Thursday, May 23, 2002

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

Veteran WR Carter retires to broadcasting booth

Vikings WR Cris Carter announced his retirement from football Tuesday after 15 years, 1,093 catches, 129 receiving touchdowns to join HBO's "Inside the NFL" show as a co-host. The announcement marks an abrupt end to Carter's decorated, and sometimes tumultuous, playing career. He voided his contract with the Vikings before the start of the free agency period this year because he wanted to sign with a team closer to winning a Super Bowl. It appeared he was headed to the Rams but delayed a scheduled meeting with Rams coaches because he was in Cleveland trying to reach a deal with the Browns. The Rams reportedly saw the move as a negotiating ploy and canceled their meeting. The Dolphins expressed interest in Carter as well but were not willing to pay Carter the money he was seeking, leaving the broadcast booth as his most lucrative option.

Buchsbaum: Carter retired after a career that is sure to land him in pro football’s Hall of Fame. He was an extremely productive receiver and for many years was the prototype possession receiver in the NFL. He had fabulous hands, tremendous hand-eye coordination, amazing body control and great jumping ability. He never had a lot of speed. His best time was in the 4.6 area, but he was a master at pushing off and had very good quickness getting into and out of his breaks. He also was a leader who early in Randy Moss’ career had a positive influence on Moss. However, Carter was thought of as the type of leader who could go either way. He could either be a positive leader when things were going his way or a negative leader when they weren’t. He also had an ego the size of the Empire State Building and always liked to take credit for a lot of things to call attention to himself. One reason that very few NFL clubs showed interest in him is because they were afraid he would be a bad influence in the clubhouse, especially with the young players when things were not going his way.

Raiders sign WR Hatchette

The Oakland Raiders signed WR Matthew Hatchette Wednesday. Hatchette had two catches for 44 yards for the New York Jets last season but was released by the Jets this spring. Hatchette spent the first four seasons of his career with Minnesota, catching 43 passes for the Vikings as the No. 3 receiver behind Randy Moss and Cris Carter. He likely signed a one-year deal with a minimum base salary of $650,000 that would count only $450,000 against Oakland’s salary cap this season.

Buchsbaum: He’s a long shot. The Raiders liked him a little bit with the Vikings. They are getting him for the veteran minimum, which means he won’t count anything against the cap unless he makes the team coming out of training camp. So it’s a worthwhile deal if they are not putting much bonus money into him. He has the size they like in their receivers and at one time was considered a real good prospect, but then he seemed to level off and hit a wall.

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2001 - 2002 Season