Month: March 2008

Yesterday the Falcons signed Michael Turner.  Turner’s contract is somewhere in the neighborhood of $34.5 million, for six-years, with $15 million guaranteed.  From a value standpoint, this is very comparable to Dunn, whose contract was valued at $28.5 million (I think for six years and I am not sure how much guaranteed money).

Today Warrick Dunn was released by the Falcons.  I have read that this will free up $3 million towards the salary cap.  Signing Turner now, gives the Falcons some more free agency flexibility, but maybe more importantly it gives Atlanta plenty of options on draft day.  For starters, they no longer have to go after McFadden, who may be a once in a generation player or he could be a bust.  Hopefully the Falcons will go after Jake Long (OT, Michigan), and go QB and DE with their two second picks.  Things will look even brighter if Atlanta manages to dump Hall for more picks.

Yesterday Atlanta signed a couple of defensive backs – Erik Coleman (FS; New York Jets) and Von Hutchins (CB; Houston) – presumably to start rebuild a new secondary without the soon to be departed DeAngelo Hall.

To be honest, I do not know much about either guy, but they are both very small. According to the Falcons site, Coleman is all of 5’11, while Hutchins is 5’10. I know Hall was not very tall, but he compensated with speed. At least he tried to compensate with speed as he was getting toasted every over weekend. These new guys just seem awful small to combat today’s taller and faster WRs.

This afternoon was absolutely beautiful, so I decided to take the Sierra Pro out for a few rounds of plinking.  This was the first chance I had to shoot the gun since Crosman returned it from repairs.  The repair order said that they put in new screws with Loctite.  They must have also sighted it in (original front optical and rear sights) because the gun seemed plenty accurate.  More accurate than I remember without the Centerpoint scope.

After growing to love my Beeman R7 it was a strange experience shooting the Sierra Pro.  This gun is certainly heavier, harder to break/cock, and much louder than the R7.  I am sure it has its own merits as a mass market $150 airgun, but I do not think I am going to keep it around much longer.  At one point I had myself convinced that I would use the R7 for most of my plinking, and the Sierra Pro for occasional pest control.  R7 for lower power, and the Sierra Pro for 1000 fps jobs.

The reality is that I want to move on to something else.  Before getting the R7 I struggled trying to decide between an Beeman R1, Beeman R9, and R7.  In the end I made the right decision – the R7 is perfect for my backyard shooting needs.  It was also a nice compliment to the Sierra Pro.

Now I am debating on my next purchase.  Crosman Discover, R1 or R9.  Of course I am also trying to sort out if I want to go with another .177, .20, or .22 caliber. For some reason I have had a major burr in my crawl for a .20, but this does not seem like a practical decision since there is such a limited selection of .20 ammo.  .177 would seem to be a good choice since it could also be used with my R7.  Since I was going to keep the Sierra Pro around for pest control, going .22 may be my best option.

I plan to sell the Sierra Pro to help start a new gun fund.  Stay tuned.

After a long stretch of not getting any time to shoot, last Sunday (and hopefully today) I was able to get out the R7 for some plinking action. This is an incredible gun – light weight, easy to shoot, very quiet, and extremely accurate. I cannot imagine a more perfect backyard gun.

Let’s roll back a few weeks. In early January I placed an order with Straight Shooters to pick up Beeman’s R7 Rear Sight Plate and Universal Muzzlebrake (I also got some filler screws for good measure). The gun looks rather silly with a Leapers 6×32 Bug Buster 2 scope and front and rear sights. I removed the front sight, and put on the Universal Muzzlebrake; much better looking. I still had the rear sight on the R7 because Beeman recommends the use of Loctite when screwing in the Rear Sight Plate. I figured I would leave well enough alone, and placed an order with Amazon – Henkel Loctite 6-ml Threadlocker 242 #01-24200 $7.90.

Much to my dismay, my perfectly accurate R7 now shot way off center. Something to do with barrel harmonics. Good stuff, but this gem of a gun was easy enough to get back on target in short order.

A couple of weeks ago I removed the rear sight, installed the Rear Sight Plate, and took her (I guess the R7 needs a name) shooting. Perfect. No issues with harmonics. Just plain old fashion plinking goodness. My typical shots are at around 18 yards. From that distance I can easily hit the gold medal on a Miller Lite can. When squirrel season opens again, the varmints better say the hell out of my yard because I think I can easily make head shots. Yes, the R7 is a lovely backyard shooter.

Atlanta’s biggest splash in day one of free agency was resigning Chris Redman to a two year deal. I think this is good news. Not that Chris is the end-all-be-all QB for the Falcons, but Redman could be a decent – serviceable – QB, allowing the Falcons to pursue a QB in the later rounds of this year’s draft. I do not think the Falcons should bust their 2008 draft by taking a QB with the number three pick.

What does this mean for Joey Harrington? I am surprised that the Falcons have not already cut Joey, but I assume it has something to do with waiting unit the right time for salary cap reduction. I am not sure what will happen with D.J. Shockley. I hope Shockley has a chance to move into the backup slot (assuming he is healthy this year).

So while the Falcons sat tight on day one of free agency, big news may be coming. According to ajc.com, the Falcons are hot and heavy after Michael Turner (San Diego):

That the Falcons are trying to sign Turner (228 carries, 1,257 yards, 6 TDs in his career) points to the expected release of Warrick Dunn, the team’s main ball carrier and goodwill ambassador for the past six seasons. If a deal is completed, Dunn likely will be cut immediately to clear nearly $3 million in cap space and to allow him to catch on with another team.

This would be a great move. Dunn has done a great job for the Falcons, and seems to be a terrific guy off the field – an all around good guy. The problem is that Dunn is getting old, and is not worth $3 million per year.

Hopefully Falcons fans will have something to cheer about before the weekend is over. Lord knows suffering Falcons fans need some good news.