As if we didn’t already know this, the Cardinals will be busy in the free agency period, dealing with their own free agents. They have money to spend, however it will be best spent on the players they wish to keep.
Kurt Warner almost had me on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Friday night. Leno asked him if he had any announcement to make and Warner then proceeded to say he was done….having children. Whew. My heart skipped a beat there. The Cardinals have to make him priority number one.
Anquan Boldin is probably gone. With so many other areas to address, as much as it hurts to see Boldin go, it may be the best thing for both parties. One thing is for sure, the Cards will get something valuable in return. This is a good place to secure needs that will not be able to be addressed through free agency.
Karlos Dansby wants to stay. At what price will he stay though. Dansby wants to play here and the Cardinals want him. However in order to guarantee that, the Cards will most likely place the franchise tag on him. Dansby has come out and said he hopes that doesn’t happen. I will never understand a player who says they want to stay with their current team and wants to be highly compensated but yet doesn’t want the franchise tag. I get the fact that it would not allow that player to negotiate with other teams, but if he is serious about wanting to stay, then it shouldn’t be a problem. He will be handsomely paid.
Antonio Smith is probably packing his bags. Unfortunately even with as much money that is out there to spend, there may not be enough to go around to pay Smith what he is worth. Look for him to probably end up elsewhere.
Edgerrin James would be better off staying. However he already has said he wants out. Even though he was able to revive the Edge of old during the post-season, his lack of playing time in the regular season did irrepairable damage to his ego and now he wants to go to a team that will allow him to play full-time. Too bad. Edge could have remained here, still have gotten paid well, been able to mentor Tim Hightower, and still get some playing time. It will be interesting to see where he ends up.
Scott Allen