Adam Schefter on salary cap

[Anthony!]

Well, hopefully this allows us to lock up some of our own guys long term.

That is the plan. You lock your core up (10-15 guys tops) and draft and use FA to fill in the gaps like New England or Green Bay. We done the critical part that makes it already we have our franchise quarterback.

Agree except we nee to lock up our franchise QB, and do it as soon as we are allowed.

 

[Anthony!]

NE and GB put everything on the back of the QB and have not win the big game for quite a few years. I know everyone loves to use them as examples but they are anomalies because of how good their quarterbacks are (yes RW can reach that level) and to me what they prove is exactly what Denver proved this year. You need a team to win not a couple individual players....

Do not totally disagree but you still need a great QB, a franchise QB to win a SB and they do not grow on trees. Besides injuries have also been a huge part of the issues with both GB and NE of late.

 

[JMR]

NE and GB put everything on the back of the QB and have not win the big game for quite a few years. I know everyone loves to use them as examples but they are anomalies because of how good their quarterbacks are (yes RW can reach that level) and to me what they prove is exactly what Denver proved this year. You need a team to win not a couple individual players....

So what are you suggesting? Not pay RW the big bucks and try to win without a top QB like the 2000 Ravens and 2002 Bucs? Those are the aberrant data points in the history of the SB, not teams that are built on franchise QBs.

The QB may not be more important than the entire defense (though it may be argued depending on which QB you're talking about), but the QB is the single most important player on the team. Hardest to find, most difficult to replace. When you have one, you don't let him go. Even as good as some may think Rivers is, the Chargers blew it when they created a situation that let Brees get away. Not happening here.

 

[Subzero717]

NE and GB put everything on the back of the QB and have not win the big game for quite a few years. I know everyone loves to use them as examples but they are anomalies because of how good their quarterbacks are (yes RW can reach that level) and to me what they prove is exactly what Denver proved this year. You need a team to win not a couple individual players....

NE is constantly in the thick and goes to SBs. Thats just a bad comparison really. They were a play here and a play there from winning two more bowls. Unless you think getting there isnt difficult. Ask Marino how hard it is to get there.

GB has a horrible defense. I put some of that on scheme and some on drafting.

I dont see your Denver point either really. They had a good team. Unless you think Thomas, Thomas, Decker, Welker, Moreno arguably one of the best Olines in football relied soley on one player PM and they were all scrubs.

All teams with a "franchise" QB are hamstrung by their QB salary and ots actually ruining the game in my opinion. Once RW resigns we will be in the same boat as well. Luckily we have Schneider who is able to draft well and good coaches. Once RW signs the Avril, Bennet, Percy offseason signings dont happen. We also dont keep guys, instead replace them. Its the new NFL. Hopefully, as the cap raises the QB salaries stay about the same and teams are able to fill more wholes.

 

[mikeak]

NE and GB put everything on the back of the QB and have not win the big game for quite a few years. I know everyone loves to use them as examples but they are anomalies because of how good their quarterbacks are (yes RW can reach that level) and to me what they prove is exactly what Denver proved this year. You need a team to win not a couple individual players....

So what are you suggesting? Not pay RW the big bucks and try to win without a top QB like the 2000 Ravens and 2002 Bucs? Those are the aberrant data points in the history of the SB, not teams that are built on franchise QBs.

The QB may not be more important than the entire defense (though it may be argued depending on which QB you're talking about), but the QB is the single most important player on the team. Hardest to find, most difficult to replace. When you have one, you don't let him go. Even as good as some may think Rivers is, the Chargers blew it when they created a situation that let Brees get away. Not happening here.

Nope - didn't say that. Just that you need to limit the number of big contracts on the team and spread the rest to get a well balanced team. With the new CBA in place drafting and keeping draft picks is paramount because of the salary cap. NE is one of the best coached teams in the league but if you go and look at their draft picks they have whiffed on more than a fair share. It is important to recognize what you are good and what you are not good at. I think PC and Schneider puts is in a great position there and it is much better than coach & gm hires

I think and have stated that the issue with Percy signing was the money spent. You keep that 1st round pick and 3rd round pick you are commiting a few million dollars and not the huge amounts that you end up paying Percy Harvin. Yes you have to hit on your draft picks so it is a risker path forward. In the end the number of draft picks traded away should be very limited and you will need to churn your roster

In regards to SD - remember that people didn't know how he would recover from the injury

 

[mikeak]

NE and GB put everything on the back of the QB and have not win the big game for quite a few years. I know everyone loves to use them as examples but they are anomalies because of how good their quarterbacks are (yes RW can reach that level) and to me what they prove is exactly what Denver proved this year. You need a team to win not a couple individual players....

NE is constantly in the thick and goes to SBs. Thats just a bad comparison really. They were a play here and a play there from winning two more bowls. Unless you think getting there isnt difficult. Ask Marino how hard it is to get there.

GB has a horrible defense. I put some of that on scheme and some on drafting.

I dont see your Denver point either really. They had a good team. Unless you think Thomas, Thomas, Decker, Welker, Moreno arguably one of the best Olines in football relied soley on one player PM and they were all scrubs.

All teams with a "franchise" QB are hamstrung by their QB salary and ots actually ruining the game in my opinion. Once RW resigns we will be in the same boat as well. Luckily we have Schneider who is able to draft well and good coaches. Once RW signs the Avril, Bennet, Percy offseason signings dont happen. We also dont keep guys, instead replace them. Its the new NFL. Hopefully, as the cap raises the QB salaries stay about the same and teams are able to fill more wholes.

1) I disagree on the QB hamstringing the teams. It is combined with the other star players. Percy will count $12-$13 million against the cap over the next few years, Sherman will have to hit the cap as well plus the other great players. One guy's $18 million contract won't help but if you do well enough in the draft like you do point out then you can keep the roster churning and staying very competitive.

GB's defense isn't very good and they haven't corrected it. Not sure how that disagrees with my point that they are having the QB carry the team and not addressing other flaws on their team

Denver - they have good pieces but they don't have one of the best O-lines. Peyton is one of the best at getting the balls out quickly and they run lots of slants for yardage. Their O-line was significantly helped by their system.

The Seahawks have weaknesses as well. The O-line is probably the biggest one but we have a weakness in an area where we have other pieces that can overcome that weakness.

The key to me is not just having 8-15 key guys on the roster but it is having them properly distributed. If you have a really good offense like Dallas but a crappy defense like Dallas then you crash and burn.

So my point remains that you can't just look at two teams with the best qb's and say that is the model for the NFL. Because you can be very competititve without having the best QB.

Cincinnati is doing a very good job building through the draft and with a qb questioned by many. They are pretty even on both sides of the ball with a star WR and very good young defensive players. That is to me a better model to build like just if you manage to really get the right QB in there then you can take that even further (which we did)

 

[JMR]

Nope - didn't say that. Just that you need to limit the number of big contracts on the team and spread the rest to get a well balanced team. With the new CBA in place drafting and keeping draft picks is paramount because of the salary cap. NE is one of the best coached teams in the league but if you go and look at their draft picks they have whiffed on more than a fair share. It is important to recognize what you are good and what you are not good at. I think PC and Schneider puts is in a great position there and it is much better than coach & gm hires

I think and have stated that the issue with Percy signing was the money spent. You keep that 1st round pick and 3rd round pick you are commiting a few million dollars and not the huge amounts that you end up paying Percy Harvin. Yes you have to hit on your draft picks so it is a risker path forward. In the end the number of draft picks traded away should be very limited and you will need to churn your roster

So then we come right back around to the reality that soon we'll be exactly like the Packers & Patriots in the respect of having 1 player account for a huge portion of the cap. I agree this is going to cause us to be very selective on who else gets big $$ and then continue to draft well, if that's what you're trying to say, but I think we all knew that already.

In regards to SD - remember that people didn't know how he would recover from the injury

You referring to his shoulder injury at the end of 2005? The Chargers panicked after Brees' 2nd year as as starter and blew the #1 overall pick in the 2004 draft on a QB (Eli Manning)....who even said beforehand that he didn't want to play for SD. Then Brees promptly emerges as franchise QB and then the Chargers were sitting there paying tons of cash to Rivers to not play. So they either let Brees walk after '05 or continue to pay Rivers top dollar to sit the bench. They painted themselves into a corner, plain and siimple.

 

[mikeak]

JMR - you are right I remembered the Rivers - Brees thing wrong and didn't check it. I left NC State 3 years before Rivers so you would think I remember things slightly better than that

I stated in my other post that I wasn't claiming to say anything revolutionizing but I simply don't think NE and GB are the best examples of how to build an organization. NE continues to draft poorly and GB is pretty bad on defense. Major flaws that keep holding them back from being more dominant. Yes NE has done well but I would think they would have done better if they had a true GM in place

 

[ihawk]

The real benefit from a cap increase is on the players you already have signed because it makes their cap hit a lower % of the pie. The perfect example is Percy Harvin's six year contract. As the cap potentially goes to 150M, his contract is going to look more and more like a steal.
However the cap increase is almost irrelevant when talking about locking up Sherm, ET, Bennett, Wilson, etc... They and their agents have already mentally adjusted their expectations by 8%.
You hear people say that teams should stand firm on new contracts to avoid inflation, but that's never going to work. If team A is not willing to pony up X% of their cap to their stud [fill in the position], then team B will. The cap could be doubled and this would still hold true. It could also be cut in half and hold true. It's not about the dollar amount (the average NFL player makes more in his 3.5 year NFL career than the average US worker makes in an entire life). It's all about % of the pie. It's about respect, like Bennett and Tate both alluded to.
So if we really believe that the cap is going to move heavily in the next couple of years, then now is the time to dish out some solid long-term contracts to ET and Sherm. In fact, it's ironic that we thought we were protected by the new rookie contract rule that prohibits restructuring of Wilson's contract this year.

 

[Giblien]

I don't know what people are all excited about. Raising the salary cap is going to have the same effect raising minimum wage has: inflation. Raising the cap will have no big impact because the players are aware of the cap raise and will simply demand more.

 

[JMR]

I don't know what people are all excited about. Raising the salary cap is going to have the same effect raising minimum wage has: inflation. Raising the cap will have no big impact because the players are aware of the cap raise and will simply demand more.

If every player were on a 1 year contract and needed to re-signed to another 1 year deal every off-season then that's an air tight statement. But it's just not logical that this cap increase doesn't help at all. If instead of $10 mill it increased by $30 mill, you really think every free agent could command a proportionate increase on the open market? Better yet, had the cap held at $123 mill for '14, we would have no lesser chance to re-sign these guys?

It doesn't make sense. The cap increase may inflate free agent values some, but not to the point where all that new space is accounted for by all current/pending UFAs.

 

[Hasselbeck]

I don't know what people are all excited about. Raising the salary cap is going to have the same effect raising minimum wage has: inflation. Raising the cap will have no big impact because the players are aware of the cap raise and will simply demand more.

Not really, as last years FA showed.. the market is set by what the owners and GM's want to pay these guys.. not the other way around.

Sure they can ask for 5% more than they would have, but if no team is willing to pay that.. then what? You get Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett type signings.

 

[fridayfrenzy]

I don't know what people are all excited about. Raising the salary cap is going to have the same effect raising minimum wage has: inflation. Raising the cap will have no big impact because the players are aware of the cap raise and will simply demand more.

Not really, as last years FA showed.. the market is set by what the owners and GM's want to pay these guys.. not the other way around.

Sure they can ask for 5% more than they would have, but if no team is willing to pay that.. then what? You get Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett type signings.

You are comparing guys who were able to test the free agency market to players who would be signed before they were able to test the waters.

You really think they are going to let Russell Wilson go test the free agency market with the hopes of getting a better deal but at the risk of losing him? Wilson's deal will be based off of the QB deals before him (Newton, Kaepernick) plus the added lift of the salary cap raise.

 

[Natethegreat]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/07/cap-could-hit-160-million-in-2016/Cap projections continue to go up. New report saying it could be as high as 145 mill next year and 160 after that. Lock up Sherman and Thomas now!

 

[chrispy]

Is there a resource that shows what cap space the Hawks have left after signing Bennett or anyone else that comes next? As that number decreases, maybe it will point toward the possibility of restructuring some other contracts....

 

[drdiags]

Is there a resource that shows what cap space the Hawks have left after signing Bennett or anyone else that comes next? As that number decreases, maybe it will point toward the possibility of restructuring some other contracts....

You could monitor the website http://overthecap.com/

It was pointed out to me that this site will try to update the cap as the Free agents sign with the various teams. Give it a shot.

Here is a page from that site that lets you play GM and project cuts and restructures with the current roster:

http://overthecap.com/calculator/?Team=Seahawks