Arizona Cardinals Primary Goal: Restructure Antrel Rolle's Contract
by Andrew602 on Jan 19, 2010 1:22 PM MST
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PrintNext season, Arizona Cardinals' free safety Antrel Rolle will be entering the final year of his rookie contract that was signed in 2005.
In 2009 he was a Pro Bowl alternate, and still has a shot at making it to Miami should Darren Sharper and the Saints make the Super Bowl.
Antrel's just 27 years old and has flourished at free safety - a position he recently changed over to last year. If Rolle can finish his career in Arizona, the Cardinals are virtually set at safety, with Rolle and Wilson being one of the best duos in the league.
The only problem is that Rolle is set to make $8.11 million in 2010.
He hit several escalators in his rookie deal that was filled with incentives, and the Cardinals will obviously need to restructure his contract or risk taking a big salary hit next season. Knowing the Bidwells, we will likely see a restructured contract very soon. Either way it figures to be good news considering Rolle's productivity at safety this year.
He was third on the team with 72 tackles, had 4 interceptions, and recorded 1.5 sacks - the most and only of his career. Throw in his ability to make a play with the ball and you have yourself one of the top free safeties in the league. With the already thin depth at safety, the Cardinals can't afford to lose Rolle, making a contract extension inevitable.
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I agree it needs to be restructed but for sort of a different reason
I was reading something today that was talking about this situation and they said one of the major reasons he needed to be renegotiated was not b/c he’s due to make 8-whatever million but because his cap hit next year would be just over $13 million. At this point I think we can all agree that the salary cap should not be a concern in 2010 because is simply won’t exist.
With that being said, Rolle still needs a new contract. Call it a renegotiation or an extension or whatever you want. He needs to be locked up past next season. He’s entering the final year of his deal and we don’t need to expose this guy to free agency. He’s not great but with A-dub becoming very suspect in coverage, we are going to need Rolle and Rashad Johnson to be our safeties on passing downs while A-dub freelances or blitzes. Losing him would create yet another hole we’ll need to fill in the upcoming draft, probably in 2011. He shouldn’t be that expensive. Hopefully he’d take something in the 4 to 5 mill a year range. That would put him well above league average but not elite, which about where I’d rate him performance wise.
Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
I think we realized how important Ware was after he went down against San Fran too.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
Amen
I had no clue how important he was to our pass D.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Jan 19, 2010 1:51 PM MST up reply actions
did the cards use rolle as our nickel cb and bring in ware at fs before he went down?
i know they did that a lot last year (which is why aaron francisco who i will hate for the rest of my life got so much playing time) but i didn’t notice it as much this year (mostly because i couldn’t watch most of the games)
rolle is a very good nickel cb (remember his 3 int returns two years ago?) and that makes safety such an important position for the cards. if ware and johnson are both healthy next year, i feel like rolle will be our nickel cb again. i think that was the main reason we used a third round pick on a safety when we’re pretty much set at that position for the next five years (assuming rolle gets extended. which he will. he has to)
I don't think they did that much this year, if any at all
Rolle is strictly a FS now.
Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
one thing I do wonder about that though......
Ware was only vitally important b/c RJ wasn’t ready to contribute. Eventually that should change and I wonder what his role will be after that.
Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Rolle and Ware both have to stay.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
+1 Was hoping to see some of that in the playoffs but...
by cardsfanforlife24 on Jan 20, 2010 9:46 AM MST reply actions
Great Article
Overall, I think we can all agree that Rolle needs to be locked down with the Cards for a number of reasons.
I’ll also agree with what you all are saying regarding Ware and RJ. I knew Ware was a contributor but I didn’t realize just how big of a role he played until he went down. I guess it’s the old, “don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” scenario. As for RJ, I see potential but need to see big improvement going into next year.
Poor Mr. Adams. I love the heart that the little guy shows and he certainly has some wheels. He’s actually pretty decent in coverage s well—meaning that he’s mostly in great position defensively. He’s just to small!! Tall receivers are no longer the rarity in the NFL but are the norm and Adams just doesn’t have the height to make the plays he needs to make.
I haven't really noticed him getting burned because of his size
We’re on the same page — he does seem to do a good job sticking with his man. Where I tend to veer from your assessment is that his problems look, to me, more like they’re coming from him never being aware of the ball. Doesn’t know the routes, doesn’t know the tendencies of the offense, I dunno. I suspect it’s an experience issue more than anything — remember, he’s an elevated practice squad player who stuck around at first due to his special teams play — but it could be due to lack of preparation, nerves, or other (suckitude?)… Considering he was getting a decent amount of playing time with the D, it’s the kind of thing I would have hoped to see him leave behind. Not sure about his future or potential with the team at this point.
In reference to his size...
Think of his coverage both weeks against Green Bay. Jermichael Finley caught balls above his outstretched arms-literaly. Now, Finley is a freak of nature, in my opinion, as I see him to be an extremely talented tight end who is really more of a wide receiver. He is similar to Marques Colston who was listed as a tight end his rookie year. Anyways, regardless, tight ends are more and more athletic each year and adams is too small to cover a majority of them. He also got burned a few times in both games trying to cover Jennings. Just rewinding and watching the plays over again, he was in great position and his timing was pretty spot on but the ball would pass over his fingertips.
It’s possibly that I’ve placed too much focus on his lack of height after watching those performances and I may be imbellishing a bit (I erased the games so I can’t go back and watch again). I’d just feel more comfortable if he was another half-foot taller! haha
by SundayBlitz on Jan 21, 2010 11:27 AM MST up reply actions
Oh oh, yeah I do remember some of those
It’s the same for me, I didn’t really keep any to go back and re-watch. I suppose I was mostly thinking about his match-up against Limas Sweed early in the year but you’re right about Finely and Jennings, I believe. Another problem is that the bigger, tougher guys can just out-muscle him…
If Taylor Mays slips in the draft...
do we snag him? That would free up Rolle to make plays in coverage and throw another big body in the mix for run stops. Who’s our best case scenario pick?
Haven't heard much good about Mays, honestly
Not that I’ve heard much at all. Just that he’s probably overrated — lots of slip-ups in coverage.
Even though I’m not too high on RJ, I’m disinclined to say that we should invest another pick at the S position.
Eithr way...
Rolle really was never really GREAT in coverage. Isn’t that part of the reason we moved him over to free safety?
by SundayBlitz on Jan 21, 2010 11:29 AM MST up reply actions
Hah probably
Man and zone are a bit different though, and a safety who struggles with zone… at the college level, particularly, well…
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