[CBFF] 4 Bears on "Best Team Money Can Buy" (ESPN: Clayton)

[Jerry Madsen]

After last season, I think he's reaching a bit on Peanut.

Jerry

On 7/13/06, Victor Waldron <victor19 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2511045
>
> Talented roster includes 21 Pro Bowlers
> By John Clayton
> ESPN.com
>
> A few weeks ago, my editors asked me to assemble the best team that
> could fit within the $102 million salary cap for the 2006 NFL season.
>
> Being a salary cap freak armed with a database of salaries and
> contract breakdowns for 2,330 players, the assignment was easier than
> imagined. Using a couple of simple salary cap philosophies I've
> adopted from my years of covering the league, I was able to assemble
> "The Best Team Money Can Buy" with very few adjustments. My total cap
> number for 2006 was $100,822,220, leaving me more than $1 million
> under the cap. But I had the ability to pull in top players from the
> 2006 NFL draft, assemble an all-star special teams unit and have a
> backup unit on offense and defense that could probably win the NFC
> North.
>
> My 53-man roster has 21 Pro Bowlers, including 16 starting position
> players. The team features the league's trendiest receivers --
> Cincinnati's Chad Johnson, Carolina's Steve Smith and Washington's
> Santana Moss -- who offer great hands and exceptional
> run-after-the-catch ability. It features the league's most talented
> and versatile running back, San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, whose
> work can be augmented at times by Falcons fullback Justin Griffith.
> The team also has a game-breaking tight end in San Diego's Antonio
> Gates. And the quarterback? Two-time league MVP Peyton Manning of the
> Colts.
>
> Given $102 million of cap room to fill out a 53-man roster, there was
> enough room to splurge on five Pro Bowl special teamers: Kansas City
> returner Dante Hall, Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, Raiders punter Shane
> Lechler and coverage specialists Larry Izzo of the Patriots and David
> Tyree of the Giants.
>
> The defense is built for speed and playmaking ability. Only in the Pro
> Bowl could Indy's Bob Sanders and Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu line up
> as teammates. Thanks to easy cap management, they can play together on
> this team and can freelance behind a defensive front seven featuring
> the pass-rushing abilities of the Colts' Dwight Freeney and the
> Chargers' Shawne Merriman, with Houston's Mario Williams filling in as
> a backup.
>
> Perhaps the biggest fundamental concept that allows all of this to
> work is an acceptable cap philosophy that isn't given much publicity.
> The Cover 2 defense, employed by the Colts' Tony Dungy and several
> other coaches, is a better system to work under the cap than the 3-4.
> In the 3-4, teams must pay big money for at least a couple of starting
> linebackers, a couple of defensive linemen, a hard-hitting strong
> safety and for bigger, more physical cornerbacks. The Steelers'
> starting 11 in the 3-4 defense totals around $34.88 million and the
> Chargers' $30.6 million, while the Colts' starting 11 in the 4-3 is
> $26 million.
>
> The Cover 2 in a 4-3 allows for a younger flow of players. Younger
> usually means cheaper, but Cover 2 defensive coaches are accustomed to
> grooming young linebackers with speed. The Seahawks, for example, went
> to the Super Bowl with two rookie linebackers. Dungy has gone to the
> playoffs year after year realizing he probably will lose a young
> linebacker after his fourth season in the league.
>
> One of the reasons the Colts hired Dungy is the franchise knew its cap
> was going to be dominated by offensive stars: Manning, Marvin
> Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Stokley, etc. Because it's hard to
> spend on both sides of the ball, something has to give. The Cover 2
> allows for more flexibility as long as the team drafts well.
>
> Naturally, championship teams are built around quarterbacks. While it
> can be debated forever whether New England's Tom Brady is better than
> Manning, the salary cap made the decision simple for "The Best Team
> Money Can Buy." Manning has run one of the league's top offenses since
> the late 1990s and his cap number is $10.566 million. Brady has a
> $15.67 million cap hit. That difference freed up $5 million for four
> of the top five linebackers: D.J. Williams of the Broncos, Lofa Tatupu
> of the Seahawks, Lance Briggs of the Bears and Karlos Dansby of the
> Cardinals.
>
> Though it was tough to separate Manning from his favorite receiver,
> Harrison, the luxury of building a good young unit of pass catchers
> was too tempting. Harrison is 34 and has a $6.4 million cap number.
> Johnson, Smith and Moss give Manning a trio of top-10 receivers who
> averaged 95 catches, 1,492 yards and 10 touchdowns each in 2005. Yards
> after the catch are so important because of the speed of defenses
> these days. Getting three receivers who combined for a
> 15.7-yards-per-catch average was too tempting to pass up.
>
> Plus, it's fun to see Smith and Johnson, former Santa Monica Junior
> College teammates, together again.
>
> The offensive roster reads like the first round of a fantasy draft. At
> halfback, I have Tomlinson, who has the ability to catch 100 passes or
> rush for 1,800 yards. At tight end, Gates starts and is backed up by
> Cardinals rookie Leonard Pope and Redskins H-back/tight end Chris
> Cooley. Like the Colts, the team can switch to a two-tight end set and
> be explosive, but its primary offensive formation will be three
> receivers (Smith, Moss and Johnson), one tight end (Gates) and one
> back (Tomlinson).
>
> It's almost impossible to assemble a fantasy team that talented, but
> it's easy to do with $102 million to spend. In case a fullback is
> needed for short-yardage and early-down running plays, Griffith is
> available. He comes from the league's top rushing team and has a cap
> number of $811,510.
>
> The offensive line has two current Pro Bowlers (Seattle left tackle
> Walter Jones and Colts center Jeff Saturday) and features two of the
> best young guards in the game (Eric Steinbach of the Bengals and Chris
> Snee of the Giants). Steinbach and Snee were Pro Bowl alternates last
> year. Jammal Brown wins the right tackle job, even though the Saints
> are moving him to left tackle this season. Brown, a first-round pick
> in 2005, looked dominating at times as a rookie at right tackle.
> Brown, Snee and Steinbach eat up only $3.4 million of the cap, and
> give the team the chance to have a starting lineup of five potential
> Pro Bowl blockers.
>
> Flexibility was the key to the backup decisions. Quarterback Matt
> Schaub is considered the hottest name in trade circles although he's
> too valuable for the Falcons to surrender. With a big arm and a big
> body, Oakland's Andrew Walter is being molded into a potential starter
> by Art Shell. For backup running backs, I wanted size. The Cowboys'
> Marion Barber and Tennessee rookie LenDale White fit the bill because
> they give extra power for short-yardage and goal-line plays. Buffalo's
> Roscoe Parrish was the choice as the fourth receiver because I was
> looking for a slot receiver with quickness. The young backup line of
> tackles Michael Roos (Tennessee) and Marcus McNeill (San Diego) and
> interior blockers Richie Incognito (St. Louis) and Chris Spencer
> (Seattle) could be starters, but they cost only $3.22 million.
>
> With a Cover 2 defense in mind, I wanted to build an aggressive front
> four. Merriman of the Chargers made the Pro Bowl as a 3-4 outside
> linebacker, but he's big enough to move to an end spot in the 4-3 on
> the side opposite Freeney. The Ravens' Terrell Suggs has made similar
> moves when Baltimore switched between 4-3 and 3-4 schemes. I almost
> took Indy's Robert Mathis as my third end, but for less than a million
> more than Mathis' new deal, I got Mario Williams, the first pick in
> the draft.
>
> The choices at defensive tackle were intriguing. Good 4-3 defenses
> need quickness and pass-rushing ability at the three-technique tackle
> spot. The Bears' Tommie Harris is the starter, and the Cardinals'
> Darnell Dockett, a John Randall-like tackle, is the backup. I feel
> great about the run-stopping tackles. The Titans' Albert Haynesworth
> is a dominating player coming into his own. The Patriots' Vince
> Wilfork is good enough to be a starting nose tackle, but I still
> believe his best spot is as a tackle on a 4-3.
>
> Any good 4-3 needs a top weakside linebacker, and Briggs made the Pro
> Bowl on the weak side of one of the league's best defenses. Tatupu may
> be undersized, but he's a smart leader and playmaker in the middle who
> helped get the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. D.J. Williams is the ideal
> athlete on the strong side and he's backed up by Dansby, another
> emerging Pro Bowl star.
>
> Who wouldn't drool over a secondary that starts Sanders, Polamalu,
> Atlanta's DeAngelo Hall and Seattle's Marcus Trufant? Hall, Trufant
> and Polamalu are former first-rounders. Sanders is one of the game's
> best hitters. Hall and Trufant give this team the chance to play some
> bump-and-run man at times. Any opposing receiver crossing the middle
> of the field would be punished by Sanders and Polamalu.
>
> Flexibility was the key to the backup decisions. Chicago's Charles
> Tillman is a big corner who can match up against the tall West Coast
> wide receivers. New Orleans' Jordan Babineaux may be the team's best
> bargain. He can help out as a Cover 2 inside cornerback or as a backup
> safety while only making $425,000. Corey Webster is good enough to
> start for the Giants, but he's available as a backup on this team.
> Plus, how about the speed of the Saints' Josh Bullocks, who will be
> asked only to be a third safety on this team?
>
> There was so much available room, I overdid it on specials team.
> Lechler is a two-time Pro Bowl punter. Vinatieri is the best clutch
> kicker of his era. For coverage teams, you look for leaders, and who
> could be better than Izzo and Tyree?
>
> My returning unit is ridiculous. Hall is the main returner, but I have
> the options of using Steve Smith and the Raiders' Chris Carr on punt
> returns. For kickoff returns, I can choose among Hall, Carr and San
> Diego's Darren Sproles, who each averaged more than 24 yards a return.
> Chris Massey of the Rams is my deep snapper and third fullback behind
> Griffith and Cooley.
>
> One of the tricks to building the defense was getting first-, second-
> or third-round choices in their rookie contracts who freed up the room
> for top offensive players, who are among the highest-paid at their
> positions. A head coach using the Cover 2 has to figure to keep the
> defense simple enough for a change. That allows the team the chance to
> keep top offensive players until the end of their careers.
>
> Sure, a good defense can take a team to a Super Bowl, but the offense
> has to be good enough to win during those games. "The Best Team Money
> Can Buy" would post a lot of W's.
>
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