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The offseason started off rocky for the Cardinals when Douglas Desantis, one of Mark McMurrays primary weapons from last year and the bruising blocker some feel is directly responsible for the stellar rushing numbers posted by Cardinals Running Backs decided to call it a career after 14 pro season. Desantis had 41 catches last year, helping ease McMurray into things with a recieving threat out of the backfield.
Douglas' 14 pro seasons included stints with New Orleans, Chicago and Washington in the NFL where his leadership provided as much to a team as his blocking and recieving ability.
While the Cardinals wished Douglas luck on the rest of his life, they also wished he had hung around another year as the team gears up to be serious challengers to the Imperial Bowl crown.
One of the keys to this first offseason in IFL histroy for Cardinals GM Joe Suicane was to look up as many of his own players as possible, something he focused on during the first week of Free Agency.
Suicane renogotiated over a dozen contracts very quickly, locking up many players to long term deals to ensure the stability of the team for as many years as possible, signings included.
QB Mark McMurray- 5 Years, $18.4 Million Dollars.
QB Jason Cline- 2 Years, $1.5 Million Dollars.
RB Dominique Winton- 2 Years, $1.9 Million Dollars.
WR Phillip Brauer- 4 Years, $7.3 Million Dollars.
WR Simon Thompson- 2 Years, $940K
C Abel Boyd- 2 Years, $770K
T Blaine Taylor- 3 Years, $1.4 Million Dollars.
T Dan Dale- 3 Years, $3.1 Million Dollars.
G Mitchell Son- 2 Years, $770K
P Leigh McCarthy- 3 Years, $2.7 Million Dollars.
DE Albert Covington- 3 Years, $5.1 Million Dollars.
DT Raymond Guffey- 3 Years, $5.3 Million Dollars.
DT Thomas Gordon- 2 Years, $1.1 Million Dollars.
DT George Powers- 3 Years, $2.2 Million Dollars.
MLB Noel Daniels- 3 Years, $3.9 Million Dollars.
OLB Walter Borja- 3 Years, $5.4 Million Dollars.
OLB Dexter Black- 2 Years, $1.5 Million Dollars.
CB Drew Sandstrom- 5 Years, $21.7 Million Dollars.
S Gil Langevin- 3 Years, $3.5 Million Dollars.
A team can't win without solid cohesion, and with such a young team Suicane was looking to keep as much of the 2003 unit together as possible, "We arn't looking to add that big name and bust the bank, we're looking to let our young guys mature and our veterans keep doing what they do, if it comes down to big money for a free agent or big money for a guy who's already here, talent being equal, we're gonna do our best to make sure we get our own guys back in the fold", Suicane said during a press junket at the owners meetings in February, and with 15 possible free agents from last years squad, his job was a hefty one. But the thing that helped this team mold together so well as last years inagural season progressed was also evident as he went about resigning his own free agents, loyalty and love of the team, coaching staff and city. Suicane quickly locked up many of his key free agents, signings included,
RB Walter McKelvey- 2 Years, $1 Million Dollars.
FB Zachary Coward- 2 Years, $1.7 Million Dollars.
WR Reggie Keeley- 2 Years, $750K
G Teddy Burke- 2 Years, $1.7 Million Dollars.
G William Salmon- 2 Years, $3.1 Million Dollars.
K Boyce Hedden- 2 Years, $1.9 Million Dollars.
DE Roscoe Lee- 2 Years, $1.7 Million Dollars.
DT Renaldo Grier- 1 Year, $350K
DT Earnest Evangelista- 2 Years, $850K
LB James Brunner- 2 Years, $1.8 Million Dollars.
CB Bennett Bramblett- 2 Years, $1.3 Million Dollars.
S Thomas Quinonez- 2 Years, $1.6 Million Dollars.
The Cardinals never expected to make a big splash in Free Agency this year, their main objective from day 1 was to attempt to add pieces thru the draft and resign those players they felt would help by returning to the team and then hitting the free agent market to fill so gaps. The retirement of Douglas Desantis however left a huge void at a position that the Cards offense relies on, Fullback. With that need needing to be filled, Suicane immediatley targeted a Free Agent he knew could step right in and fill the retired veterans shoes, Unrestriced Free Agent from Pittsburgh, FB Jamal Cotter.
Suicane flew to Dike Iowa, Cotters hometown and had a very good face to face meeting with the 9 year vet.
Cotters 55 receptions last season and bruising all around blocking game made him the prime target for the Cardinals and by the time Suicane boarded his plane to leave Dike he had come to an agreement with Cotter, A 5 Year $6.8 Million Dollar contract was signed just 2 days later at Cardinals headquarters in St. Louis and Jamal was introduced as the Cardinals first ever Free Agent Signing.
The Cardinals unleashed a flurry of trades this offseason, all of which centered around the IFLs very first amatuer draft. GM Joe Suicane made clear his belief in the strength of this rookie crop and vowed to do everything within his power to get his targeted players.
Deal #1- The Cardinals sent their two first round picks, #20 & #27 overall as well as their 3rd round pick aquired from SLC last season in the Grady Gomez deal to Lawrence for the #7 overall pick in the draft. It was clear that Suicane wanted to add as much quality as he could to a team that he clearly feels is on the cusp of greatness, and the chance to get to get a top flight player was one he could not pass up. In the end the Cardinals drafted Miami Guard Marshall Cuomo with the pick, the second overall Guard taken and according to Suicane, the best.
Deal #2- In a rather shocking move, the Cardinals turned around on draft day and again attempted to move into position for another high pick and another impact player. They shipped their 2005 1st, 2nd and 4th round pick to Iowa City in exchange for the #11 pick overall in this years draft, this is a move that left alot of people scratching their heads, especially when RB Ricardo Andrews, the player alot of observers felt Suicane coveted, went to Fargo with the 10th pick.
Deal #3- Within in seconds of Fargos pick, Suicane was right back on the phone, it took about 3 minutes for another blockbuster deal to be announced. The Cardinals had traded away the pick acquired from Iowa City to Portland in exchange for Portland 2004 2nd round pick and their 2005 1st and 4th rounders, essentialy getting the same deal to give away the pick as they had given to attain it. Many pundits felt Suicane lucked out on this deal as he paid a kings ransom for a pick that became useless to him and was able to get that value back. Had Portland not been so eager to move up, who can say what kind of shape the Cardinals would of been in.
Deal #4- Near the end of round 2 you again see the bustle coming from the Cardinals war room as it was clear a coveted player was trying to be attained, frantic calls were made and assistants to Suicane bustled about the lobby of the Sheraton as offers were thrown back and forth, finnaly Commisioner Cringer stepped to the podium and announced that a deal had been struck. The Cardinals had acquired pick #21 in the 2nd round from Albuquerque in exchange for the Cardinals 3rd round pick (20) and WR Simon Thompson. A 3rd year veteran, Thompson played in 15 games last season but only caught 8 passes for 92 yards, clearly the Matadors hope that his development continues on a steady path and Suicane wished Thompson the best in an interview following the trade. St Louis would use the pick to draft CB Tito Andersen out of Liberty University in a move designed to add quality depth to an already strong secondary.
Deal #5- Less than 2 hours later the Cardinals again were looking to make a move, as they sent FS Richard White to Lansing in exchange for the #26 pick in round 2. The trading of White opened up speculation that Andersens role on the team would perhaps be more prominent as alot of scouts saw him as more of a Safety than a Cornerback, and the trading of White only seemed to confirm that idea. White accumulated 83 Tackles, 31 Assists and 2 Interceptions for the Cardinals last season and was cleary a key part to their success, but as Suicane said in an interview with ESPNs Suzy Kolber following the trade, "You have to deal from your strength and improve where you're weak, Richard is a solid player and we wish him the best, but when you get a chance to add someone who you feel can be a big impact player, you have to do it." That impact player Suicane referred to was TE Conrad Beyer out of Hawaii. At 6'3 253lbs his ability to run block and catch the ball are two assets the Cardinals offense relies on, he is clearly the TE of the future for the Cardinals and the TE position is one integral to their offense.
Deal #6- Prior to Day 2 of the draft the Cardinals were in full attack mode, looking to add to their roster from what they saw as an abundance of talent left available in the draft. A early Sunday morning trade with Murfreesboro brought in multiple picks as the Cardinals shipped their 2nd round pick in 2006 and their 7th round pick in 2005 to the Mules in exchange for their 4th, 5th and 6th round draft picks in this years draft. "Ya never know what's gonna be available in 2006, it's too far ahead to look at, what I do know is that I think every one of the draft picks we acquired today is gonna net us a substantial player" he commented to ESPNs Suzy Kolber, Suicane then continued, "I have a gorgeous hotel room, would ya like to see it?" Not long after that remark both Suicane and Kolber were MIA for over 3 hours, both were spotted as Day 2 began, looking very happy.
Deal #7- As the 4th round hit it's middle stages it once again became clear that the Cardinals had their eye on a certain player. When Vice President Sov stepped to the podium for what was supposed to be Wichitas pick, he announced a trade.
St. Louis had sent both their 5th round picks along with a 6th round pick to Wichita in exchange for pick #111 overall, the 15th pick in round 4. It was with this pick that the Cardinals selected Stanfords Kirk Barrett, A compact, pass defending Linebacker whos impressive speed and muscular build Suicane feels will allow him to both defend halfbacks and mow them down on his way to the Quarterback.
Deal #8- The Cardinals final deal of the draft came at around 7:30 on day 2 as they struck another deal with Iowa City, this one saw the Cardinals send their final 6th and 7th round picks to Iowa City in order to move up in the 6th round to pick 11.
With the pick the Cardinals capped off their draft by selecting Purdue WR Mark Stoy, A small possesion reciever that reminded many scouts of NY Jets standout Wayne Chrebet. Suicane said in a phone interview with ESPNs Chris Berman immediatley following the pick that he believed Stoy could step in and replace the departed Simon Thompson as the Cardinals 3rd or 4th WR right away, giggling could be heard in the background prompting Berman to say "Suzy?", at which point Suicane promptly hung up.
The Cardinals clearly though that the talent levell in this years draft provided a good opportunity to add quality young depth to an all already solid young corp as they made a wealth of trades and procured a number of additional picks.
The complete innaguaral Cardinals draft class is as follows.
Round #1, Pick #06- G Marshall Cuomo University Of Miami
Round #2, Pick #17- MLB Paul Reese Texas Tech University
Round #2, Pick #18- DT John Mitchell Georgia
Round #2, Pick #20- CB Tito Andersen Liberty University
Round #2, Pick #25- TE Conrad Beyer University Of Hawaii
Round #4, Pick #10- C Ike Duran TCU
Round #4, Pick #12- SS Sammie Middleton SMU
Round #4, Pick #16- MLB Kirk Barrett Stanford
Round #6, Pick #02- DE Archie Malaragni Minnesota University
Round #6, Pick #11- WR Mark Stoy Purdue
Suicane wasted no time in signing top draft pick Marhall Cuomo to a 5 Year $15.2 Million dollar deal immediatley following his selection, terms of the agreement had been reached shortly after the selection was announced, it is believed that in addition to buring up the phone lines with Lawrence to get the pick that would yield Cuomo, the Cardinals were also busy burning the midnight oil with Cuomos agent Mitchell Gardner.
Second round picks Reese, Mitchell, Beyer and Anderson all signed 4 year deals believed to be in the $4 Million dollar range, while 4th round picks Duran, Middleton and Barrett also signed 4 year deals thought to be worth $2 Million.
6th Rounders Archie Malaragni & Mark Stoy were inked to 3 years deals worth a little over $1 Million.
With so much talent out there it's not surprising that the Cardinals brain trust have been hard at work signing up undrafted rookies, with just 52 players under contract, the Cardinals are looking to add between 7-12 more players to the roster before training camp begins. Players already signed include rookie RB's Darrin Felts & Dana Kuklick who will vie for the 3rd RB spot on the roster, one of few final positions not yet set as training camp looms. Rookie Guard Artie Verstegen has also been signed to a deal, although with 4 Guards already ahead of him he realizes his chances of making the squad are slim, but a chance to impress in camp is all these undrafted players ask.
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