Jermaine Phillips scheduled to visit SD & Seattle
by jteckmann on Mar 3, 2009 10:44 AM PST
56 comments
From the Tampa Tribune
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/story/phillips-begins-search-for-new-home/
Phillips plays SS, is 6'2", 220lbs and '09 will be his age 30 season. He has a rep as a good run defender - the Tampa fans that I know pointed to his absence as one big reason why the Bucs run D caved over the last few games of '08. The downside is that Phillips has problems staying healthy: he's only played one full 16 game season his entire career.
There's also the cliched Tampa connection. Ruskell was part of the FO that drafted him after he was an All-SEC performer at Georgia, and he's familiar with new DC Gus Bradley.
Who knows if we wind up signing him, but to me the most important piece of news from this tidbit is that they see S as an area that needs addressing, so there's still hope we've seen Brian Russell's last game as a starter.
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Fantastic!
This could be a sign of the Russell era coming to a merciful end. If not Phillips: someone.
by Misfit74 on Mar 3, 2009 10:49 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Even if we don't sign him,
it is EXTREMELY encouraging that the front office recognizes that safety is a concern.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 3, 2009 10:52 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
They could just be looking at him for depth
A lot of people like Jamar Adams around here but it’s really just Russell and Grant at the safety spot.
by Nate Dogg on Mar 3, 2009 12:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
There's no way Phillips goes from starter in Tampa
To backing up Brian Russell.
My best guess is that cutting Russell this offseason frees up about $1.5M in cap. If they’re sniffing around vet S’s, to me that’s a big sign they want to swap out the “vet stop-gap” while they still look to develop a potential S of the future.
by jteckmann on Mar 3, 2009 1:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
It wouldn't be all that different than what they did with Mike Green
by Nate Dogg on Mar 3, 2009 1:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Man, things would have been different if he could have stayed healthy.
"It's just one big guy against another big guy, both teams know what's at stake. The one of them comes out on top and it feels good."
-Chris Collinsworth, Madden 09
by Wayward Llama on Mar 3, 2009 2:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Slightly different situations, IMO
Green wasn’t an established starter in Chicago. He had started 16 games in ’02 & ’04 and was benched in ’05, the year before we traded for him. Coming here (via trade) to back-up both S spots and fight for a starting job was the same thing he had been doing for the Bears.
Phillips (when healthy) has been Tampa’s starter since they released John Lynch. And he’s a FA. He’s not going to willingly sign without some assurances about starting – unless he has no other choice.
by jteckmann on Mar 3, 2009 5:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed.
I was beginning to worry.
"It's just one big guy against another big guy, both teams know what's at stake. The one of them comes out on top and it feels good."
-Chris Collinsworth, Madden 09
by Wayward Llama on Mar 3, 2009 2:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I have been hoping we'd talk with Phillips for 2 months
But he’s really only average. He is a good run defender, though. Not on Grant’s level. He would move Grant to FS, and anything remotely close to average is a big improvement.
by jacobstevens on Mar 3, 2009 10:55 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
This is terrific news
I am very hopeful that all the new defensive coaches took a look at the game film from last year and arrived at a conclusion that an upgrade was needed at safety. This is a good step in that direction, even if we don’t sign him (I’d probably rather get a young guy in the draft).
"Hey, guess what? Nobody cares who would win in a crazy fantasy fist-fight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden." The Monarch
by crushedoptimist on Mar 3, 2009 11:43 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
The fact that the Hawks are active in FA is a positive sign that
they want to win now and not simply rebuild and reshape. Housh, Cole and Phillips (if we sign him) should all provide immediate help and perform better short-term than most draft picks could ever hope to. I view the draft as extremely important for the future of the franchise, but if you want to win the division this year, you need to bring in experience, and I love that they are doing just that. I’d love it even more if we could work out a trade to provide cap space AND additional mid-round draft picks. Branch to NY or Philly?
by diehard82 on Mar 3, 2009 12:01 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
This would eliminate another huge need
Coming into the off-season I thought WR and Safety where our two biggest needs, followed closely by DT and the O-Line. With the signing of Housh, possible signing of Jermaine, and the signing of Cole (which after Part 2: Evaluating the tape im actually excited about), we can focus on O-Line in the draft. Being able to protect Hass may squash any doubts about whether or not he will be able to do good this season.
by SPENCEMAN on Mar 3, 2009 12:32 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Good God
We are really, really targeting needs here. Looks like Timmah is big on keeping our options open this upcoming draft, and I can’t say I disagree.
by djafrot on Mar 3, 2009 12:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
That's pretty much how Ruskell approaches free agency
It seems that every year he tries to fill as many holes as possible before the draft to avoid having “need picks”.
"Hey, guess what? Nobody cares who would win in a crazy fantasy fist-fight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden." The Monarch
by crushedoptimist on Mar 3, 2009 3:11 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
now if only a few of those early picks would actually pan out...
Spencer, Jennings, Jackson… worried about these guys. And this doesn’t even count Branch.
by djafrot on Mar 3, 2009 3:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed on those picks but Branch gets a bad rap. If he stays healthy, I think he's in line for a huge year with Housh drawing coverage.
by lemonverbena on Mar 3, 2009 7:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, Branch is still extremely talented.
As in, this guy could have a total breakout season with the addition of Housh and we’d have a really formidable tandem, and the peanut gallery would then claim that they always loved the idea of giving a 1st rounder for a proven commodity like him.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 3, 2009 7:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
yeah, yeah, trust me I'm not fully down on Branch yet.
It’s just that out of those four picks, none have been smashing successes as of YET. Somehow TR gets us the Lofas/Hills/Carlsons/Wilsons with 2nd and lower picks, though.
by djafrot on Mar 3, 2009 7:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
None of those have been high 1st round picks though
I feel like the expectations for rounds one, even up to pick 32, are sooo much higher than round two. I really think people over evaluate the 1st rounders, leading to a love em/hate em mentality on those picks, instead of pure talent analysis
by Ezzra on Mar 3, 2009 10:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
surely we can expect them to at least START though
Jennings and Spencer haven’t really shown the ability to do either for the long term, and the jury is still (way) out on Jackson since he just got here.
Branch has not proven adequate so far, especially given his salary.
by djafrot on Mar 3, 2009 11:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
It takes defensive ends a year to develop
there isn’t much reason to worry about LoJack yet.
by Nate Dogg on Mar 3, 2009 7:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah.
Jennings showed promise early and was great in 2007, Jackson is still a great physical specimen who still has much to learn, Branch is a really, really good WR. The only qualm I have is with Spencer because he was a big reach and doesn’t even fit Ruskell’s mold of a player, but he isn’t terrible.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 3, 2009 7:28 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Big, athletic, raw offensive lineman
what isn’t Tim Ruskell about that?
by Nate Dogg on Mar 3, 2009 7:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Well, he wasn't he only a single season starter?
That, and Ruskell isn’t a fan of drafting offensive linemen early.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 10:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
IMO, the Spencer pick
has Holmgren & Ted Thompson’s scouting fingerprints all over it – they liked going for the toolsy guys early in the draft.
by jteckmann on Mar 4, 2009 10:51 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Would make sense
Since Holmgren for the most part was a pretty bad GM.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 11:04 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Actually,
if you compare his drafting to Ruskell’s, I don’t think there’s much of a difference at this point (especially if you assume that Jennings and LoJack are busts).
by LantermanC on Mar 4, 2009 12:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Since there's more to GMing than the draft
I’d say Holmgren wasn’t that bad. Great at making moves, getting draft picks. Given the “Egypt” stigma that was hard to overcome, he did OK at bringing in guys like Chad Eaton. Even John Randle was quite an upgrade from anything we had.
But in the draft, it wasn’t good. Basically it came down to overlooking character, and not spending enough time thinking about defense. He followed the reciprocol fallacy on the size spectrum from Ruskell — Lamar King.
But the draft is more important, so it’s kinda 50-50 with him. Both, I suppose.
jetck – Nice insight on suspecting Holmgren & Thompson picked Spencer. Never occurred to me, but I buy into that.
by jacobstevens on Mar 4, 2009 1:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I know there is more to GM than drafting.
I just assumed FF was talking about drafting because the comments preceding it all related to drafting.
As for Holmgren ignoring character. One could say that Ruskell values it too much.
Holmgren’s 1st rounders: Lamar King, Chris McIntosh, Shaun Alexander, Steven Hutchinson, Koren Robinson, Jerramy Stevens, Marcus Trufant, Marcus Tubbs.
Ruskell’s: Chris Spencer, Jennings, (Branch) LoJack.
Obviously Holmgren’s draft is better, though it is equally obvious that he had a lot more top 10 picks than Ruskell did.
Holmgren’s 2nd rounders: none, Ike Charlton, Ken Lucas, Anton Palepoi, Mo Morris, Ken Hamlin, Boulware.
Ruskell’s, Lofa, Jennings, Josh Wilson, Carlson.
Ruskell wins this one, though Holmgren’s isn’t horrible. Two pro bowlers.
Holmgren’s 3rd rounders: Karsten Bailey and Brock Huard, Darrell Jackson, Heath Evans, Kris Richard, Wayne Hunter, Sean Locklear.
Ruskell’s: David Greene, LeRoy Hill, Darryl Tapp, Brandon Mebane,.
by LantermanC on Mar 4, 2009 2:34 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Right, no worries
I was kind of responding to the whole thread on Holmgren as GM.
I don’t wanna compare them too much. I’m not a Ruskell attacker; I’m not thrilled with him, often, but I appreciate his approach, it just seems to be taken to the extreme. I just wanted to point out the facets of GMing outside of the draft and say Holmgren was pretty good there.
by jacobstevens on Mar 4, 2009 2:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Holmgren's first round would be awesome
If Tubbs hadn’t have broken into pieces and Robinson and Stevens hadn’t been morons. Ability wise he did pretty well.
If all those guys had worked out, we could’ve repeated 2005 in 06, 07, 08 and beyond…
by Ezzra on Mar 4, 2009 4:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Also
LoJack claims he was playing injured for most the season.
by SoCalHawksFan on Mar 3, 2009 7:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Onward to Seattle?
Free agent SS Jermaine Phillips visited the San Diego Chargers and is on his way to visit the Seattle Seahawks, a league source told Scout.com.
http://profootball.scout.com/a.z?s=127&p=9&c=2&cid=844101&nid=3630557&fhn=1
by Misfit74 on Mar 3, 2009 9:02 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Haha, nice research by that writer at Scout.com
“Seattle is seemingly set at SS with Deon Grant”. Obviously they don’t read Field Gulls, and thus don’t know we could move Grant to FS and put Phillips in at SS.
Sounds like the guy is great against the run. Count me in.
by djafrot on Mar 3, 2009 11:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
OK - horrible thought..
you don’t for a second possibly think Ruskell’s plan is to bring him in to replace Grant at SS to play alongside the gritmeister Russell do you..? I feel really dizzy. Think I might cry.
by JamesMurphy on Mar 4, 2009 8:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I'll admit, the same horrifying thought briefly (white) flashed before my eyes.
But I don’t think so. Just looking at cap #‘s, it’s highly unlikely – the team clears cap space by cutting Russell, but creates a good chunk of dead space to do anything with Grant (and he’s too expensive to hang onto as a back-up)
by jteckmann on Mar 4, 2009 10:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I HIGHLY doubt that.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 10:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I think
that we’re going to move Grant to FS, if we acquire a SS like Phillips. Another possibility if Grant stays at SS, would be a guy like this:
by Misfit74 on Mar 4, 2009 11:17 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
We really should just move Grant back to FS
Like John’s said, he’s an excellent in ‘center-field’ coverage and would dramatically improve how we gave up big pass-plays…all the time.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Mar 4, 2009 11:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
And I agree.
I also would like to know why Sean Jones is not being considered. Maybe he will be if Phillips signs elsewhere.
by Misfit74 on Mar 4, 2009 12:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Is anyone worried about the whole two broken arms in one season thing?
Because even if that’s not an injury that’s likely to recur, it seems to imply a general fragility. I’m not aware of a lot of broken arms in football, it just seems odd. That said, he could wear two casts and be better than Russell.
by sev79 on Mar 4, 2009 3:16 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
sounds like he's pretty ferocious in the box
and probably gets hurt that way.
Hopefully if he plays here he won’t be making 100+ tackles a year, that’s what our billion-dollar LB corps is for.
by djafrot on Mar 4, 2009 4:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
yeah
starting to feel a little despondent.. would be so much happier with Phillips on the roster right now.
by JamesMurphy on Mar 5, 2009 1:12 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
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