I for one am glad TT is being quiet

[Tony Oday]

Good God teams are over paying for players! Drew Bennett for 4.5 million a year! hes a third stringer at best with a habt of dropping the ball.

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/10033511

Take a look at some of these signings. Man i would think these second and third rate talents that are getting all of this money are going to screw with the chemistry on these teams because guys that are already there are going to be pissed that they are better players than the new FAs and getting paid less...

[MJZiggy]

Take a look at some of these signings. Man i would think these second and third rate talents that are getting all of this money are going to screw with the chemistry on these teams because guys that are already there are going to be pissed that they are better players than the new FAs and getting paid less...

Very good point.

[Pack_Attack88]

me too! let these teams bury themself so they cant get out in a year or two when 3/4's of those FAents dont pan out!!

[RashanGary]

It's really exciting to see all of the reasonable views. I understand the angst about getting FA's. You see guys who might help and you know they are going to get scooped up, but the price to play isn't always weighed in.

This year, more than ever, a majority seems to really embrace the term "value."

As far as the few who really want these guys at any price, it just makes me realize that when I go to sell my car, I can get alot more than what it's worth. Some people who really want what your selling will pay whatever it takes to get it. It only takes one desperate buyer and bam, you sold it for more than you thought possible.

[retailguy]

Good God teams are over paying for players! Drew Bennett for 4.5 million a year! hes a third stringer at best with a habt of dropping the ball.

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/10033511

Take a look at some of these signings. Man i would think these second and third rate talents that are getting all of this money are going to screw with the chemistry on these teams because guys that are already there are going to be pissed that they are better players than the new FAs and getting paid less...


Yep, Houston probably overpaid for Ahman Green too.... What a joke.

[packinpatland]

This team should have antied up and paid A. Green.

[the_idle_threat]

I tend to agree that the team is doing well to seek value, and there is not much of that in the first weekend of free agency.

But the Green signing hurts. It seems that I value Green a lot more than TT does. :(

[Bretsky]

Good God teams are over paying for players! Drew Bennett for 4.5 million a year! hes a third stringer at best with a habt of dropping the ball.

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/10033511

Take a look at some of these signings. Man i would think these second and third rate talents that are getting all of this money are going to screw with the chemistry on these teams because guys that are already there are going to be pissed that they are better players than the new FAs and getting paid less...


Yep, Houston probably overpaid for Ahman Green too.... What a joke.


All this "overpaid" discussion gets a bit old

Bottom line is we are in a changing market in which teams have too much money so the salaries of the quality players are going to get pushed higher than what some knowledgeable fans deem fair.

So to feel good about what's occuring we play the overpaid card. But if we get through the wave a quality free agents and they are all paid higher than we deem fair market value does that mean they are all overpaid ? And we are smarter to not spend the money then sign a couple of them ??

Was Green overpaid ? Maybe ? But he's not the only back in that age and yard range just paid there. Fred Taylor I believe received more than Ahman.

So maybe in this market they were not overpaid ? Maybe Ahman Green had that value to the Green Bay Packers. Time will tell.

Cheers,
B

[BooHoo]

I agreed with Bretsky. The market has changed with a lot more money being available to sign players to bigger bucks. Next year the cap will probably go up again. Teams with bigger wallets will spend more money to get FAs they feel will improve their team. You can overspend on one quality FA and still not hurt your cap number. So why wouldn't you spend the money? It appears the cap management rules have changed somewhat given the large increase in cap money.

[Tony Oday]

ya Bennett is worth 4.5 a year give me a break not even in this NFL is he worth that. Green prolly got his 5 million a year which he isnt worth anymore. Dont get me wrong I love the guy and how he runs but he isnt worth that price.

[Charles Woodson]

ya Bennett is worth 4.5 a year give me a break not even in this NFL is he worth that. Green prolly got his 5 million a year which he isnt worth anymore. Dont get me wrong I love the guy and how he runs but he isnt worth that price.

Who in your opioion is worth there salary?

[Tony Oday]

Clements is worth a blockbuster deal. He is a shut down corner that can cover anyone in the NFL. Adalius Thomas will be an animal in NE. These are just the free agents this year.

Guys off the top of my head that play for the pack: Favre, Kamp, Clifton, Tauch, Driver, Harris and Hawk.

Would you pay that much for Ruvel Martin? Similar type of player. Now if it was a joe horn type I would say why not worth the cash.

[BooHoo]

It only makes sense that as the salary cap increases, so to will players salaries.

[Tony Oday]

It only makes sense that as the salary cap increases, so to will players salaries.

Oh I agree with this but man there is a difference he isnt even a starter and if they make him one he will more than likely fail.

[BooHoo]

Understood! The joys of FA.

[Spaulding]

Worth is all relative. Each team has their own idea. If the Pack see Hodge step up and has faith he can replace Barnett then obviously to the Pack, Nick's value is less than other teams in the league.

Given the fact TT let Green walk suggests as many other posters have noted one of two possibilities:

A) TT and M3 have another FA running back they like better and are going to pursue that player
B) Feel comfortable with the backs on the roster for the ZBS and will draft one or two running backs and see who steps up

Then again, as Tank/Lost/Retail guy are leaning, option C would be that TT is showing his same diplomacy that lightly regarding the guard position and left us with Klemm and O'Dwyer as the supposed starting guards in 2005.

I'm hoping for option A and wouldn't mind seeing Chris Brown signed and Michael Bush snagged in the 2nd round if available.

[Tony Oday]

Worth is all relative. Each team has their own idea. If the Pack see Hodge step up and has faith he can replace Barnett then obviously to the Pack, Nick's value is less than other teams in the league.

Given the fact TT let Green walk suggests as many other posters have noted one of two possibilities:

A) TT and M3 have another FA running back they like better and are going to pursue that player
B) Feel comfortable with the backs on the roster for the ZBS and will draft one or two running backs and see who steps up

Then again, as Tank/Lost/Retail guy are leaning, option C would be that TT is showing his same diplomacy that lightly regarding the guard position and left us with Klemm and O'Dwyer as the supposed starting guards in 2005.

I'm hoping for option A and wouldn't mind seeing Chris Brown signed and Michael Bush snagged in the 2nd round if available.

I think TT had an idea what he was willing to pay to keep Green and over 5 million a year wasnt it.

They keep telling us that the ZBS is a system where you can get a good back in the later rounds. If we go the route of the Broncs it wont matter, I mean remember Olandis Gary ;)

[HarveyWallbangers]

I seriously doubt you can just throw a RB in the ZBS, and he'll automatically work. Duckett didn't exactly blossom in Atlanta in the ZBS. I think it speaks more the ability of the Broncos to scout RBs and determine whether they fit their system or not. The negative is that more teams are moving to the ZBS (Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota uses the ZBS quite a bit), so more teams are looking for one-cut RBs. That means they'll be harder to find.

[Tony Oday]

I seriously doubt you can just throw a RB in the ZBS, and he'll automatically work. Duckett didn't exactly blossom in Atlanta in the ZBS. I think it speaks more the ability of the Broncos to scout RBs and determine whether they fit their system or not. The negative is that more teams are moving to the ZBS (Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota uses the ZBS quite a bit), so more teams are looking for one-cut RBs. That means they'll be harder to find.

I was jsut trying to look on the bright side :) hehe

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

ya Bennett is worth 4.5 a year give me a break not even in this NFL is he worth that. Green prolly got his 5 million a year which he isnt worth anymore. Dont get me wrong I love the guy and how he runs but he isnt worth that price.

I have a feeling this is Barnett's last year on our team.

[retailguy]

I seriously doubt you can just throw a RB in the ZBS, and he'll automatically work. Duckett didn't exactly blossom in Atlanta in the ZBS. I think it speaks more the ability of the Broncos to scout RBs and determine whether they fit their system or not. The negative is that more teams are moving to the ZBS (Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota uses the ZBS quite a bit), so more teams are looking for one-cut RBs. That means they'll be harder to find.


and, more importantly, TIME to train. We saw 13 weeks of training to get the OL steady. While a good RB should go quicker, we also saw what an "early season" training loss will do to playoff chances too.

Will he find someone? Sure. But how long will it take for that "someone" to get up to speed and contribute? Now THAT is a question I'd like all the "experts" here to answer.

[the_idle_threat]

Running back is not like offensive line ... many rookies can contribute at a very high level right away. In fact, the offensive rookie of the year is usually a running back (30 out of the last 40 times) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Rookie_of_the_Year), and even in years where a different position wins it seems there is at least one rookie who rushes for 1000 yards.

I wanted Green back too, but if we need to replace a position with youth, running back is the postition to do it with.

This is especially true of the zone blocking scheme, where Denver has gotten 1000 yards out of a rookie maybe 5 times in the past decade or so?

[the_idle_threat]

Running back is not like offensive line ... many rookies can contribute at a very high level right away. In fact, the offensive rookie of the year is usually a running back (30 out of the last 40 times) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Rookie_of_the_Year), and even in years where a different position wins it seems there is at least one rookie who rushes for 1000 yards.

I wanted Green back too, but if we need to replace a position with youth, running back is the postition to do it with.

This is especially true of the zone blocking scheme, where Denver has gotten 1000 yards out of a rookie maybe 5 times in the past decade or so?

*Edit* After doing the research, it's 4 times in 12 years:
Terrell Davis in 1995 (6th round pick (http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/years/1995), Rookie of the Year candidate),
Olandis Gary in 1999 (4th round pick (http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/years/1999)),
Mike Anderson in 2000 (another 6th round pick (http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/years/2000), A.P. Rookie of the Year), and
Clinton Portis in 2002 (2nd round pick (http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/years/2002), A.P. Rookie of the Year).
The fifth guy I was thinking of was Rueben Droughns in 2004, but he was a 5th-year vet, drafted in 2000 in the 3rd round (http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/years/2000) by Detroit. His best year out his first four was 72 yds rushing for a 2.4 avg. (http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/187528), however, which made him less productive than Noah Herron.

There's a pattern here, though ... they haven't had to spend high picks on running backs to get production.

This makes me feel a little better about Vernand Morency, because although I don't think he's as good as Ahman Green, he is young and can improve. He's probably better already than Rueben Droughns or Olandis Gary were.

[LL2]

I agree with the logic here and glad TT isn’t throwing big bucks at the players out there. The only players worth anything is Adalius Thomas and Clements, after that you have to wonder what these teams are thinking. Listening to ESPN’s Len Pasquerelli this morning and he didn’t think Leonard Davis was worth 50 mil or Ahman Green worth the money he got. Obviously money and Sherman played a role there, but can’t see Green changing the dynamics of that team. I liked Green but he wasn’t worth keep for over 5 mil a year. Also, the guy made me nervous every time he carried the ball because he had the tendency to fumble to ball too much.

[woodbuck27]

TT had to weigh the cost VS. the asurance thast Ahman would give us over a certain period of time.

In two seasons Ahman will be 32 years old and possibly or certainly broken down based on many factors.

I believe the reason that TT didn't bite on Ahman is the length of contract that his agent wanted for him. Four years was too long. It's this and not the fact he may get $5.75 Million per season that factored the most in Ted Thompson's decision to allow Ahman to get what the market would bear.