Jamie Sharper

[BeyondTheJungle]

I posted the full text from Rumor Central on the blog earlier tonight.

[brooklyn_bengalfan]

Nothing there we didn't already know:

Who:

Jamie Sharper

Interested:

Bengals

Seahawks

Browns

Jaguars

Ravens

The Skinny:

Apr. 10 - The Bengals and Seahawks appear to be the favorites to land Jamie Sharper. The free-agent linebacker has met with both teams, and now must decide where he wants to play. The Bengals might have the upper hand considering head coach Marvin Lewis was Sharper's defensive coordinator in Baltimore from 1997-01.

The Browns, Jaguars, and Ravens are among the other interested teams in Shaper, who was released by Houston in a salary-cap move.

[HoosierCat]

Update from the Seattle papers...sounds like the hags have the bigger offer on the table and Jax wins the proximity batlle...b engals may be "stuck in the middle again..."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/219574_hawk11.html

Sharper mulls Seahawks offer

Linebacker may announce choice today following family huddle

By CLARE FARNSWORTH

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

KIRKLAND -- The Seahawks could know as early as today whether veteran linebacker Jamie Sharper will be joining them for the 2005 season.

Tony Agnone, Sharper's agent, said over the weekend he would like to have a deal done by today. Of course, that could change if none of the offers he has received are to his liking.

Sharper visited the Seahawks last week after first meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns also have expressed interest in Sharper, who was released April 1 by the Houston Texans.

If Sharper's choice is not the Seahawks, it's not for a lack of trying. The club didn't miss a recruiting trick during his visit. After being taken to dinner in a limousine Thursday night, Sharper toured Qwest Field on Friday morning. As he entered the stadium, his image was projected on the scoreboard screen, and he was greeted with piped-in crowd noise -- including chants of "Ja-mie, Ja-mie, Ja-mie."

Mother Nature even cooperated, as sunshine became part of Sharper's entourage while in town.

Sharper returned to his home in south Florida to discuss his options with his family. He is not married, but remains very close to his parents and siblings -- including his younger brother Darren, a former Green Bay Packers safety who recently signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Sharper has made a habit of flying family members in for his games, and the distance to Seattle would make for a daunting commute.

Among Sharper's priorities are proximity for his family and familiarity for himself. He played for Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio while with the Baltimore Ravens. Sharper also wants to play for a team where he can make a difference, and inconsistent play by its injury-ravaged linebacking crew was a major factor in the Seahawks defense ranking 26th in the NFL last season.

Agnone has not ruled out any of the teams that have shown interest.

But the Bengals' initial contract offer was said to be less than Sharper was anticipating, and the word out of Cleveland is that the Browns no longer consider themselves in the picture.

Sharper, 30, was a second-round draft choice by the Ravens in 1997, but went to the Texans in the 2002 expansion draft. He played outside linebacker for five seasons with the Ravens and middle linebacker for three seasons with the Texans, missing only one start in eight seasons.

[b8nammo]

It is a no-brainer to sign Sharper. My question who is most likely to go, to make way for Sharper? My first guess is Webster, but what say you?

[membengal]

Webster would not save you enough, as I understand it.

Cut Webster and Hardy and don't look back (maybe Hardy would re-negotiate).

[rob_justdmb]

It is a no-brainer to sign Sharper. My question who is most likely to go, to make way for Sharper? My first guess is Webster, but what say you?

sure it's a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it's out of our hands at this point, unless he's already signed and I haven't seen it yet...

[Kirkendall]

Webster would not save you enough, as I understand it.

Cut Webster and Hardy and don't look back (maybe Hardy would re-negotiate).

What's the cap penalty if we cut both?

[JPW]

(maybe Hardy would re-negotiate).

That's what I am thinking ...

[BeyondTheJungle]

Webster's contract is as follows:

signing bonus: 2.5mm

2004: 1.4mm

2005: 1.5mm

2006: 1.6mm

2007: 1.8mm

2008: 2.0mm

playing time incentives: 2.0mm

if we keep webster this season, his cap number is 2.0mm (0.5mm prorated bonus plus salary). if we release him before june 1 we would be hit with the full balance of his pro-rated bonus which is also $2mm and therefore there is no cap savings. if we wait to cut him until after june 1, we could take this year's proration 0.5mm in 2005 and push the other 1.5mm into 2006 which would give us a 1.5mm savings this year. based on this, the only reason webster won't be back this season is if he can't play and we need the roster spot for someone else.

i couldn't find the full breakdown of Hardy's contract. he signed for 4yrs/$14.4mm. the signing bonus was 3.5mm which pro-rates to $0.875mm per year. i think his salary in 2005 is 2.6mm putting his cap cost if he plays is $3.475mm so if we released him and took the full hit of $1.75mm now, we would effectively save $1.725mm against the cap in 2005. this is why i think we cut hardy to make room for a jamie sharper today or chris draft later this summer.

[HoosierCat]

Draft has visited at least one team, New Orleans, already. If the Bengals weren't interested in getting into a relatively modest competition for Sharper, I doubt they'll get into one for Draft. No, if they sign any veteran linebacker, it'll be someone with no other options. One interesting option might be the hawks' Chad Brown, if indeed he gets cut to make room for Sharper...

[jjakq27]

One interesting option might be the hawks' Chad Brown, if indeed he gets cut to make room for Sharper...

I was thinking the same thing. Is he on the downside?

If he got cut I would suspect that Marvin would have a good chance to get him. Wasn't he LB coach at Pittsburgh when Brown played there?

[HoosierCat]

One interesting option might be the hawks' Chad Brown, if indeed he gets cut to make room for Sharper...

I was thinking the same thing. Is he on the downside?

If he got cut I would suspect that Marvin would have a good chance to get him. Wasn't he LB coach at Pittsburgh when Brown played there?

Now that you mention it...yep. From Marvin's bio on bengals.com:

"From 1993-95, Lewis helped the Steelers defense rank among the top three in the NFL each season. He guided the careers of some of the NFL’s best linebackers, including Pro Bowl selections Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland and Greg Lloyd. Of Pittsburgh’s 97 sacks over Lewis’ last two seasons, the linebackers were credited with 63.5."

As for Chad, all the chatter from hags fans seems to be that he's still got game but keeps getting hurt. Per espn he's only started 28 games in the last 3 years. OTOH he's got 14 sacks, 3 FF's & a boatload of tackles in those 28 games, so clearly when he gets on the field he can play. If he shakes loose I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him; I'd make it heavy on playing-time incentives.

[jjakq27]

Maybe ML figures he wins either way. If he loses Sharper, he still could get Brown provided he can still play some.

[vman1186]

Despite Lewis announcing Johnson will play in the middle, I believe he will cut Hardy. After all the announcement came the day after the Sharper and the team discussed where the free agent will play (according to Bengals.com). So, chances are they plan to play him on the outside in Hardy's place with Johnson in the middle.

They will keep Webster to see what he can do when healthy, and also because Johnson lacks experience in the middle. Long term, I think they want to move Johnson outside, and regardless of what happens with Sharper they will probably draft a middle linebacker in rounds 2-4.

The bottom line is we ought to get rid our weakest link and that's Hardy. Its worth seeing what Webster can do when healthy.

Of course, I am assuming we will get Sharper (*** damn hurry up and decide already!) . . .

[oldschooler]

My math could be a little fuzzy...but Hardy is supposed

to make $ 2,600,000 in base salary this year. He is supposed to

have a cap hit of $3,625,000 ...the difference is $1,025,000.

Then next year he has a bonus of $1,025,000.

That is $2,050,000 that would be our cap hit...subtract that from

the original cap hit of $3,625,000 then the Bengals would have

$1,575,000 freed up in cap space from cutting him...

http://bengalsjungle.com/salarieslb.html

Nate Webster has $2,000,000 left from his signing bonus

and he has a base salary of $1,500,000 with $500,000 from his

signing bonus...so if they cut him they would have the same cap hit

regardless if they cut him or kept him...

[membengal]

The longer this goes on today, maybe the better for the Bengals?

I would have thought that Seattle would have closed the deal by now since they are, by most accounts, the front-runner in this derby...(he says realizing how pathetic he sounds)

[andybren]

It's disappointing to hear that the Bengals made a conspicuously low offer, but if Sharper didn't immediately jump on the Seahawks' offer there must be some interest on his part to play elsewhere.

[HairOnFire]

There's an update at the most official of websites...finally. Sounds like the 2nd deadline is going to pass (((Gasp))). I have to wonder if the agent will bother making a third deadline. I mean c'mon, what would be the point, right?

The update is actually pretty positive, implying that the Bengals are the favorites now, and that a deal might be coming soon...in a day or two...maybe three...or when hell freezes over. Myself, I'm leaning toward a couple of days before Sharper agrees to become a Bengal.

It's gonna happen.

Yup, all we've got to do is ante up a free hat and we're golden.

[HoosierCat]

Yup, all we've got to do is ante up a free hat and we're golden.

Hell, may as well forget it then. No way Mikey coughs up a free hat. You know what official NFL merchandise costs these days...?

OK, maybe if Sharper agrees to cough up his annual share of Super Bowl tickets to the Paul Brown Memorial Charity Fund...but only a hat, no jersey!

Seriously, I'm off to read the bengals.com update, but as the day has stretched on I had begun to get the feeling that...odd as it may sound...Sharper might be using the hags to get a better deal with Cincy...now wouldn't that be a hoot? I mean, c'mon, you walk into the stadium and they have the jumbotron going with your pic and a piped-in crowd shouting your name...your 1st thought has to be something like, boy can I ask for the moon here or what? Perfect patsies to play...we'll see.

[HairOnFire]

Update from the Seattle papers...sounds like the hags have the bigger offer on the table and Jax wins the proximity batlle...b engals may be "stuck in the middle again..."

Actually, the article doesn't claim the Seahawks offer is larger. All it says is that the Bengals offer was "less than anticipated". That could be an important distinction if Sharper is...(wait for it)....using the Seahawks for leverage.

Sheesh, I wonder who laughed out loud when they read that?

[HairOnFire]

...as the day has stretched on I had begun to get the feeling that...odd as it may sound...Sharper might be using the hags to get a better deal with Cincy...now wouldn't that be a hoot?

I swear I hadn't read your post before writing mine. I swear it!!!!!

[jjakq27]

Sounds like the 2nd deadline is going to pass (((Gasp))). I have to wonder if the agent will bother making a third deadline. I mean c'mon, what would be the point, right?

It reminds me of a Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon. Bugs says "I darst ya ta step across dis line" and of course Sam obliges about 20 times until he falls of the cliff.

[bengalindian]

Sheesh, I wonder who laughed out loud when they read that?

I did. And Hobson seems pretty confident about it, so lets cross our fingers and hope

[HairOnFire]

I mean, c'mon, you walk into the stadium and they have the jumbotron going with your pic and a piped-in crowd shouting your name...your 1st thought has to be something like, boy can I ask for the moon here or what?

My first thought was the Seahawks offer was comparable to that made by the Bengals...so they tried to butter my man up with cheap carnival tricks. Granted, the hat was a nice touch, but it's not keeping me up at night.

[membengal]

I mean, c'mon, you walk into the stadium and they have the jumbotron going with your pic and a piped-in crowd shouting your name...your 1st thought has to be something like, boy can I ask for the moon here or what?

My first thought was the Seahawks offer was comparable to that made by the Bengals...so they tried to butter my man up with cheap carnival tricks. Granted, the hat was a nice touch, but it's not keeping me up at night.

This is most def a new experience as a Bengals fan in free agency. All the heat today and since this has started has pretty much been Seattle...but...what if ML really did sell him on Wednesday, and he really has been using Seattle as leverage since? That really would be bizarre, Hair and Joisey, I am with you on man bites dog aspect of that.

Wishing wishing wishing it is true. Please, let us get one.

And, joisey, can we agree yet that the Bengals' chance of getting Sharper, whether they land him or not, was slightly higher than 0%?