Rubes Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 I'm hoping that TD can get one of the prime UFAs done soon along with using the "Eagles loophole" on a player like Reese that basically transfers cap space to the next cap year (Vikes got over $10 million extra in 2004 by using this). 20489[/snapback] What's the "Eagle's loophole" again? Nice work, by the way. Looks to me like we will be seeing the last of Phat Pat this season...
Typical TBD Guy Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks for the cap info, Clumps! You should really consider making TBD your home board. You'd be very welcome here. Billszone, from the last few times I visited, seemed to be overrun with little kids and teenage punks. But anyway, if we have $5 million (more or less) of cap space for this year, then I think TD needs to can it with the frugal stevestojan and overpay to keep either Schobel or Jennings. There are no other free agents to become available - now or by season's end - that will singlehandedly put us over the top and into the playoffs. To put the sad current state of NFL free agent castoffs in perspective, JASON GILDON is considered the top free agent out there!
BillsWatch Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 BillsZone is just a different place; TBD has plenty of kids and punks as well!
BuffaloBob Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 But anyway, if we have $5 million (more or less) of cap space for this year, then I think TD needs to can it with the frugal stevestojan and overpay to keep either Schobel or Jennings. There are no other free agents to become available - now or by season's end - that will singlehandedly put us over the top and into the playoffs. To put the sad current state of NFL free agent castoffs in perspective, JASON GILDON is considered the top free agent out there! 20749[/snapback] The problem is, you can't just consider the cap room available for THIS year when you are looking at deals. This is especially true if the deal is somewhat back-end loaded so that the cap hit starts out lighter and grows non-linearly. Put another way, just because the deal fits this year doesn't mean it wil so easily next year. The fact is, we are going to have some tightness in the cap next season already, so you have to be able to project the effect of deals done this year on next year's cap and beyond. There are many unknowns, such as will Drew still be with us. If not, that opens significant cap room. And then, some or all of these guys might have so-so years just as easily as spectacular years. Or they may be hurt, or the market for them may not be as string next season. While it is always nice to see if you can get some talent wrapped for the long-term early and at a discount, that discount has to be significant enough to offset the risk that for whatever reason, the market for these guys may actually be lower rather than higher next year (i.e. they get hurt, they have a so-so season, teams are just not inetersted in paying them mor than they are worth, etc.). TD tried to get one of these guys to bite early, and none of them would. They chose to roll the dice, and so is TD now.
Typical TBD Guy Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 The problem is, you can't just consider the cap room available for THIS year when you are looking at deals. This is especially true if the deal is somewhat back-end loaded so that the cap hit starts out lighter and grows non-linearly. Put another way, just because the deal fits this year doesn't mean it wil so easily next year. The fact is, we are going to have some tightness in the cap next season already, so you have to be able to project the effect of deals done this year on next year's cap and beyond. There are many unknowns, such as will Drew still be with us. If not, that opens significant cap room. And then, some or all of these guys might have so-so years just as easily as spectacular years. Or they may be hurt, or the market for them may not be as string next season. While it is always nice to see if you can get some talent wrapped for the long-term early and at a discount, that discount has to be significant enough to offset the risk that for whatever reason, the market for these guys may actually be lower rather than higher next year (i.e. they get hurt, they have a so-so season, teams are just not inetersted in paying them mor than they are worth, etc.). TD tried to get one of these guys to bite early, and none of them would. They chose to roll the dice, and so is TD now. 21059[/snapback] I understand, but all I'm saying is that $5 million is a lot of cap space to leave unused. And maybe this is a stupid question, but why are so many NFL contracts back-end loaded and rarely ever front-end loaded? Don't these players realize that they are more likely to be cut before they ever receive the $$$ from the final years of their contract?
BuffaloBob Posted September 7, 2004 Posted September 7, 2004 I understand, but all I'm saying is that $5 million is a lot of cap space to leave unused. And maybe this is a stupid question, but why are so many NFL contracts back-end loaded and rarely ever front-end loaded? Don't these players realize that they are more likely to be cut before they ever receive the $$$ from the final years of their contract? 21170[/snapback] Actually, that is a great point and it does happen, as in Winfield's contract with the Vikes. They gave him what would have been his bonus as salary I believe, or at least in some form so that they could use a bunch of their cap space that they had for this year. Of course, they had a huge amount of space. Usually, the team is in the other position, where they are trying to add guys with little left in present cap space and thus the reason for making the present hit much greater in the first season. Actually, $5 million is not really all that much, especially given that TD insists on going into the season with at least $1 Million of cushion for in-season moves. And think about it, if JJ and Schobel are looking for top range conrtacts for their positions (not necessarily going to get it; JJ is oft-injured and Schobel is undersized and gets blown a lot on runs), they are looking at deals that average between $5 per year at least. So you would HAVE to back load any such contract to some extent even with $5 Million in current cap space, and this certainly NOT enough room to front-load either of them, or even Pat for that matter.
clumping platelets Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 Winfield's bonus was termed a roster bonus. Vikes had $30+ million cap space entering the off-season and they made a very smart decision to make it a roster bonus and have it all apply to 2004 cap. They were gonna give it to him in some form. Now, future cap years will not be burdened with amortization
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