Cap Casualty
by Dave Gardner
The Cardinals avoided a crippling cap situation in March when they restructured receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s deal. While he had been originally scheduled to make over $14 million dollars in the coming season and almost $17 million dollars in 2009, he agreed to a new contract which could be worth as much as $40 million dollars over the next four years, seventy-five percent of which is guaranteed. Normally that would have led to a sigh of relief, but for the Cardinals, it is only the beginning of a long line of their best players who are looking for new contracts.
Last year many pundits pegged the Cardinals as a team that could challenge the Seahawks for control of the NFC West — a team that hadn’t won a division since 1975, when they were members of the NFC East and were located in St. Louis. The problem for the current regime is that the previous regime identified talent well through the draft, but generally set up contracts with escalating salaries rather than large signing bonuses. Those kind of contracts can work well in the short-term, but — as in the case of Larry Fitzgerald — if those escalators are unlocked, it rains for the player and pours for the team.
Now you don’t see a play in mini-camps that doesn’t involve a Cardinal who is expecting to get a raise. Fellow receiver Anquan Boldin wants a new deal, even to the point where his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, reportedly asked for him to be traded. Adrian Wilson has said that he is the best safety in the NFC, and that he thinks he should be paid accordingly. Karlos Dansby — the team’s franchise player — has been in negotiations for months with the organization on a long-term deal.
Perhaps the most ridiculous request is being made by defensive tackle Darnell Dockett. He signed a contract that is so recent, if you google “Darnell Dockett contract,” the third webpage is the news story from ESPN announcing his most recent contract! He signed that five-year extension in 2006, and he is already griping about it. Along with them come key players like defensive end Antonio Smith and cornerback Eric Green, both of whom are working under one-year contracts. Quarterback Kurt Warner and reserve running back J.J. Arrington are slated to become free agents in 2009.
To their credit, Cardinals management has tried to be as fair as possible with the players that are picketing.
Said head coach Ken Whisenhunt, “That’s part of the business. As much as you would like to, you can’t do everybody at once. We’re going to take care of our core players, the ones who have performed at a high level for us, as quick as we can.”
But some of the more incredulous requests may not be met.
“I’m not sure what the issue is with him because we addressed Darnell’s contract early,” G.M. Rod Graves said, “and we did so in December of ‘06. He signed what amounts to a five-year deal and he’s only played one year into it.
“I recognize him as being a very good football player who was in position to go to the Pro Bowl last year as an alternate, which I think is a big achievement. But at this point, he has four years remaining on his current deal. I don’t believe this is the time to address a new deal.”
The problem for the Cardinals highlights growing concerns from players around the leqgue that teams have the ability to cut players who underperform, but that they can’t be forced to redo deals if the players outperform their contracts. But there is a disconnect here, and it plays a huge role in changing the culture of losing for a franchise like the Cardinals — a team that has won just one playoff games since 1949.
With the best teams in the NFL, the Patriots and the Colts, there is almost never a peep about contracts, except when star players like quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady restructure their contracts so that the front office has more cap room in order to improve the team. Because of Fitzgerald’s cap number, the Cardinals were unable to land outstanding free-agent linebacker Brandon Chillar, despite his desire to join the team.
This team went 8-8 last season; the players who should be leaders seem content to keep it that way. If they are more concerned about their contract statuses than about playing football, then you’ll have a team that continues to live in the muddled middle of the NFL.
“Guys who have played at a high level over a period of time,” Whisenhunt said, “the Cardinals have shown a history of taking care of those guys, of redoing their contract.”
Maybe now the Cardinals players could begin a history of taking care of their team. Then the news stories in the offseason could be about how the Cardinals finally did — not who they finally should — turn the corner and make it back to the playoffs.
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