MVN - Most Valuable Network

Early Signed, Dansby Too Late

Yesterday we got some good news and some not so good news. The good news would be the Arizona Cardinals signed 3rd round pick Early Doucet. The bad news is the deadline for a Karlos Dansby extension came to a close.

Lets focus more on the good news for a moment. Obviously there’s never a lot of 3rd round picks holding out so it was expected that WR Early Doucet would sign. But it’s always nice to see the negotiation process go smoothly. Hopefully this deal will work out a little better than last years deal with Buster Davis who I may remind you was cut by the Cardinals and refused to play for the practice squad. Davis is now trying to make the Detroit Lion football team.

Things will go a lot better with Doucet than they did with Davis. Yes, I know that’s not one of the more risky predictions I’ve ever made. How about if I guarantee that Early Doucet makes the Cardinals football team this year? I mean what are the chances of back to back years where a 3rd round pick doesn’t make the team? It couldn’t happen, could it?

I know some people may disagree, but I think Doucet is going to be an upgrade from Bryant Johnson. Early seems to actually have some hands which Johnson didn’t have, and more importantly Doucet is a football player first and an athlete second. B.J was a great athlete but lacked the football IQ to match his athleticism. Johnson was selected in the first round because scouts saw his size and speed and figured they could turn him into a real stud. But just because you have the physical tools doesn’t mean you have the mental aspect of the game. Anquan Boldin was smaller, slower, and selected after Johnson but Anquan understood football, so that’s part of the reason why he turned out to be the better player.

As for Karlos Dansby the deal just couldn’t be done. I understand where both sides are coming from on this one. The Cardinals would be crazy to pay around $9 million dollars a year for a guy who has never been healthy for a full season and has never made the Pro Bowl. At the same time Karlos is definetly a Pro Bowl talent and deserves a lot of money for a player of his caliber. But for now I think both sides will be ok with a one year $8.065 million tender.

What I fortunately and unfortunately think is going to happen is Karlos will have a great year and make the Pro Bowl, but his stock will rise so much that the Cardinals can’t afford to keep him around. I like Karlos and I hope Arizona can find a way to sign him next season but I just don’t see him playing past 2008 with the Cardinals. But we will see won’t we.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.