Is the rollover the plan?

[Tical21]

For the past 48 hours or so, like many of you, I've been trying to figure out what the strategy of the front office is. Why clear a bunch of cap room if there aren't imminent signings? If Jared Allen was going to sign, it is easy to see cutting Chris Clemons for the extra money and his position. If you aren't going to pay Jared Allen or Hatcher or whoever else, why cut Clemons? He's probably still a pretty good player and we can always use pass-rushers. Why cut Red? Why not re-sign Tate or Breno? Why not just hold onto them? They would help win this coming season, right?

So now we've got 17 million under the cap, and not much to spend it on. I'm quite certain they're going to sign a pass rusher. They'll probably sign another guard, or safety, or Finley, or whatever else, but they're still going to be 10+ mil under the cap, right? At first thought, you think it is perfect to extend Sherman, right? Extend Sherm, extend Earl, sign a couple of bargain basement free agents, and you're at the cap, ready to roll. Not a bad scenario.

But what if Schneider's plan this whoooooooole time was to get to some number under the cap, say 12 million or whatever their magic number was, and stay there. Roll that money over to next year. Turn that 12 million into 24 million. That is the most shrewd possible outcome, right? Use that same amount of money to sign both Sherman AND pay for most of Russell. How brilliant is that? Now, you're going to risk pissing Sherm off. Which might not be that bad of an idea anyways. Do you want to risk letting him play on another minimum contract? That could set a bad president for the entire team. But maybe, just maybe, they let Sherm in on the whole thing. They tell him, "Dick, we're not going to pay you this year, you'll have to be patient. Do you have enough endorsement money? Are you going to be okay? We want to take your money and roll it into next year and use it to also pay Russell. That way you and Russell and Earl can be guaranteed you're going to have several years to go after championships together. We're asking you to sacrifice alot, but we're going to take care of you in the end, keep you a Seahawk, and win a bunch of football games in the process." Would Sherm buy into that?

Now, I know this all might just be a little far-fetched. I'm probably wrong, and we'll see us soon either spend most of the money on free agents, or extend Sherm right away, but if I'm right, that is some ballsy, genius GM type ish right there.

 

[BlueBlood]

AL Bundy, my favorite Bundy whos first name doesn't start with a T

Doth you oh incessant Hyman the swashbuckling Arab Mormon grant your brother peace in trespassing? For I, Labia Von Dicterdown have only come in the name of your lord Harrison Ford and non other aged academy award winner.

 

[Ad Hawk]

AL Bundy, my favorite Bundy whos first name doesn't start with a T

Doth you oh incessant Hyman the swashbuckling Arab Mormon grant your brother peace in trespassing? For I, Labia Von Dicterdown have only come in the name of your lord Harrison Ford and non other aged academy award winner.

so... huh?

 

[Ad Hawk]

This sort of far-sightedness wouldn't surprise me, even if the details exact. If we're worried about signing our own home-grown stars, how much more so is JS? He has to have a plan in place and not just throw money at whatever on-the-market star is rising in the media.

Good post, Tical.

 

[kearly]

Having a big rollover appears to be the strategy. That said, because of this rollover it doesn't really matter if we extend Sherman now or if we extend him next year, the cap consequences will be the same. Also, if we sign him to a deal with a big signing bonus Sherman's 2014 cap hit will be tiny. Ditto to Earl. So even if we were close to flat broke in the short term, we could still extend both guys without any issues for now, so long as money could still be cleared later.

I hope we sign Allen. We could probably do a 4 year deal that has an easy out in year 3, and in effect is the same contract Avril got with some contract fluffery to help Allen's contract negotiating ego.

 

[joeshaney]

Having a big rollover appears to be the strategy. That said, because of this rollover it doesn't really matter if we extend Sherman now or if we extend him next year, the cap consequences will be the same. Also, if we sign him to a deal with a big signing bonus Sherman's 2014 cap hit will be tiny. Ditto to Earl. So even if we were close to flat broke in the short term, we could still extend both guys without any issues for now, so long as money could still be cleared later.

I hope we sign Allen. We could probably do a 4 year deal that has an easy out in year 3, and in effect is the same contract Avril got with some contract fluffery to help Allen's contract negotiating ego.

This. I also think Thurmond would be a great resigning.
Really, really want Allen, but damn he seems to want $$$

I only question why cut Clemons only to spend even more in a LEO? Something strange in the neighborhood.

 

[Wizofwest]

Maybe they cut Clemons because he wasn't in their plans. Cutting him now allows him to maximize his contract before all the money is gone. Also, if the team was aware that Red and Clemons wanted to try to play together on their next team they helped make that possible by releasing him early. Either way our FO is awesome.

Go Hawks!

 

[hawknation2014]

I don't see it. This year is their best opportunity to win a Super Bowl, even better than last season because of the greater experience of some of their starters. I think they plan to use this money to (1) extend Earl, (2) re-sign a few of the important FAs, (3) sign one game-changing FA to a short-term deal, and (4) pay for what should be an epic draft class.

 

[volsunghawk]

I don't know that it's all that complicated.

1. Age plus cap hit make a player expendable.
2. Ask around to see if there is trade interest.
3. If no interest, cut the guy early enough to avoid roster bonuses and to give him enough time to work the market.
4. If the player's contact is up, make an offer you think is fair if you want to keep him. Don't make an offer if you don't. No matter what, don't overpay unless you're dead certain the guy is a long term superstar.
5. Regarding outside FAs, gather information so you can make a responsible decision while other teams are throwing money around in the first few days. Target your own crucial FAs before any outside guys.

These things should be done on principle, not just because there's an imminent signing. I fully expect that Schneider will be rolling some money over, but I also expect several signings in the latter weeks of FA, and after the draft. And I expect to see either Thomas or Sherman (or both) receive an extension in the April - June range.

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

This wouldn't surprise me in the least. In fact, I'd guess it's fairly likely. None of the big names are due now, whether we're able to give them extensions now or not. They're all intelligent guys. They're all getting money through endorsements and such, so it's not like they're hurting for the cash. And waiting a year is probably in both the best interests of the team and of yourself is something they all understand.

The first thing everyone started worrying about here after the Super Bowl was "how on earth are we going to pay for all our superstars next year?" Geez, maybe the front office understood that as an issue too, and is putting a plan in play to act on that before they have to react? That sounds exactly like what they'd do.

And the players also understand that while the team has to make smart financial decisions to make, they will have the same pile of money to give to their players as everyone else. Having a lot of quality players on a team makes paying them more difficult, but it also makes for a much better team if they can understand this and be satisfied with how our front office divvies it up.

 

[mikeak]

EXTENDING players does not impact the current salary year except for the signing bonus portion (which I think you can make post June 1st item and hit next year with as well). Redoing their deals impact current salary year

Extended contracts means that the 2014 year remains intact and the new portion of the contract starts in 2015. The advantage to the player is if they get injured they have the long term guaranteed money in place and can play all out.

The advantage to the team is no impact on the salary cap in the current year........

 

[TDOTSEAHAWK]

Most certainly cap rollover is part of the plan. This FO loves cash and carry deals with guaranteed money in the first two year of a contract rather than huge signing bonuses.

I expect that Earl and Shrem will have deals like Percy which guarantees them a ton of money in their first 2-3 years and then the dead money goes low enough that cap savings could offset potential dead money.

This is Harvin's contract:
Year Base Bonus Cap hit Dead
2013 2,500,000 2,400,000 - 4,900,000 14,500,000
2014 11,000,000 2,400,000 - 13,400,000 9,600,000
2015 10,500,000 2,400,000 - 12,900,000 7,200,000
2016 9,900,000 2,400,000 - 12,300,000 4,800,000
2017 9,950,000 2,400,000 - 12,350,000 2,400,000
2018 11,150,000 - - 11,150,000 -

This contract does not destroy us even if we were to cut him this year but obviously it would be preferable that he plays well until at least through 2015.

I especially expect Sherm's deal to look like this.

 

[Seaswab]

We dont need to the cap room for next year. We only have $87 mil in cap commitments for 2015. With the cap expected to be around $145 mil next year that leaves us with $58 mil in cap space. That's plenty to re-sign Sherm, Earl, Wilson and still have leftover for other signings.

 

[Largent80]

Isn't Millers roster bonus due TODAY?

Edit, it is next Thursday, @ 1 mil.

by Larry Hartstein | CBSSports.com
(3/12/14) The Seahawks must decide by next Thursday whether to keep tight end Zach Miller. That's when his $1 million roster bonus is due, reports ESPN's Adam Caplan.
Seattle is hosting free agent tight end Jermichael Finley on Wednesday

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Not sure what you mean by "rollover."

Maybe you're more hyper aware of the players leaving Seattle this year because we just won the SB, but this is business as usual for every team, every year. Which btw, is what makes the NFL the greatest pro sports league. It's a performance based league, as in you perform, and you get paid. You don't perform, and you're gone. Parity at it's finest.

 

[mikeak]

Not sure what you mean by "rollover."

Maybe you're more hyper aware of the players leaving Seattle this year because we just won the SB, but this is business as usual for every team, every year. Which btw, is what makes the NFL the greatest pro sports league. It's a performance based league, as in you perform, and you get paid. You don't perform, and you're gone. Parity at it's finest.

unused cap rolls over to next year under the new CBA

 

[nyc-seahawk]

Maybe they haven't resigned a lot of these players because their not as good as they used to be. Nothing complicated.

 

[DavidSeven]

I think they can extend Thomas and Sherman and still rollover a bunch of cap space to next year if they wanted. Their first year cap hits will probably be just a marginal amount above the pro-rated share of their signing bonus.

The thing to remember is that just because someones averages $10M/year in salary, doesn't mean they are hitting your cap for $10M every single year. Percy averages $10.7M/year, but his 2013 cap hit was $4.9M. If Thomas/Sherman are given new contracts, assume their cap hits for 2014 could be in the $4-5M range. Earl already has a $5M cap number, so the net change in 2014 cap space is zero. So, essentially, it's feasible to extend both players for a total hit of $5M against the 2014 cap. They have more than enough space to do that while still potentially rolling over a ton of money to next year.

 

[mikeak]

I think they can extend Thomas and Sherman and still rollover a bunch of cap space to next year if they wanted. Their first year cap hits will probably be just a marginal amount above the pro-rated share of their signing bonus.

The thing to remember is that just because someones averages $10M/year in salary, doesn't mean they are hitting your cap for $10M every single year. Percy averages $10.7M/year, but his 2013 cap hit was $4.9M. If Thomas/Sherman are given new contracts, assume their cap hits for 2014 could be in the $4-5M range. Earl already has a $5M cap number, so the net change in 2014 cap space is zero. So, essentially, it's feasible to extend both players for a total hit of $5M against the 2014 cap. They have more than enough space to do that while still potentially rolling over a ton of money to next year.

2014 Cap hit would be even less for Sherman. His current base contract remains intact and only the signing bonus hits this year. I am also pretty sure if you make it a post June 1 transaction then it hits next year instead

 

[DavidSeven]

^^good point. Assuming he signs a six year deal similar to Harvin's, his 2014 cap hit could be as low as about $3M (or a net increase of ~$2M). If it's a 5 year extension, maybe closer to $4m.

Edit: though I'm not sure it's a given that their 2014 salaries remain in tact. I think Kam Chancellor got a raise over what he would've made in 2013 when he signed his deal.