BeastMode54 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Scout.com's Adam Caplan reports the Panthers and WR D.J. Hackett have reached agreement on a two-year, $3.5 million contract. While Hackett has dealt with injuries, he's been highly productive when healthy and is only 26. In Carolina, he becomes the top candidate to start opposite Steve Smith with Muhsin Muhammad likely working from the slot. Dwayne Jarrett will compete with Ryne Robinson to be the fourth receiver. Hackett has vertical and red-zone ability and should draw some attention away from Smith. His addition is good news for all Panthers skill players besides Jarrett. Expect solid WR3/4 numbers if Hackett starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsGuyInMalta Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Looking at the draft, and its kind of sad because it seems to force our hand, but we may be forced to use our first rounder on a tall WR. Guys like Kelly, Sweed and Hardy are all projected as first round picks...leaving only the possibility of Devin Thomas in the 2nd...and even thats not a guarantee considering how he's surging up the draft boards. After those guys are gone, the only tall WRs left are players with HUGE question marks about their character or talent (Bowman, Simpson, etc). So given this situation, my mock draft at this point would essentially be: (Adding in the 4th and 7th projected COMP picks) 1st Round: Malcolm Kelly, WR out of Oklahoma 2nd Round: Antoine Cason, CB out of Arizona 3rd Round: Martellus Bennett, TE out of Texas A&M 4th Round: Jordy Nelson, WR out of Kansas State 4th Round: DeJuan Tribble, CB out of Boston College 5th Round: Jamey Richard, C out of Buffalo 6th Round: J Leman, ILB out of Illinois 7th Round: Kevin O'Connell, QB out of San Diego State 7th Round: Mike Gibson, OG out of Cal 7th Round: Thomas Williams, OLB out of USC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 In the limited amount of times I watched him play, I thought that he was good. He was signed for next to nothing, so perhaps I was off in terms of rating him. In any event, in a way I am glad. This team needs wideouts SO badly, it is imo at a crisis stage. Maybe, just maybe there is a rookie that they are really very high on. With the #11, we can get just about any receiver we want, perhaps a few. The Bills have holes, but I still sense that we can fill them, and that we are much closer to being a strong football team if we have another great draft like the one in 07. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerville Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 What a steal $ wise. Wow. Guess the Bills are taking a WR in the 1st after all. Dammit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billadelphia Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Yeah, if that contract is real, that's a steal. I'm all for not overpaing for talent (ala Bryant Johnson), but we could have offered that type of contract to just about any of the free agents this year and I would have been happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 In the limited amount of times I watched him play, I thought that he was good. He was signed for next to nothing, so perhaps I was off in terms of rating him. In any event, in a way I am glad. This team needs wideouts SO badly, it is imo at a crisis stage. Maybe, just maybe there is a rookie that they are really very high on. With the #11, we can get just about any receiver we want, perhaps a few. The Bills have holes, but I still sense that we can fill them, and that we are much closer to being a strong football team if we have another great draft like the one in 07. I think Hackett got so little money due to high injury risk. Sure, he's put up some eye-popping numbers when he's been in the lineup, but he's never started more than 6 games in a single season in his 4 year career. His career highs over a season are 45-610-4. You can reasonably expect a high drafted rookie to put up similar numbers. Frankly, if we are taking a chance on a young guy like that, i'd rather be it a draft pick than hackett. We'll have the pick for 4 or 5 years instead of 2, and will be roughly the same price if not cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I think Hackett got so little money due to high injury risk. Sure, he's put up some eye-popping numbers when he's been in the lineup, but he's never started more than 6 games in a single season in his 4 year career. His career highs over a season are 45-610-4. You can reasonably expect a high drafted rookie to put up similar numbers. Frankly, if we are taking a chance on a young guy like that, i'd rather be it a draft pick than hackett. We'll have the pick for 4 or 5 years instead of 2, and will be roughly the same price if not cheaper. Great points. It is hard, but not impossible for a rookie to make an impact at the wr position. Love Trent or hate him, I think that we can all pretty much agree that he is smart. Maybe we can get lucky and he will be able to help rookies adapt to the pro game faster. Wow, I can't wait for the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawgg Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I disagree on Hackett. This is precisely the type of player the Bills need to be targeting in free agency. As for his injury risk, I don't think that's why he got so little money. The market simply dried up. You saw what happened to Bryant Johnson -- he had to settle for a one-year deal Sure, he's put up some eye-popping numbers when he's been in the lineup, but he's never started more than 6 games in a single season in his 4 year career. It's hard to break into a lineup when you're a 5th round draft pick competing with Deion Branch, Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram, and Nate Burleson. Those players were either (a) making a ton of money or (b) highly touted players coming out of the draft... so I'm not sure if we can fault the guy for the number of starts he's had, given the circumstances. His career highs over a season are 45-610-4. You can reasonably expect a high drafted rookie to put up similar numbers. It's hard to judge a receiver solely by his numbers -- you have to watch him play. From what I've seen of Hackett, he'd be a great fit. I'm sure you think that the Bills should extend Lee Evans and make him one of the highest paid receives in the league. If you judge him on numbers alone, it doesn't make a very good case to pay him that kind of coin... if you watch him play and consider the underlying circumstances, you might have a different opinion on the issue. But if you want to talk numbers, one that popped out at me wrt Hackett: With a full season under his belt in 2006, a whopping 73% of his receptions went for first downs. He knows where the sticks are, he helps move the chains, and he's seems like a pretty smart player from what I've seen. Frankly, if we are taking a chance on a young guy like that, i'd rather be it a draft pick than hackett. Why? Rookie WRs generally take a while to develop. This team is looking for immediate help and there are good options available. Hackett is exactly the type of player we should be going after. He's young, he's cheap, he's played on winning teams, and he has a few years of experience under his belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I disagree on Hackett. This is precisely the type of player the Bills need to be targeting in free agency. As for his injury risk, I don't think that's why he got so little money. The market simply dried up. You saw what happened to Bryant Johnson -- he had to settle for a one-year dealIt's hard to break into a lineup when you're a 5th round draft pick competing with Deion Branch, Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram, and Nate Burleson. Those players were either (a) making a ton of money or (b) highly touted players coming out of the draft... so I'm not sure if we can fault the guy for the number of starts he's had, given the circumstances. It's hard to judge a receiver solely by his numbers -- you have to watch him play. From what I've seen of Hackett, he'd be a great fit. I'm sure you think that the Bills should extend Lee Evans and make him one of the highest paid receives in the league. If you judge him on numbers alone, it doesn't make a very good case to pay him that kind of coin... if you watch him play and consider the underlying circumstances, you might have a different opinion on the issue. But if you want to talk numbers, one that popped out at me wrt Hackett: With a full season under his belt in 2006, a whopping 73% of his receptions went for first downs. He knows where the sticks are, he helps move the chains, and he's seems like a pretty smart player from what I've seen. Why? Rookie WRs generally take a while to develop. This team is looking for immediate help and there are good options available. Hackett is exactly the type of player we should be going after. He's young, he's cheap, he's played on winning teams, and he has a few years of experience under his belt. So hackett is going to give you solid production for the 6-7 games he is healthy. And the other half of the season, we are left with the same thing as last year. Rookie WRs do take a longer time to develop. However, we arent counting on a rook coming in to be the #1 guy. He'd need to win the #2 job in preseason. With a decent WR opposite him (Evans), a rookie can easily come in and put up 40-600-4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 So hackett is going to give you solid production for the 6-7 games he is healthy. And the other half of the season, we are left with the same thing as last year. Rookie WRs do take a longer time to develop. However, we arent counting on a rook coming in to be the #1 guy. He'd need to win the #2 job in preseason. With a decent WR opposite him (Evans), a rookie can easily come in and put up 40-600-4. Kinda like what Evans did with Moulds across from him..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawgg Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 So hackett is going to give you solid production for the 6-7 games he is healthy. And the other half of the season, we are left with the same thing as last year. Rookie WRs do take a longer time to develop. However, we arent counting on a rook coming in to be the #1 guy. He'd need to win the #2 job in preseason. With a decent WR opposite him (Evans), a rookie can easily come in and put up 40-600-4. Hold up... he had a hip problem his rookie year and missed the year, but played 2 full years free of injury. Yeah, he had an ankle issue last year that limited him to 6 games... but he made significant contributions as soon as he returned, both in regular season games and playoff games. To me, that shows that he's well-conditioned. I think the concerns about his injury history are a bit overblown. So why not sign this guy? He's a veteran, played on a winning team and would provide some solid leadership on this squad. We have spent enough first day picks on receivers (we have 3 on the squad already). Let's spend our premium picks on defensive playmakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomcat Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I think the Bills have a player they just might trade for. Trade for either a TE or WR. They will do something.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 This FA is pretty confusing... Bryant Johnson signs for a 1 year deal. Hackett signs for a 2 year 4 M deal and yet Michael Gaines signs a 3 year 10M/3M deal....Did we really let go off a good talent on offense or did the Lions overpay for a player who has been a journeyman so far. I actually liked Michael Gaines play last season. He really came on well and even displaced Royals as the 1st TE. Edwards was really comfortable with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FistingBot Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 From the Buffalo News a couple of days ago: "Seattle’s D.J. Hackett is the next best receiver on the market, but he’s primarily a slot receiver and the Bills are set there with Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish." Hackett seems similar skill-wise to Josh Reed. Obviously our coaches have something different in mind for the starting outside receiver. The recent comments to the effect of "receivers take a long time to develop" might well just be pre-draft posturing by our coaches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 From the Buffalo News a couple of days ago: "Seattle’s D.J. Hackett is the next best receiver on the market, but he’s primarily a slot receiver and the Bills are set there with Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish." Hackett seems similar skill-wise to Josh Reed. Obviously our coaches have something different in mind for the starting outside receiver. The recent comments to the effect of "receivers take a long time to develop" might well just be pre-draft posturing by our coaches? Very similar in some ways, like coming out of the slot, going over the middle, no fumbles in 4 years, etc. But not in others: COMPLETE 16-GAME SEASONS Hackett 0 Reed 3 500-YARD SEASONS Hackett 1 Reed 3 20+ YARD CATCHES LAST YEAR Hackett 3 Reed 8 YARDS PER CATCH LAST YEAR Hackett 12.0 Reed 12.1 FIRST DOWNS Hackett 16 Reed 38 FYI, 2 of the 6 WR's in the first round in 2007 had more receiving yards as rookies than Reed's 578 yards: Calvin 756 Ginn 420 Bowe 995 Craig Davis 188 Meachem -- Gonzalez 576 RD2 Rice 396 Jarrett 73 Steve Smith 63 RD3 Jacoby Jones 149 Yamon Figurs 36 Laurent Robinson 437 Jason Hill 6 Mike Walker -- Paul Williams -- Johnnie Lee Higgins 47 RD4 Ryne Robinson 35 Chris Davis 38 RD5 Breaston 92 Aundae Allison 122 Naannee 69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FistingBot Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Thanks for posting the stats - very interesting. I'm kind of surprised Calvin Johnson didn't have a bigger year in Detroit last year as a rookie - he's one of the three most dominant college wide receivers I've seen in the past 20 years or so (Larry Fitzgerald & Randy Moss being the others). But, then again, he was still a rookie and it IS the Lions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawgg Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 You can't judge a WR by his stats. Nevermind, carry on with your regurgitation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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