Is Caldwell done?

[pats1]

I want to pay him as little as possible.

DUH.

The way you win championships is by paying people less money than the fair market value of their talent. Whoever underpays the most, wins.

And so you believe Morris is worth more than $2,000,000 a year, but Caldwell is worth less?

God, I'm happy you don't have Pioli's job.

 

[solman]

Prior to his missing games, I believe that Ben Watson was actually Brady's primary target. So, according to your logic, it's time to cut Ben Watson, not Caldwell.

My logic is that you cut players whose talent is worse than their cost (provided you can still replace them via the draft and/or free agency).

If you believe that Watson's talent isn't worth $600K, then you simply don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Rob0729]

It is OK to pay backups starter money when it is good for the team.

Paying Caldwell 1.9M LAST YEAR would have been a good idea, because we didn't have any better options.

This year we have a whole bunch more options. Given his limited playing time and talent, I don't seem him starting the season on our roster (unless he accepts less money).

Apparently, nobody in this forum is willing to bet that I am wrong.

Make up your mind.

Paying Caldwell $1.9 million this year is an excellent option. It is back up money on today's market and he can start and may very well start the season as the #2 WR.

We are basically over $10 million under the cap. Why does his cap number matter? In a year that the cap is $113 million, what is cutting $1.8 million really going to gain you if you have to replace him. What is that really going to gain you?

Colvin has the fourth largest cap number by $1.5 million over the fifth largest cap number of Matt Light. Neither guy are our top 5 players on this team and really don't deserve to be paid as high as that. Wouldn't it be smarter to restructure one of those guys especially since Colvin's contract ends after the 2008 season?

You are talking about chump change. If we still had a $85 million cap, it would be significant. In a $113 million cap, it is back up money.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

You do realize that as Brady's primary WR, Caldwell dropped more balls in the AFC title game than he did in the entire regular season. That is pretty impressive for a primary WR.

Does that make people feel better or worse about him?

The fact that it was an aberation may support the notion that the pressure got to him. The reality is that, happily, right now we're a team that is not merely about getting to the playoffs, but doing well once we get there. The reason we love -- or at least one of the reasons we love -- Troy Brown is because he plays best when the lights were brightest. The play he made against the Panthers after taking a 10-yard push-off penalty is the kind of play that wins championships. He made an incredible play to cover up his prior mistake (or a bad call, if you prefer). Gaffney made an amazing play on third down in the AFCCG to cover up Reche's drop. Those are the kinds of plays that matter and the type of players that any team needs if it wants to get to the super bowl.

Reche's drops are cause for concern. That said, I think he has them out of his system. I think he's going to come back angry and ready to make up for them, and he's going to redeem himself.

That said, I still cannot explain those crazy eyes.

 

[lutontown_fc]

Solman you newbie dork.

 

[Rob0729]

I am. I'll take "Caldwell makes the opening day roster" for a Patriots hat or $20.

We'll call injured reserve a wash and just nullify the wager. How do you propose to handle a trade, as that would be a rather ambiguous result.

I'll jump in and offer the same amount. It will be an easy $20 for me. I see little chance Caldwell won't be on the open day roster. I think he starts to boot. Although I won't bet on that because I don't know how camp battles will turn out.

 

[Fumblerooski]

Caldwell is not done and he will not be cut. He was placed in a very bad situation last year trying to fill in for the last miinute departure of Branch. He is not a #1 WR but will do fine in the #2 or #3 role.

 

[Rob0729]

Does that make people feel better or worse about him?

The fact that it was an aberation may support the notion that the pressure got to him. The reality is that, happily, right now we're a team that is not merely about getting to the playoffs, but doing well once we get there. The reason we love -- or at least one of the reasons we love -- Troy Brown is because he plays best when the lights were brightest. The play he made against the Panthers after taking a 10-yard push-off penalty is the kind of play that wins championships. He made an incredible play to cover up his prior mistake (or a bad call, if you prefer). Gaffney made an amazing play on third down in the AFCCG to cover up Reche's drop. Those are the kinds of plays that matter and the type of players that any team needs if it wants to get to the super bowl.

Reche's drops are cause for concern. That said, I think he has them out of his system. I think he's going to come back angry and ready to make up for them, and he's going to redeem himself.

That said, I still cannot explain those crazy eyes.

It was one game. A lot of people made just as bad mistakes. Brady threw a really bad INT. Many defensive players were grossly out of position. People just seem to focus on Caldwell.

Caldwell stepped up big time against the Chargers. I don't think it is a big game thing. It was a bad game where a lot of players made bad and stupid mistakes. People just seem to focus on Caldwell.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Caldwell stepped up big time against the Chargers. I don't think it is a big game thing. It was a bad game where a lot of players made bad and stupid mistakes. People just seem to focus on Caldwell.

Nobody else had those crazy looking eyes. I'm serious. I think that the way his eyes looked after the drops is contributing more to the perception about him than the drops themselves.

 

[solman]

If you put Bam Childress in Reche Caldwell's position last year, does he have 61 catches?

Both were in camp. Which one made the roster over the other?

Would you rather have - and count on - Reche Caldwell or Bam Childress on your roster in 2007?

(Are we seriously trying to compare these guys?)

You're the one who claimed that if we had replaced Caldwell with Childress in 2006, Childress would have caught 59 fewer passes.

I don't think Childress is nearly as good as Caldwell but:

1. Childress was a rookie. If he spent an entire season as Tom Brady's go to guy, who knows what he could have become. Look at the improvement that Hobbs showed when he was forced to learn on the job.

2. My best guess is that he probably would have caught 40-45 passes. That's substantially worse than 61. Figure we lose a number of key first downs and a game or two.

But suggesting that Childress, who caught two passes in a single game where he wasn't Brady's go to guy, would only have caught two passes over the entire season if he was Brady's goto guy is just plain ignorant.

 

[pats1]

Nobody else had those crazy looking eyes. I'm serious. I think that the way his eyes looked after the drops is contributing more to the perception about him than the drops themselves.

He's had those eyes before catches, after catches, before games, after games, before drops, after drops, during drops, during catches, during touchdowns. They're always there.

 

[solman]

Happily for us, Chargers fans now have several more recent drops to focus their attention on.

FYI San Diego's receivers dropped more balls than Reche did this year.

Gosh, do you suppose that's what I was referring to?

 

[solman]

As for restructing him, why if we are well under the cap? Just to be asses?

No, because we get to spend that money on other players.

Last year we took roughly $5.2M of cap space that we knew we weren't going to spend and turned it into LTBE incentives that we knew wouldn't be earned for Koppen, Brown and Spann.

This year we get to spend that money. Any money we don't spend this year, we get to spend next year.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

He's had those eyes before catches, after catches, before games, after games, before drops, after drops, during drops, during catches, during touchdowns. They're always there.

He looked loony on national tv. That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying the perception is fair or not fair, but I genuinely believe that the drops alone are not what left a lasting impression on people after that game.

And for the record, I'm pretty sure I didn't miss a play all year and saw Reche plenty of times -- the eyes looked particularly loopy during the AFCCG. There's one shot after the no-call on the pass interference play where I thought they were going to pop out.

 

[solman]

Thank you!

Would you rather have Bam Childress or Reche Caldwell as the Pats' starting WR?

Neither. Caldwell is a number 3 receiver at best.

 

[pats1]

Neither. Caldwell is a number 3 receiver at best.

#3 or not, he's going to be the starter. Welker could be the #1 WR, but will still be in the slot.

 

[thesmee1]

It was one game. A lot of people made just as bad mistakes. Brady threw a really bad INT. Many defensive players were grossly out of position. People just seem to focus on Caldwell.

Caldwell stepped up big time against the Chargers. I don't think it is a big game thing. It was a bad game where a lot of players made bad and stupid mistakes. People just seem to focus on Caldwell.

The AFCCG was very painful to watch. With that being said, Caldwell should stay, and be the 2nd or 3rd wr. He was put under an extreme amount of pressure when he got here, I'd be curious to see how he plays with a nice balanced surrounding cast of wr's. I'd be willing to bet he'd flourish.

 

[solman]

And so you believe Morris is worth more than $2,000,000 a year, but Caldwell is worth less?

God, I'm happy you don't have Pioli's job.

Pioli believes that Morris has more talent than what we are paying him.

That's good enough for me.

 

[wdkantro2]

Everyone is way too far ahead of themselves. Washington is a low risk, high reward guy. If he doesn't do much in TC, he will be gone. Stallworth? Considering he has never played a full season, you can't just cut another WR thinking Stallworth fills a gap. Plus, it's not like we only pay 2 WR sets. Injuries happen, and ineffectiveness happens. I don't think Brady would be too happy with them getting rid of the only guy in the corps that Brady has had a full season with.
Weren't all of you the same people saying Brady sucked because he wasn't used to his receivers? Then why do you want to get rid of the one guy he had a full year with?

 

[Deus Irae]

My logic is that you cut players whose talent is worse than their cost (provided you can still replace them via the draft and/or free agency).

If you believe that Watson's talent isn't worth $600K, then you simply don't know what you are talking about.

In 2005, there were 43 receivers making $1.9 million or more, according to USA Today, and that's before the recent salary cap jump. With the new salary cap, $1.9 is even less of an issue.

In other words, your logic sucks at worst and is outdated at best. You telling others that they don't know what they are talking about is a very, very funny and ironic thing.