Edgerrin James signs with the Arizona cardinals.

[herpes]

30 over 4

[herpes]

wow nice to see we have some football fans here.

[BizzyR.I.P.]

What an idiot. The Cardinals? The worst team in league history. I know they have some talent but in a division with the Rams and Seahawks, he's not winning anything. But he will get paid.

[rik]

What a dumbfuck.

[Perfection]

James' Arizona deal totals $11.5M in bonusesBy Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


Less than a week after coach Dennis Green declared that his team would not do any shopping in the higher-priced aisles of the free agent market, the Arizona Cardinals landed one of the highest-profile players in the entire pool Sunday, signing former Indianapolis Colts star tailback Edgerrin James.

In terms of productivity and star quality, they don't get much bigger than James, a four-time Pro Bowl performer, in free agency. And in terms of compensation, contracts for tailbacks don't get much bigger than the one James signed in culminating his weekend visit with Arizona officials and coaches.

ESPN.com has confirmed that the four-year contract is worth $30 million. James received an initial signing bonus of $7 million and will pocket a $4.5 million roster bonus on the seventh day of the 2006 league year, essentially the end of this week. The base salaries in the contract are $3.25 million (for 2006), $5.25 million (2007), $5 million (2008) and $5 million (2009).

"It's a great situation. All they really need is a back," James said at a news conference. "They've got an MVP quarterback [Kurt Warner], they've got two Pro Bowl receivers. They got a back and they're going to shore up the offensive line."

The deal is in keeping with the way the Cardinals prefer to structure contracts, in that it is not dramatically back-loaded, and includes base salaries that remain fairly flat over the term of the contract.

For the first two seasons of the contract, James will earn $20 million and will make $25 million over the first three seasons. By comparison, the eight-year, $62 million contract signed by Shaun Alexander with the Seattle Seahawks last week will pay the reigning league most valuable player $18.525 million in the first two seasons and $23 million for the first three years.

Obviously, the contract, negotiated by agent Drew Rosenhaus over the last two days, makes James one of the highest paid tailbacks in league history. The 27-year-old James played the 2005 season with the Colts under the one-year qualifying offer for a franchise tailback. Indianapolis officials had made it clear they could not afford to bring James back for another season, and the Colts likely will look to the draft for a replacement.

With plenty of cap room, the Cardinals aggressively pursued James from the Saturday outset of the free agent signing period. They flew him, along with several other free agent targets, into Phoenix on Saturday and negotiated hard into Sunday afternoon before closing the deal. It is not known how many other suitors James attracted, but it's unlikely any of them would have topped the Cardinals' offer.

Tentative stops had been scheduled with other teams Rosenhaus wouldn't identify.

"But this was a no-brainer," the agent said. "It was the first stop and the last stop because it was the best stop."

Securing James, who played the first seven years of his career with the Colts, should immediately upgrade an Arizona running game that for years has ranked among the NFL's least productive.

"You look at his ability to go out and run the football, and that's an element we just have to have," Cardinals coach Dennis Green told The Arizona Republic. "We are extremely excited. We had a great weekend."

The Cardinals ranked last in the NFL in rushing in 2005, averaging just 71.1 yards per outing. The team's leading rusher, Marcel Shipp, had only 451 yards. Second-round draft pick J.J. Arrington, who many felt would be an immediate star in the NFL, rushed for just 370 yards and did not run very hard after initial contact, even some teammates conceded.

"OK, it's a risk," James admitted. "But hey, I'm a poker player. You can take it to the river. I'm not scared to make a change. I'm not scared to go out on a limb and try something different."

But last season was merely a continuation of a long stretch of poor rushing performances for Arizona, which has not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Adrian Murrell in 1998. Since 1990, the Cardinals had had just three 1,000-yard rushers. James, by comparison, has five 1,000-yard seasons in seven years and four years of 1,500-plus yards. Not since 2002 has Arizona ranked among the top half of the NFL teams in rushing offense. Since 1990, the Cardinals' average ranking has been No. 24, and 10 times in that period Arizona has statistically rated 25th or lower.

James should help solve that longtime deficiency, but there is some risk for him, too, however, since he will be running behind a suspect offensive line. The Cardinals on Saturday signed young guard Milford Brown of the Houston Texans, but he has never started a full season. Arizona used 11 different starters on the line in 2005 and six different starting combinations, and the unit is not only in need of an upgrade but also of more toughness.

Still, the big investment in James is a gamble the Cardinals almost certainly had to take if their offense is to improve in 2006. Arizona has one of the most potent passing attacks in the league, with a pair of excellent young wide receivers in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald, but their offense sorely needs more balance. The team recently re-signed quarterback Kurt Warner to a contract extension but, at age 34, the two-time NFL most valuable player definitely requires more insulation, and James should offer that.

"We're serious about winning," Cardinals vice president Michael Bidwill told the Republic. "The new stadium allows us to do some things that we haven't been able to do before."

Not only is James a superb rusher, but he also is an accomplished receiver. And one of the strongest elements of his game, although often overlooked, is his terrific ability to pass protect. In the Indianapolis offense, James was often called on to pick up the odd man on the pass rush.

James has carried 2,188 times for 9,226 yards and 64 touchdowns and is the leading rusher in Colts history. He also has 356 receptions for 2,839 yards and 11 touchdowns.

"I'm happy for him," Colts coach Tony Dungy told The Associated Press in Indianapolis, where he was watching the Big Ten championship game. "He was fantastic for us the time we were here, we wish we could have kept him but you can't keep everyone."

Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


Manning Reacts To Losing Edge
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning talked to ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Sunday night about losing Edgerrin James to the Arizona Cardinals.
"This is bittersweet news for me personally and for the Colts. I'm happy for Edgerrin because he got a great deal from the Cardinals. But I'm sad because I just lost one of the best teammates that I've ever had -- for the past seven years. This is the business side of the NFL but the tough side for the relationships that you build on in this league."

Manning said he tried calling James on Sunday evening but didn't get through.

"I just left him a long lengthy voicemail to tell him everything that he's meant to me."

Manning added he and James were able to spend time together recently, in what Manning called "kind of a farewell night."

"The one thing that I am really glad about besides the fact that I got to play with Edgerrin for seven years was that my wife, Ashley, and I recently spent some time in Miami and Edgerrin took us out, and we had an absolutely great time together."

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN.

[Macaframa]

thats good new for all afc teams 

[africas seed]

great signing for the cards. their offensive should be solid wit two upcoming superstar wr's, a former mvp at qb and now an elite rb. but the one thing that will hinder their success is a good oline. the oliine is prolly the most important part of an offense and theyll need to fix that up before they can reach their full pportential

in other FA news my vikes have made a crazy offer to sign hutch making him t he highest paid guard in nfl history . i doubt seattle can match the offer as its like 13 million for this yr and they just dont have the cap space. also a good signing by the rams to sign witherspoon and i am hearing that the giants inked up lavar arrington. the browns r doing great too wit lecharles bentley and jurevicious singing up. and shiet the redskins were able to get antwaan randle el.

[Perfection]

in other FA news my vikes have made a crazy offer to sign hutch making him t he highest paid guard in nfl history . i doubt seattle can match the offer as its like 13 million for this yr and they just dont have the cap space. also a good signing by the rams to sign witherspoon and i am hearing that the giants inked up lavar arrington. the browns r doing great too wit lecharles bentley and jurevicious singing up. and shiet the redskins were able to get antwaan randle el.

Actually the Seahawks are most likely going to match the offer. They'll only end up paying Hutch about $1million more than they planned on doing. The Seahawkss by the way have over $17million in free cap space.

[h cottie is bac-tive?]

i say good for edge. he deserves the $$$...they're lookin good on the offensive side of the ball. but they wont go anywhere with seattle in the same division. i'm eager to see how edge/colts offense fair off without eachother.

oh yeah and antwaan randle el signed a big contract with the redskins. randle el and santana are gonna FLYYYYY all over the field on offensive. they better get their QB situation straight tho. im sad to see lavar peace, he's an incredible athlete to say the least.

[Don Jacob]

edg is a dumbass, c'mon arizona?

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Wow. EJ is making some serious $$$. But he shouldn't expect something out of the Card's for a couple years, evn though he automatically makes their run offence one of the tops in the NFC.

[africas seed]

in other FA news my vikes have made a crazy offer to sign hutch making him t he highest paid guard in nfl history . i doubt seattle can match the offer as its like 13 million for this yr and they just dont have the cap space. also a good signing by the rams to sign witherspoon and i am hearing that the giants inked up lavar arrington. the browns r doing great too wit lecharles bentley and jurevicious singing up. and shiet the redskins were able to get antwaan randle el.

Actually the Seahawks are most likely going to match the offer. They'll only end up paying Hutch about $1million more than they planned on doing. The Seahawkss by the way have over $17million in free cap space.

Actually if u look at the contract its with a 13 million cap hit for this season. that means the seahawks would be down to around 9 million left and they still have to leave money left for draft picks and they have other holes such as replacing rocky bernard. it is possible that they might but if they do then theyll have to restructure several contracts and theyll be tight in signing all of their draft picks. zygi wilf and rob bryzenksi put forth an amazing contract so itll be difficult for the seahawks to match.

['DsR']

wouldnt YOU sign to the cardinals for that amount of money... im pretty sure anyone would.

[Perfection]

in other FA news my vikes have made a crazy offer to sign hutch making him t he highest paid guard in nfl history . i doubt seattle can match the offer as its like 13 million for this yr and they just dont have the cap space. also a good signing by the rams to sign witherspoon and i am hearing that the giants inked up lavar arrington. the browns r doing great too wit lecharles bentley and jurevicious singing up. and shiet the redskins were able to get antwaan randle el.

Actually the Seahawks are most likely going to match the offer. They'll only end up paying Hutch about $1million more than they planned on doing. The Seahawkss by the way have over $17million in free cap space.

Actually if u look at the contract its with a 13 million cap hit for this season. that means the seahawks would be down to around 9 million left and they still have to leave money left for draft picks and they have other holes such as replacing rocky bernard. it is possible that they might but if they do then theyll have to restructure several contracts and theyll be tight in signing all of their draft picks. zygi wilf and rob bryzenksi put forth an amazing contract so itll be difficult for the seahawks to match.

Actually, you're the only one that thinks it's going to be difficult for the Seahawks to match it. The Seahawks have to & most likely will match the offer. They can't afford to lose him & per year this isn't much more than the Seahawks were going to off him anyways.

[Macaframa]

If he was looking for a ring he woulda resighned with Indi but i geuss hes looking for a losing record