Free Agent Tracker -- Post FA News and Notes Here (merged)

[GOTA]

He's trying to force a trade. He has almost no leverage though and unless another team really steps up it won't happen. The Steelers won't let him walk for a 3rd round pick or worse. Wallace could do what Jackson did last year and hold out, but he doesn't have Jackson's track record so it would be risky - Wallace would ultimately be hurting his own value (and get paid next to nothing this year).

I see him playing for the Steelers this year and walking next. The Steelers will likely retain Brown instead.

What he's doing is the complete opposite of forcing a trade. If Wallace was reasonable a couple of teams would have been interested. Then he would be negotiating and getting a real sense of what he true value is. Instead he comes out with crazy demands and teams back away. They're still interested but only if they can get him for a cheaper price in picks than the RFA tag allows. Wallace is his own worst enemy and a real dim bulb.

[leachisabeast]

I like Felix Jones as a player, and at first blush I would be interested in the prospect of adding him for a 4th or 5th, but he's an FA after 2012. I don't think I like him as a one-year rental.

I dunno. If we were to acquire him, he would be Ray Rice insurance and leverage--he's as good in the receiving game as Rice and a talented runner. I think he would fit our scheme well. I liked him a lot as a prospect, maybe that's coloring my perception.

I disagree, he's no where near Rice as a receiver.

[madmikey]

What he's doing is the complete opposite of forcing a trade. If Wallace was reasonable a couple of teams would have been interested. Then he would be negotiating and getting a real sense of what he true value is. Instead he comes out with crazy demands and teams back away. They're still interested but only if they can get him for a cheaper price in picks than the RFA tag allows. Wallace is his own worst enemy and a real dim bulb.

Yeah I don't understand his strategy. He wants huge money, but only really has 1.5 really productive seasons under his belt (after his tailoff in the 2nd half last year). And now he's pulling a stunt like this? The only way he's going to get paid next year is if he produces this year. If he sits out or sulks, his stats go down and so do his UFA contract offers. It really makes no sense to me.

If he walks as a UFA next year the Steelers also eventually get a decent comp pick (4th or can they still get a 3rd?), so they have very little reason to deal him unless they get a lot more than that.

[Ravenswintitle]

Yeah I don't understand his strategy. He wants huge money, but only really has 1.5 really productive seasons under his belt (after his tailoff in the 2nd half last year). And now he's pulling a stunt like this? The only way he's going to get paid next year is if he produces this year. If he sits out or sulks, his stats go down and so do his UFA contract offers. It really makes no sense to me.

If he walks as a UFA next year the Steelers also eventually get a decent comp pick (4th or can they still get a 3rd?), so they have very little reason to deal him unless they get a lot more than that.

If he gets himself into a game of chicken with Pitt; they're not going to blink first. I agree with Gota, if Wallace had acted differently and shown interest in winning and contributing to a team rather than $$$ he would be working on a contract now. He's good but a lot of teams don't want to risk having a head case.

Not very bright and his agent isn't doing him any favors.

[BcRaven]

I disagree, he's [Felix Jones] no where near Rice as a receiver.

I'm with you leach. Jones was 33 - 221 (6.7 yd avg) with ZERO TDs in 2011, while Rice was 76 - 704 (9.3 yd avg) with 3 TDs. If I listed their 4 year stats anyone could see that Jones was not close to Rice as a receiver... Bc

[bmorecareful]

I disagree, he's no where near Rice as a receiver.

Ehhh... you can disagree, and you very well may be right, but when we talk about Rice as a receiver, I think a valid question should always be: is Rice such a good receiver that we throw the ball to him so much, or do we throw the ball to him so much he looks like a great receiver?

Now, here me out. I think Rice is a very good receiving back, and there's probably more evidence that he's better than Jones. But people are very quick to cite Rice's catches and yards to prove how great he is as a receiver, yet in our system the RB is always going to catch a ton of balls no matter how good he is.

Cam Cameron's offense has always targeted the RBs in the passing game a ton. If (heaven forbid) he's still here when Rice is gone, I think our RBs will still be catching 50+ balls a year, no matter how much they do with the ball in their hands.

The Cowboys throw the ball to the RB a lot less in their system, which is even less of a surprise considering they have Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten to throw to as well. But with fewer opportunities, Felix Jones has always been very good catching the football.

Again, if we were to bring in Felix Jones, he would be the #2 to Ray Rice, and insurance for 2013 against a Ray Rice holdout. He would give us another great talent in the backfield. He's never been able to handle a starter's workload anyway, so I think it could be a good fit.

[Jeremiah W]

If he gets himself into a game of chicken with Pitt; they're not going to blink first. I agree with Gota, if Wallace had acted differently and shown interest in winning and contributing to a team rather than $$$ he would be working on a contract now. He's good but a lot of teams don't want to risk having a head case.

Not very bright and his agent isn't doing him any favors.

If holding out never worked, players would never do it. Teams just do not like to give up a 1st round pick when in a year the player will be a free agent anyway.

I think Wallace makes a huge difference in how teams defend the Steelers. You live with 1 on 1 vs Brown and 7 in the box for the run game because it takes deep help to contain him.

While it is very unlikely that he will be able to force a trade, he may get an extension. Also if he blows out his knee week 3, the what is his open market value next year compared to if he just held out as long as possible?

I still do not understand why so many fans get upset when players apply leverage but just accept it when teams do it as part of the game.

[Jeremiah W]

Ehhh... you can disagree, and you very well may be right, but when we talk about Rice as a receiver, I think a valid question should always be: is Rice such a good receiver that we throw the ball to him so much, or do we throw the ball to him so much he looks like a great receiver?

Now, here me out. I think Rice is a very good receiving back, and there's probably more evidence that he's better than Jones. But people are very quick to cite Rice's catches and yards to prove how great he is as a receiver, yet in our system the RB is always going to catch a ton of balls no matter how good he is.

Cam Cameron's offense has always targeted the RBs in the passing game a ton. If (heaven forbid) he's still here when Rice is gone, I think our RBs will still be catching 50+ balls a year, no matter how much they do with the ball in their hands.

The Cowboys throw the ball to the RB a lot less in their system, which is even less of a surprise considering they have Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten to throw to as well. But with fewer opportunities, Felix Jones has always been very good catching the football.

Again, if we were to bring in Felix Jones, he would be the #2 to Ray Rice, and insurance for 2013 against a Ray Rice holdout. He would give us another great talent in the backfield. He's never been able to handle a starter's workload anyway, so I think it could be a good fit.

Good point with the different systems, but while Jones has looked very effective at times, most of the time he is hurt so Rice has been far more productive. I think Jones would be a nice 3rd down back pick up though and could take some of the wear and tear off Rice with little drop off. Jones is just not anywhere near the feature back that Rice is, but mostly because of durability not ability.

[Ravenswintitle]

If holding out never worked, players would never do it. Teams just do not like to give up a 1st round pick when in a year the player will be a free agent anyway.

I think Wallace makes a huge difference in how teams defend the Steelers. You live with 1 on 1 vs Brown and 7 in the box for the run game because it takes deep help to contain him.

While it is very unlikely that he will be able to force a trade, he may get an extension. Also if he blows out his knee week 3, the what is his open market value next year compared to if he just held out as long as possible?

I still do not understand why so many fans get upset when players apply leverage but just accept it when teams do it as part of the game.

Look at the titans And cj last year, worked out great for the player but not the team. Pitts not that stupid. They can add receivers and be just fine if they have to IMO

[Jeremiah W]

Look at the titans And cj last year, worked out great for the player but not the team. Pitts not that stupid. They can add receivers and be just fine if they have to IMO

They gave Hines Ward a new contract 4years ago after a hold out.

I think the Titans will be happy to have CJ under contract for the next few years even though last year was a bit of a bust.

Holding out does not always work out for both sides, but it works out often enough that it is not at all a stupid move even if it is unpopular with fans.

[madmikey]

If holding out never worked, players would never do it. Teams just do not like to give up a 1st round pick when in a year the player will be a free agent anyway.

I think Wallace makes a huge difference in how teams defend the Steelers. You live with 1 on 1 vs Brown and 7 in the box for the run game because it takes deep help to contain him.

While it is very unlikely that he will be able to force a trade, he may get an extension. Also if he blows out his knee week 3, the what is his open market value next year compared to if he just held out as long as possible?

I still do not understand why so many fans get upset when players apply leverage but just accept it when teams do it as part of the game.

This is the same Steelers management that played chicken with Hines Ward at the height of his popularity and effectiveness. They didn't cave for Ward so I don't see why Wallace believes they will cave for him.

[Jeremiah W]

This is the same Steelers management that played chicken with Hines Ward at the height of his popularity and effectiveness. They didn't cave for Ward so I don't see why Wallace believes they will cave for him.

Ward got a new contract for good money to end his hold out. I would not say either side "caved" on that deal but they certainly did not refuse to negotiate because of the hold out or decide every WR is expendable.

[wickedsolo]

Redskins sign Tanard Jackson.

[JAB1985]

Redskins sign Tanard Jackson.

he went to the wrong "home" team.

Did we even show any interest?

[leachisabeast]

he went to the wrong "home" team.

Did we even show any interest?

We probably couldn't afford him anyway, would have loved to have got him though.

[Paintballguy]

Some interesting tweets on Tanard Jackson

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

In the past 4 seasons Tanard Jackson has made 147 tackles, 20 assists, and missed a ridiculous 54 in 40 games. Redskins new Safety

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

Jackson is young, but you need to go back to 2008 for any kind of consistent positive play. That upside is a vague thing

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

@KeepDwightGirl Not to mention 17 missed tackles and 68% of targets into his coverage complete. Was ok in coverage, bad again vs run

Dan Ciarrocchi ‏ @PFF_Dan

Jackson's tackling issues pre-date his shoulder injury. Had 11 missed tackles in '08, 17 in '09. #Redskins

[runrayrun27]

Blair White released by Colts. I'm kind of interested in him. I'd love to see them get rid of Reed (He's useless). He's young, probably would be cheap and when he got playing time in Indy he performed (yes I take into consideration who his quarterback is)

[wickedsolo]

I liked Blair White coming out of college.

[bmorecareful]

I liked Blair White coming out of college.

He'd be a decent depth guy I suppose, but he's not much of a fit for our offense. He's a slot/inside the numbers guy and we need outside the numbers guys. We only have 1 true WR on the roster with outside the numbers/vertical ability and that's Torrey. We need a second one desperately and we have to be very, very choosy about who we sign at this point given our lack of cap space.

I don't expect any more FA signings until after the draft or even after final cuts.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Some interesting tweets on Tanard Jackson

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

In the past 4 seasons Tanard Jackson has made 147 tackles, 20 assists, and missed a ridiculous 54 in 40 games. Redskins new Safety

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

Jackson is young, but you need to go back to 2008 for any kind of consistent positive play. That upside is a vague thing

ProFootballFocus.com ‏ @ProFootbalFocus

@KeepDwightGirl Not to mention 17 missed tackles and 68% of targets into his coverage complete. Was ok in coverage, bad again vs run

Dan Ciarrocchi ‏ @PFF_Dan

Jackson's tackling issues pre-date his shoulder injury. Had 11 missed tackles in '08, 17 in '09. #Redskins

I was about to say...why would anybody want this guy?

He makes Dawan Landry look like Ronnie Lott. Awful...Awful tackler and average at best in coverage.

He stinks