They are $41 mil under the cap. They will need all of it.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9155674/Cardinals-will-pay-for-being-cheap
Cardinals will pay for being cheap
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by Alex Marvez
Alex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com. He's covered the NFL for 14 seasons as a beat writer and is president emeritus of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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Updated: January 30, 2009, 10:43 PM EST
38 comments
<script type="text/javascript"> //document.getElementById('number_of_comments').innerHTML = commentCount+" Comments"; </script> <!-- // Story Content // --> <script> if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msn.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; } </script> TAMPA - Team management claims they're not the same old Arizona Cardinals.
<style type="text/css"> div.dataTrHdr1, .dataTrHdr1 td, td.dataTrHdr1, tr.dataTrHdr1 td { background:#AC0001 url(/fe/img/Misc/Tables/dataTrHdr1.png) repeat-x scroll 0 0; border-bottom:2px solid #FFFFFF; color:#FFFFFF; font-size:12px; font-weight:bold; padding:2px 0 2px 5px; text-transform:uppercase; } </style> <table class="dataTbl" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="100%"> <tbody><tr class="dataTrHdr1"> <td colspan="5"><center>Cardinal concern?</center></td></tr> <tr class="bgA"> <td colspan="5">
A Super Bowl berth hasn't always signalled future success for NFC teams. No team has returned to the big game the following year since the 1997 and 1998 Packers:</td> </tr> <tr class="bgHdr2"> <td><center>SB year</center></td> <td><center>Team</center></td> <td><center>Next year result</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>1999</center></td> <td><center>Falcons</center></td> <td><center>5-11; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2000</center></td> <td><center>Rams</center></td> <td><center>10-6; L, Wild Card playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2001</center></td> <td><center>Giants</center></td> <td><center>7-9; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2002</center></td> <td><center>Rams</center></td> <td><center>7-9; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2003</center></td> <td><center>Bucs</center></td> <td><center>7-9; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2004</center></td> <td><center>Panthers</center></td> <td><center>7-9; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2005</center></td> <td><center>Eagles</center></td> <td><center>6-10; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2006</center></td> <td><center>Seahawks</center></td> <td><center>9-7; L, Divisional playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2007</center></td> <td><center>Bears</center></td> <td><center>7-9; missed playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2008</center></td> <td><center>Giants</center></td> <td><center>12-4; L, Divisional playoffs</center></td> </tr> <tr class="bgC"> <td><center>2009</center></td> <td><center>Cardinals</center></td> <td><center>???</center></td> </tr> </tbody></table>
They must do more than reach Super Bowl XLIII to convince me.
Pry open the vault. Spend some money. Become proactive toward re-signing players, especially those who have outplayed their current contracts.
Basically, do everything the franchise hasn't this season toward fielding a consistent winner and not becoming a one-year wonder like every other NFC Super Bowl representative this decade.
Arizona's path to Tampa defies conventional wisdom. A nine-win Cardinals team became the conference's first No. 4 playoff seed to reach the Super Bowl since the current postseason format was adopted in 2002.
Huzzah.
Even more unlikely: A team that conducts business like the notoriously frugal Cardinals actually getting this far.
From a salary standpoint, no roster will ever be completely happy. But it's rare for a team with so many standout players grumbling about their contract status — most notably wide receiver Anquan Boldin, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and strong safety Adrian Wilson — not to have crumbled already. The Cardinals can't expect to maintain long-term locker-room harmony if these issues aren't addressed.
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</object> <!--<![endif]--> </object></p>Oh, and did I mention that the Cardinals are heading into the Super Bowl with their starting quarterback set to become an unrestricted free agent?
Arizona can keep Kurt Warner with a $14 million franchise tag as a last resort if an extension can't be reached by late February. But then the Cardinals won't have the option of re-using the designation on Karlos Dansby, one of the NFL's top young linebackers who also is set to test the market after equally fruitless contract talks.
Asked about these topics earlier this week, Cardinals president Michael Bidwill admitted, "There is no question we have work to do."
Work that should have started in earnest months ago.
This is the downside of the "you play now, we pay later" approach Arizona has taken to most player contracts. Ask an agent about negotiating with the Cardinals and eyes start to roll.
Arizona tries to proceed on a year-by-year basis with deals that have high base salaries and low guaranteed money. The philosophy has given the Cardinals salary-cap flexibility and minimizes the amount of "dead money" the team must carry if a player is cut. Fiscal responsibility is considered essential by the Bidwills, one of the league's ownership groups whose primary source of income is NFL-generated revenue. It's the main reason why Arizona is projected to enter 2009 with roughly $40 million in cap space.
<center>Super Bowl Central</center>
<center> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="230"> <tbody><tr><td>
</td></tr> <tr><td class="caption">
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </center> <table><tbody><tr> <td> <center>
</center></td> <td><center>Steelers vs. Cardinals
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</center></td> </tr></tbody></table>
Inside the personalities:
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There's nothing wrong with that tack. Other family-owned teams like Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have proven you can spend responsibly and win championships. But there's a difference between stinginess and foresight that the Cardinals failed to grasp in 2008.
As Arizona was rolling toward its first divisional title since 1975, it was easy to see that the Cardinals — finally — had players who deserved new contracts. Warner was enjoying an MVP-caliber year. Boldin and Wilson were clearly outplaying their current agreements. Dockett and Dansby began playing their best football in the postseason.
Arizona's front office had ample opportunity to hammer out at least one new deal like the New York Giants did late last season with emerging defensive end Justin Tuck. Instead, Cardinals management sat on their wings. Now it will cost them.
The asking price and/or market value of players on Super Bowl teams skyrocket. The free-agent contracts signed last offseason by ex-Giants players Gibril Wilson, Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor are further proof. All three scored deals elsewhere that wouldn't be nearly as lucrative had New York failed to reach the playoffs. Even the $16 million in guaranteed money the Giants gave Tuck seems like a bargain with the way he performed in Super Bowl XLII and this season.
"Obviously, the value of players — or the perceived value of those players — will be a factor that we have to contend with," Cardinals General Manager Rod Graves said. "Eventually, we'll have a meeting of the minds. The one thing I feel is an asset when you get to this point is that the players enjoy the atmosphere and coaching staff. We hope those factors will also play into their decision when it comes to evaluating opportunities they may have."
Good luck with all that.
Most players go where the cash is, especially in a league where loyalty isn't a two-way street. Boldin admitted in August that his relationship with Ken Whisenhunt had disintegrated when the Cardinals coach became involved in contract negotiations that didn't result in a new deal. While they too don't have leverage besides a costly holdout, Dockett and Wilson will likely become alienated as well if the Cardinals don't amend their current contracts for next season.
It makes you wonder if Cardinals ownership really learned anything from the 1999 offseason when three key players (linebacker Jamir Miller, tackle Lomas Brown and fullback Larry Centers) left as free agents following the club's first playoff appearance in 16 years. Arizona hadn't been back until this season.
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I guess we should expect nothing less from the team that entered the 2008 offseason paralyzed under the salary cap after being unable to rework wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's rookie contract. By the time Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million extension, free agents the team could have targeted like guard Alan Faneca had signed elsewhere.
And yet the Cardinals are still one victory away from claiming the Lombardi Trophy.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong and the Cardinals have it right. Michael Bidwill said one of the reasons Arizona hired Whisenhunt and other Steelers assistant coaches was to create a model like in Pittsburgh, which does an outstanding job building its team through the draft. Whisenhunt already has Arizona in a Super Bowl against the Steelers in just his second season. That should help Whisenhunt gain more front-office juice while working closely with player personnel director Steve Keim, who stocked Arizona's roster with young talent even before Whisenhunt's arrival.
"If (the Steelers) lose a player in free agency, they bring someone else in and don't miss a step," Bidwill said. "That's what we've done here."
The Steelers, though, are adept at re-signing young talent and have a history of success. The Cardinals don't and probably won't in the future if team management doesn't change the way it does business.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9155674/Cardinals-will-pay-for-being-cheap
Cardinals will pay for being cheap
<!-- // Writer Attribution// --> <!-- Meta Tag For Search --> <!-- meta name="author" content="Alex Marvez"--> <!-- meta name="source" content="FOXSports.com"--> <!-- meta name="eventId" content=""--> <!-- meta name="contentTypeCode" content="1"--> <!-- meta name="editorContentCode" content="1"--> <!-- meta name="blurb" content="Arizona is in SB XLIII despite being notoriously thrifty. Alex Marvez says the Bidwills will pay for their success in the long run."--> <!-- meta name="modDate" content="January 31, 2009 03:43:20 GMT"-->
by Alex MarvezAlex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com. He's covered the NFL for 14 seasons as a beat writer and is president emeritus of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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Updated: January 30, 2009, 10:43 PM EST
38 comments
<script type="text/javascript"> //document.getElementById('number_of_comments').innerHTML = commentCount+" Comments"; </script> <!-- // Story Content // --> <script> if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msn.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; } </script> TAMPA - Team management claims they're not the same old Arizona Cardinals.
<style type="text/css"> div.dataTrHdr1, .dataTrHdr1 td, td.dataTrHdr1, tr.dataTrHdr1 td { background:#AC0001 url(/fe/img/Misc/Tables/dataTrHdr1.png) repeat-x scroll 0 0; border-bottom:2px solid #FFFFFF; color:#FFFFFF; font-size:12px; font-weight:bold; padding:2px 0 2px 5px; text-transform:uppercase; } </style> <table class="dataTbl" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="100%"> <tbody><tr class="dataTrHdr1"> <td colspan="5"><center>Cardinal concern?</center></td></tr> <tr class="bgA"> <td colspan="5">
They must do more than reach Super Bowl XLIII to convince me.
Pry open the vault. Spend some money. Become proactive toward re-signing players, especially those who have outplayed their current contracts.
Basically, do everything the franchise hasn't this season toward fielding a consistent winner and not becoming a one-year wonder like every other NFC Super Bowl representative this decade.
Arizona's path to Tampa defies conventional wisdom. A nine-win Cardinals team became the conference's first No. 4 playoff seed to reach the Super Bowl since the current postseason format was adopted in 2002.
Huzzah.
Even more unlikely: A team that conducts business like the notoriously frugal Cardinals actually getting this far.
From a salary standpoint, no roster will ever be completely happy. But it's rare for a team with so many standout players grumbling about their contract status — most notably wide receiver Anquan Boldin, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and strong safety Adrian Wilson — not to have crumbled already. The Cardinals can't expect to maintain long-term locker-room harmony if these issues aren't addressed.
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</object> <!--<![endif]--> </object></p>Oh, and did I mention that the Cardinals are heading into the Super Bowl with their starting quarterback set to become an unrestricted free agent?
Arizona can keep Kurt Warner with a $14 million franchise tag as a last resort if an extension can't be reached by late February. But then the Cardinals won't have the option of re-using the designation on Karlos Dansby, one of the NFL's top young linebackers who also is set to test the market after equally fruitless contract talks.
Asked about these topics earlier this week, Cardinals president Michael Bidwill admitted, "There is no question we have work to do."
Work that should have started in earnest months ago.
This is the downside of the "you play now, we pay later" approach Arizona has taken to most player contracts. Ask an agent about negotiating with the Cardinals and eyes start to roll.
Arizona tries to proceed on a year-by-year basis with deals that have high base salaries and low guaranteed money. The philosophy has given the Cardinals salary-cap flexibility and minimizes the amount of "dead money" the team must carry if a player is cut. Fiscal responsibility is considered essential by the Bidwills, one of the league's ownership groups whose primary source of income is NFL-generated revenue. It's the main reason why Arizona is projected to enter 2009 with roughly $40 million in cap space.
<center>Super Bowl Central</center>
<center> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="230"> <tbody><tr><td>
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </center> <table><tbody><tr> <td> <center>
LIVE: GameTrax <!--
Recap | Box score | Play-by-play
--></center></td> <td><center>
Inside the personalities:
- Kriegel: Adrian Wilson a Cards' lifer
- Marvez: Polamalu's Polynesian lineage
- Behrendt: Boldin's no diva to teammates
- Marvez: Get to know these guys
- Marvez: Belichick scouts both teams
- Film Study: Inside Steelers' 3-4 defense
- Schrager: Early Super Bowl breakdown
- Schein: Nine super matchups
- Hench: Steelers-Cards are odd couple
- Bradshaw: Cards are no fluke
- VIDEO: SB preview | Goose on Fitz
- NFL on FOX Super Bowl reflections
- Best teams | Games | Performances
- Worst teams | Games | Performances
- Chokes | Scandals | Media day moments
- SUPER BOWL CENTRAL | VIDEO
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There's nothing wrong with that tack. Other family-owned teams like Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have proven you can spend responsibly and win championships. But there's a difference between stinginess and foresight that the Cardinals failed to grasp in 2008.
As Arizona was rolling toward its first divisional title since 1975, it was easy to see that the Cardinals — finally — had players who deserved new contracts. Warner was enjoying an MVP-caliber year. Boldin and Wilson were clearly outplaying their current agreements. Dockett and Dansby began playing their best football in the postseason.
Arizona's front office had ample opportunity to hammer out at least one new deal like the New York Giants did late last season with emerging defensive end Justin Tuck. Instead, Cardinals management sat on their wings. Now it will cost them.
The asking price and/or market value of players on Super Bowl teams skyrocket. The free-agent contracts signed last offseason by ex-Giants players Gibril Wilson, Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor are further proof. All three scored deals elsewhere that wouldn't be nearly as lucrative had New York failed to reach the playoffs. Even the $16 million in guaranteed money the Giants gave Tuck seems like a bargain with the way he performed in Super Bowl XLII and this season.
"Obviously, the value of players — or the perceived value of those players — will be a factor that we have to contend with," Cardinals General Manager Rod Graves said. "Eventually, we'll have a meeting of the minds. The one thing I feel is an asset when you get to this point is that the players enjoy the atmosphere and coaching staff. We hope those factors will also play into their decision when it comes to evaluating opportunities they may have."
Good luck with all that.
Most players go where the cash is, especially in a league where loyalty isn't a two-way street. Boldin admitted in August that his relationship with Ken Whisenhunt had disintegrated when the Cardinals coach became involved in contract negotiations that didn't result in a new deal. While they too don't have leverage besides a costly holdout, Dockett and Wilson will likely become alienated as well if the Cardinals don't amend their current contracts for next season.
It makes you wonder if Cardinals ownership really learned anything from the 1999 offseason when three key players (linebacker Jamir Miller, tackle Lomas Brown and fullback Larry Centers) left as free agents following the club's first playoff appearance in 16 years. Arizona hadn't been back until this season.
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I guess we should expect nothing less from the team that entered the 2008 offseason paralyzed under the salary cap after being unable to rework wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's rookie contract. By the time Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million extension, free agents the team could have targeted like guard Alan Faneca had signed elsewhere.
And yet the Cardinals are still one victory away from claiming the Lombardi Trophy.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong and the Cardinals have it right. Michael Bidwill said one of the reasons Arizona hired Whisenhunt and other Steelers assistant coaches was to create a model like in Pittsburgh, which does an outstanding job building its team through the draft. Whisenhunt already has Arizona in a Super Bowl against the Steelers in just his second season. That should help Whisenhunt gain more front-office juice while working closely with player personnel director Steve Keim, who stocked Arizona's roster with young talent even before Whisenhunt's arrival.
"If (the Steelers) lose a player in free agency, they bring someone else in and don't miss a step," Bidwill said. "That's what we've done here."
The Steelers, though, are adept at re-signing young talent and have a history of success. The Cardinals don't and probably won't in the future if team management doesn't change the way it does business.
I will take the heat - I don't care.
The wrong team won that game last night, the Cards were the better squad at least in that game, they just got some terrible breaks. The last play of the first half was epic and a pure million to one shot that a Defensive Tackle returns a 100 yard INT for a TD with no time on the clock.
Instead of a probable 10-10 HT score (or even 14-10 Cards) it's 17-7 Steelers at the half in a blink of an eye.
wil.
The wrong team won that game last night, the Cards were the better squad at least in that game, they just got some terrible breaks. The last play of the first half was epic and a pure million to one shot that a Defensive Tackle returns a 100 yard INT for a TD with no time on the clock.
Instead of a probable 10-10 HT score (or even 14-10 Cards) it's 17-7 Steelers at the half in a blink of an eye.
wil.
I would tend to agree if they did not play in the NFC West. In that division though a mediocre team would still make the playoffs. Arizona is a solid team. I don't think they would win most divisions in the league, but the NFC West should be theirs again next year just by elimination. I don't think they do anything in the playoffs though, a lot of better teams in the league.
I'm expecting their over/under win total to come out at hopefully 10 and if it does I will pound the under. Can't see this team winning 11 games in a season. 9.5 might be where it opens though.
must disagree wil. penalties are a stat which make up a large portion of being the "better team." cards = undisciplined, a good team will not make such inexperienced mistakes. blame it on the refs? most, if not all calls were just. a lot of calls were let go (holding on james harrison nearly every play). they can't make all of them though. the better team won, the more experienced team won. and that million to one shot...our defense has come up big all year, that's not luck. sure, it greatly helped our cause.
