silverbear
Semi-Official Loose Cannon
- Messages
- 24,195
- Reaction score
- 25
For the Boys and the Skins... in random order, as they occur to me:
Boys trade Anthony Henry for Jon Kitna-- man, talk about mixed feelings!!! I hate to see Henry go, but I recognize that he's lost a half-step, so part of me thinks this was a good move... as for Kitna, there are plusses and minuses there, too...
On the plus side, he's an upgrade over Brad Johnson, talent wise... he might be almost as old, but he has the strong arm needed to make the Cowboys' offense work... and if he is ever forced into action, he and Roy Williams already have a pretty good rapport goin' on...
On the minus side, there's the age thing; he'll turn 37 early in the season... this means that he's been brought in for 2 years, 3 years tops... and that means the Boys will likely be looking to draft a QB to groom in this draft, probably a mid-rounder... I also think it indicates they might look to position themselves to draft a stud QB next year... the thinking would be to let Kitna hold down the backup job for the next 2 years, at which point the Boys might be ready to let the stud passer take that job over, and this year's midrounder would hold down the 3rd QB role... then eventually when Romo is ready to retire, both would be ready to move up a slot...
Of course, that's just guesswork on my part... a more disconcerting negative regarding Kitna is his MOUTH... if y'all think that Patrick Crayton talks to the media too much, well, after a few weeks of Kitna's act you're gonna think that Crayton is the grandson of Marcel Marceau... IOW, he's pretty much a knucklehead, and I worry that he'll chafe at being the backup in Dallas...
Factoring all of that in, I give this move a B... it's nice that we apparently actually saved some cap room with this trade, and like I said, he HAS to be more effective than Brad "Checkdown" Johnson was...
Boys sign Keith Brooking-- I feel pretty good about this move, though it caught me by surprise... Brooking is past his prime, but he's still pretty good... I think he'll prove to be a capable fill-in for Zach Thomas, a two down 'backer who can run to the ball...
What really makes me like this move, though, is his rep for being a team leader... we've all talked about how the team needs more leaders in the locker room, hopefully Keith will help with that...
When you factor in his reasonable price tag, I give this move an A minus... I can't go higher than an A minus because of his age (he'll be 33 at the start of the 09 season)... it's OK to sign a few aging veterans, but you don't want to go overboard with that approach...
Boys might sign Shawn Springs-- this move would appeal the sentimental Cowboys fan in me, it would be nice if Shawn could finish up his career with his daddy's old team... and even with his age, even with his recent injury history, if the price was right he could help the Boys... he could move to safety, but could always move back to cornerback in a pinch, if the team suffered a rash of injuries on the corner... and much like Brooking, he'd provide some locker room leadership...
If this move happens, the intellectual side of me would give it a B, but the sentimental side of me would demand that I bump it up to a B plus...
Skins sign Albert Haynesworth-- a questionable move, on so many levels... yeah, the guy's got a world of talent, BUT...
But he's go a wicked problem with his temper, as we Cowboys fans are well aware... I was talking to a coworker tonight, who's a Skins fan, and he says that he's read on the message boards that the Gurode incident was not an isolated example of that temper... he told me a story about him going after a teammate in college with a stop sign that he uprooted from the ground... he also told me there are stories within the Titans locker room of similar violent acts in practice...
As Garry (the aforementioned coworker) told me, "how crazy do you have to be for the Raiders to wash their hands of you??"... LOL...
He also has a rep for not exactly busting his hump except in contract years...
So all in all, I'm not struck with dread at the prospect of Andre Gurode versus Albert Haynesworth twice a year... Gurode has proven he can handle Fat Albert one on one... but I do tremble slightly at the prospect of Gurode being out when the Boys play the Skins, and the thought of Haynesworth versus Procter... the Boys simply MUST get bigger and more physical at backup center...
I assume it goes without saying that the Skins WAY overpaid for him...
Skins sign DeAngelo Hall-- I can understand this move, he played well for them late last season... but he's simply not all that good, and the money they threw at him was ludicrous... which makes this a typical Danny Boy/Madden 09 move...
Skins sign Derrick Dockery-- absolutely no criticism here, this was an astute move by the Skins, and Dockery got a fair market value... he was not overpaid... more to the point, he addresses a glaring need for the Skins with a proven, capable veteran... I have a hunch that the Skins will also take a long look at Derrick's little brother Cedric late in the upcoming draft...
Boys trade Anthony Henry for Jon Kitna-- man, talk about mixed feelings!!! I hate to see Henry go, but I recognize that he's lost a half-step, so part of me thinks this was a good move... as for Kitna, there are plusses and minuses there, too...
On the plus side, he's an upgrade over Brad Johnson, talent wise... he might be almost as old, but he has the strong arm needed to make the Cowboys' offense work... and if he is ever forced into action, he and Roy Williams already have a pretty good rapport goin' on...
On the minus side, there's the age thing; he'll turn 37 early in the season... this means that he's been brought in for 2 years, 3 years tops... and that means the Boys will likely be looking to draft a QB to groom in this draft, probably a mid-rounder... I also think it indicates they might look to position themselves to draft a stud QB next year... the thinking would be to let Kitna hold down the backup job for the next 2 years, at which point the Boys might be ready to let the stud passer take that job over, and this year's midrounder would hold down the 3rd QB role... then eventually when Romo is ready to retire, both would be ready to move up a slot...
Of course, that's just guesswork on my part... a more disconcerting negative regarding Kitna is his MOUTH... if y'all think that Patrick Crayton talks to the media too much, well, after a few weeks of Kitna's act you're gonna think that Crayton is the grandson of Marcel Marceau... IOW, he's pretty much a knucklehead, and I worry that he'll chafe at being the backup in Dallas...
Factoring all of that in, I give this move a B... it's nice that we apparently actually saved some cap room with this trade, and like I said, he HAS to be more effective than Brad "Checkdown" Johnson was...
Boys sign Keith Brooking-- I feel pretty good about this move, though it caught me by surprise... Brooking is past his prime, but he's still pretty good... I think he'll prove to be a capable fill-in for Zach Thomas, a two down 'backer who can run to the ball...
What really makes me like this move, though, is his rep for being a team leader... we've all talked about how the team needs more leaders in the locker room, hopefully Keith will help with that...
When you factor in his reasonable price tag, I give this move an A minus... I can't go higher than an A minus because of his age (he'll be 33 at the start of the 09 season)... it's OK to sign a few aging veterans, but you don't want to go overboard with that approach...
Boys might sign Shawn Springs-- this move would appeal the sentimental Cowboys fan in me, it would be nice if Shawn could finish up his career with his daddy's old team... and even with his age, even with his recent injury history, if the price was right he could help the Boys... he could move to safety, but could always move back to cornerback in a pinch, if the team suffered a rash of injuries on the corner... and much like Brooking, he'd provide some locker room leadership...
If this move happens, the intellectual side of me would give it a B, but the sentimental side of me would demand that I bump it up to a B plus...
Skins sign Albert Haynesworth-- a questionable move, on so many levels... yeah, the guy's got a world of talent, BUT...
But he's go a wicked problem with his temper, as we Cowboys fans are well aware... I was talking to a coworker tonight, who's a Skins fan, and he says that he's read on the message boards that the Gurode incident was not an isolated example of that temper... he told me a story about him going after a teammate in college with a stop sign that he uprooted from the ground... he also told me there are stories within the Titans locker room of similar violent acts in practice...
As Garry (the aforementioned coworker) told me, "how crazy do you have to be for the Raiders to wash their hands of you??"... LOL...
He also has a rep for not exactly busting his hump except in contract years...
So all in all, I'm not struck with dread at the prospect of Andre Gurode versus Albert Haynesworth twice a year... Gurode has proven he can handle Fat Albert one on one... but I do tremble slightly at the prospect of Gurode being out when the Boys play the Skins, and the thought of Haynesworth versus Procter... the Boys simply MUST get bigger and more physical at backup center...
I assume it goes without saying that the Skins WAY overpaid for him...
Skins sign DeAngelo Hall-- I can understand this move, he played well for them late last season... but he's simply not all that good, and the money they threw at him was ludicrous... which makes this a typical Danny Boy/Madden 09 move...
Skins sign Derrick Dockery-- absolutely no criticism here, this was an astute move by the Skins, and Dockery got a fair market value... he was not overpaid... more to the point, he addresses a glaring need for the Skins with a proven, capable veteran... I have a hunch that the Skins will also take a long look at Derrick's little brother Cedric late in the upcoming draft...
