According to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, Kurt Warner has agreed to stay with the Cardinals. Matt Maiocco notes that the Cardinals added $9 million in guarantees over their previous offer, cynics take note.

Jim Trotter of SI.com bashed the 49ers for even courting Warner and linked it to a trend of poor decisions since McCloughan came aboard in 2005. In fairness to McCloughan, I don't know how much drafting he was doing and how much was Mike Nolan. I think Joe Staley is an impact player and not on the bubble. I also take issue with the following paragraph:

They overpaid for QB Alex Smith after selecting him No. 1 overall in 2005 and are still paying a price for that mistake. Ditto free agency. They overspent for offensive tackle Jonas Jennings, cornerback Nate Clements and defensive end/outside linebacker Justin Smith, and they tried to overspend on Warner, based on the numbers his camp has put out.

Overpaid for Alex Smith? How do you not overpay when picking a QB #1? Plus, they wanted to trade that pick! When Smith was making progress in 2007 a 300+ lb. Seahawk landed on his shoulder and his head coach emasculated him to the media. I agree they overpaid for Jonas Jennings. Nate Clements, though? Sure, he was the highest paid CB last year when he got his signing bonus, but this year he was 8th. Seems reasonable to me. Calling Justin Smith overpaid based on one year is also retarded. Going by total salary he was the 4th highest paid DE last season, but he had an $11 million signing bonus and counted only $3 million against the cap. Next year he'll count $10 mil against the cap. Julius Peppers will count $17 mil when he signs his franchise tender. I'd say Justin Smith is at least worth $7 mil less than Peppers. The rest of his contract Smith counts between $6 and $9 million against the cap, which seams reasonable.

Talking contracts in football is somewhat ridiculous. Albert Haynesworth just signed a 7 year $115 million dollar contract. Do you think he's going to play the life of it? No way. Mike Lombardi said on the BS Report on Monday that it's basically a 4-year $48 million dollar contract with most of it being guaranteed and the fifth year will be a huge cap hit that will let Haynesworth return to free agency. Remember when teh Titans wouldn't let Steve McNair practice because they would have been hit with a $24 million cap figure? NFL teams draw up crazy contracts so players can get the guaranteed money they want. Getting back to "overpaid" Nate Clements, he signed an 8 year $80 million dollar contract, but years 7 & 8 call for $36 million. Clements will either restructure those years or be cut, meaning the "real" value of the contract was 6 years for $44 million.

Don't throw around "overpaid" in the NFL without using evidence to back it up.