Titans looking to acquire Kevin Carter from the Rams

What was looking like a bad offseason for the Titans may be turning around. The Titans had already lost two defensive starters (Kenny Holmes, DE and Denard Walker, CB) from last years top rated defensive team.

Well it looks like they WILL be improving the defensive line if this trade goes through for Kevin Carter. I love it Kevin Carter on one end and Jevon Kerse on the other end. Moving Kearse to the right end spot will allow him to go at most QB's blindspot (just like his rookie season) and create even more turnovers and havoc. Getting Carter for just a low first round pick is a steal. He is only 27 and he has averaged over 10 + sacks each year. He had 17 two seasons ago.

Here is the article. Man I can't wait for the NFL season to start. Bring on the Ravens and that punk Ray Lewis. I think the televised game schedules will be coming out shortly and from what I hear the Ravens/Titans will be a Monday Night game. No doubt I will be circling that game on my calendar.
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Rams will agree to deal DE Carter to Titans for first-round pick

March 28, 2001
By Len Pasquarelli
SportsLine.com Senior Writer

PALM DESERT, Calif.-- Barring a last-minute change of heart, the St. Louis Rams will agree in principle on Wednesday to trade defensive end and former NFL sack leader Kevin Carter to the Tennessee Titans for a first-round draft pick, sources said here late Tuesday night.

The teams began discussing the megadeal even before club officials arrived here Sunday for the annual league meetings. Those talks continued every day here, with the teams swapping various proposals. But on Tuesday night St. Louis management decided to drop its demand for additional draft picks and that concession, of which Titans officials will be apprised Wednesday morning, will lead to the trade being consummated in the next few days.

Sources said that agent Harold Lewis already has agreed in principle to a contract that should be cap-friendly to the Titans for at least two years. Technically, Carter must sign the contract with the Rams, and he will then be immediately dealt to the Titans for the 29th overall selection in the April 21-22 draft.

The Rams already have their own first-round pick, the 20th overall, and will use the selections to help rebuild a defense that statistically ranked 23rd in the league last season. St. Louis can either exercise the choices or perhaps parlay the picks to attempt to move up higher in the first round. There remains a chance the Rams might still deal backup quarterback Trent Green, most likely to Kansas City, for a third No. 1 choice this year.

Carter, 27, was designated a "franchise" free agent by the Rams last month. Carter last season rejected an extension from the Rams that would have paid a signing bonus of $13 million and averaged close to $7 million per year.

By dealing him, the Rams will regain the $5.39 million qualifying tender for a "franchise" defensive end. That will permit St. Louis to pursue more veteran free agents for a unit that could have eight new starters in 2001. St. Louis also will regain its "franchise" designation for use in the future on potential free agents.

To have simply signed Carter outright without the trade agreement, the Titans would have had to compensate the Rams with a pair of first-round draft choice, an exorbitant price on top of the financial outlay Tennessee would have to make to get the defensive end's name on a contract.

Even though Lewis has worked out a deal that provides for a low salary cap value for Carter in 2001 and 2002, the Titans will have to clear some room under the spending limit and that could take a day or two and delay officially finalizing the trade. As of Tuesday, the Titans were snug up against the cap, with a surplus of just $66,000, according to league documents.

The Rams and Titans kicked around five proposals before St. Louis decided to merely accept the offer of Tennessee's first-round choice. The Titans had also proposed two more options. In the first, they would have sent second- and fourth-round picks in this year's draft to the Rams. The other would have netted St. Louis a second-rounder this year and a third-round pick in 2002.

St. Louis countered with proposals in which they would have accepted first- and fourth-rounders this year or a first-round pick in 2001 and a third-round choice in 2002.

During the league combine workouts last month, SportsLine.com first reported that the Titans were one of two franchises with whom Lewis was discussing a contract for Carter. The other club, the Oakland Raiders, subsequently signed free agent end Trace Armstrong and dropped out of the Carter derby.

The Titans, who lost starting left end Kenny Holmes to the New York Giants in free agency two weeks ago, were seeking a replacement to team with Jevon Kearse. In the Titans' new front four, Carter will play left end with Kearse moving to the right side where he will have greater freedom to rush the quarterback.

Carter has 62 ½ sacks in six seasons and led the league with 17 sacks in 1999. But his play and his demeanor took a turn last year after he failed to reach an agreement on the contract extension. He was demoted from the starting lineup for three games at midseason and, despite a late-year surge that allowed him to finish with 10 ½ sacks, was regarded by some Rams officials as a malcontent.

In addition, the team has hired a new defensive line coach, Bill Kollar, who emphasizes a strong work ethic and prefers blue-collar players.



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Titan's fanatic!!!!

Counting down the days till January 27, 2002 (Superbowl 36 in New Orleans).

[This message has been edited by Dream34 (edited March 28, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Dream34 (edited March 28, 2001).]

 

Richrocket -
You asked a question about Kenny Holmes. He signed a big free agent contract with the New York Giants. Denard Walker also signed a large free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. The Titans GM, Floyd Reece has to be one of the best in the business. He made the decision that the Titans were not going to overpay for average NFL talent. With the salary cap in place every good team is going to lose there share of free agents. The key is to keep drafting well which Reece has down to a science (Eddie George, Samari Rolle, Jevon Kearse to a name a few). Plus the Titans resigned Derrick Mason before he became a free agent. The Titans also addressed there other big area of need, field goal kicker. They released Al DelGreco and signed Joe Nedney which will give them a solid field goal kicker with longer range and a better leg on kickoffs. The Titans gave up the worst starting field position on kickoffs in the NFL.

Plus they get Carter for only one first round pick. A low one at that. On top of this Carters base salary will be equivalent to that of a first round pick. I am not saying that Kevin Carter is the best defensive lineman in the game. But by adding him to the Titans #1 ranked defense it will only make them that much better.

I came across the following article which talks about the simalarity of the Titans picking up Kevin Carter and the Dallas Cowboys picking up Charles Haley during there championship years in the early 90's. It is scary how similar the two players were at this stage of there careers. I hope that signing Carter will put the Titans over the top and help them be Superbowl Champions.
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Mike Keith Article from Titans Online

Mike Keith
Director of Broadcasting

Trade for Carter similar to Cowboys' acquisition of Haley in '92

Tennessee's trade for Rams' standout Kevin Carter brought a sense of NFL defensive end dealin' deja vu. First thought: in 1992, San Francisco traded Charles Haley to Dallas for a 2nd round pick in 1993 and a 3rd round pick in '94. Once inside some of the numbers, there seems to be some eerie and maybe even promising parallels.

Both players had just completed their sixth year in the NFL when they were traded.

Both were very durable players, missing virtually no time in their first six seasons.

In those six years, Haley had 63.5 sacks while Carter racked up 62.5 sacks.

Both players had monster fifth seasons: Haley 16 sacks, Carter 17 sacks.

Both players were noted to be well-spoken and not afraid to offer an opinion.

Both players became dissatisfied with management due to a myriad of issues, not the least of which was a perceived lack of appreciation from the team.

Both had disappointing sixth seasons. Haley 7 sacks, Carter 10.5 sacks.

Due to the acrimony, both players needed a divorce from their first team.

Both were thrilled to get away from their first team due to the acrimony.

Both would play their seventh NFL seasons at age 28 (Carter turns 28 on September 21), a relatively young age for someone entering the seventh year of their career

How did the trade to Dallas play out for Charles Haley? Very well. Playing for a coach (Jimmy Johnson) who demanded a lot but treated his players with a lot of respect (sound familiar?), Haley became a leader in the Cowboys' locker room, helping lead them to three Super Bowl titles in four years. Haley posted 32.5 sacks over those four seasons before back trouble caused him to retire from football for the first time (he would later return to San Francisco for a short stint as a situational pass rusher). In other words, his stats were good, but his contribution to the Dallas Cowboys' championship runs was considered to have gone way beyond simple numbers.

Most felt that the Dallas Cowboys' August 27, 1992 acquisition of Charles Haley helped to put them over the top.

The Tennessee Titans hope their pickup of Kevin Carter will do exactly the same thing. Actually, there are some differences that must be pointed out that could make Carter an even bigger factor to Tennessee.

Kevin Carter is a lot bigger than Charles Haley. At 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, Carter is a lot better run stopper than the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Haley ever was.

Carter will be playing with Jevon Kearse as his opposite number at defensive end. Haley never played with someone as talented as Kearse on the Cowboys' defensive line.

Carter is getting to Tennessee in late March while Haley didn't get to Dallas until late August, 1992. Carter will be in Titans strength coach Steve Watterson's off-season plan and should be in excellent shape when camp opens. Carter will also get to work with defensive line coach Jim Washburn in mini-camps, getting him familiar with terminology and assignments long before training camp opens in late July.

Make no mistake about it: this is a big move for the Tennessee Titans. For a team that was 29-8 over the past two seasons to land a player of his caliber for this minimal a price, well, it is hard to believe. On paper, it looks a lot like the Dallas trade for Charles Haley in 1992.

Haley got a lot of attention from moment one in San Francisco because he was a very good player on very good teams. Carter is just now getting similar recognition, as he spent the first four seasons of his career on bad clubs. Once again, he's happy and he's playing for a good team.

And he may not have played his best football yet.




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Titan's fanatic!!!!

Counting down the days till January 27, 2002 (Superbowl 36 in New Orleans).

 

PSJ,
I agree with you completely. I think the Titans have to do a better job with mixing up the deep passes to loosen up the opposing defense. But you know the way Coach Fischer likes to play. Long drives, ball control, kick the 3 point field goal. The key is making those 3 point field goals. I can assure you that if Al made those 3 field goals in the playoff game against Baltimore we win that game. Plain and simple. Our defense is just as good if not better than Baltimores. It is the offense that gets me concerned.

I think opposing defense's can easily line up 8 in the box because they know Eddie George is getting the ball. That is just the way the Titans play according to Coach Fischer. He does not like turnovers. I think he feels if the Titans take more risks by throwing the deep ball (either it will be incomplete or the opposing team will intercept). He does not want to get his defense tired.

There is no question in my mind for the Titans to be an elite team there offense has to evolve. Chris Sanders is a great wide receiver (I think he has the second best average when it comes to catching deep balls). However, he sometimes is not even part of the game.

The only way this problem will be fixed is if Coach Fischer decides to take a few more chances. At this point I do not see him changing his gameplan as he feels that he would rather control the clock with ball control drives rather than throw the deep ball. I can't seem to argue with end results as the Titans have had an impressive record that last two seasons.

What scares me is that if Eddie George was to go down for any length of time the Titans offense would be in a bind. I think the Titans should draft in order, a wide receiver, a cornerback, an offensive lineman, and a solid back-up running back.

You are right that every team has it weaknesses but I am glad that the Titans are doing what it takes to remain a Superbowl caliber team.

There schedule is going to be a killer. They will be playing the likes of Oakland, Minn., Tampa Bay, Miami, Baltimore & Jacksonville (twice). Thank god we still have the likes of Cin, and Cleveland. Keep an eye on Cleveland, they are a young and improving team.


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Titan's fanatic!!!!

Counting down the days till January 27, 2002 (Superbowl 36 in New Orleans).

[This message has been edited by Dream34 (edited March 30, 2001).]