aj. said:
Close this thread because this sums a lot of it up rather nicely.
etc...
Weaver - nice signing, too much jack
Walter - nice signing, McCaffrey II will surprise some people
Putzier - nice signing, clutch player fills a glaring need
Cook - take him or leave him, although Kyle Johnson II adds a slightly different dimension to the FB position
Rosenfels - head scratcher
Flanagan - IF he can stay healthy, a solid pickup.
Cowart - nice signing IF he can stay healthy and depending on the $$$ which I haven't heard details. Fills another glaring need.
My thoughts:
Weaver - he is a nice run-stopping DE but he isn't going to provide much of a pass rushing threat. I think we overpaid a lot for him, and I don't mind us getting him but I'd rather it have been as a more athletic DT rather than a DE, especially since there are so many big DEs in this draft that are more athletic and would provide a better pass rushing presence while still being a strong run stopper, namely Mario Williams, but there are plenty of others. I don't expect him to get more than 4-5 sacks a year but if he can draw attention away from Peek on the other side of the line to free him up for more sacks and pick up 40+ tackles and help our run defense I won't mind other than I still think we paid him too much and he won't be able to provide the overall production to warrant that kind of money, but that's the way of free agency.
Walter - Don't know much about him, 30 total catches in three seasons doesn't sound real good. He's a big target, but is slow (around 4.65 40) but is supposed to have pretty good hands. I don't see him being a very good #2 but think he could be a pretty good option as our #3 guy, so hopefully they're not closing the books on adding a quality WR somewhere in there. I have no problems adding Walter for WR depth, but he shouldn't be counted on to be a good #2 guy for us and should only be expected to be a solid 3rd option, we need to look elsewhere for our true #2 guy. I expect about 25-50 catches a year out of him depending on who else we bring in at WR (more towards the 50 end if he's our #2 guy, less if we bring in a more solid #2 or Armstrong emerges).
Putzier - Pretty solid TE, he has played for Kubiak the last several years and knows his system. He's nothing to get especially excited about but he's a better option than anyone we currently and we didn't overpay him. Pretty solid pickup, I expect 35-45 catches for 400-500 yards out of him.
Cook - Decent FB, more athletic than Moran Norris, which is what Denver's system usually calls for, and likely means Norris is gone after camp. I personally don't like paying a FB $1 million a year, but if he's that important then ok. I don't expect much production out of him in terms of statistics, especially if we draft Bush (Bush and Davis should be getting 98% of the carries anyways) but Cook could end up getting a decent amount of catches.
Rosenfels - Well, he also hasn't produced much throughout his career, but if Kubiak thinks he's his kind of QB then I'm fine with them bringing him in. He obviously isn't going to seriously challenge for the starting spot but if Kubiak is confident enough in Carr that he is their #1 guys, then I have no problems saving some money and getting QBs that are purely meant as a backup.
Flanagan - I haven't seen enough of him to really know and OLinemen don't really have any stats to look at, but Sherman coached him in Green Bay and obviously liked him and he is probably a better short-term option at C than Hodgdon is. I think they overpaid him a little too, but if he's going to be a solid starter for at least two out of those three years then I don't care about the money. They still need to find a longer-term solution, whether that be Hodgdon or some other new player.
Cowart - Fairly solid MLB although he is definitely aging. I don't know how much money they paid but he adds veteran depth to our LB core and is a fairly solid player in there. He definitely is not a long-term solution at MLB, but he's solid enough to fill in for a year or two or backup Wong if they decide to align them that way. He should be a solid acquisition but is also not anything to write home about and hopefully they did not overpay him.
's admit they were wrong about last year, so don't hold your breath.
