On the Horizon

Maybe it was wrong of me to choose a less than flattering picture of Mr. Graves here to illustrate the greater post. Maybe. The truth is however, most Cardinal fans still do not have a lot of faith in ownership and the front office. No doubt things have improved greatly with the new stadium (more revenue), as well as Michael Bidwill taking on a more prominent role (willing to spend some of said revenue), but this organization has a long way to go before it can be considered a model front office. The forthcoming offseason will go a long way in either changing peoples opinions for the better, or reaffirming their already established notions. The Arizona Republic recently ran a piece outlining some of the questions and concerns the birds face this off season. The Wadsworth brain trust got together and assessed some priorities, solutions, and answers to the Cards off season quandary. Heres how we see it.

We'll start with the easy decision, the coaches:

Whiz needs to-and will- be resigned this off season. He shouldn't be the highest paid coach in the league, but he most certainly needs to be making above the average. Whiz is hands down the best coach in franchise history and with only one year remaining on his deal after this season, its time the franchise treats him as such. I really think this will be a no-brainer for both sides. Thats not to say there will not be haggling and delays in the inevitable, but I have full faith and confidence it will happen.

Strength and Conditioning Coach John Lott too must be resigned. Lott is the best in the business at what he does. Under Lott's watch the Cards have been one of the healthiest teams in the NFL. This no doubt has been a major factor in the Cards being back-t0-back NFC West champions. Plain and simple, Lott must be retained. J.L. will have plenty of options elsewhere if the Cards do not make him a priority and it would be a grave mistake to let him walk.

The players:

There is little doubt that this is the off season in which we bid adieu to Q. I've written several times about my admiration for Quan but the time has come. As the saying goes, "if you love something give it away." Despite the recent success, this team has way too many holes to be so stacked at one position. Trading Q for a draft pick(s) and or player who can upgrade a weaker position is both smart financially and football wise. We'll explore potential Quan trades during the off season but an early guess would be either Baltimore of Miami being the best trading partners.

Karlos Dansby: It is my belief that one way or another this team is forced to keep Los. I am a huge Dansby supporter so ideally I would like to see them work out a long term contract. Applying the franchise tag on him again would make little sense financially but might be a necessary evil football wise. The cards are very thin at ILB. Behind Los and Gerald Hayes sits Monty Beisel and Ali Highsmith after his triumphant return to the practice squad. Neither of those players comes even remotely close to Karlos' talent and versatility. For further evidence of Dansby's impact see Vince Young's 99 yard drive while Los was sidelined with a shoulder injury. The Brids swung and missed at a contract extention with Los last off season. With Dansby having much of the leverage here its hard to imagine this one working out any better. Sadly the franchise tag appears the most logical conclusion.

Trel: One look at my pseudonym and my fondness for Antrel Rolle is quite clear. His cap number next year is absurd and there is a 0% chance he is brought back with the same contract in place. If the Birds can work out an extension that greatly lowers his cap impact than I am all for it. He has continued to develop into a quality FS and most certainly is a playmaker, now on both sides of the ball. That said, this team drafted Rashard Johnson last year in the 3rd round and many pundits praised that pick. Shard has struggled his rookie season, but that is not uncommon. While Rashard remains a bit of an unknown commodity, he is the contingency plan the Cards lack with the Dansby situation. Our best guess is tragically Trel suits up for another franchise next season and Rashard competes with a veteran free agent in training camp for the starting FS spot. It remains to be seen what this blogger's name will become. Suggestions are welcome in the comment section.

Lastly, Mr. Dockett. This one is a mess. Dock is one of the best and most talented d-linemen in the league. At times he is simply unblock-able. He is someone you build a defense around, not let walk in free agency. That said, he continually talks(tweets) about wanting Albert Haynesworth money and that simply is not/will not/ should not happen. After this season Dock will have two years left on his contract. That is a fair and appropriate time to sit down with a player who like dock has most certainly out preformed his current contract (despite just signing that one a few seasons back.) Im very skeptical that the Cards will let Dock walk any time soon but I remain even more skeptical they will ever give him anything close to Fat Al type dollars. The official Wadsworth stance on Dock is thus: attempt to resign him this off season. More than likely the two sides will be very far apart. Once this happens the Cards will put the Dock situation on the back burner and address other more pressing issues (Dansby, Trel, coaches etc.) This will anger Darnell and he will say a lot of stupid shit via twitter. His next step will be to skip mini camps and quite possibly training camp. He will not however sit out regular season games. No player ever will. They will threaten but it simply costs them too much money. At that point one hopes Dock will play up to his usual dominant self and management towards the middle of the season should again attempt to work out an extension.

Thats how we at Wadsworth see it, what say you?