|
National Football League
Draft King Analysis
May 27, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
The Denver Broncos signed J.J. Arrington in March as part of a four-year, $20 million deal despite knowing that he was coming off of knee surgery. Today, with Arrington failing a physical, the Broncos cut Arrington before he took part in even a single practice with the team.
 | J.J. Arrington will likely have microfracture surgery on his injured right knee. (Icon SMI)
|
|
Arrington, 26, suffered what is described as a "slight tear" in the meniscus in his right knee in Arizona's NFC Championship Game win over Philadelphia. He toughed through the injury in Super Bowl XLIII in February, rushing once for 0 yards and receiving two passes for 35 yards in that game.
He had surgery on his right knee later that month, and when free agency began at the end of February, the Broncos and Arrington reached a tentative agreement on a contract. But there was a delay in the negotiating process when the Broncos refused to guaranteed either the $1.8 million signing bonus or Arrington's $1.2 million salary for 2009, a move that proved to be quite wise for Denver.
Contrary to the initial reports that came out earlier today (and when the deal was initially done) claiming that Arrington received a $1.8 million signing bonus, the Broncos only gave him $100,000 to sign. Arrington was due a $1.7 million roster bonus in June, which essentially gave Denver until then to see if he would recover from his meniscus injury.
Unfortunately for Arrington, his recovery did not been go well, with word coming out that he will likely need to have microfracture surgery on his knee. With that bad news coming in, along with him failing a physical, the Broncos let Arrington go.
The Broncos worked smart in this situation, signing LaMont Jordan and Correll Buckhalter within a one week span of acquiring Arrington. Then the Broncos landed Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno with the #12 overall pick in the draft. Along with those four new running backs, the team still has Peyton Hillis, Ryan Torain, Selvin Young and Andrew Pinnock on their roster. Denver took a $100,000 risk on Arrington and it didn't pay off, but it's not nearly as bad as the reports of $1.8 million that have been circulating.
Looking ahead to the college football season this fall, one of the more intriguing situations involves Greg Paulus. Paulus played point guard on Duke's basketball team, but Paulus also has skill as a quarterback. To point, he was the Gatorade Player of the Year in high school football in 2005, an award won in the past by future NFL stars such as Emmitt Smith, Robert Smith, and Peyton Manning. Paulus gave up football for the chance to play basketball at Duke, but with his basketball eligiblity used up (and a future in the NBA unlikely), Paulus is using a rather obscure loophole in NCAA rules to play football at Syracuse, where he has enrolled in graduate school.
Will Paulus end up in the NFL? It's impossible to know that at this point. At 6'1" 180, he is shorter than average for the quarterback position (at least as far as top flight pro prospects go), and he clearly will need to bulk up considerably. One year of playing football at Syracuse will provide some degree of information as to his prospects on competing the pro level, but even if he has a fantastic season for the Orange, there will be questions surrounding his ability to transition that into success on the NFL level.
It's too soon to know if Paulus will even be the starting QB for Syracuse this fall, particularly since he announced his plans to play there less than two weeks ago. But his will be an interesting story to follow this fall. As for the Orange, who have been 9-27 over the past three seasons, he could provide a spark to help turn that team around.
NFL Draft Prospect Profiles
Draft King is owned and operated by Lou Pickney. © 2003-2024, all rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, the views expressed here are those of Lou Pickney alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any media company.
|
