The Salary Cap Blues

The list in the last link shows the base salaries. In few instances, you can see the bonus they will make just this year. Example— Shuan Rogers 2.5M in base and 1.5 M in bonus and incentives. Just adding up all the base, the salaries come in around $72 million. You have to figure all the bonus’ we don’t see are what account for the 105M estimate. I’d be real intrested to know exactly what each player’s number will be— as in how it counts against the cap for this CBA. In other words, if FA started today, exactly how much money the Saints have available to spend.

Not so sure I agree about your paycuts, but it’s a nice read. We also need to sign our rookies, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

I think Will Smith should take a pay cut. I understand he played injured with a sports hernia the entire 2008 season— which took a lot of guts considering every impact caused him tremendous pain in the guts every play. Yet I don’t believe he is worth the contract he got. I think the only reason he got that contract was because Charles Grant bent the Saints over a barrell with the threat of Tampa signing him and milked them for every stinking penny he could get, and the following year you just had to pay Will more than Charles because he was better. I think Will should take a long look in the mirror and agree he’s made a nice chunk of money and can afford to restructure/extend his contract with more reasonable number to help the team.

Drew’s done it already and he’s earned every penny and didn’t have to. Reggie’s done it twice because he knew he wasn’t worth what he was getting. Will can do it this year.

Randall Gay isn’t a starter. He makes more than Jenkins and Porter and Robinson. Greer gets paid a little more. Randall is getting starter money and with the drafting of Robinson and Patrick, his roster spot is a luxury.

Alex Brown’s base salary is $3M, but I believe his total figure is $5.5M. He’s definately not worth that. The only other fat you could probably trim would be Devery, but I’d be careful there. Devery wants to stay, Lance is a FA, and Meachem and Colston will be FA’s next year.

Dwight Freeney is getting 11.42 million this year, so Will is getting close to half. Looks good to me. Dwight got only one sack in the Super Bowl against the Saints, the game that really mattered. Will “could” have a great year with a better front four this year, an advantage Grant could never deliver.

I do like someone else sticking their neck out, rather than me so the respect is there, I only comment to “help” if I actually do.

It’s true he is only getting half of Freeney THIS year, but he already banked close to $25 million in bonus money. Good point though, I hadn’t looked at it that way. I don’t know about you, but I’m counting on Will and Sedrick to have big years. They must; we simply need them to.

My whole point about Will’s contract was that when Freeney got his $70 million, everyone thought that was a fair market price and he deserved it. When Will and Charles got close to the same thing (though they got it first), I don’t think any (of us) thought they were “worth” it. The good thing is that all his guaranteed money (aside from 150K workout bonus and small sack escalators) has been paid out. If we needed anyone to restructure, Will Smith is the prime candidate.

And at a similar rate?

You’re taking Reggie’s $12 million clean off the books. There’s a $3.5 million hit if they release him, and if they restructure his new salary would still count against the cap. Either way, it’s not like they can wipe $12 mil clean off the books.

Gay and Henderson are the same deal, the team can release them and take the lion’s share of their due off the books, but not all of it.

Further, signing Drew Brees to a long term deal would probably give immediate cap relief (assuming it’s backloaded) because he’s in the back end of a backloaded deal now. They can pay him more in a huge signing bonus that gets prorated per year in terms of the cap, so Drew would actually physically make more money in 2011, but would count less against the cap, if that makes sense. In the long term his cap number will inflate every year, but in the short term Brees would count less against the cap in 2011 with a new deal.

New Orleans. We all know the Reggie Bush situation. He’s scheduled to count $16 million against the cap. If the Saints release him, they’d only be responsible for $3.5 million in pro-rated bonus money. But it sounds like Bush and the Saints will try to work out a new contract to keep him. It’s unknown if cornerback Randall Gay has been medically cleared after suffering a concussion early last season. If he has, the Saints easily could release him. They’d free up more than $4 million in cap space and they have plenty of other cornerbacks. Wide receiver Devery Henderson also has a relatively high cap figure ($3.225 million) and the Saints could clear up $1.5 million by releasing him. Defensive end Alex Brown is probably safe because the Saints don’t know yet what they have in rookie Cameron Jordan. But Brown is scheduled to count for $3 million and it wouldn’t cost the Saints anything to cut him.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/pos…cap-casualties

From Pat Yasinskas today. Thought it would help.

You’re right Andrew— I’m not taking that fully into account. I just can’t find a website that lists those details, which was why I said in my first comment:

I’d be real intrested to know exactly what each player’s number will be— as in how it counts against the cap for this CBA. In other words, if FA started today, exactly how much money the Saints have available to spend.

I’d almost say that Nicks is a guy I would over-spend to keep. That top notch G tandem is key to having balance and keeping that pocket looking like a pocket. I’d rather spend on Nicks and never have a blue-chip T than let Nicks go elsewhere. The Blitz up the middle gets there quicker than around the T. Fastest route from A to B is a straight line. With Nicks and Evans, Drew has the luxury of stepping up.

While I think Brees and Payton want Moore back in a big way, I think Moore is the player I’d worry most about switching teams. If you look at the “bridge” contract the Saints gave Colston, I think Lance could get more than that.

I’m with you on our perception of Saints Wr’s and likely most teams perception. How many people last year were convinced if Adrian Arrington didn’t make the final 53 there was “no way” he’d clear waivers and make the practice squad?

That said, I think Lance’s value went up a good bit last year. He’s like a poor man’s Wes Welker. I’d think there are plenty of teams that could use him and see him as the perfect slot WR. Lance isn’t big or particulary fast, he’s just a damn good football player who works his butt off and runs crisp routes. He get’s separation and gets open, and does so consistantly. He kind of “came out of nowhere” with the 2008 season, but his 2010 campaign proved it wasn’t a fluke. That’s why I’m a little nervous.— Lance knows he’s worth more than what he’s making.

As for Devery, the Bucs and two other teams wanted him in for interviews, but Devery declined because he wanted to stay a Saint and was hoping they’d make him an offer once the market settled. Devery could be lying to increase his value, but he made those comments AFTER he had resigned.

In the old FA, you had that first week and a half where the big names choose, then you had a period over the following few weeks where mid level guys went, then a period where depth and older vets whose ego’s finally accepted their value go. Devery didn’t have week one intrest, but he said he still had second phase intrest, with the Bucs pushing the hardest.

I’d hate to see Lance go to the Rams. I’d especially hate to see him go to Atlanta. That would make me a little scared.