Freeney takes pay cut

[thelightningwill]

pretty sure I saw Sean Phillips is FA and not re-signed with Denver. Should we try to bring him back for maybe $2 Mil for 1 year contract?

Only if he gets down on his knees and begs for our forgiveness and posts it on Youtube.
Plus, he'll need to send a Tweet out saying Chargers fans up, Broncos fans down.
And - not $2 million. Only whatever the minimum salary is.

[Steve]

I wouldn't rule out any cheap pass rusher at this point, but I would want to wait and see how the guys on the roster look before we sign him. Phillips has lost the explosiveness in his legs, but he can still set people up, and he doesn't miss many sack opportunities. It just depends how many young player we will have that need reps. It's hard to put them on the field to get them experience if you have an experienced guy who will be better. The catch is how do players get that experience, especially as a pass rusher, where it takes a couple of years.

Old Vets- Freeney, Johnson and English
Experience - Keiser, Walker (ILB),
Youth-Ingram, Williams

I can see all the older guys being gone after this season, certainly after next. Keiser and Walker are solid players who are still very useful and despite the fact that neither seems to be a great pass rusher, both probably have at least some future with us, although Walker may be in the mix at ILB. Ingram is our best hope for a sustained pass rush and is a good player in any case, and Williams showed he has the tools, but not the skills. I think both make the team no matter what, just because they have the potential.

Right now, I can't see us carrying more then 6 maximum, and probably 5. The most obvious move is to use Walker at ILB/OLB, so along with Connor, Teo and Butler, that makes 4. Do they still want to keep 2 ILB backip/ST types?

English is probably going to have to get a bunch of sacks to make the roster. His best hope is if Freeney can't stay healthy (possible) and he can (unlikely).

I see Kesier as a run down, all around LB similar to Johnson. Not a great pass rusher, but adequate and decent everywhere else too.

Freeney is on his legs, and then only if he can come back.

I think Johnson is also on his last legs. He still is a useful guy, with all the younger players, being a team leader and our best run defender. I think we can get at least another year out of him, but that is probably about it. I expect he tries to get to the end of his contract, but that would be about it.

[TTK]

I wouldn't sign Phillips back. He wasn't that impressive last year despite his sack numbers. Most of those sacks were kind of gimmes (beat a TE/RB/backup OL). He just got a lot of opportunities since the Broncos played with huge leads a lot.

[RobH]

I wouldn't rule out any cheap pass rusher at this point, but I would want to wait and see how the guys on the roster look before we sign him. Phillips has lost the explosiveness in his legs, but he can still set people up, and he doesn't miss many sack opportunities. It just depends how many young player we will have that need reps. It's hard to put them on the field to get them experience if you have an experienced guy who will be better. The catch is how do players get that experience, especially as a pass rusher, where it takes a couple of years.

Old Vets- Freeney, Johnson and English
Experience - Keiser, Walker (ILB),
Youth-Ingram, Williams

I can see all the older guys being gone after this season, certainly after next. Keiser and Walker are solid players who are still very useful and despite the fact that neither seems to be a great pass rusher, both probably have at least some future with us, although Walker may be in the mix at ILB. Ingram is our best hope for a sustained pass rush and is a good player in any case, and Williams showed he has the tools, but not the skills. I think both make the team no matter what, just because they have the potential.

Right now, I can't see us carrying more then 6 maximum, and probably 5. The most obvious move is to use Walker at ILB/OLB, so along with Connor, Teo and Butler, that makes 4. Do they still want to keep 2 ILB backip/ST types?

English is probably going to have to get a bunch of sacks to make the roster. His best hope is if Freeney can't stay healthy (possible) and he can (unlikely).

I see Kesier as a run down, all around LB similar to Johnson. Not a great pass rusher, but adequate and decent everywhere else too.

Freeney is on his legs, and then only if he can come back.

I think Johnson is also on his last legs. He still is a useful guy, with all the younger players, being a team leader and our best run defender. I think we can get at least another year out of him, but that is probably about it. I expect he tries to get to the end of his contract, but that would be about it.

Let's not forget Cordarro Law. Here's a quote from Bolts from the Blue:

In the Canadian Football League, Cordarro Law played for the Calgary Stampeders. Last season, he had 44 tackles and 14 sacks. In the CFL, Law was known as one of the best players in the league and his ability to put pressure on the quarterback was his best attribute. As far as his team goes, the Stampeders were ranked number one in their division and were heavy favorites to win the grey cup.

Those are pretty good numbers, and he also played well in college, getting a lot of tackles from the DE position and a lot of TFL. It's thought that he didn't get drafted because of his size, too short, and he switched to OLB for the pro days, but it wasn't enough to impress the teams. He went to Canada, and it looks like he got the reps that helped make him into "one of the best players in the league". "...ability to put pressure on the QB was his best attribute."

If he can provide most of that production in the NFL, he'll do just fine, I think.

[Panama]

Let's not forget Cordarro Law. ... Those are pretty good numbers, and he also played well in college, getting a lot of tackles from the DE position and a lot of TFL. It's thought that he didn't get drafted because of his size, too short, and he switched to OLB for the pro days, but it wasn't enough to impress the teams. He went to Canada, and it looks like he got the reps that helped make him into "one of the best players in the league". "...ability to put pressure on the QB was his best attribute."

If he can provide most of that production in the NFL, he'll do just fine, I think.

Maybe he can be our Cameron Wake.

[Beerman]

Law is my hope for a decent pass rush this year. I saw some if his cfl clips and he has some ability. Nice explosion off the line. Gonna come down to whether his technique is up to par and he can consistently get past defenders. Basically an extra 4th/5th round guy.

[SDFan]

IMO, its a given that English (if he sticks) and/or Freeney will miss time with injuries and that is why I think Phillips at the right price makes sense to fill that expected void this year. Ingram should be solid, but we are going to need a young guy to step up and assert himself as a pass rush force at OLB this year. Law looks promising, or at least interesting and we'll likely have a higher round draft pick to compete with him and Williams- we'll see how "coaching them up" works. I like Keiser, but not sure he has much ceiling to become a starter and the legal problems may dog him.

[Mister Hoarse]

Laws, yes.

[Steve]

It depends on whether we feel Keiser needs to be a top pass rusher, or if he can fill a JJ type of role. JJ has never been much of a pass rusher, but was really good against the run, and a solid pass defender in coverage. If we are willing to go forward with Keiser in that role, then he would actually be an improvement, since I think he is a bit better pass rusher then Johnson is, and a little faster. But if we are only willing to use guys who are good to great pass rushers, he probably is not going to get that much better.

The thing with Law is that people have to be realistic. Guys don't go to Canada if they are NFL ready. He got a lot better there, but 15-17 sacks in Canada are a lot easier to get then 15-17 sacks in the NFL. But like Cameron Wake, I do think there is a chance he can develop. It really only took Wake part of his 1st season to turn into a solid pass rusher, and about another year to be one of the better edge rushers in the NFL. I expect Law may have some success in preseason, but he is still going to take a little while before he is able to get sacks vs real NFL guys, and that has to be expected.

Williams I think is the guy who really needs to be watched. He has pretty good skills, but was looked down on coming out because of short arms. HE also had to learn a new position, and step his game up for the NFL. Now, that he has a year under his belt, it will be interesting to see how he has progressed. But in terms of raw tools, he has the speed, quickness and strength to be an NFL OLB. He just needs to develop the skills needed to take advantage of his tools.