In a few weeks NFL Free Agency will start to heat up. It's been quiet so far because most of the agents and NFL teams have been focusing on talent at the Senior Bowl. Agents and NFL personnel people generally shoot the sh#t at the Senior Bowl and talk about college kids preparing for the NFL Draft. There are some mentions of veteran Free Agents but nothing serious. After teams get back from Mobile, they will finish evaluating their own NFL roster and then start to look at possible veteran Free Agents that could hit the open market. I say "could" because the top guys will more than likely get the Franchise Tag. That means the player gets a guaranteed one year salary at the average pay of the top 5 players at his position. If a QB gets the tag, they could make in the neighborhood of 12-14 million dollars for that season. Each position is different, but you catch my drift. They get a lotta dough. The downfall for the team that tags a player is that their salary cap will take a huge hit because they have huge money tied into one player for that season and it hurts their chances of signing any other Free Agents or re-signing their own guys a year or two early.
I just listened to a radio show talking about Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner. He is due to be a Free Agent after this season. Earlier in the day, his agent was talking about how Kurt would love to stay in Arizona, but other teams need QB's as well. The agent also mentioned the Chicago Bears as a possible destination for Kurt. I laughed out loud when I heard that. Can you imagine Kurt Warner playing for the Bears? At Soldier Field? In November and December? Without a top WR? No. I can't imagine that. I can't imagine him finishing his career anywhere other than Arizona. Did you see Kurt Warner in Giant Stadium when he played for the Giants? Not good. But I do remember him playing for the St Louis Rams when they had the greatest show on turf. He had a coach who loved to throw the ball, he had a slew of good to great WR's, and he won a Super Bowl in 1999 and went to another Super Bowl in 2001. And I remember Kurt Warner very well because he beat my Titans in the Super Bowl. That was one of the best offenses I ever played against. So my point is Kurt has a good situation in AZ and will most likely stay their because he will be a hero in that city forever regardless if he wins this week or not. Now his agent will say otherwise, but that's what he is getting paid to do.
Which brings me to TJ Houshmandzadeh(I just learned how to spell that today). He is going to be a Free Agent as well. Bengals.com mentioned the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers as being the teams that want him the most. Both of those teams are in the NFC West, both those teams get victimized by Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and both of those teams need WR's. Nobody is mentioning the copy cat factor. Teams emulate each other more than you think. So in short, the Arizona Cardinals are helping TJ get paid. That's if he doesn't get the Franchise Tag. I don't think he will get tagged, but I will save that for another post.
