New & Improved FA/Cap Thread

[BernietheKid]

Patriots released S James Sanders.
It's a mild surprise as Sanders started next to Brandon Meriweather in Saturday's third preseason game and recorded nine starts a year ago. But the six-year veteran struggled badly against the run last year and Patrick Chung is ready to roll as the starter. With a $2.8 million base salary, keeping Sanders around to battle Sergio Brown for the third safety job didn't make much sense. Aug 29 - 1:36 PM
Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter

James Sanders - New England Patriots - 2011 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

[BernietheKid]

Rams released OLB Na'il Diggs.
Diggs was only owed $1.25 million in the final year of his contract, but the Rams are likely looking for more versatility out of their backup linebackers. Diggs wasn't going to start after the Rams added Brady Poppinga, Ben Leber and Zac Diles this offseason. Poppinga and Leber are now both starters. Aug 29 - 12:54 PM
Source: Jim Thomas on Twitter

Na'il Diggs - St. Louis Rams - 2011 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

[Jax Dawg]

According to Florio's numbers on PFT we are at $18.8 million under the cap now...I guess dime a dozen Thomas got some extra $$$ for this season in the form of a signing bonus or sumtin.

Updated cap space, as of August 29 | ProFootballTalk

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Alo

Thanks, Shep. Dropsies have been a problem for Hagan. Also attitude, albeit to a much lesser degree.

But when a guy's thinking, "This is a great situation for me. And it may be my last shot", you may get more confident, focused, and aggressive play. Braylon showed a bit of that last year, when his drops almost entirely disappeared. And that appears to have happened with Hagan.

And at Tom: yes, Hagan hasn't been all that productive, but wasn't that the logic behind your Brandon Lloyd thread? You never know when these guys will emerge -- whether it's one of the Browns' young'uns or a cheap, easily cuttable vet who suddenly goes big.

That is indeed my logic with Brandon Lloyd and even Miles Austin. Staying consistent with that logic, why give up on MoMass or Robo after only 2 years only to bring in a guy that has done less in 5 years? I don't see a compelling need to do that. I think I originally broke out the Brandon Lloyd example in arguing why I wanted to see more of Josh Cribbs at WR in the new system with a more accurate QB.

As we contemplate greener grass elsewhere - people were bringing up Lance Moore earlier this year. If we didn't bring in a FA like Antonio Bryant back when Moore was a undrafted rookie trying to make this team - we would already have him locked and loaded by now. That's a constant reminder of why you don't give up on your own investments for perceived greener grass elsewhere.

I'm not saying Hagan won't do well in Oakland or he was a bad idea for them. I'm saying I think guys like Cribbs, MoMass and Robo have the best chances of their careers to succeed in Cleveland this year.

[Alo]

I see your point, Tom. But I think that's more an argument against WPB's older, expensive vet who'd immediately displace one of our young'uns. Hagan's over a year younger than Cribbs and signed an undisclosed one year contract, most likely for the vet minimum.

The Browns didn't make a terrible blunder in not signing him, but it almost certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing. The team can't be that afraid of making their guys compete -- I mean, if an undrafted receiver played like Hagan did, Heckert wouldn't say, "Oh, shit. We're screwed!"

[Brown Warrior]

Exactly. It's spilt milk and all that at this point... but it's virtually impossible to find a downside to signing a guy like Hagan to a one-year deal. If he were playing for us how he's playing for Oakland, everybody on this board would be calling Heckert a genius.

[Sez.EJ]

Saints released DE Alex Brown. Alex Brown on Twitter

The move comes as a surprise in that Brown started all three preseason games after working with the first team throughout training camp. The nine-year veteran was due $3 million after starting all 16 games at left end last season. The Saints have added first-rounder Cam Jordan and veteran Turk McBride since then. Brown took the news well, tweeting that the Saints are a "class organization."

Seems like a guy who can help if he fits our system.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Alo

I see your point, Tom. But I think that's more an argument against WPB's older, expensive vet who'd immediately displace one of our young'uns. Hagan's over a year younger than Cribbs and signed an undisclosed one year contract, most likely for the vet minimum.

The Browns didn't make a terrible blunder in not signing him, but it almost certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing. The team can't be that afraid of making their guys compete -- I mean, if an undrafted receiver played like Hagan did, Heckert wouldn't say, "Oh, shit. We're screwed!"

Very true. I watched Hagan catch 2 passes the other night and the TD was very impressive. He used to have a bad habit of catching with his body. Both catches the other night were with his hands so there was some definite improvement. I think Oakland looks like the PERFECT niche for him. I hope I didn't come across like some knowitall. I've liked alot of your FA ideas this year and most recently the RB Ogy you brought up.

I'm actually REALLY glad we're having this discussion; because the WR position has such a variance of emergence rates. I've tried all year to argue with many that think any WRs but the ones we have are automatically greener grass. Timing and environment are everything in this league. I've had homeristic confidence in Heckert's competance and experience in this league knowing that it's gonna pay off for us to want to see Cribbs, MoMass and Robo in the WCO. I'm not saying ALL 3 guys will make it happen; but if 2 out of the 3 find their niche - we're adding them to the talents of Ben Watson, Evan Moore and Greg Little. If we get the same volume of injuries St Louis had, a previous practice squad guy from Philly (Norwood) can go carpet diem on it like another previous practice squad guy (Danny Amendola) did. And the common denominator finding both kids at garage sale prices was Heckert.