Better wait than never

Some free agents biding time to see where they fit best

As always just before camps start, some good football players are out there still looking for jobs. Some of them have purposefully waited for a good payday; these guys might consider waiting a little longer, at least until teams begin practice and injuries start to mount up.

These are trying times for most of the NFL's unemployed ranks. For some, it's the first time in their lives that they don't feel wanted as players, there's tension with their agents and it's been months since the last check cleared. That spells opportunity for teams in search of quality players at low prices.

It is very difficult for players to wait until the market turns back in their favor; most can't do it. During the past week or so, smart clubs have closed bargain deals with players who were persuaded that they needed to be in camp from the beginning and/or that the market has dried up.

The Texans acquired an excellent linebacker for the money they had to spend when Kevin Mitchell signed a one-year deal. Mitchell will make decent money and, in theory, he will be a free agent next year. But let's say Mitchell had waited to sign until August and some starting linebacker had gone down for the year with an injury; then Mitchell would have been back in the driver's seat to make some real money. He didn't wait and Houston got a heck of a deal on a guy who was in the Pro Bowl two years ago and is still young.

The Bucs secured a quality fourth corner when they signed Terrell Buckley to a minimum contract this week. More than one pro personnel director told me that Buckley was first on his emergency list and that means the defensive back's phone would have been ringing off the hook when corners went down with injuries or were getting beat regularly during preseason games. Buckley didn't generate a lot of interest during the offseason but that might have changed in a month or two. Buckley has been in this position before and didn't want to go through the waiting game again.

But some players are willing to bide their time. The best unsigned player out there right now is defensive tackle Sam Adams. He plays a very difficult position to find talent at and he knows it. His reputation as a player clearly improved when he left Seattle and moved to Baltimore. With the Seahawks, Adams had a reputation of being lazy and overweight and that hurt his marketability. But when I visited the Ravens the past two years the top brass couldn't say enough good things about Adams. He feels the money will be there and I happen to agree with him.

Receiver Michael Westbrook didn't wait and, with a number of quality wideouts still available, he took a modest $350,000 signing bonus to sign with the Bengals for three years. I'm sure the former Redskins first-rounder was getting very uncomfortable playing the waiting game. Some have suggested that Westbrook's veteran leadership will help Cincinnati, but let's face it: He never really was a leader in Washington. The Bengals made a business decision, pure and simple, to replace Darnay Scott and his $3.2 million salary. Let's see how Westbrook feels about his contract after he has a big season. For now, at least he avoided a minimum wage/no signing bonus deal.

Now Scott will claim that his late dismissal is going to hurt his chances for big money. It's hard to buy that argument when Willie Jackson -– who caught 24 more passes and three more touchdowns than did Scott -- still hasn't found work. In fact, Jackson caught more passes last year than Johnnie Morton, Isaac Bruce, Qadry Ismail and Eric Moulds, to name a few. Jackson wants to be paid like these receivers but no club has stepped up. Jackson's name is high on many teams' wishlists and it ought to be. He has the credentials to wait but he must be getting very frustrated right about now.

Some players will discover that their market value is the minimum and that's a hard fact to accept at first. But if that's a player's value now, it can't go up by signing today -- it can only go up if injuries create opportunity. There's a lot less risk for, say, Antonio Freeman to wait than for Jackson, who may leave signing bonus money on the table. If the Seahawks want Freeman now, then how badly will they want him if Koren Robinson or Darrell Jackson fall victim to injury? Freeman could come to any West Coast offense and be ready in three weeks, so he might as well stay home a little bit longer if money is important to him.

A number of years ago I signed receiver Webster Slaughter just before camp opened to a very modest contract. He was No. 1 on our emergency list and we wanted an extra wideout in camp who could make the team. The day after he signed, Miami lost two receivers; a few days later San Diego had a starter go down. Slaughter played well for the Jets that season but if he had just waited a few more days, there would have been more money to be made. It's risky but it could pay off not to sign now.

Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years as a pro football coach, scout and personnel administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNNSI.com.

 

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