in so many of these nationally-televised games, your mistakes become internationally known. ESPN can't wait for the next SportsCenter. Every national website will put those in three-inch headlines. You had better have a strong constitution. Let's remember that.
And as you guys know, I'm always Mister Skeptical when it comes to signing free agents, especially the high-priced ones. In my books, if the guy is that good, worth all that money, then why the heck is he a free agent? Maybe my opinion is swayed by how Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has operated. There's really never been a free agent leave the Cowboys they really, really wanted to keep but in the end said they couldn't afford. Somehow they found a way. Other teams, maybe not so much.
Folks can say, well, so-and-so had cap problems. That's why you sign the guy to an extension a year early, coaxing him out of free agency by guaranteeing millions a year before he is scheduled to receive those millions. The open market can be cruel, and as we see, overly expensive, too.
And maybe that is what happened in Kansas City with Carr, a mere fourth-round pick out of Grand Valley State, a relative cheap starter from Day One his rookie year (2008). Even last year when Carr was a restricted free agent, he comparatively was a bargain for a guy who would end up starting every game (64) during his four-year career. The Chiefs merely tendered him at $2.61 million, meaning they would get a first-round draft choice in return if they chose not to match an offer sheet signed with another team.
So they did value him.
Then there was this from Chiefs GM Scott Pioli in the Kansas City Star, trying to reassure Carr how much he was worth to them after signing the much cheaper and evidently not as talented Stanford Routt: "As a matter of fact, Romeo (Crennel) and I both reached out to Brandon yesterday as this was unfolding and talked to him . . . He knows, and he's known before, he's someone we want to keep here, and he's still someone we want to keep a Chief."
Ah, that open market. Hey, 50 mil is 50 mil.
So maybe the Chiefs couldn't qualify another huge contract, especially since they already had five players on defense signed to five-year contracts worth at least $48 million, and two of those secondary guys – safety Eric Berry, 5-year, $60 million and corner Brandon Flowers, 5-year, $48.35 million.
Can't have a steak on every plate, right?
Then there is this: Chiefs secondary coach Otis Smith is a friend of Cowboys new secondary coach Jerome Henderson. He says Smith has been quite high on his now former corner.
"We knew we wanted to upgrade the secondary, especially the corner positions," Henderson said for this Sunday night's edition of The Blitz (11 p.m. on CBS-11 in DFW), "and when we looked at the free agents available, Brandon Carr just jumped off the film at you, the way he plays, physical, aggressive, down in your face, can run . . . .
"He fits our style of play, the style we want to be."
We now know all about that style: Pressure up front and corners hanging on for dear life back on those spacious islands.
Or else.
