Free agent LB thread: Titans cut Zach Cunningham, Rams to cut Bobby Wagner, etc.

[JMP]

The Titans just released 28 year old veteran inside LB Zach Cunningham, after a disappointing injury-plagued season.

Cunningham was a beast with the Texans for a few years, where he was a tackling machine.  Definitely worth kicking the tires for a Dolphins team that needs to add talent at LB.  We may be able to get him on a cheap one-year "prove it" deal.

[DolFan 316]

On the one hand, I'm rooting for Cunningham because of the idiotic way he was cut from the Texans, for showing up late to a virus test with then coach David Culley yammering about "we have standards". That incident still pisses me off to this day and in light of what's happened since I might even be MORE angry about it

On the other hand he's a 28-year old LB who struggles in coverage and unlike all the other FAs at the position was cut by a bad team.

The sad thing is, the Fins seem to be in a position where they might actually *have* to sign Cunningham or similar players because man oh man LB is looking thinner than an anorexic '80s supermodel these days.

EDIT: Okay, so it turns out the Titans are cutting half the team to create cap space. Now I'm officially On The Fence about Cunningham. He'd likely replace Elandon Roberts, but he and Roberts are the same age and it's hard for me to imagine re-signing Roberts costing more than signing Cunningham. If anything it would seem to be the other way around.

[finfanatic]

I remember Cunningham playing for Vanderbilt and he gave the Gators fits, even though Vandy wasn't great.

It's kinda hard to know what the Phins are thinking what with having to switch schemes to Fangio's safety-shell zone post snap switch scheme. I do agree with one thing that I keep reading though: The Phins need faster LBs. Baker may be okay. Tindall was fast at GA, but... And I hope Cam Goode develops...

But who knows?

We should see what direction the Phins Braintrust has decided to go in. And then, only if the NFL's stupidest, most dumbarsed, biggest dinglebery Owner in history doesn't decide to ROYALLY EFFF everything up... AGAIN!!!

That man should be beaten with whiffle ball bats every day for the rest of his life!

[JMP]

He'd likely replace Elandon Roberts, but he and Roberts are the same age and it's hard for me to imagine re-signing Roberts costing more than signing Cunningham. If anything it would seem to be the other way around.

That's a great point. The other thing to consider with Roberts is that, despite his age, he seems to be an ascending player. He's coming off his best season and it seems like maybe the light has finally come on for him. So, yeah, maybe keeping Roberts makes more sense based on both cap value and current production?

Of course, the ultimate question is who does Fangio want? I'm not sure what his "typical" inside LB looks like, or even if there is a prototype for this style of defense.

[JMP]

And I hope Cam Goode develops...

If I recall, Goode was one of the more athletic LBs in his draft class, with a good 40 time and excellent 3 cone drill, and I think he's an outside LB. He looked good in preseason and I hope he can find a place on the roster in the upcoming season...it would be good to fill one of the open LB spots with a young, very cheap player.

[JMP]

OK, so this is becoming a FA LB thread.

The Rams are cutting Bobby Wagner. He will be 33 in June, BUT he's still a great player.

Lavonte David is another older LB (just turned 33) that is scheduled to be a FA.

If we could sign either of these guys to a reasonable one or two year deal I'd be all over it. David is probably more likely, given the fact that he's been in Florida his entire career.

[white1]

I know this is a LB thread, but rumor has it the Rams are looking to move Jalen Ramsey in an effort to clear more cap space.

I'm split on that, may actually prefer linebacker. With the money we have tied up in Howard, IMO we should direct more cap space to the front 7. That means spending on Wilkins, Sieler and probably retaining/restructuring Ogbah.

I don't know if Baker "fits" but if he does may be worth restructuring his deal as well.

[DolFan 316]

Now I'm actually warming up to the thought of this team having another LB named Zach...

[JMP]

I know this is a LB thread, but rumor has it the Rams are looking to move Jalen Ramsey in an effort to clear more cap space.  

I'm split on that, may actually prefer linebacker.  With the money we have tied up in Howard, IMO we should direct more cap space to the front 7.  That means spending on Wilkins, Sieler and probably retaining/restructuring Ogbah.  

I don't know if Baker "fits" but if he does may be worth restructuring his deal as well.

A big "NO" on Jalen Ramsey. He is already looking to rework his deal to become the highest paid CB in the league. We don't need to spend that kind of money on another CB, and we need to somehow acquire more draft picks - not trade away the few we have.

[finfanatic]

Hopefully Tweedle Dum Grier has learned his lesson about shelling out mega-moolah for another teams marginal CB and just says no to Ramsey.

If the whole Byron Jones fiasco doesn't teach him anything, maybe he learned something from the wonderful Kader Kohou serendipity.

I am hoping we see some "restraint" in going after big bucks free agents, but I am hearing the opposite. A few folks seem to think the Phins are going to be "in it to win it" this season and to heck with the consequences down the road.

We shall see I guess.

[JMP]

Hopefully Tweedle Dum Grier has learned his lesson about shelling out mega-moolah for another teams marginal CB and just says no to Ramsey.

If the whole Byron Jones fiasco doesn't teach him anything, maybe he learned something from the wonderful Kader Kohou serendipity.

I am hoping we see some "restraint" in going after big bucks free agents, but I am hearing the opposite.  A few folks seem to think the Phins are going to be "in it to win it" this season and to heck with the consequences down the road.

We shall see I guess.

I don't think we're going to make any big trades or hand out a mega contract to any one player, but there's no doubt that we are going to be very active in free agency, by necessity. In addition to the holes we already had, there will be even more needs as we lose our own free agents and work to re-shape the roster. I'd keep an eye on other teams' cuts...I think we'll be most active with those guys so that we can try to protect the 2024 compensatory pick we'll get from losing Gesicki.

Grier has been very savvy with the cap in recent years, and I don't think that's going to change. So I don't expect a "damn the torpedoes" spending spree, at all. But we'll definitely be making a lot of moves regardless.

It'll be interesting to see what moves the Phins are going to make to free up cap space. I'd start with a Wilkins extension and go from there. Unfortunately, cutting Byron Jones won't help us till later in the offseason, assuming the Phins go for the maximum cap savings by designating him a post June 1 cut.

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