Tuesday, June 4, 2002

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

Little money, lots of interest in June 1 cuts

A new wave of free agents hit the open market this week in salary-cap-related moves. Teams looking to bolster their WR corps are hungry to hit on players like ex-Chiefs WR Derrick Alexander, ex-Jaguars WR Keenan McCardell and ex-Packers WR Antonio Freeman. Other players, like former Bills OT John Fina and ex-Lions QB Charlie Batch, will be happy to simply latch on with a new club.

Buchsbaum: Free agency began again June 1. Every player who was let go was expected to be let go. There were two common denominators: first, the player’s play had declined well below his salary level and two, the player was on the downside of his career in almost all cases. What players very often fail to realize, is that they are treated like cars not like houses. Every year and every mile a car depreciates in value, unlike a house that can often gain value. Players depreciate with more years and the more games they play, especially after the 30-year-old mark. Some of the players that were cut will have to work for the veteran minimum and incentives.

OT John Fina’s game is quickness, but with a bad leg last year he had no quickness. Since Fina has had a decade in the league already, he will earn close to a $1 million base salary if he makes the minimum. WR Derrick Alexander is a player that had an injury-plagued year and didn’t fit in the new system in Kansas City. WR Keenan McCardell is one player that didn’t decline in play, but he made way too much money for a second receiver on a losing, rebuilding team that needs money. WR Herman Moore has done nothing but get hurt the last three years. WR Antonio Freeman’s play has declined, he’s lost some quickness and he’s not considered a good guy in the clubhouse. OG Glenn Parker had a nice career, but he is finished. LB Hardy Nickerson might have a year left despite his advanced age at middle linebacker. LB Mike Jones is a backup who made one big play in the Super Bowl. DE Marco Coleman could help a little bit, not a lot, for a contender if he is willing to take the minimum. QB Charlie Batch is the enigma in the bunch because he is still young enough. He couldn’t play well enough in Detroit to establish himself as a No. 1 quarterback in the league. RB Jamal Anderson is an older back with two major knee surgeries who has become infatuated with himself over the years. He is no longer the hungry player he was and really isn’t worth a lot on the free-agency market. He could be worth something to a team that is willing to give him a role and an incentive-laden contract.

Where might these players fit? Fina would fit in St. Louis, which has nothing behind Orlando Pace at left tackle. Alexander is a nice fit with the Vikings and seems headed there. McCardell could help a team like the Redskins, Dolphins or Browns, teams that feel they are contenders now. An interesting scenario for McCardell, who has attracted interest from Kansas City and who will visit Tampa Bay, is Atlanta. McCardell could be a great help to young QB Michael Vick. When Mark Brunell was a young lefty in Jacksonville, McCardell was a receiver that helped him out a great deal. It seems insignificant that McCardell spent most of his career playing with a left-handed quarterback, but it could help Vick out a great deal. Freeman could fit with one of those teams, especially with a strong head coach like Butch Davis in Cleveland, who could control Freeman. Nickerson is a natural for Green Bay, which needs a middle linebacker until Torrance Marshall is ready to do the job. The Eagles are thin at left defensive end and could use a run-down player like Coleman. As for Batch, his best option would be a team like San Diego and Cincinnati because they have no established quarterback in hopes of gaining the starting job. Otherwise, Batch could go to St. Louis or Green Bay where he would be working with great veteran quarterbacks and masterminds as head coaches.

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