The Nice Pryce? Trevor About to be Cut
Posted: April 1, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
The intrigue over Dallas’ need for a pass rusher may increase in the next couple of days. The Denver Post is reporting that the Broncos may release DE Trevor Pryce, after failing to find a trading partner for the 29 year old end.
Pryce had been linked to the Cowboys, with many rumors in the weeks before the free agency period began — all of them seemingly coming from Denver — moving him from the Broncos to the Cowboys for a high pick. Denver initially took a hard stance in the press, with GM Ted Sundquist insisting that Denver would accept nothing less than a second round pick for Pryce. That demand was later made more “flexible” when Denver said it would also accept a first rounder in the 2006 draft.
The Broncos were disappointed when no serious offers emerged. The Broncos front office has maintained its game face, but now is facing a hard reality; Pryce’s cap number is approximately $10 million, making him the biggest defensive contract on the Broncos’ books. The Broncos can gain around $5 million in cap relief if they move him. A second factor working against Sundquist is Pryce’s injury-filled 2004. He missed 14 games last season with back problems.
The urgency to move Pryce increased last week when Denver acquired three new defensive ends. After winning a bidding war with Washington for former Browns DE Courtney Brown, the Broncos made a deal with Cleveland, sending RB Rueben Droughns to the Browns for ends Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers, both former Cowboys. With the draft fast approaching, Denver needs more cap room to negotiate with the new veterans and its new rookies.
If Dallas had any real interest in Pryce, it may soon get a compensation-free chance to speak with him. The Cowboys might also be able to use Pryce as leverage with the Saints in the Darren Howard talks, which have gone dormant the past two weeks.
Darren Howard Update: ESPN reports that the Oakland Raiders have taken the step of discussing a contract extension with Darren Howard’s agent Gary Wichard. This would put the Raiders on even footing with the Cowboys, who talked contract with Wichard weeks ago.
This does not mean a deal to Oakland is imminent. Howard is said to prefer Dallas as a new team, and hence would ask the Raiders for more money. The Saints would also have to agree on compensation and are apparently cool to taking either of the CBs — Charles Woodson or Philip Buchanon — that Oakland has offered. Woodson signed a Raiders tender offer for over $10 million and would cost New Orleans even more than Howard.
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Pryce looks like a Wiley……..only with more wear and tear. He would have to come in get healthy and play like he used too. League minimum maybe? If we do get Pryce, basically we gave away Ekuban and Myers for Pryce? None of these guys are as good as Howard. I still wish we could get Abraham……..well maybe Bill will find the next Abraham in this years draft.
I totally agree with you with the comparison of wiley and pryce. I still believe that the saints want to unload Howard, they have four players going into the final years of their contracts that they want to sign to long term contracts and with Howard going to count 7.8 mil against the cap this year and two young defensive ends already on their roster that are alot cheaper, Dallas is just playing it smart. The closer to the draft comes, the more pressure is building on the saints to unload him. Although Abraham wants out of new York, I just think its too much to pay for him with all the holes on this team, we cant afford to give up first round draft picks which is what the Jets are going to want. I think the Cowboys in the past have shown too much patience when it comes to waiting for certain players, but with Howard and the Saints, I think were playing it just right.
Other teams’ castaways are most useful when the ‘boys need a body to plug into a hole. That’s not the case at DE. That’s never the case at DE. We need a dominant player who will perform at top level without having to sit-out half the year because he hurt his pinky. I know little about Pryce, but given the league’s interest in him, I can’t imagine Pryce being our “solution” for DE. As Jon mentions, perhaps he fits in best around league min to join the DE rotation and that’s about it. Otherwise, I’m hoping we find two top draft candidates at DE / big LB to improve our pass rush.
Pryce has been much more consistently productive throughout his career than Wiley, and is much less further removed from that production than Wiley was when he was signed. Prior to Pryce’s injury last season, he had 8.5 sacks in ‘03 and 9 sacks in ‘02. Pryce is a four time Pro Bowler (’99-’02).
His age and back injury are huge concerns, however. Back injuries have ended many a career, and older players generally take longer to heal/recover, further compounding the problem.
IF he’s released, AND passes a physical with flying colors, AND was willing to sign an incentive laden deal, I’d love to see the ‘Boys add him to the roster.
I would still keep the door open for Howard, as well. With Dallas’ urgency, not to mention Nawlins’ leverage, diminished, Pryce would only serve to increase the chances of landing Howard, IMHO.
If we wanted a Denver DE we should have paid up last year for Berry who was healthy and productive. Not a broken down Pryce. Unless perhaps if the Pryce is Right?
I agree with everyone, Denver must have been smoking the best crack in the house if they ever thought they were going to get a 2nd round draft choice for Pryce. I would only sign him for the league minimum and only if he gets released as an insurance policy. Think about it, Denver just signed the entire defensive front four (or maybe 3 starters and Myers) from Cleveland, who had one of the worst defenses in the league last year and they want to get rid one of their defensive ends. Not to mention, two that couldn’t make it in Dallas…it doesn’t make any sense. Granted he kills their salary cap, but if they really wanted him they could find a way to renegotiate. They obviously don’t want him. Jon is right…this is another Wiley which is why the Redskins will overpay to sign him once released.
Jon is not right.
Pryce is not a Wiley, not in terms of production. Look, in the six seasons before 2004, Pryce averaged 9.7 sacks a year. Howard, by comparison, has averaged 8.0 a season for his career Wiley had had two good years and then two very bad ones before he came to Dallas. And he didn’t have a serious injury to blame for the falloff.
Now, Jon might be right in terms of Pryce’s back. If Pryce has a chronic problem, you take a pass and move on. But let’s remember, Howard had a bulging disc in his neck last year that sat him down for two games. That’s just as serious in my book as a bad back, in that they can both be chronic, career-ending problems.
Pryce is what, one year older than Howard? Given that Pryce could be a free agent by next week, while Howard would still cost you a second rounder, Dallas should at least pay plane fare to bring Pryce in and have the doctors look him over. This is the guy the PFW scouts rated the 9th best DE in football going into last season. Just because Denver was asking too much for him doesn’t mean he’s a bum. And if he is healthy, you can probably sign him for an incentive-laden deal that is easy on the salary cap.
Rafael,
Pryce’s last double digit sack season was 2000. Followed by 7, 9,8,5 and Goose egg in 04.
Wiley had 13 in 2001..but declined thereafter…both played with talented DE on the other side Berry in Pryces case. Neither has ever broke more than 40 single season Tackles. Which is not unusual for Pass Rush DE. Unless your name is Bruce Smith, Reggie White or Julius Peppers. Pryce is younger…….and heavier but comes with heavier risk than Howard or Wiley.
Jerry Jones admitted during Free Agency. Every time he has spent money, sometimes overpaid……..he was always been pleasantly surprised.
If he is so good why are they replacing him with Ekuban? I think we know his talent level.
Wait a minute. Pryce didn’t go 9, 8, 5 and then 0. He went 9, 8.5 and then zero
because he played in 2 games. That’s a decimal point,not a comma and that’s
deceptive advertising, Jon.
Of course there is risk involved. But how big a risk? He’s not going to cost you
anything in picks. And coming off an injury, you get to name the price.
Plus:
A. it doesn’t preclude you from *still* taking a DE with the 11 or the 20;
B. Just because the Broncos are stupid enough to swap him out for
Ekuban doesn’t make him a stiff. Ekuban came cheap. Pryce did
not, which is why they want to move him more than anything. They
backed themselves into a corner with all their big talk about getting a
first or a second for him. Now, they want to make nice and ask him
to take a pay cut, after the Broncos have been bad mouthing him in
the press about how they want to go 3-4 and he’s a bad fit, etc., etc.
The Broncos bungled this. IF his back checks out, you benefit from their
lack of PR saavy. If his back doesn’t check out, what have you lost?
Look, after the Marco Rivera fiasco, I’m sure the Cowboys doctors would
give him the most detailed back exam in NFL history. The docs just put
$9.5 million of Jerry’s money at risk. I’m sure if Pryce has ANY lingering
problems, we’ll hear about it.
jon i think rafael knows his talent level much better than you. and FYI, rafael was referring to pryce’s AVERAGE amount of sacks….which was 8.8 for his career , not including 2004 since he got none. and his last DOUBLE DIGIT sack year was 2001 not 2000. he had 13 in ‘00, had 12 in ‘01 then 9, and then 8.5…….get your facts straight., and another FYI, howard has averaged the exact same at 8.8 sacks a year for his 4 years, as pryce has.
get your info on nfl.com not espn
Wiley…….since 1997 career sacks 44
Pryce…….since 97 career sacks 60
Wiley and Pryce were both declining in production…..thus SIMILAR
Bertrand Berry and
Darren Howard sine 2000 41 sacks…….168 tackles….
were raising there sack totals and improving their play……..
Greg Elllis since 98 44 career sacks…..269 tackles. Probably would garner more national attention if he was not a family man and Sunday School teacher. Just comes to work and does his job nothing wrong with that.
Howard and Abraham both had minor injuries last year, and any player has risk of injury. I am not against a plane ticket and physical for Pryce……..like it matters what I think…….but I felt like we settled last year for Wiley. He proved to be a disappointment, and made some complaints about switching sides and not being played on 3rd down. He never seemed to tackle anybody, so perhaps that had something to do with his playing time. But we spent a lot of money on that guy for what we got out of him. I do not want another Wiley cap number without the sack number. Perhaps Pryce does not represent that type of risk. But again you get what you pay for.
NFL official stats record his sack totals
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/4123
Price for Pryce,
Hhmm, I could see giving away one of our “compensated” picks. I just don’t think that Parcells has patience for injury prone players. On the other hand; he does allow the chance for redemption. I don’t see a high pick being wasted though. Very tasty prospect.
Jesse
Rafeal, you make some good points regarding the acquisition of Pryce. Pick him up on the cheap, give up nothing to obtain him, and really give him a detailed exam to make sure his back is OK. That seems like a feasible way to go.
However, I’m going to stick up for Jon here a minute and just state the obvious. Why has Denver been doing nothing but stockpiling average defensive linemen since free agency when they could work something out with Pryce to retain him? Maybe the Broncos know a little more than the PFW scouts about him.
Having said that, I guess as long as it doesn’t cost us much to sign him, why not take the gamble…it may pay off.
Jon,
Passing on Bert Berry was a mistake, but lets remember, Berry was a situational rusher for the Broncos. Last year was going to be his first chance to be a starter.
The Cowboys did settle for Wiley. But what goes for Wiley does not go for anybody else. You’ve got to judge people on their own performance, and Trevor Pryce was a better rusher than Howard and Wiley. Both he and Howard are valuable players, but when one is free and the other cost a 2nd rounder, I start with the free guy.
And let’s talk about Abraham for a moment. I’ve been reading the New York and New Jersey sports pages for weeks every day and there has not been a peep about even the slightest hint of him moving. And even if the Jets were to dangle him, given the bitterness between the front office and Abraham, they won’t give him up for less than a first plus. And when it comes to durability, well, we shoudn’t put Abraham in that discussion. I don’t see any reason to consider him an option. If Parcells even sneezes in New York’s direction, every pundit there will give your their interpretation of it. No one’s talking. So I take that as proof that Dallas hasn’t so much as picked up the phone and inquired.
pryce is a better rusher? how do u figure that? im not bein like mean or anything i was just wondering and would like to see more info to back that up so i can be really stuck w/ him. plus he would be almost free so take him, if physical works out give him a shot, if he seems to suck then its not like we are losing anything. howard is good but isnt worth a 2nd round in my mind be cause we need young guys fast
jesse,
you cannot trade compensatory picks sorry
Correct me if I am wrong………but Howard and Abraham are both Franchise Players.
The purpose of the Franchise tag is so the club retains rights, and has a year to figure out the cap or trade or whatever. It is the benefit of the club. As in the case of Howard, they have youth at the position. He looks to be expendable. Do you see NYJ using Franchise tag again next year? like the Jags did to Darius? April 15th is just around the corner…….taxes and Free Agency on the same day.
Look at the NY Jets cap number and you can see a possiblity that Abraham could be an issue. They lost Jordan and Martin is an over 30 RB, who had a phenomenal year last year. But they have needs on Offensive side of the ball…….RB and WR and according to NY media a K(joking). This is one of the reason they were not very active in Free Agency, John Abraham. There is no telling who comes into play or who gets traded or draft picks get traded the closer we get to the NFL Draft.
To me, that looks like opportunity for a club like Dallas with 3 picks by 42 and cap space……..add in the Parcells coach and his familiarity with player and organization. Earlier in the year there was speculation on Abraham for Moss or Abraham to Dallas…….purely speculation mind you….as Moss is in Oakland but that does not mean that Dallas is on the Jets speed dial. It is more of a stretch than Howard……..and definitely farther than Pryce………but it could come into play.
There are way too many studs in this draft to even be thinking about taking one of these over priced FA’s and with 2 picks in the first round one if not all three (Merriman, Cody, James) should be there when we pick I can’t take another Wiley on our D-line we need youth
Jon,
I’m an Abraham fan. I just think that IF — and that’s a big if right now — he were to hit the market, the fact that he’s never had anything but relatively minor leg injuries would make his price prohibitive.
But who’s to say the Jets won’t change their mind come June when he’s holding out?
When would Pryce be available to take a physical.
If he cost nothing or hardly nothing (no brainer!)
I agree Ferguson has ties to Bill, but I am going to have to take the Rafeal’s call on this one.. Probablly not going to happen.
I just don’t beive we are going to give up one of our three picks in 05 for Howard
#11 Johnson (move up to get him, if needed(Cleveland may swap for a 06 pick)
#20 Tuck (give me some feed back)
#40 Pool
Hey hey now, I lost nothing signing Wiley. It was all Jerrry’s mula. Also, let’s be real Dallas wasn’t going to win the Super Bowl if he recorded 8-10 sacks either. So its water under the bridge. A lesson the Boys should take with them, but glad it wasn’t the mistake that cost them a championship.
But a contract, filled withed incentives, like Paul suggests, isn’t a bad idea. Lesson learned?
I definately don’t like giving up draft choices and then having to dish out the $$ too. Let New Orleans come to us, and give us an offer we will have a hard time refusing. How does our 2nd round selection next year sound?
put incentives on his contract if we could get pryce for decent money with incentive bonuses then maybe but otherwise forget him and try to get the saints to get nervous and take howard.
The one and only way I see for the trade for Howard to come together is if Jerry and Bill trade down from 11 to the 20’s and get another 2nd in return, I bet there’s at least one team that’s looking to trade up and take a player that they need and that they know will be gone when their time to pick comes, guys like Merriman, Williamson, Travis Johnson, Rolle (if he slips from the top 10 picks, trade down that I bet it’s going to make the effect as the trade down of last year), Pollack and Alex Barron (if he slips), among others.
Trevor Pryce is interesting, I won’t say he doesn’t, but I bet he won’t be cheap and the question if he is damaged material is in the air. One point in his favor, he’s big enough to play end in a 3-4, something Howard won’t be capable of.
I dont think it’s fair to compare Pryce to Wiley. While he was injured last last year, before that he was pretty consistant in his production, producing sack totals of 12, 7, 9, 8.5 over the last four years, while Wiley’s #’s were slowly decreasing before he got to dallas with his sack #’s going from 13 to 6 to 3. He’s still pretty young, only 29, and the cowboys wouldn’t have to give the broncos anything, and they won’t have to draft a DE/LB and can adress 1 of there other needs like safty, o-line, and reciever. I think it’s a pretty good fit.
if they had a chance to address DE still with pryce they will because pryce might turn out not that great and then what would we do w/ out a pass rush still?
say goodbye to davenport cuz he resigned with green bay
he was a fourth rounder and is good so im sure well get a guy like him in the draft
i have no problem if they put incentives clauses in there to make him play unlike marcus 2sack wiley. i agreee that if they get him then they could focus on olb, ot, s, wr. that would eliminate 1 need going in the draft. i also like the trade down for 2 picks in the 20’s maybe get another second or third pick as well and use 1-2 of them on howard, alot of ways to go here im hoping bill and jerry do it right im tired of seeing the cowboys struggle….
jamie sharper was released theres another lb that could be of use i dont know his specfics, but i kow the dude can play
gotta question for you all….
if derrick johnson and merriman are both there at 11, what do you do? who is a better choice?? and…
would you choose brodney pool as the next best guy after rolle gets picked? give me some info on this guy like if he is a good position for our FS slot……please….
oh and what if pool and pac man are both there to choose from at 20 or something….who is better for us to get despite us needing a FS and pool is one?
I think I would go with Johnson if still there at 11, and its not gonna be likely that pacman is avilable at 20, heck he probablly won’t be there at 11. I don’t know much about pool, but if pacman is still there at 20 I say take him.
Quick question, since a lot of you seem more informed about available players. Who is or with the right deal could be available for the free safety position. I know Darius, dwight smith was available, but did the saints pick him up? What other names are available. I mean sure we can pick up a guy like Poole in the draft to fill in for woodson. But I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to replace him with at least some experience. I mean he was a strong anchor point for the dallas defense, just not sure if a rookie can come close to filling his shoes.
Ryan,
Just an opinion:
But I like a guy who excels, even when you know he has seen plenty of double teams. Merriman, has seen his fair share I’m sure, and was engaged in a battle pretty much every play. For him to be a top prospect, he was winning those. Johnson as good as he is, isn’t a true pass rusher. Also since he played LB in college he didn’t take on as much contact as Merriman. Another thing to consider, Merriman’s size allows him to line up as a DE in 4-3 set but also an OLB in 3-4 sets.
Eric, I agree, after I thought about it more, I would also go with merriman over johnson. I also think I would now say to pass on pacman even if available at 20. We need a FS, not a CB.
We need a real pass rusher. I can’t see Pryce filling that role. However, if Pryce could be aquired to deal for Howard we could use Pryce. The only problem with not acquiring a vet. at DE is that Merriman who is rumored to go to Dallas could be another draft bust. If the Cowboys are looking to draft on the D-line why not use there second round pick for the Notre dame stand out Justin Tuck.
How about drafting Antrell Rolle ans converting him to FS. If we get a cover safety down the field it would allow for the freak Roy Williams to play closer to the and return to his ‘03-’04 season when Woodsen played at FS