Cowboys Targeting Bengals for a Trade

[ArmyBengal]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/05/21/...ing-greg-ellis/

I don't really see this happening as I believe we are pretty much set at LB for the time being and wouldn't want to take on his salary, but thought I'd post for conversation.

Cowboys are Shopping Greg Ellis

Posted by Mike Florio on May 21, 2009, 9:42 p.m. EDT

The Dallas Cowboys have placed linebacker Greg Ellis on the trading block, according to Calvin Watkins of FanHouse.com.

Ellis, a first-round pick in 1998, is due to earn a base salary of $4.15 million in 2009. He has a cap number of $6.25 million.

The team also sent Ellis home from this weeks Organized Team Activities, presumably keeping him out of harms way to avoid owing his base salary in the event of a season-ending injury.

Ellis could fight the move, if he chooses to do so. Three years ago, Titans quarterback Steve McNair pushed for the team to let him in the facility for workouts, presumably to pressure the franchise to trade him or cut him. He filed a grievance, and ultimately won.

In this case, Watkins says that Ellis will receive $1.5 million from the team if hes cut. So theres a chance Ellis will try to push the issue.

Watkins says that the Cowboys have targeted New England and Cincinnati as potential destinations, but that the Pats aren't interested.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Only angle that makes sense is they may see Zimmer as a soft target for guys who were good for the Cowboys 3 years ago. Hopefully Zimmer doesn't forget that 3 years is a looooong time in the NFL and especially for guys staring down the wrong side of 30.

[whizzo]

haha... DE/LB is one of the positions we're stocked at... we've got odom, geathers, fanene, rucker, johnson, jeanty, blackstock, rivers, maualuga and jones, and i'm quite happy with that group, thank you very much.

EDIT: brandon johnson as well

[gregstephens]

Yeah, it makes good PFT fodder, but I don't see it either. I like what we got, and I feel we are sufficiently prepared for injuries for the first time in years.

[Wraith]

I would do this if they would take Chad off our hands, Ellis for Chad would be a good trade even if Ellis gets cut

[whizzo]

sure, let's trade a 5-time pro bowler for an aging rush linebacker we don't need. you people are ridiculous sometimes.

[Wraith]

If that 5 time pro bowler is a complete distraction to the team, unwilling to play his position, runs bad routes and by all accounts is going to be even more unhappy when he sits on the bench behind Chris Henry and Jerome Simpson then it is a case of addition by subtraction. It does not look like 85 has many supporters in the lockerroom so if we can add a guy who can instill a positive attitude in our young backers great, if he gets cut then we can all feel very good about our young guys. IF Jeanty is going to be our starting SSOLB, who would you rather have Rashad Jeanty or Greg Ellis.

Oh and BTW the last two seasons that aging rush DE/OLB had 20.5 sacks. He has always been a team leader, always played hard even if he was unhappy about his contract and he too is a Pro Bowler (2007 should have made it as well in 2004 and 2008)

[whizzo]

christ... Ocho thread hijack again.

back on topic, i'd rather play our young guys (the johnsons, maualuga and jeanty) rather than ellis, since he's got, what, two, three seasons left in him, while the aforementioned guys hopefully have close to a decade of NFL in front of them.

[JoePong]

I would do this if they would take Chad off our hands, Ellis for Chad would be a good trade even if Ellis gets cut

Just when you think the posts can't get any more stupid...

[HairOnFire]

christ... Ocho thread hijack again.

Sure, but you guys managed to get four posts in before being Ocho'd. We're getting better.

FWIW, I like the idea. There's no pressing need for yet another DE/OLB hybrid, but there's still room for a designated pass rusher who shouldn't cost much. In fact, his trade value can't be higher than a mid or late round pick from next years draft.

Besides, how cool would it be for Michael Johnson to have a mentor who has actually played at a much higher level than what we've currently got?

And they've got the cap room for this and several more moves, right?

[derekshank]

Only angle that makes sense is they may see Zimmer as a soft target for guys who were good for the Cowboys 3 years ago. Hopefully Zimmer doesn't forget that 3 years is a looooong time in the NFL and especially for guys staring down the wrong side of 30.

He was good for the Cowboys 3 years ago... as well as 2 years ago and 1 year ago.

He had 12.5 sacks in '07 and 8 sacks last year. The Bengals had only 17 sacks as a team last year.

Depending on the asking price, this seems like a solid move to me. Especially given the number of LB injuries the Bengals have endured the last several years. This would be a fantastic way to ease Maualuga and Michael Johnson into the lineup, and get well above average depth at the position.

haha... DE/LB is one of the positions we're stocked at... we've got odom, geathers, fanene, rucker, johnson, jeanty, blackstock, rivers, maualuga and jones, and i'm quite happy with that group, thank you very much.

EDIT: brandon johnson as well

Well, he was a OLB in the 3-4, but the Bengals would not be tempted in the least to use him as a DE. He'd be an OLB... one that is far superior to Jeanty, and a better pure pass rusher than anything on the roster.

I also think it's funny some of the players you list at your DE/LB position that the Bengals are so stacked at. Fanene? Odom? Since when do they play OLB? His competition on the field would be those lining up to play SSLB. That means there would be some competition with Jeanty, Brandon Johnson and possibly Maualuga. Michael Johnson would then be able to be just the pass rushing specialist at DE, with Ellis coming off the side. That would be hard to handle for any O-Line.

I don't know if they'll do it or not... but if they do, I'll be happy. I feel like what the defense is lacking is still a true pass rush. Maualuga and Michael Johnson help with that... but Ellis would be a proven upgrade, and could be one more step to making this team an actual contender.

[Ickey44]

I would do this if they would take Chad off our hands, Ellis for Chad would be a good trade even if Ellis gets cut

I'm with you there.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Depending on the asking price, this seems like a solid move to me. Especially given the number of LB injuries the Bengals have endured the last several years. This would be a fantastic way to ease Maualuga and Michael Johnson into the lineup, and get well above average depth at the position.

I'm always leery of a team looking to get rid of a guy in that situation, maybe they know more than we do about him losing a step. All we know is that his team - Jerry Jones' team, mind you - is willing to cut him to save 2.5M, and the Patsies ain't interested. That makes me nervous. I recall how fast Tory James, say, went from Pro Bowl to losing to Andre Smith's boobies in a footrace. I'd want to make sure that's not the case here.

If they did get Ellis, and he's as still as good as last year's stats, then I'd probably let Rey-Rey go back mainly to MLB.

[rwalling]

I'll take Ellis and a 2nd for Ocho.

[Kazkal]

I could see their being interest as a 1-2year gap / mentor roll,My only dislike about it would be chance of knocking Maualuga off the field since they wanna keep Dhani in the middle.

[kingwilly]

haha... DE/LB is one of the positions we're stocked at... we've got odom, geathers, fanene, rucker, johnson, jeanty, blackstock, rivers, maualuga and jones, and i'm quite happy with that group, thank you very much.

EDIT: brandon johnson as well

Ellis is a better player than Rucker or Fanene. Improve the depth, improve the possible outcome once the injuries pile up. Lest we recall what happened when our LB's al got hurt and we relied on Caleb and every other scrub we could get to hold down the fort?

Send the Sowboys some camp fodder and bring in Ellis. Thumbs up.

[kingwilly]

Depending on the asking price, this seems like a solid move to me. Especially given the number of LB injuries the Bengals have endured the last several years. This would be a fantastic way to ease Maualuga and Michael Johnson into the lineup, and get well above average depth at the position.

I'm always leery of a team looking to get rid of a guy in that situation, maybe they know more than we do about him losing a step. All we know is that his team - Jerry Jones' team, mind you - is willing to cut him to save 2.5M, and the Patsies ain't interested. That makes me nervous. I recall how fast Tory James, say, went from Pro Bowl to losing to Andre Smith's boobies in a footrace. I'd want to make sure that's not the case here.

If they did get Ellis, and he's as still as good as last year's stats, then I'd probably let Rey-Rey go back mainly to MLB.

let's all recall how McNair took the ratbirds to 13-3....and the Titans were making the move purely from a cap perspective....

It is a fact that Ellis would be a better 2nd option than Fanene or Rucker...fact.

ML needs to win now. HBO needs good stories now. SoP needs something to sell tickets in mid-land, depressed America now.

A couple of years ago I bet a couple of guys here that Arrington was coming. I lost. Ate crow. Took my lumps and mailed two very nice, sewed-on name/number jersies to both.

I think bringing Ellis here would be a boon. Zimmer had a very good D in ding-dong-ville. Do I have any takers? let's discuss the wager...

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

let's all recall how McNair took the ratbirds to 13-3....and the Titans were making the move purely from a cap perspective....

...

I think bringing Ellis here would be a boon. Zimmer had a very good D in ding-dong-ville. Do I have any takers? let's discuss the wager...

But here the Cowboys save *at most* 2.5M on the cap. If they really think he's good for 10 sacks this year, there's no way they give him away for a bag of balls.

I'm just saying - sure, it's possible the Cowboys are trying to give us an All-pro player for free. And if that's the case, grab him immediately. I'm just sayin', when something looks too good to be true, I get suspicious.

But sure, if we can get him for a 4th or less, why the heck not?

[HAPPYJAQ]

let's all recall how McNair took the ratbirds to 13-3....and the Titans were making the move purely from a cap perspective....

...

I think bringing Ellis here would be a boon. Zimmer had a very good D in ding-dong-ville. Do I have any takers? let's discuss the wager...

But here the Cowboys save *at most* 2.5M on the cap. If they really think he's good for 10 sacks this year, there's no way they give him away for a bag of balls.

I'm just saying - sure, it's possible the Cowboys are trying to give us an All-pro player for free. And if that's the case, grab him immediately. I'm just sayin', when something looks too good to be true, I get suspicious.

But sure, if we can get him for a 4th or less, why the heck not?

Don't think they'd take Chad straight up, so anything more than a 5th is too much (perhaps that also says something to where I think Chad's trade value is right now). OLB may be the deepest position on the team with Rivers, BJ, Jeanty, Blackstock and Rey. MJ will also see some time there. The only way it really makes sense is if the Bengals commit to a 3-4, where Rey, and even possibly Rivers, could see some time inside.

With the way the roster is shaping, I'll pass unless he comes dirt cheap. We've got a lot of talented young players who need to see the field.

[ArmyBengal]

After looking at this a little more, I agree that Ellis is (if nothing else) higher quality depth than what we currently have on the team and if the thought is to be constantly improving your roster, the move would actually make sense assuming we can get him at a decent price without giving up much. If our situation was worse than what I view it, we could consider giving more, but it's not, so we are sitting in a good position.

[agreen_112]

sure, let's trade a 5-time pro bowler for an aging rush linebacker we don't need. you people are ridiculous sometimes.

Agreed... Chad's value is worth a whole lot more than Greg Ellis. I'd take Ware for Chad.

[ArmyBengal]

Regardless of any players trade value and talking in general terms, Ellis does improve (if nothing else) the depth of this team. If he can be had for picks instead of a player, it should at least be considered.

[whizzo]

sure, let's trade a 5-time pro bowler for an aging rush linebacker we don't need. you people are ridiculous sometimes.

Agreed... Chad's value is worth a whole lot more than Greg Ellis. I'd take Ware for Chad.

hear hear. of course, he wouldn't fit our system...

[alleycat]

It's official. Jones announces Ellis going to be cut or traded:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8...mp;confirm=true

[derekshank]

I read a couple sources that say Dallas is more likely to release him than trade him. That means that if the Bengals want to get him in a trade, they likely won't have to give up much.

That said... he apparently said that once released he will be looking for a deal with either the Bengals, Patriots, or Dolphins. The Bengals may just be able to snag him without having to give up anything.