After selecting Chris "Beanie" Wells with the No. 31 pick overall in the past weekend's NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals cut ties with their starting running back of 2006, 2007, seven games of 2008 and the entire 2008 postseason, releasing Edgerrin James on Wednesday.
Wells' arrival made the move inevitable, and by letting James go the Cardinals saved about $5 million of salary cap space. Despite his starter status, he was a constant disappointment in the desert; James averaged 69.8 rushing yards and 82.7 scrimmage yards per start (43 of them, playoffs included), 3.6 yards per carry and totaled 17 touchdowns. Those were significant drop-offs from his numbers during his Colts career, and as the Arizona Republic noted on Wednesday, James never really fit into Ken Whisenhunt's system, installed when the latter took the helm in 2007.
"EJ had a great run in Arizona and now it is time for him to continue his Hall of Fame career elsewhere," his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said. "One of his goals was to help the Cardinals get to a Super Bowl, and he is eager to help another team get to that same level."
Of course, hearing the phrase "Hall of Fame career" has a way of artificially inflating a player's fantasy value. James, statistically speaking, is a mere shell of his former All-Pro self, having fallen short of four yards per carry in each of the past three seasons and registering the worst season of his career in 2008. He'll also be 31 at the beginning of the 2009 campaign, ancient by running-back standards, especially those with 2,982 career regular-season carries on his legs, eighth-most in NFL history.
Expect James to catch on in a supporting role elsewhere; Cleveland, Jacksonville and Seattle are three teams that might have interest in him as a backup. Of those three, the Seahawks might present the only chance he has at a path to any starts this season, what with only Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett potentially standing in his way. Even in that scenario, James would be a late-round selection, and probably not worth drafting in ESPN.com standard leagues.
As for the Cardinals, both Wells and Tim Hightower see their value increase as a result of James' departure. Expect them to battle for the starting role during training camp, with Wells, if up to the task, serving as the primary back and Hightower working more on third-down and goal-line situations. One thing to keep in mind, though: Wells was an effective goal-line back during his college days.
Brett Favre released by Jets
Wednesday sure was a day of future Hall of Famers hitting the open market, as Brett Favre asked for and received his release from the Jets' reserve/retired list. That makes him an unrestricted free agent, and according to his agent, Bus Cook, the move is less designed to allow Favre to return to the NFL for a 19th season as it is to free him up to sign a one-day deal so he can retire with the Green Bay Packers.
Of course, knowing the drama that is the Brett Favre situation each offseason this past half-decade, no news with him can be considered the be-all and end-all. With a little more than four months to go before the 2009 season kicks off, there's still plenty of time for him to change his mind and come out of retirement. Again.
And, if that's truly the case, only one thing can be said.
Here we go again!