Cardinals GM contradicts himself
Arizona Cardinals general manger Rod Graves earliers this offseason franchise tagged linebacker Carlos Dansby. During negotiations Graves has contradicted himself, thus putting him in a bad spot.
We certainly have a high opinion of Karlos and his value to our team,” said Graves. That opinion led the team slapping Dansby with the one year Franchise tag. The one year deal is worth $8.065 million this year for linebackers.
However, when in negotiations with Dansby agent, Kirk Wood, Graves offered contracts of only six million a year. Which, is not even close to the Franchise tag.
There is only one way that can describe Graves during these negotiations, and that is stupid. If you slap someone with a certain tag, then common sense would lead you to believe that a long term deal needs to be with in that range when it comes yearly average salary.
There is no excuse for Graves not getting a deal done. If the deal that Graves offered was a little more than eight million per a year, with a little be more guarantee money than what Calvin Pace got from the Jets, it would already be done.
What Graves did was just plain dumb, and insulting. The Cardinals could have gotten Dansby at a relatively fair price. However, the insulting contact offer has raised the bar for what the dollar amount will be to get a deal done.
In the end the Cardinals will lose a quality player, that should never have happened.