Usually, we don’t double-dip between the One-Liners and the full-blown blurb things. Sometimes, we inadvertently make an exception. Today, we intentionally do. As mentioned by Josh Alper in the Monday Morning One-Liners, Cardinals G.M. Rod Graves had this to say about the lingering contract impasse with free-agent quarterback Kurt Warner: “We had hoped we would have this deal completed by now so we could focus on improving our team in other areas.” Uh. Oh. At a time when agent Mark Bartelstein already is peddling the notion that the team’s willingness to pay Warner only $10 million per year has bruised some feelings, Graves has risked all-out war by implying that Warner’s demands are in some way hijacking the team’s ability to remain competitive. Frankly, it’s a crock. The Cardinals have more than enough cap space to address “other areas” of the team with or without Warner under contract. So whether Warner has or hasn’t signed is irrelevant to whether the Cards will attempt to capitalize on last year’s success via the expenditure of cash money. This is a far cry from 2008, when receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s eight-figure cap number was legitimately keeping the team from doing other business. Last year, the Cards had no other wiggle room. This year, they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to “improve the team in other areas.” So while the Cardinals had managed for a while to keep the high road, they’ve now given Warner something over which he can obsess as he talks himself, with Bartelstein’s prodding, into concluding that a company willing to give him $20 million in the twilight of Warner’s career is in some way trying to screw him. Though we’re paraphrasing, the conversation between Bartelstein and Warner might go something like this.
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