Wednesday, April 17, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Trotter has up to four teams vying for his services

Unrestricted free-agent LB Jeremiah Trotter has multiple suitors for his services, and Philadelphia doesn’t appear to be one of them. Trotter, 25, was the Eagles’ Defensive MVP last season after leading the team in tackles from his MLB position. He is a two-time Pro Bowl selection.

Buchsbaum: Right now, it looks like the rights to LB Jeremiah Trotter, formerly of the Eagles, will come down to three or four teams. The Packers have basically told Trotter "if you want to play for a winner, if you want to play in a great football city, come here, but we’re not getting in a bidding war for you."

The Redskins’ Dan Snyder appears to be hot to trot for Trotter, but the question is: Does he really fit in with the Redskins’ cap situation, or will they have to cut other players and be very creative with the salary cap and set up future IOU’s in order to accommodate him at the price he’s asking?

The Texans have the money, but how much money do they want to spend on a middle linebacker now that they’ve already spent a good deal on Sharper and Wong? You know, just how much money can you invest in your linebackers overall?

The Vikings also are involved, although they’ve got Henri Crockett, who would prefer to play the middle as opposed to the strong side where he played in Atlanta.

Cowboys invest in strengthening LB corps

Dallas has decided an excellent group of linebackers is important to its defense. As a result, the Cowboys have opened up their checkbook and paid out big money the last two days. First, Dallas signed free agent Kevin Hardy to a five-year, $23 million deal. Now, they’ve also inked Dat Nguyen to a six-year, $13.5 million deal. Those signings come on the heels of last year’s signing of Dexter Coakley to a six-year, $25 million deal.

Buchsbaum: For years, the Cowboys wouldn’t spend money on linebackers and believed that you build a defense with defensive linemen, cornerbacks and safeties, and linebackers are your lowest priority. Now it seems like they’re going in the opposite direction. Last year, they spent big money to keep Dexter Coakley; this year they’re spending big money to keep Dat Nguyen, and they also went out and signed Kevin Hardy to a contract that, while it’s very cap-friendly this year, could turn into a monster contract next year if they want to keep him.

The Archives
2001 - 2002 Season