Since taking over as the new GM of the Cardinals I made a few moves some might be skeptical about. First of all I am going to list the players and picks we shipped out and those we received.
Players Traded
Leonard Davis
Fred Wakefield
Calvin Pace
Bertrand Berry
Kenny King
Brandon Johnson
Bryant Johnson
Draft Picks Traded
2007 5th
2007 7th
2008 6th
Analysis
The two key players we decided to move were DE Bertrand Berry and T Leonard Davis. Both have been solid contributors over the past few years, but we felt we needed to move on without these players in order to improve our offensive and defensive line. Leonard Davis is very inconsistent and we were not planning on franchising Davis, therefore he would have entered free agency in the off season. Berry is getting up there in years and overall he doesnt fit into the scheme we want to run in the future. Bryant Johnson was a good 3rd WR for us, but he has a case of the dropsies and we felt that the deal we were proposed gave us much more value as opposed to keeping Bryant. Calvin Pace, despite his surprisingly high rating at DE, has been a disappointment. He was moved around from DE to OLB and we felt it was time to move on and a change of scenery for Calvin and us as a franchise was the best move. Wakefield and King were both set to enter free agency and we had no intentions of re-signing either, so we decided to move them for some value. Finally, Brandon Johnson is a guy who has a ton of speed, but we were not confident that with such a low awareness rating he would ever see solid playing time or be able to provide us with what we need at OLB.
Players Acquired
Casey Rabach
Todd Yoder
Mike Rumph
Roberto Garza
Chris Harris
Chris Villarrial
Ronald Curry
Draft Picks Acquired
2007 3rd
2007 4th
2007 5th
2007 6th
Analysis
While a youth movement seems to be the theme of these trades, we also wanted to acquire depth. Our team is young and inconsistent, but we feel the more talented depth we can acquire the better off our team will be in the long run. Competition brings out the true player in everyone and right now we have a lot of positions to be won. The main area of concern we decided to address was the offensive line. Rabach is our starting center and we feel he is capable of making all the calls we need him to make and will be able to lead our young offensive line from the present into the future. Garza is a player we really like and hope that he can hold down one of the guard positions for the next 7 years. Villarrial was brought in for his veteran experience and also to help solidify the line for the time being. Due to the franchise moving ahead with a young QB, we feel the best thing we can do is address the line right away and let them grow and gain experience with Matt. Todd Yoder will be our blocking specialist at TE and will hopefully aid in improving our running game this season. Mike Rumph was a low risk high reward type of acquisition. Due to his low salary and small cost in our trade with Washington we feel his potential was too much to ignore and at the very least will be able to add some depth and competition to the CB position. Chris Harris is a guy we view as our future starting free safety. With Robert Griffith the current starter, Harris should be able to learn from Robert and challenge him for the starting spot this season. Finally, Ronald Curry is a very solid WR whom we will pencil in as our 3rd WR. While he does not have the deep threat potential of Bryant Johnson, we feel he will become a solid #3 and will see a lot of balls thrown his way in this system. The draft picks will aid in our compilation of talent this season and offseason. The defense needs to be addressed and we plan on evaluating the play of each player throughout the season and will respond accordingly during the season and offseason as to who or what needs to be addressed.
I will now take and questions you have regarding our trades, depth chart, position battles, outlook, and preseason and season expectations, ect...
How did the team respond to these trades and what are the vibes you're getting from your team heading into pre-season with regards to their chances this year ?
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Males shouldn't be jealous that's a female trait -- Jay Z
How did the team respond to these trades and what are the vibes you're getting from your team heading into pre-season with regards to their chances this year ?
Obviously there was a sense of shock to see guys like Bryant, Leonard, and Bertrand traded, but they all know that we are committed to winning now and in the future. We have plenty of money available to sign our free agents and to keep the core intact. These are just some guys that we didnt think fit into what we are trying to do now and in the future. Nothing against any of them, but that is just the way the front office evaluated those players and we wish them the best.
Heading into preseason we have some goals set that we need to live up to. I think the division is there for the taking. It isnt wide open, but we feel that we have enough talent to win if we work hard and prepare for each individual game the best we can. Obviously the offense is pumped and ready to hit the field. The defense is a work in progress, but practicing against our offense every day is only going to make them better, especially our young secondary.
Your offense certainely looks capable, and your defense has some potential...But are you concerned at all about the secondary, particularly being in a division where the Rams and Seahawks, both have very good passing attacks?
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David "The Hayemaker" Haye:21-1, 20 KOs
Undisputed World Cruiserweight Champion (WBA, WBC, WBO, The Ring Magazine Champion) World Heavyweight Title Fight: November 7
The Cardinals have not had a team that the city could get behind in quite awhile. With these moves, do you see the team being competitive right away, or this a more "build for the future" kind of project?
Your team seems to have several posisitions that could be open for a posisition battle, but what players do you expect to make a statement to be a starter at their respective posisition? In particular, do you have an idea of who will be starting on that offensive line?
Your offense certainely looks capable, and your defense has some potential...But are you concerned at all about the secondary, particularly being in a division where the Rams and Seahawks, both have very good passing attacks?
Yes, the secondary is an area of concern. We are very young and inexperienced in the secondary with the exception of Wilson and Griffith. Our corners are going to be tested all year long, but we are confident they will improve as each week passes. We like the future of our secondary, but that doesnt mean we are expecting them to lock down teams, especially in our division this year. The future of our defense relies on how our secondary progresses.
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Madden 2008
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Originally Posted by SenorMatt24
The Cardinals have not had a team that the city could get behind in quite awhile. With these moves, do you see the team being competitive right away, or this a more "build for the future" kind of project?
We as an organization feel we can compete in our divison due to the influx of new owners (I am one of them). As for building for the future, I think most of our future is on our roster already. We need to address some positions in order to make them stronger overall, but we feel our team just needs some experience in order to win the division. We expect to be competitive in each and every game and we plan on becomming a better team each week of the season.
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Madden 2008
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Originally Posted by Forenci
Your team seems to have several posisitions that could be open for a posisition battle, but what players do you expect to make a statement to be a starter at their respective posisition? In particular, do you have an idea of who will be starting on that offensive line?
There are two guys we feel are ready to take it to the next level and make a huge statement this year. On offense, Roberto Garza is set to break out in our opinion. Garza will be our starting RG and we put him on the right side, because we feel that he will be a fixture in protecting Matt's backside and will be a great asset in the running game while lined up next to Chris Villarrial at RT and Casey Rabach at C.
On defense CB Eric Green is a guy we have very high expectations for. We view him as a potential lockdown corner and he will be a make or break guy for our defense this year. He is our #1 corner and will draw many difficult assignments over the course of the season.
Yes, we do have an idea of who will start on the offensive line. Right now we have Reggie Wells at LT, Deuce Lutui at LG, Casey Rabach at C, Roberto Garza at RG, and Chris Villarrial at RT.
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