Why Keep Carlson?

[PurpleKoolaid]

What did he makes last season, almost a million dollars a catch? Im sure hes laughing all the way to the bank. Good FA signing Spielman.

[PurpleKoolaid]

No matter what Carlson did last year he was never gonna perform up to his contract.

The Vikings payed him Top 10 TE money to be a #2 TE. It was a terrible deal from the get go and it was impossible for him to live up to it from the get go. If he was payed that to be a starter it woulda still been a terrible deal.

It just is/was a mistake by Spielman. Cutting now makes no sense because we'd be paying him anyway and wouldn't free up much cap space. Just keep him as the #2 another year, he's good depth, overpaid depth, but still depth.

Lol I love how some think they can tell the future. What if we cut Carlson's pathetic/lame a$$ and free up a roster space for a guard or WR, that actually become something some day? Carlson wont. Hes a multi millionare for doing NOTHING but being hurt and making 8 catchs I think? I through away my junk. Sometimes I save junk that at some point may have a value, Carlson wont. Im looking in my crystal ball and thinking he has the same effect on the team this year as last. But hopefully we replace him with a draft prospect and not a FA. Cause Spielman sucks at seeing receivers or QB FA value.

[Cliff]

Are we only carrying 2 TEs then? That's highly unlikely. They'd just replace Carlson with like Lamark Brown or some Jeff Dugan type.

I think it's wrong to assume that John Carlson is only valuable for depth. New England does a good job of utlizing both of their TEs and I think the Vikings wanted to set up a similar scheme.

Perhaps next year Carlson will be able to contribute. Until then, there simply isn't a good reason to cut Carlson unless you had someone really talented you wanted to bring in to replace him ... and even then, there are some on the team I'd dump before Carlson.

[glg]

When you sign a player, his prorated bonus count against the cap for the duration of his contract, even if you're not paying him.

You're missing a piece of this. If a player is cut, what is left of his bonus does not continue to amortize, it is accelerated. In the case of cutting Carlson now, the Vikings would have $1.25M hit left to take (note, I'm using your $5M split over 4 years figure, I did not check for accuracy). They can choose to take the entire $3.75M in 2013 or take 1 year in 2013 and the rest in 2014 (ie 2013 - $1.25M, 2014 - $2.5M). A while ago, teams had to wait until June 1st to make cuts and split the cap hit that way. That was changed so that the split can be made on a cut at any time.

[Rus]

I think Rhett Ellison is a solid complementary end, but I'm leaning towards saying Carlson should get one more year. The team put up plenty of cash/cap to sign the guy, so they should give it another shot.

If Rhett Ellison was almost as productive as Rudolph, though, I'd say it's time to find a way to get rid of Carlson.

[Rus]

Are we only carrying 2 TEs then? That's highly unlikely. They'd just replace Carlson with like Lamark Brown or some Jeff Dugan type.

His name is Rhett Ellison, and as they burned a draft pick on him, they're probably going to stick with him as the third. He's been a good blocker and that's pretty much what they needed. You're not going to have two Rudolphs on the field...one pass catcher alone means you have one less guy blocking.

[J. Kapp 11]

You're missing a piece of this. If a player is cut, what is left of his bonus does not continue to amortize, it is accelerated. In the case of cutting Carlson now, the Vikings would have $1.25M hit left to take (note, I'm using your $5M split over 4 years figure, I did not check for accuracy). They can choose to take the entire $3.75M in 2013 or take 1 year in 2013 and the rest in 2014 (ie 2013 - $1.25M, 2014 - $2.5M). A while ago, teams had to wait until June 1st to make cuts and split the cap hit that way. That was changed so that the split can be made on a cut at any time.

Good catch.

The point of all this (I think) is that the more guaranteed salary you can get a player to accept, as opposed to a signing bonus, the less of a cap hit you take after the player is gone (if you cut him early). We just gave a guy a signing bonus that was 25% of his total deal and more than half of his guaranteed money. Not the best we could have done there.

But I'm also in agreement with Jim. Hopefully getting paid $8 million for 8 catches will humiliate Carlson into coming back with a good year.

[Purple bruise]

Carlson led the Sea Hawks in receptions and was/is a very promising addition. Although his production was much less than adequate, I could understand the signing at the time. Carlson just might turn things around this year.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-high ... highlights

[ViciousBritishVike]

Agreed and also, with an additional Tight End with proven ability, hopefully the pressured will be heaped off of Kyle and ensure that the Safety must be aware of both players as viable receivers in two TE packages.

[PacificNorseWest]

He adds nothing to the team. Waste of roster and cap space.

This guy is a flop of a prospect. I live in Seattle and I was able to catch the early part of his career and he added little of value for the Seahawks after awhile as well. He's regressed considerably since his first two years. He was either hurt or just flat out didn't get the job done that third year. And I think he has a decent sized contract as well, if I remember right. They need to cut him and use the money to re-sign Jerome Felton. Carlson did not look very good at all this year.

[ViciousBritishVike]

They are not goin to cut him they would take a cap hit and there is no way Spielman is going to take a cap hit .

Precisely, now that we've made the effort to sign him, it's imperative to try and get some production in return. He was really effective for the Seahawks, he just needs to be utilised in the correct manner.

[NextQuestion]

Did Felton have more receiving yards than Carlson?

[headless_norseman]

Carlson had 1,200 yds receiving and 12 TD's his first 2 seasons, but was injured most of last year. The 2nd round pick can play, and we're the type of team that needs 2 TE's right now.

[Dark]

Did Felton have more receiving yards than Carlson?

Nope. Carlson had 8 receptions for 43 yards, and Felton had 3 receptions for 35 yards. It was close though!

[Purple bruise]

There is no point. He was a ghost on the field. Hell, bring Shiancoe back.

Wow people have beaten this post half to death. I must say that your avatar is quite offensive to me and probably quite a few other Christians.


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