To contact me: 1. PM (this is the best way) 2. email (virtualpaulh@hotmail.com) 3. AIM (Paul Thirteen)... I'll hop on AIM to negotiate a trade, but I'm rarely on there otherwise Quarterbacks Tom Brady $5,750,000 Alex Smith $300,000 Tyler Thigpen, $351,000 Brett Favre, $351,000 Running Backs Jonathan Stewart $1,310,000 Danny Woodhead $550,000 BenJarvus Green-Ellis $1,500,000 Tiki Barber $351,000 Marcel Reece $1,500,000 Mario Fannin $400,000 Wide Receivers Larry Fitzgerald $7,000,000 Greg Jennings $1,000,000 Devin Hester $1,583,500 Mohamed Massaquoi $480,000 Julian Edelman $480,000 Tight Ends Rob Gronkowski $405,000 Delanie Walker $750,000 Dante Rosario $300,000 Offensive Line Jermon Bushrod $3,000,000 Daniel Connolly $725,000 Dan Koppen $2,900,000 Mark LeVoir $690,000 Logan Mankins $8,440,000 Rich Ohmberger $480,000 Sebastian Vollmer $510,000 Ryan Wendell $300,000 Eric Mensik $400,000 Defensive Line Ron Brace $586,000 Kade Weston $405,000 Mike Wright $1,240,000 Brandon Deaderick $405,000 Kyle Love $405,000 Myron Pryor $480,000 Justin Smith $7,500,000 Vince Wilfork $765,000 J.J. Watt $800,000 Phil Taylor $500,000 Frank Okam $300,000 Linebackers Antwan Barnes $300,000 Jermaine Cunningham $405,000 Dane Fletcher $405,000 Mathias Kiwanuka $4,500,000 Jerod Mayo $3,150,000 Rob Ninkovich $650,000 Aaron Curry $5,076,250 Eric Moore $480,000 Cornerbacks Courtland Finnegan $3,293,000 Kyle Arrington $700,000 Devin McCourty $405,000 Ryan Mouton $300,000 Maurice Leggett $300,000 Buster Skrine $400,000 Safeties Pat Chung $510,000 Jairus Byrd, $480,000 Quinton Carter, $400,000 Eric Smith, $300,000 Kickers/Punters Matt Prater $351,000 Zoltan Mesko $405,000 Total Salary: $73,952,750 Free Space: $1,047,250
Free Agents CB Kyle Arrington ERFA ($700k tender) S Josh Barrett RFA RB Kevin Faulk K Shane Graham RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis RFA (2nd round tender @ $1.5m) T Matt Light S Bret Lockett ERFA G Logan Mankins (Franchise Tender) S Brandon McGowan RB Sammy Morris OL Quinn Ojinnaka S Jarrad Page DL Darryl Richard RFA RB Fred Taylor DL Gerard Warren C Ryan Wendell RFA LB Tracy White
Draft Picks 1.19 DE J.J. Watt, Wisconsin 2.49 DT Phil Taylor, Baylor 3.93 S Quinton Carter, Oklahoma 5.157 CB Buster Skrine, UT Chattanooga 7.199 RB Mario Fannin, Auburn 7.225 T Eric Mensik, Oklahoma
Cuts OL Stephen Neal, $3,000,000 RB Thomas Clayton $480,000 TE Alge Crumpler $2,400,000 LB Marques Murrell $480,000 CB Sergio Brown $405,000 S Tony Carter $480,000 WR Deion Branch $2,200,000 T Nick Kaczur $3,400,000 WR Matt Slater $555,000 LB Tully Banta Cain $2,300,000 DE Ty Warren $3,100,000 DE Landon Cohen $480,000 K Stephen Gostkowski $1,700,000 LS Matt Katula $480,000
Trades 1. S James Sanders, $2,800,000 to San Francisco for 5.138 I'm going to include my reasoning behind each trade, even though it's before the final writeup. If you are lucky enough to read this on my team page, you just might find this useful. With the Sanders to SF trade it was all about clearing some cap. This was my first trade and Alen (the 49ers GM) approached me with the offer. I've never been a big fan of Sanders and frankly didn't think he fit in with the talent we had at safety at the time. Alen sees something in Sanders though or he wouldn't have made the trade. 2. WR Wes Welker, $2,150,000 to Tennessee for CB Cortland Finnegan and $3,293,000 and 4.108 Ah yes, remember this one fondly. Very satisfied getting a solid corner for a slot receiver. I didn't think Welker fit with what I wanted on offense anymore. We have Julian Edelman who I think is just as good as Welker, and obviously younger and healthier. I think Welker has gone downhill the last couple of years with the injuries. Happy to get Finnegan, a fighter and he will bring a new mentality to our defense. Getting the fourth round pick was an added bonus. 3. 3.92 to Carolina for RB Jonathan Stewart $1,310,000 Loved this trade from our standpoint. Getting a top back, who can run inside or outside, and take it the distance. Think the Pats offense needed a home run threat from the running back position. I don't see Stewart as a guy who will play all three downs however, so we have the wiley Danny Woodhead anyway. 4. WR Brandon Tate $480,000, TE Aaron Hernandez $405,000 and 1.28 to Arizona for WR Larry Fitzgerald $7,000,000 Perhaps the biggest trade of my GM season. My #1 priority when I took the helm of decision maker was to get a top flight, number one receiver, at any and all costs. I approached several teams about their #1's. The most receptive to making a deal at the time was the Cardinals and their gm sports24/7. I've worked with him well before and he's a very reasonable guy. The Cards serve dual purposes by making this deal, they get three guys who can start for them and they clear roughly 10% of their cap. It's funny, when you begin negotiations on a guy you really want, you never know how it's going to end up. I had no intention of dealing Hernandez (or Gronkowski) as I thought they are great players on the cusp. But sometimes you have to give more than you want. Initially he wanted Gronkowski in the deal and I don't remember the exact offer he made, but all of a sudden when we put Hernandez in the deal it seemed much more reasonable to me. I wish I could remember the exact offers back and forth over the course of 10 days or so it took to acquire Fitzgerald. But once we put Hernandez into the package, he seemed to back off his demand which IIRC correctly was four for one. It could have been a first, second, Gronkowski and Tate originally. As much as I wanted Fitz, I thought that was just going too far. Anyway, in the end I believe both teams are happy with how it ended up. Interesting to note that Arizona traded Tate at a later time. 5. 5.138 to Cleveland for WR Mohamed Massaquoi $480,000 Mo Mass is just a guy I like. I think he has great ability and can be a number one for the Browns offense. Needless to say, he'll be a reserve for us. But I think he's very talented and can really take a hit. Very physical receiver... you don't take a hit from the monster James Harrison and get up too often. 6. 1.17 to Green Bay for WR Greg Jennings $1,000,000 This was one of those deals where you don't expect it to actually happen until it's final and done. I value Greg Jennings extremely high. He's one of the top five receivers in the game. Just a shade off of Fitz and Andre Johnson. He's extremely underrated by many. The word "diva' does not apply to either Fitz or Jennings. Both are stand up gentlemen, true representitives of the game. You can't double both of these guys. Which spells trouble for any opposing defenses. I still go back to that Packers Cards playoff game two years ago and I'm in awe from what I witnessed that game from Jennings. I reckon it was the greatest game I ever saw from a receiver. 7. 2.60 to Chicago for WR/KR/PR Devin Hester $1,583,500 Truth be told, prior to acquiring Jennings, I was in discussions with the Bears about Hester. They happened to get back to me after I landed Jennings and I really didn't expect to add another receiver with a high pick. But of course we all know Hester is more than a receiver. I was eager to improve the Pats return game and Hester is without a doubt the greatest return man in the game today, if not the greatest return man ever. The 60th pick of the draft was fair compensation. I wouldn't have gone any higher. 8. QB Brian Hoyer and 6.186 to San Fran for TE/H Back Delanie Walker and 7.199 Trading again with my dear friend Alen. Who'd a thunk it... I had a couple of guys in mind in free agency in regards to the qb position. I knew I could get one of them (I ended up getting both) so trading Hoyer was a fairly pain free deciison. I'm really high on Delanie Walker as well. Sort of a throw back player in that he'll be a tight end / full back / up back for you in a variety of formations. He's also a very powerful player. A nice replacement for Aaron Hernandez. 9. CB Leigh Bodden $3,900,000 to Texans for OT Eric Winston $4,500,000 Well, at the time I made this decision I thought I'd really gotten away with one. I'm high on Winston and expected him to come in and be my starting right tackle at the time. Sliding Vollmer over to left tackle. Trading the oft injured Bodden was an easy decision since I had Finnegan as my starter opposite McCourty. If they let right tackles in the Pro Bowl, I'd suspect Winston would have made it the last couple of years. 10. OT Eric Winston $4,500,000, CB Darius Butler $582,500 and 5.156 to Washington for 2.41 and 6.172 Now then, some time had passed between these two trades. It was never my intention to "flip" Winston like I did. I sort of fell into the free agent acquisition of Jermon Bushrod who comes over from the Saints. I know Bushrod has experience playing left tackle and although I'll try Vollmer there initially, i didn't want to be stuck without a left tackle if Vollmer had trouble making the switch. Also knew Winston couldn't play left tackle for me. So it made the decision easier to let Winston go. Although it wasn't without putting Vollmer up on the block, along with Winston, to see which player garnered more interest. That's sort of a little trick that if you've read this far you might want to pay attention to. You have two players of fairly equal value and you're not entirely convinced which one you want to keep... well, put them both on the block (this is the GML afterall, not like you're hurting their feelings, LOL) and see which one is valued higher. Clearly, Vollmer got the vast majority of interest. That was certainly the way I was leaning, but jsut to make doubly sure, see what the community is thinking. Naturally getting a high second was nice. I did have to include Darius Butler in the trade. He was a bit of a disappointment for Bill Bellichick and company last year. 11. 2.41 and Jonathan Wilhite to Buffalo for S Jairus Byrd $480,000 This was about a week or so after the whole Brandon Meriweather fiasco started. And whilst I truely believe Meriweather will be exhonerated of any potential charges not yet handed down, I couldn't take the risk. I also felt I could get more than I ended up getting for him.... if only I had the foresight to make this trade before the news broke. I reckon I would have gotten a first... but you can't have everything. So I use the pick from the Eric Winston trade and nab a young star in the making at free safety in Jairus Byrd. Sure he had a little sophomore slump... but it's the Bills. I think Byrd is an improvement over BM although, time will only tell if I'm correct in that prediction. I get a more athletic, naturally gifted pass defender... to the stiff, bad angled super charged Louis Oliver. 12. S Brandon Meriweather $650,000 and 4.124 to Washington for 2.34 So naturally after acquiring Byrd, I flipped Brandon and a late fourth for the 34th pick in the draft. I was fairly satisfied with this in the end. 13. LB Brandon Spikes $405,000 and 3.74 to Seattle for LB Aaron Curry $5,076,250 This was one of those late season trades where you know you can take on the salary and are more than willing to give up the value to get what we feel is a great player. I see Curry next to Mayo and that's quite a pairing at inside linebacker. Two guys that can play every down and really gives our defensive coaches some options. I'm not a big fan of Spikes. Limited in his range, so I felt I definitely upgraded the ILB spot with the addition of Curry. 14. 2.33, 2.34, 4.108 and 6.172 to Atlanta for 1.19, 2.49 and 4.121 After all the wheeling and dealing to get that 2nd second round pick, having that arsenal really helped me move up to get who I feel is a top 10 player in this draft, and certainly an impact guy in JJ Watt. There was no way he'd last all the way down to 33. I get Watt to upgrade the front seven, I can pair him next to Justin Smith and have Wilfork in the middle. I'd honestly put up that defensive line in an odd man front up against any in the league. I reckon had I stayed at 33 and 34, I would have dealt down as I just wasn't sold on the value at those picks. So getting the 19th pick to land Watt, and then the 49th pick to land Phil Taylor (who I feel is a steal at that spot) really really worked out for me. I finally have a guy who I feel comfortable with in Taylor as the heir apparent to Wilfork down the road. 15. WR Taylor Price $405,000 to San Fransisco for 4.107 Just a log jam at receiver and Price was the odd man out. San Fran get a good guy though for a mere 4th round pick. I think Price is going to be a good player for the Pats down the road in the real NFL. 16. LB Gary Guyton $1,000,000, 4.107 and 4.121 to Chicago for 3.93 and 5.157 Moving Guyton to a 43 defense makes sense for him. This allowed me to get the free safety I was high on in Quinton Carter, even as far up as the 2nd at the top of that round... my special teams coverage units are going to be fun to watch with some of the young guys I've amassed, particularly on defense. Mario Fannin, Buster Skrine, Quinton Carter... quite the velocity moving around on special teams.
Free Agent Signings FB Marcel Reece RFA $1,500,000 K Matt Prater $351,000 LB Antwan Barnes $300,000 QB Alex Smith $300,000 LB Mathias Kiwanuka $4,500,000 QB Tyler Thigpen $351,000 QB Brett Favre $351,000 TE Dante Rosario $300,000 S Eric Smith $300,000 T Jermon Bushrod $3,000,000 DE Justin Smith $7,500,000 DL Frank Okam $300,000 RB Tiki Barber $351,000 CB Maurice Leggett $300,000 CB Ryan Mouton $300,000