Schneider, Free Agency, The Draft, and the Salary Cap

Personally, I think the man is a genius with how he works the draft in its relation to the salary cap. He noted yesterday that he only had 16 players in this year's draft graded out at first round draft picks, and he felt it was unlikely that he would be able to get any of those guys at pick #31. That instantly made the draft pick less valuable to him. So he uses that pick, which obviously has more "value" to New Orleans to net a top 10 pass catcher in all of the NFL. At the same time he keeps the same number of draft picks (seven right now but likely 11 with comp picks to be announced) he had before the deal. I think we can all say that he is way better than average at assessing mid level talent, possibly the best in the league. At the best part: all 11 draft picks will require a TOTAL of $802K in cap space to sign them because of the rookie pay scale. That's insanely efficient.

He understands as well as anybody (following the Green Bay and Baltimore model) that developing lower draft picks into high quality players pays dividends whether they remain on the team or not. If they remain on the team it helps your organization grow (see all the young players we've developed and extended), and if you let them go in free agency you get comp picks back (four this year, possibly a third rounder for Maxwell next year). We have a guy that gets it and that has built a model for sustainability for the long term. We have seen the Patriots be the cream of the crop over the last 15 years. 15 years from now they'll be saying the same thing about the Seattle Seahawks. Gotta love it.

He was on KJR discussing the trade and he said part of the reason they did the Graham trade was for cap relief. He started talking about the cost of the 31st pick, what was owed to Unger and the fact that Graham (now) is signed to a very friendly deal with so more bonuses that need to be moved around and he's recieved all of his guaranteed money.

It was just something I never thought about. We got a great one in Schnieder

Hawkfan77":1td5ky1v said:

He was on KJR discussing the trade and he said part of the reason they did the Graham trade was for cap relief. He started talking about the cost of the 31st pick, what was owed to Unger and the fact that Graham (now) is signed to a very friendly deal with so more bonuses that need to be moved around and he's recieved all of his guaranteed money.

It was just something I never thought about. We got a great one in Schnieder

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Add in the cap relief we got for cutting Miller, and it's really a wash. Unless we sign a FA Center, we'll use one currently on the roster or a drafted one. Either way it'll be cheap.

What I appreciate about PC/JS the most is that they are always looking to make improvements to the overall team. The number of players that have going thru their system since day one proves that. I'm just happy that they don't rest on their laurels and are 100% into improving the team. Personally, I hate teams that are pretty good but afraid to make changes, with excessive loyalty to certain players and having a system where the highest paid get snaps over their counterparts that may be better.

PC/JS have had a consistent plan for player acquisition and development that is 2-nd to none (IMO) in the current NFL and I see the Graham signing as further proof. They have plans for every situation that may come up both for the short term and the long term, "3-Pete" here we come........