DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Free Agents Part II

Another story links Chad Henne to the Jets

Saints place exclusive franchise tag on Drew Brees

Not that anyone thought he'd be available . . .

Nicks...

Signing Colston and Tolbert would make me very happy...good fits, both as professional as it gets...would be quality additions to this team and upgrade our Offense considerably

Seems like Colston is always hurt

He isn't the most durable, but he still managed to reach 1k yds in 5 of his 6 seasons, he's not a quitter and plays hurt....he's 6'4, in his prime years and knows the WCO inside out...he's the #1 WR we need imho. He would allow to put every other WR we have in their best suited position (Little to no2, Cribbs to no4, Massa off the roster)

Colston and Tolbert are those late round/UDFA guys that have come a long way..like Rubin I don't think their production falls off once they've signed a big contract...and that's my biggest fear when it comes to FAs

link

Asked about Marshawn Lynch at the NFL Scouting Combine, coach Pete Carroll spoke directly to the importance of the team retaining its leading rusher and the player around which the Seahawks have built their offense.

“We have big plans for him being with us,” Carroll said. “He knows that. And he understands that. And we’re just working it out right now.”

That was 10 days ago, and the work came to fruition Sunday when Lynch signed a multiyear contract to remain with the team that acquired him a 2010 trade with the Buffalo Bills.

"We are excited to keep Marshawn as an important part of what we are building," general manager John Schneider said after the deal was finalized. "This is what we were hoping for when we acquired him from Buffalo."

Seattle was where Lynch wanted to be.

“I mean I would like to come back,” he said as the players were cleaning out their cubicles in the locker that day after the season-ending loss to the Arizona Cardinals. “Sure, I’d like to stay here. But that’s not up to me.”

Seattle is where Lynch was going to stay, even if it meant the Seahawks designating him as their franchise player. The deadline for naming franchise players is Monday. But both sides preferred a long-term contract, rather than the one-season tag, and the ongoing negotiations intensified as the deadline approached.

“Everything’s going to fall into place,” Lynch had said when asked about the uncertainty of his future. “There’s not too much I can do about it but just wait.”

As for hitting the open market, he added, “Hopefully I don’t have to. Hopefully I can get taken care of where I’m at.”

Hope became reality on Sunday, when the waiting was finally over for Lynch and the Seahawks.

Lynch, who won’t turn 26 until next month, became the key ingredient in the zone-blocking scheme installed last season by assistant head coach/offensive line coach Tom Cable. Despite getting off to a slow start (an average of 91.7 rushing yards through nine games) and then losing three starting linemen in during a four-week period in November and December, Lynch and the running game flourished in the second half of the season – as he had six 100-yard rushing performances in the final nine games, and the team won five of its final eight games after starting 2-6.

“It’s very encouraging,” Lynch said of the drastic improvement shown by the running game. “Just to know that if we call a run play, we know we can run it and get success out of. You’ve got to be real pleased with that, being a running back, and knowing that they’re going to get the job done. And they’re young and are going to get better.”

Lynch finished his first full season in Seattle with career-best totals in rushing yards (1,204) and touchdowns (13). He became the team’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Shaun Alexander in 2005 and broke Alexander’s record set that season (nine) by scoring a touchdown in 11 consecutive games. Lynch also caught 28 passes, tying the second-highest total of his five-season NFL career.

After being acquired Oct. 5, 2010, in a trade that cost the Seahawks two middle-round draft choices, Lynch led the team with 573 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, and also posted a career-best 4.4-yard average.

But with Lynch, it’s not just the yards he gains and the touchdowns he scores, but how he does it – with a “Beast Mode” style that has to be seen to be believed. And the closer, the better.

At the Combine, Bucky Brooks said no back in the league runs as hard as Lynch. “Without question. No doubt. No one else runs that hard, with that determination,” said Brooks, a former NFL wide receiver and scout for the Seahawks who is now an analyst for NFL.com.

During the season, and on several occasions, Pro Bowl fullback Michael Robinson marveled at what Lynch was able to accomplish – especially the way he accomplished it. At one point, Robinson said he never had seen a back generate as much power on one leg as Lynch – which explains his ability to emerge from piles of would-be tacklers and gain yards that just don’t seem to be there.

“That’s the way he is. That’s the type of guy he is,” Robinson said. “He walks aggressively. Marshawn does everything he does aggressively.

“That’s what you like about him.”

Lynch and Robinson also were teammates in the Pro Bowl, as Lynch led the NFC with 43 yards on eight carries. Each had been an alternate in balloting for the NFL all-star game; each was added to the NFC squad as an injury replacement.

It would have been extremely difficult to replace what Lynch brings to the Seahawks’ offense, huddle and locker room if he had been allowed to sign elsewhere in free agency. That’s why the team was ready to give him the franchise tag. That’s why the multiyear contract was the preferred – and better – option.

Because as last season proved, as Lynch goes, so go the Seahawks. That fact was not lost on the Seahawks’ opponents, especially after Lynch became the first player to score a rushing touchdown against the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers last season and also snapped their 36-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher.

“That’s the way Marshawn Lynch plays all the time,” Harbaugh said after Lynch’s Week 16 efforts. “I couldn’t say if there’s a difference from Game One to this game, or throughout his whole career.

“He’s just a great back.”

And now Lynch will remain the Seahawks’ lead back, as he tries to lead them back to the playoffs and the team’s first winning record since 2007.

hopefully this doesnt jack up the asking price for Hillis

Wow

If Tampa doesn't grab Richardson, I wonder who will now? Cincy? What if they re-sign Benson? Hmmm...

I get sick thinking about Richardson to the Bengals. And I HIGHLY doubt they're bringing Benson back...

Nope, wouldn't argue w/ that draft either . . .

Titans expected to franchise tag safety Michael Griffin

According to USA Today, Lynch's deal is 4 years, $31M, $18M guaranteed. I have no idea what effect this has on negotiations with Hillis.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/...ract/53359826/1

The Houston Texans have reached agreement on a five-year contract with running back Arian Foster, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

In his second season as the Texans' starter, Foster ran for 1,224 yards and 10 touchdowns and made his second Pro Bowl this season despite sitting out three games.

Foster's career has taken off after the 25-year old went undrafted out of Tennessee in 2009 despite running for 2,964 yards in his four-year career.

Foster was picked up by the Texans as a free agent, released that September and then signed to Houston's practice squad the next day. He made the active roster that November after injuries to Houston's other running backs and ran for 257 yards in six games.

After becoming Houston's starter in 2010, Foster finished the season with an NFL-best 1,615 yards rushing and league-leading 2,220 yards from scrimmage.

This season, Foster and second-year back Ben Tate helped the Texans weather injuries to starting quarterback Matt Schaub and backup Matt Leinart. The two-headed backfield led Houston and rookie T.J. Yates to the Texans' first AFC South title, first playoff appearance and first postseason victory.

link

I was thinking more in terms of their relative value, based on production. Lynch has better numbers, but Peyton Hillis definitely has better teeth.

Marshawn Lynch's Grill

I guess that means that Houston will be able to franchise Mario Williams, if they can't sign him. Too bad, he was on my wish list.

I dont think they're franchising Williams, they'd pay him 22 mil for the season

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7647122/buffalo-bills-sign-stevie-johnson-extension

The Buffalo Bills signed wide receiver Stevie Johnson to a contract extension Monday, the team announced.

The Bills didn't disclose terms of the agreement, but a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Johnson received a five-year, $36.25 million deal that includes $19.5 million guaranteed and over $24 million in the contract's first three years.


Stevie Johnson
#13 WR
Buffalo Bills
2011 STATS
Rec
76
Yds
1004
TD
7
Avg
13.2
Long
55
YAC
325
Johnson, 25, led the Bills with 76 catches, joining Eric Moulds as the only Bills receivers to have 75 in consecutive seasons.

He also became the first Bills receiver in the franchise's 52-year history to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He finished with 1,004 yards.

Johnson, however, was penalized twice in five weeks for excessive touchdown celebrations -- the second leading to a benching by coach Chan Gailey for the final three quarters of a season-ending 49-21 loss at New England.

Houston fans are pretty relegated to the fact they are losing Mario and they are not getting compensated (at least directly - compensation picks in '13 always possible)

Now, how on Earth do we get Mario to pick Cleveland over what will be any team with significant cap room (which happens to be nearly the whole league this year)?

Sell him on the weather...oh wait
Its gotta be the city...oh wait
the beautiful view of lake Erie...oh wait

I give up

Sell him on a membership to this board, so he can learn so much more about football from the experts here than he could ever learn actually playing in the NFL!

Quote:

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The Buffalo Bills signed wide receiver Stevie Johnson to a contract extension Monday, the team announced.

The Bills didn't disclose terms of the agreement, but a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Johnson received a five-year, $36.25 million deal that includes $19.5 million guaranteed and over $24 million in the contract's first three years.

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Man, he's the guy I wanted. This year's FA market for WR is just looking weaker and weaker. Dwayne Bowe is gonna get the tag.

That leaves, Vincent Jackson, Garcon, Robert Meachem, Marques Colston, Brandon Lloyd (who I'm guessing will go to New England). Jackson is kinda old, Colston gets too many injuries and isn't a burner at all. Robert Meachem and Pierre Garcon on decent options.

Man I was hoping for Stevie Johnson or Desean jackson though........ If we plan on getting RG3, we're going to need to sign a real FA WR.

Don't forget, Petey, If we DON'T plan on getting RG3, we're STILL going to need to sign a real FA WR.

I don't agree, Purp.

Whether Lynch signed with the Seahawks or someone else, he absolutely was going to sign or get tagged, so Hillis was always going to be in the same pecking order.

I also don't believe that the Browns are going to adjust how much they are willing to pay Hillis based on what Lynch or any other high-end back gets. I believe they have had a number in place for quite a while and are just in the negotiating process with Hillis, waiting to see if the two sides can get to that number.

I just don't see how Lynch's deal would help set the market for Hillis, just as how Arian Foster's deal doesn't help set the market for Hillis. The Browns have already made an offer to him, so they have their number in mind already.

I get your drift, but this isn't the same situation as Stevie Johnson, who is a 2nd tiered receiver compared to the best in the NFL. Think "very good" versus "great." Johnson had proven he can produce on a regular basis, just like Lynch. Hillis hasn't.

Lions use franchise tag on Cliff Avril.

In the NFL, it seems like nobody ever loses any of their free agents unless they want to. I sure wish MLB had the same set-up re: revenue sharing, salary cap, franchise rights, etc.

Quote:

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Lynch was in "pay me for what I've proven" mode. Hillis is in "I have to prove I can play" mode.

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I disagree to the extent that Hillis has proven he can play.. Hillis had a year in 2010 that was as good as any year that Lynch has ever had.. he just has to prove that he can do it again.

DC, Lynch has had three 1000-yard seasons. Hillis had one, and he was worn down at the end of that season.

NoLogo, Hillis has to prove more than he can stay healthy. He also has to overcome the reputation that he's a bit of a headcase. Whether we like it or not, Hillis is a weird cat who has gone through a record-setting four agents in a one+ year span. He had to have an intervention by his teammates to help him get back on track.

All Hillis has proven is that he has the ability. He hasn't proven he can do it consistently and because of that, he's not in the same class as these other RB's. Since he isn't in the same class as those guys, their contracts aren't going to impact the contract Hillis is offered.

I can't prove that 100%, nor can I prove what I'm about to say, but I'm of the opinion the Browns already know how much they are willing to give Hillis and are working towards that mark. I don't believe these contracts are setting the framework to help determine what the Browns are willing to give him.

Besides, the big-wigs in the NFL already knew what kind of money guys like Foster and Lynch were going to get. They weren't waiting to see what they'd get to help them get to a number they like for Hillis. It's my opinion that bar had been set long ago.

Rams won't use franchise tag

that's fair. though I don't think Hillis can do anything to prove it between now and Mar 13th in either case