d_wag

shawn merriman

1) they got the playoffs (and won in the playoffs) last year without TO........no reason to think they can't do it again..... 2) he would not make his NORMAL PAY if he came back to get his year of service........he would be fined heavily and lose 10 game checks of his 16.....if he wants to sit, fine, but it's going to cost him.......

neither atlanta nor washington could afford his demands at this point in the off-season.........in fact, very few teams (if any at all) could....... it's simple - he either plays for the eagles or he sits and loses a lot of money.......too bad him and drew aern't bright enough to figure that out.........

going to be a VERY exciting off-season if your a hockey fan.......the transaction wire is going to be loaded day after day after day with major moves.........just looking at some of these rosters raises a lot of trade, free agent, and buyout questions....... http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=6926 some teams that have been building a young base are really set up (ex. buffalo, edmonton) and others are already in the hole with little young talent (ex. toronto, detroit).........

it's not about comparing him to a 3rd round LT........it's about comparing him to options we could have had/can have at that position (i.e. jennings, teague, verba, etc.)...........

but they may have been if they waited until the expiration of their deal........need i remind you that lito made the pro bowl this past season?

care to comment on why lito sheppard and sheldon brown (two CB's) signed extensions before the expiration of their deals?

why did todd heap, santana moss, marcus stroud, jamal williams, mike minter, and joe horn resign before the expiration of their contracts??? because their team showed them a fair contract and they jumped on it!!! funny how our guys always seem to be the greedy ones who want all the cash whereas other teams lock up their best young talent before they hit free agency.......screw the CBA garbage, just another excuse why we can't lock up young talent -- treat the player fairly and they will resign, just like the guys above did....... there is no reason clements shouldn't have had a fat offer with a 12M bonus LAST YEAR.......does anyone think he was offered that? not a chance.......now it would take at least 15M.......GM needs to show foresight, not be reactionary........you wait on a player and he will walk, plain and simple........ and by the way, the market for clements is sky high because NO OTHER big name CB's are scheduled for free agency.......other GM's seem to have got the job done and locked up their young talent before they get close to their free agency year........too bad clements is so "greedy" and won't do the same!!

i bet he would have settled for a lot less then that this time last year......after contracts for lito sheppard, sheldon brown, anthony henry, gary baxter, fred smoot, and ken lucas got handed out his price tag has gone up........

mcgee is locked in for years -- he will become a RFA next year, not an UFA.......however, it is important to get him locked in now and reward him for a job well done.......if he breaks out, the bills are sitting pretty....... it is also important to get clements signed AS WELL........the longer the bills wait the higher the price tag gets........signing him to a big deal BEFORE ken lucas and anthony henry got their big deals would have made alot of sense......show him the money and he will stay.......d*ck him around and he will go, just like winfield, jennings, and williams have..........

it isn't assessable to the general public but a formula is used by the NFL....... "Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula." http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8314832 the reason denver got such good compensation is because of the contact that ian gold signed with TB......it included option bonuses for '05 and '06 which bumped the value by 22 million, even though he was never going to realistically see that cash........

untrue.......compensatory picks are awarded based on a formula which includes criteria for: 1) size of contract 2) playing time 3) postseason honors under the bills scenerio, if jennings and williams both stay healthy they will be worth 3rd round picks on their own based on the size of their deals.......this COULD be offset by bennie starting 16 games, but the size of his contract in comparison dictates we will see a pick for losing jennings, likely in the 4th if they receive the same amount of playing time.......if holcomb plays this further decreases the expected picks, but if he doesn't start a game (realistic expectation) he won't effect the system...... ross verba could have a significant impact if signed........ this is another important element that is being missed with all the travis henry trade talk -- the bills were looking at a 4th or possible 3rd round pick just for keeping him on the roster and letting him become a free agent, depending where he would have landed........the catch is the pick wouldn't have been awarded until 2007.......

i wouldn't be shocked if we picked up two thirds as compensation for losing big pat and jennings........

the deals need to get done........for both of them....... it's cheaper to do it now then wait........show them cash and they will stay........d*ck them around and they will go.......it's not overly complicated.........

PW's agent did counter the summer offer shortly after receiving at which that point TD shut down discussions due to their distance apart....... again, incorrect..........PW's agent did give the bills the chance to match, despite the fact he hadn't heard a word from TD since early summer....... incorrect.......he countered, and never heard a response to his counter.......TD decided to not even attempt to work out a deal after that initial "take it or leave it" offer......... your facts are wrong.......

williams' agent does not deny that their was an offer made in the early summer........the problem was that was TD's "take it or leave it offer"........williams' agents complaint (and williams as well) is that the bills didn't even contact them from that point further.......not before the season, not during the season, and not after the season........williams had no choice but to look elsewhere because the bills wouldn't even give him the courtesy of a call to attempt to work something out after all those years of service........that is what pissed him off, and i don't blame him........not being able to work out a deal is one thing........not even attempting it is another all together........ TD has stated publically they made him an offer in the summer and that was their last contract talks with pat williams.........he did the exact same thing with JJ......

one way to get it lower is to do a "simple restructuring.........this involves converting salary into signing bonus (reason being signing bonus can be amortized over the life of the deal whereas salary counts on the current year's cap)........the player gets paid the same, but cap dollars get pushed from the current year into future years.........the problem with this strategy is that those unamortized bonus dollars never go away until they hit the cap, whether the player is on the roster or not......... another option is to do an "extension".........in this case the salary is again reduced, but to make up for that a new signing bonus is issued........this is added to the old "unamortized" signing bonus and is then amortized over the new life of the deal.........this is what the saints did with joe horn.......this makes more sense cap wise because you can set up 2 or 3 manageable years where you don't have to deal with the issue every season, but the catch is you are giving more cash to them so you want to make sure they will be around and not ready to take a slide in performance because the cap hit is nasty to dump them......... because mould's cap number is 10 and his salary is 6 he has 4M in unamortized bonus for the '06 season.........he is also signed through '07, so double that to 8M.........THAT IS 8M THAT HAS TO HIT THE CAP AT SOME POINT........not a great situation to be in, but one that was created by extending his deal last year by only 1 year instead of a few.........to get it lower they could drop his salary and add more signing bonus to be amortized (not a great option because at that point there is only one year left on the contract -- you are just moving dollars into the 2007, creating a huge cap hit)........the other option is to drop his salary to the 1.5M level again, give him the difference in signing bonus again, but EXTEND THE DEAL BY A FEW SEASONS.......at that point the signing bonus can then be amortized further.........but it's a bad situation overall because eventually those signing bonus dollars are going to have to hit the cap......... this is all the result of the bills backloading the deal and taking VERY SMALL CAP HITS the first few seasons of it.........for example, the bills only gave him 500K in salary in '01 and 1.55 in '02........those numbers should have been higher which would have helped balance out the backend of the contract........i think the bills will approach him again with another 1 year extension next off-season, but this just means that unamortized bonus number keeps growing and growing year after year........

joe horn (who is 33) recently inked an extension that gave him 7 million up front (+ salary of 665K in the first year of the deal).........i certainly think the two are comparable......... either way, i think we'll have the chance to see how much he will command on the open market........i don't see moulds as a bill in '06.........

his salary isn't 10M next year -- that is his cap hit....... his salary for next year is 6.089M.....the question becomes whether he thinks he can get that much in signing bonus/1st year salary from another club......i think he will be in a position to command more then that, and he has all the leverage given the fact the bills will not carry him at his 10M cap value......

why didn't he sign that type of deal this off-season instead of the simple restructuring he did? it just means the problem has to be dealt with again next off-season.......i think he'll listen again, but with the way the unamortized bonus is piling up the bills can't keep delaying the decision on a one year basis year after year.........

that's false.......as previously pointed out, the most he can make is 15.528M over 5 years.........the #5 pick in the draft last year (sean taylor) signed a deal that could have paid him 40M over 6 years........not even in the same ballpark.......

cha-ching

and who hired GW again? the buck stops with the GM.......it his ultimate responsibility to field a winner and any negative comment regarding people he handpicked is a reflection on a poor job by him.........

either way, the player still keeps the ENTIRE signing bonus.......it's not refunded on a "pro-rata" basis........that is the players guarantee......

the max willis can make on his 5 year deal is 15.528M........but i will point out willis was paid 4.15M in bonus money which he would have kept if he never even played a down.......i doubt he would have returned a penny if he couldn't perform, which is why it boggles my mind that guys think just because they outperformed their contract they can go back on their word (i.e. a signed contract that stated they will play for X amount for X years)