contracts...It's killin' us...Literally KILLIN' US...

Damn I wanna trade down to 7 and get Peterson there...Minny comes up for Johnson ahead of Tampa and we end up with 2 HIGH 2's...

Staley and Blalock...It just makes SENSE...

Oak--Russell
Det---Thomas
Minny---Johnson
TB---Quinn
Defense
Defense
Cleve---Peterson

I don't see any difference between building through the draft or FA. Now, the way we have done it in FA hasn't been right, signing 34 year old washed up guards. Guys like Bentley and possibly Dielman are different....they are entering their prime. No reason they couldn't play 5-7 years,except for the injury factor, but that can happen to anyone at any time, so you can't really factor that.

It is overpaying when you sign some guy who is nearly washed up.....but not for a guy like Dielman. If he was a "homegrown" product, we would still have to pay him what we are going to pay him now if we wanted to keep him. Drafting a kid and losing him after his rookie contract is up isn't building a line IMO.

That said.....in no way am I sugguesting we don't spend high picks on linemen....not at all. All I am saying is there are several ways to build a line, and which way you do it doesn't really matter.

To me, the NFL is all about 4-5 year windows. As long as the player you sign can produce in that window, that is all you can really expect. It doesn't matter to me if it is in his 1st through 5th year in the league, or his 6th through 10th.