Waiting to be Free -- Agents

That means a lot of teams will be rushing and in the process making mistakes. I hope that won’t be indicative of our offseason acquisitions.

Poke

if you guys had the choice to have a 3 year run at possibly winning the super bowl but taking another 3 years in cap hell, would you take it for the 6th ring?

mike:
No, I wouldn’t. Cheaper is smarter.

Heard another rumour of a player that could be a significant and cheap upgrade at ILB, Kendrell Bell, last season he played OLB in Kansas and he looked out of position. He thrived in Pittsburgh as an ILB in the 3-4 and he comes off an injury riddled season in 2004 and a low production one last year which would count against high salary aspirations and that’s the main reaso for his departure as he’s expected to count 4 millions in the Kansas salary cap.

His possible signing and the one of John Abraham would take LB out as a need come Draft day.

Chandus,

If you pump that much money into LB and the certain kicker signing (which will not be that much) where’s the money for OL?

Exactly my point, Rafael.

OL, OL, & OL are priorities numbers 1-3.

FS & Kicker follow closely.

LB is a nice afterthought, but pales by comparison to our other needs.

Spend the money on Bentley, a RT such as Ashworth, a proven veteran kicker, and maybe a FB.

Draft defense: OLB, ILB, S.

All I know if you ask every here we could only fix one position what would it be? OT if we could only fix two position it would be OT and K. To me OT and K are the only two position that are must needs. The other positions can use an upgrade are OLB and FS. Of all our needs one or two are not going to be address this year. You just can’t fix everything in one year. I don’t think ILB and center will be address this year. To me we need to put Oline as 1,2 and 4 as needs this off season. We have a qb that can’t move around so we need to get better than good line. Our line wasn’t good with Flo there last year. Bledsoe take sacks some are his fault and some are not his fault but the fact is he takes sacks were every he is. To me we don’t have the right people to run the type of offense BP wants to run. I don’t want to see the same offense unit this year as last year. I wont be mad if the first pick of the draft is OT, WR, FS, OLB, RB(White) or QB. All I do know for sure is something that everybody thinks we need to get will not be address this year.

Last year we addressed . . .
NT – ferguson,
G — riverra,
CB – henry
QB – bledsoe
RB – barber
OLB – ware
DE – canty
DE – spears

I agree we can’t address everything, but we can do more than you suggest.

I forgot that we also addressed

Nickel CB – aaron

aw,

I agree. RT is more important than C. Everyone says Al Johnson has a problem with mammouth DT’s. We dont face a 3-4 defense this season. The best DT we have to deal with is the Jaguars. Now speed rushers, we face the likes of Peppers, the 2 Giants, Dwight Freeney, Kearse, Simieon Rice, the guy from the Cards. We need a RT for those games. Al Johnson and our backup C (maybe Okobi from Pitt or a draftee) can handle the DT’s we will face, Shaun Rogers, Marcus Stroud.

I disagree about RB tho. MBIII will improve and JJ will be healthy. The first round pick also won’t be a QB, I doubt we see one first day or even drafted at all. Cutler wont fall and no1 beyond those 3 are worth a first round pick.

AW:

I agree we need a RT. Pettiti was just this side of awfull. But before Flo went down in week 11 we were 7-3. And we could easily have been better if we didn`t give the skins & raider games away.I agree RT has to be adressed but through FA. BP does not want to groom another rookie.
He wants to win now.
I would think :
Free Anecy: (1) RT (2) K (3) LB FS

Draft: LB FS etc:

lou c
All I said I wouldnt be mad if we drafted White. All JJ has showed me so far is he can miss games. He had one good game this past season so I bet people are going to say he was just healthy for that game and that is the only game the line blocked for him. And the rest of the games he played he wasn’t healthy. That’s not good enough. MB I like him but I don’t know if he is the answer. White is the type of running that fits BP offense. Our line is not that good at all, there is not one player on that line you can say played well. Mix bad line with a qb that takes sacks, WRs that take longer to get open(lack of a true #1) and poor running game(jj can’t run inside). One more thing some bad play calling at times. LA went to the probowl but everybody knows he is not a probowl player anymore.

madcowboy
what do you consider being address just picking up a player?
Rivera did not play well that’s not being addressed to me. We made the right pick with AH and the wrong pick with Rivera. Every year players are picked up that doesn’t mean the position is fixed. OT, and K should have been addressed last year. What I said is everything will not be address and what do you think will not be addressed.

Jesse NY
I don’t know if I can say we would have made the playoff if Flo didn’t get hurt. We still had problems putting up points when he was there. I know people are going to say Bledsoe had a good qb rating when Flo was there, true but nothing in Bledsoe’s career suggest he was going to continue to play well if Flo was there. Because he didn’t play well in the first wash game, he didn’t play well in oak. He threw a pick that went for a TD against SF. So I cant say if Flo didn’t get hurt we would have made the playoffs.

LOU C:

please don’t give the topsie twins in new york a nickname, I just threw up in my mouth!
Look, C is not an issue for the reasons stated above and more. The guy is essentially a rookie. micro-fracture knee surgery as a Rookie (whatever that is) apparently took a while to heal. limited playing time for year two and finally plays his first full season on year three which is really two, BP gives his players three years, let’s do the same. Mickey Spagnolla says the kid has talent and that something extra.
Rob Pettite did disapoint this year, but BP says he has some of the best feet he’s seen. That means something. hire an insurance policy and give the kid a shot. T.O. took about 7 years to explode!!!
Bottom line is O-line MUST HAVE cohesion and the only way to get it is to give them time together. Changing every player that didn’t make the pro-bowl every year gains nothing.
Let’s get some insurance and go from there

Rafael:
You earlier mentioned that the value of the Franchise tag for a LB is of 7.2M, if Abraham is signed I don’t think that he would be signed for a deal just like the one of Joey Porter, a six or five year deal worth 22.5 millions. That would slate him to be paid in his first year something close to 4 millions. Dallas can pay that just with the work on LA’s contract.

And I just wouldn’t believe that Kendrel Bell would be as expensive, he could sign a deal with a little above minimum salary and lots of incentives.

Having a LB corps like this is definetely worth 5 to 7 millions:
WSLB – Ware
MLB – James
JLB – Bell/Burnett
SSLB – Abraham

And Dallas could have as much as 15 millions if certain players are cut, like Glover, Singleton and Ogbogu as they would free nearly 7 millions of cap space. And that’s the space you need to sign the rookie pool, a Tackle, a Kicker and a FB.

And then you would go to the Draft aiming at FS, OT, OG with the 1st 3 picks.

Chandus:

Good facts, I agree. OG for Backup and future. The early 90’s were great, but we killed ourselves in the later years and I was misserable. Don’t want to do that again.

LOL that wasnt a nickname, I couldnt remember the guy opposite Strahan. I just remembered they pressured us all day.

Man Pete Prisco gets stupider every time I read his crap. He lists the Cowboys at 17, but all of the NFC east better than us. We got the 5th best odds to win the Super Bowl, I think those guys know a little more than Prisco.

BTW, also heard the comments that Greg Ellis agent made, Parcells isn’t known for telling lies, is that aindication that Dallas is going to play the 3-4, the 4-3 and the 42 next year? Otherwise Ellis isn’t going to play more… That would be the idea of having a more versatile Offense.

Let’s see:
3-4 Main:
DE – Canty/Ellis
NT – Ferguson/Pepper
DE – Spears/Ratliff
WSLB – Ware/Fujita
MLB – James/Fowler
JLB – Bell/Burnett
SSLB – Abraham/Fujita

4-3 Change of pace:
DE – Ware/Abraham
DT – Ferguson/Peppers
DT – Ratliff/Spears
DE – Ellis/Abraham
OLB – Bell/Ware
MLB – James/Fowler
OLB – Burnett/Ware

and Nickel:
DE – Ware/Abraham
DT – Canty/Peppers
DT – Ratliff/Spears
DE – Ellis/Abraham
OLB – Bell/Burnett
MLB – James/Burnett

used to offend me, but now I love being underated to start a season. do you remember what we were this year?

I messed up the first paragraph in comment 16, it should be read like this:

You earlier mentioned that the value of the Franchise tag for a LB is of 7.2M, if Abraham is signed I donâ€â"¢t think that he would be signed for that kind of amount, a deal just like the one of Joey Porter would be more real, a six or five year deal worth 22.5 millions. That would slate him to be paid in his first year something close to 4 millions. Dallas can pay that just with the work on LAâ€â"¢s contract.

http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=15458
check out this article on WAS LB’S. Whatdyou think of Arrington.
They wereen’t very flattering of him, yet they devote the biggest section to him, and in the position analysis portion at the bottom they point out they don’t need any LB’s even though his “future may be uncertain due to salary cap restraints” could he fit into our plans?

yeah, I got it.

Chandus:

I like that defense a lot…that looks like a Championship caliber 3-4 LB corps. If Burnett pans out eventually that would be all the better. I would love to see that lineup, and then have Winston Justice fall to us in the 1st round, Max Jean-Gilles in the 2nd, and Nick Mangold in the 3rd, with a FS or NT (to replace Glover) in the 5th. Sign one of the good FA Kickers, and a guy like Beasley and that would make last offseason look modest in comparison.

The only trouble is that if Abraham is franchised and the Cowboys iron out a contract to take him anyway, then the Cowboys have to give up two 1st round picks to the Jets. I have a feeling that as much as Parcells would like to have Abraham with the team for a title run, he also probably thinks he has given enough to the Jets organization over the years and would rather not part with two 1st rounders. On the other hand, next year looks to be a very thin draft, and if Abraham and a strong draft could give this team a couple of great years, the Jets would be the ones getting hosed on the deal and Parcells will be sipping drinks at the race track after that anyway.

Your scenario would require a lot of other teams helping the Cowboys out, but it would be great to have it happen. Something similar happened with the Herschel Walker and Steve Walsh trades before the Dynasty Era, and also with trading up to get Emmitt instead of taking the rest of the remaining weak 1st round RB crop. Those are the kind of deals you have to make sometimes to have a Championship team.

notice the ‘skins don’t list Carpenter on their draft linebackers

notice the ‘skins don’t list Carpenter on their draft linebackers

That Pennington situation could potentially go a long way in affecting the Abraham situation. They want him to take a pay cut from $9 million to $1 million…lmao. He can’t even do it if he wanted to because of a variety of reasons, so they may have to consider cutting him because they are in such bad cap hell. That seems like a tough decision for them to make considering how much they have invested in him already, how much he’d count against the cap if released, and how much they would have to pony up in signing bonuses to sign Jay Cutler if they drafted him at #4 in this draft to replace Pennington (assuming that some team claims him off waivers). That is a very difficult situation they are in at a very crucial position that was a big problem for them last year due to injuries. If they can’t restructure his deal or extract a pay cut from him, they may either have to look for a partner to trade down with in the 1st round, or reconsider franchising Abraham unless they already have an iron clad trade deal worked out (not likely). Trading down seems more likely to me, since there is bound to be a team that would like to move up into the top 5. Franchising and trading Abraham would be difficult if they can’t redo Pennington’s deal because, like the T.O. situation, all the other teams know the situation the Jets are in and realize the Jets can’t afford Abraham’s franchise salary and to sign a top 5 draft pick with his signing bonus.

I sure hope Parcells is watching his former team very closely, there is bound to be some deals to be had with them this offseason.

aw,

I knew you might single out Riverra, but of course you ignored the fact that I rattled off 8 names, not just 1.

Riverra aside, we addressed QB, NT, CB, nickel CB, OLB, and 3 DEs (ratliff, spears, canty). To say that we hit and missed because Henry paid off and Riverra didn’t, ignores the facts.

By “addressed,” I mean we signed acquired a significant upgrade. Even if you think Riverra was not an upgrade, which I’m not ready to say, you can’t dispute that we addressed 8 or 9 positions last off season.

My point is that if you have some room under the cap, which we do, you can address more than only 1 or 2 positions.

I think we will address OLB, ILB, RT, K, and FS. If it were me, I would go a step further and address center.

lou C,

Your argument against signing Bentely has some merit. I like your analysis, but I disagree with the conclusion.

First, we have to be able to get the tough first downs when its 4th and 1 or 3rd and 2. We simply have no chance as it stands today. Bentley would help.

Second, we don’t know what we’ve got in Riverra. Unless he improves, he is a bust. Bentley, however, could help him. With Bentely on one side and a veteran RT on the other side, Riverra could have an easier road.

Third, although Bentely is big, he can pull. This is something that AJ does well, and with our aging guards, it’s imperative. Bentley can do it, so we aren’t losing anything.

Finally, and this is the selling point for me, you just don’t have many opportunitites to sign a 26 year old pro-bowl linemen. Unlike many free agents, Bentely can be a centerpiece on our Oline for the next 8 or 9 years. He is a long term fix.

He would help get our yards-per-carry up to a respectable level. I’m not sure adding a RT alone will do that.

Madcowboy
I didn’t say we are only going to address one or two I said that one or two would not be addressed this off season. K and OT were needs last year and they are still needs. Canty and Spears are upgrades. Ratliff looks like he is going to be ok. I’m not sold on the RB we have yet. We signed a WR and RB last year and they were both wrong moves. We still can use a WR. We addressed the Defense last off season. I would like JJ to address the offense like he did the defense last year. The only significant upgrade I saw was AH and Ware. The other players did not start until mid to late in the year. You don’t get a draft like we had last year every year. Everybody doesn’t make the team.

Sterling:
There’s when I think that Kirwan is right, he worked in the Jets Front Office and he realizes that for Abraham to be signed to a Franchise tag again they would need to work on their cap alot, like cutting Fabini and Ty Law, reworking Pennington’s deal and some more work, because this would be Abraham 2nd Franchise tag and that adds a percentage. I can’t see NY getting with what they want, Kirwan agrees.

Talk about a pay cut, they want Pennington to go from 9 million a season to 1 million a season. Now THATS a pay cut.

Chandus

NO NO NO on Kendrell Bell I’m here in KC and he was a big big bust.

If we don’t get an edge rusher to bookend Ware our pass rush will not improve. Those linebacking corps are still in need. We drafted two LBs last year.

I would like to see an FA LB added to the mix. I would not mind an FA RT also but…..not sure what is available. Rivera, Allen and Flo will be starters again. Hopefully improved Rivera and a Healthy Flo…….that leaves RT and C…….not sure there are any RTs in the draft that will be immediate studs……so I say FA the RT……let Tucker and Petitti fight for the backup……and Draft a G/C type to add to the mix of Johnson, Gurode, Peterman……..Rivera and Allen ain’t young pups…….Petitti is only in 2nd year……..maybe we lose one of the Johnson Gurode combo….just make an upgrade over the lost guy. We need a running game and that ball control offense that we lacked last year.

However….if we don’t add some playmakers at the LB spot……we ain’t going to have the kind of Defense Bill Parcells wants.

Thornton is an unknown, Singleton an over 30 serviceable LB……Shanle, Fowler, Fujita role players……Burnette is also an unknown at this point………I think we need to bookend for Ware and then lookout.

I argued K was a walk on FA position. However AH….for after the Hoffman era……seemed like a nightmare. I think JJ will add a K through FA which will cost more than Hoffman but it is what it is. You don’t draft a kicker. Just ask Oakland.

First Day……….not necessarily in this order……OLB, RT, G-C……2nd Day……MLB, TE, WR. (if RT is addressed vis FA…..add an FS and draft best player availalbe at either FS or MLB on day 1 or 2)

Glenn and KJ were good but are aging……Crayton looked great til the injury……Newman was returning punts at lining up at WR……maybe TT sees some plays at WR also. At any rate……Glenn and KJ suffered injuries the year before and those two are critical on our offense……Witten too………

The ringer…..of course is QB……it could well be in there either day……it could be that Jerry knows Bill is a short timer but respects his eye for talent……Jerry could say Bill get me the qb of the future…..and the rest are all yours. Just a thought but call it the Henson factor. Henson going to Europe is not a good sign……he will not have produced much by the NFL Draft if anything to evaluate. JJ sees a young mean defense……and knows what a franchise QB means for the Ticket, the stadium…….and for once he can stop doing commercials and let his super stars take that roll back over……something he has lacked since the Triplets retired……..NT is another position that could see action especially depending on the Glover situation.

every year you have to gamble on a couple of positions. BP gambled on tackle and lost. BUT if you look back: The Hotel had hardly EVER missed any games due to injury; So to lose him for the last third of a season was a total shock and unexpected. We were able to help Pettiti up till then; and would have had Tucker to help out Pettiti when he got injured. Oooppppsssss.
I think it is clear that BP will NOT take that chance again. He will make sure that he has good backups for BOTH tackles. I think that is where Columbo could come in. We will get a good FA tackle and have columbo as well. All 3 will fight it out for RT.
Tucker will back up LT – with one of the 3 as another backup for LT AND RT. Now as regards the guard position I think that we convince LA to restructure and give Rivera a chance to prove that last year was just a lot of bad breaks as regards injuries.
BUT we try and keep Gurode just in case. If we do not keep Gurode then we draft a guard in the 3rd or 4th. I would LOVE to get Gilles but I think he is a high 2nd rd pick. For center- Johnson has had 3 Training Camps, 2 full offseasons and 2 full seasons playing and shows problems. Yes he can pull, but he gets overwhelmed by big NT’s and DT’s. Apparently we do not play any 3-4 teams this year so MAYBE we could get by with him again; but if we lose Gurode we do not have a back up. If we could get Mangold in the third that would be great; if not, then we need to get a FA. Bentley is going to cost serious money and the only way we go after him is if BP is SURE that Johnson is not the permanent answer at Center. Bentley can play guard BUT he would cost too much money to do anything but Start. The wild card is if LA does not restructure- he will be cut I think then. THEN we probably go after Gilles with our first rd pick- after trading down. I really doubt that BP wants to go into the season only with Peterman. Of course if we get Bentley he could be the guard instead BUT he would cost as much as LA; IF we got Mangold then we would probably be ok.
AW: we really only have to seriously improve K, FS, LB, T. That can be done in one offseason. Your hatred of Bledsoe and JJ blinds you to the facts that both can play at a Pro Bowl level (Bledsoe was leading the NFC in passing halfway through the season) Bottom line is that the talent is there on offense to do quite well IF the O line does its job.
One last wish: a real BLOCKING FB. Polite ain’t it.

Colombo is a good point….he is sort of chicagos Jacob Rogers only a higher draft choice…..BP told him from day one that he did not need him not but down the road…..so he obviosly wanted the player in the weight room, classroom and out of the dining room.

Still he is another body in the mix. You know last year at Camp we were looking pretty good with Rogers and Adams at T and AJ, Gurode and Allen with expecatations of Rivera….the Rogers got hurt…

what is his deal……..Cowboys still own his rights any chance he goes to camp again with the Cowboys?

If the NFL moves back the start of business to April, wouldn’t that mean that players wouldn’t get their roster bonuses until then, instead of March 3rd?

That could buy the Cowboys more time to renogotiate LA’s deal, and to shop Glover around and see if they can get any suitors before they have to bite the bullet and make a decision. It sounds like Ellis is staying, which could be a very good thing in the end if he doesn’t complain.

Jon:

Rogers got cut in camp, no one else picked up his rights as far as I know. If he recovers and can stay healthy I would hope that he would call up Parcells first and ask for another opportunity. I may be expecting too much, but it seems like he should have some loyalty to Parcells since Rogers knows how much he cost this team.

Tackle seems to be a pretty deep position in this year’s draft. If we use a 1st rounder on one, it would need to be an elite tackle who could start right away. How do you guys rank the top OTs?
for me it’s
1. Ferguson
2. Justice
3. Jon Scott
4. Marcus McNeil
5. Eric Winston

Ferguson is top 10 for sure, but if Justice is there, I would definitely use No. 18 on him. If not, I would try to trade down a few spots and pick up one of the other top 5. If carpenter is there (or Greenway) I would take them instead, and address OT in the 2nd or 3rd round.

On a side note, I would love to grab Max Jean Gilles or Tuitsui (spelling?) from USC in the second round at OG. Those guys are both massive and could ceratinly be groomed to replace Rivera or Allen not far down the line. what u guys think?

Also on a side note, seeing Sharper’s two picks and playing alongside Roy in the Pro Bowl has me licking my chops at the possibility of picking up a top FS. He is a superb cover safety who just makes plays. Roy could play up in the box every single play with a guy like that back there. Considering that safeties are cheaper than many other positions, I would take a hard look at him or another top FS. Having the ability to blitz Roy most of the time would make up for a deficiency at one of the LB positions. Roy is a LB. would almost be like running a 3-5-3… and with Newman Henry and Sharper, not too farfetched

RParr,

Sharper signed a four year deal with Minnesota last year, so he’s not going anywhere. But your main point is well taken — an intelligent cover safety would make Roy that much better. He probably made more plays as a green rookie with Darren Woodson next to him than he has the past two seasons.

resigned, mat mcbriar 1yr for 385,000. hey at least our punter is good.

Actually, we placed Rogers on IR, expecting to come to an injury settlement, however, they never agreed on a settlement, that would have effectively cut Rogers loose.

He gave a few interviews during the season and said he’s looking forward to playing somewhere else.

But for now, we own his rights…he’s under contract for a few more years.

Is he an option? My guess is he’s trade bait (conditional 5th or 6th at best). My hope is BP forgives and forgets and gives the guy another shot.

By the way, roster bonuses are paid when negotiated, usually March 1st. Moving the FA signing period would not affect those bonuses.

we paid Henry, we paid Newman, we paid Roy, somebody be it Davis, Bierault or some undrafted FA to be named later needs to fill the position……if Roy is a LB then let him line up at OLB and record 12 sacks…….otherwise…..put somebody out there that presents more of a threat than Fujita…….and let our two shut down Corners earn their keep.

We were a better pass rush team with a healthy HENRY………give WARE another year and a bookend……we can let the mediots write about how bad a QB Bledsoe was with his 119 rating when he won a Super Bowl and watch as Hamburger goes in before Drew and all argue how good he was with a starting right tackele and two OLBS!!!!

Question for you…..honestly without using the internet…….name the Linebackers that Bill Parcells has coached…..and the Super Bowl teams…..winners and losers…….now name the Defensive backs that were on that same team!

Gets hard don’t it…….cuz the LBs were making plays long before the play got to the Corner or Safety!!! Roy bring the wood buddy…..but let Ware and a player to be named later at OLB to get the sacks…..

Rafael,

If you pump that much money into LB and the certain kicker signing (which will not be that much) where’s the money for the OL?

I’m not terribly crazy about spending a lot of money on any one free agent for any position. I would much rather bring in several mid-range free agents and provide potential solutions for as many positions of need as we can find the right players. I’m not looking for Pro Bowlers — just guys who can play at a reasonable NFL-starter level.

The potential for busting out is just too high when you pay out the big money to a player who worked well in somebody else’s system, but may fall on his face in yours.

Just look what happened last year. Henry was the only one who was worth the high price. And even he was stalled by injury. Ferguson was a decent player, but not worth what we paid him. Rivera didn’t even come close to repaying his signing bonus. On the other hand, Bledsoe and Glenn more than paid back the (relatively) meager bonuses they received. And, even though Thomas and Price flopped, we didn’t have all that much invested in them, so the pain of separation was negligible.

Fighter15,

By the way, roster bonuses are paid when negotiated, usually March 1st. Moving the FA signing period would not affect those bonuses.

That is one of the things I have been wondering about. Some contracts specify an exact date. Others specify a date in relation to the start of free agency (ie, the 10th day of the league year — the league year usually coincides with the start of free agency). For the latter, there would be no problem. But, what of a player who is due $2 million on March 10? Could those contracts be changed by league dictate?

There are also other dates that might have to be adjusted, such as the date for extending EFA and RFA tenders, the date for applying franchise and transition tags, and the date to end the ‘cut’ freeze. That last one could cause severe problems with those roster bonuses which are specified for an exact date.

Mr. Bill,

You’re touched on a big problem for the ‘05 Cowboys. It wasn’t that they lacked for good players, it’s that they had really good players next to guys who were well below league average. If you get modestly priced and sound players at FS, ILB and RT then you’re most of the way there.

For that reason there’s only one guy I consider throwing big money at in free agency — Bentley. Of the top 20 rated FAs, he’s the only guy who fits a position of need who will:
a. not be franchised, and;
b. is in his mid-20s.

Guys like that don’t hit the market often. They’re like the occasional #1 baseball starter who becomes a FA in his mid-20s; this only happens because his front office is screwing up. I’m still amazed that the Saints will let this guy become an UFA unchallenged.

That said, I’m not 100% sure I pursue him. But I look — hard. He’s a very rare bird at this stage of the salary cap era.

Jon Bartlett:

Great question about Parcells DB’s. The only two names I can remember off the top of my head are Mark Collins and Terry Kinard, but they may not have even been with the Giants when Parcells was there. Oh, and of course Everson Walls, whom they took from us…but by that time he had earned the right to go let someone else pay him for what he did.

Fighter15:

I’m glad to hear that the roster bonuses will go out on time. Despite the Cowboys players that will be involved, it is going to make a lot of other teams (Jets for instance, a few others whose title windows are or are closing) have to make some very very very tough choices unless they can get a lot of contracts redone in only a 2 week span. Ha ha…ha…ha. Good luck. I still remember when so many teams feasted on the Titans cap woes last year…lol. That probably helped the Cowboys in FA inadvertantly since teams were able to claim Titans players off the waiver wire or not long after clearing it. The old supply/demand thing to fill spots they might have bid on with the other UFA’s. So if a March roster bonus does have to be paid without a new CBA or FA in tact, some potentially very good players could possibly shake loose either on the waiver wire or in some form of free agency upon clearing the wire from teams over the salary cap. Something to watch.

Mr. Bill:

An interesting question about bonuses being changed by league dictate. My guess is that as a member of the NFLPA, a player would be asked not to legally accept the roster bonus due to them (ie.- cash the check) if an extension of the new CBA was still currently under negotiation, but to have it placed in some sort of escrow account in the NFLPA’s name, to be paid pending a new CBA. Otherwise, some players could receive theirs and some players would legally be strung out until early April or a new CBA is in place, depending on the wording of their contracts. That would hurt the NFLPA’s hand in their collective bargaining leverage if some players were able to receive their roster bonuses and others weren’t. That would be similar to the way the sports agents were supposedly able to manipulate the player’s union a number of years ago in the NBA.

The NFL could declare a different date for the beginning of their year to iron out a new CBA…but if the NFLPA did not respect that good faith gesture in other respects to labor negotiations it could potentially seriously damage the NFLPA not only in these labor talks, but in the future as well. Teams have to plan for the future of their franchise, including the salary cap, and if a potential cap casualty is on the bubble because of a roster bonus, teams have to have some way of knowing what they are dealing with going in to that date. I’m sure there could be a lot of variance, given the exact wording of player contracts, but it is up to the NFLPA to avoid such potential public relations meltdowns during a labor negotiation. The NFL owners could bring up the whole idea of “roster bonuses” as a point in the negotiations if enough are collectively bothered by the choice they have to make while still ironing out the new CBA.

Why would players want to delay? Put up or shut up. That’s why the roster bonuses nearly always are set before FA begins.

If the extention of the fiscal year gives everyone more time to get their salary caps in order, that’s actually good for FAs, bad for bargain shopping. Everyone will have had plenty of time to negotiate contracts and it would actually increase demand.

The only reason for the delay is for contract length to keep signing bonuses high and allow manipulation of base salaries (both of which would be prohibitive under current rules), again a positive for the FA.

Fighter 15,

I believe it’s the league asking for more time. There are several teams that would have to abandon their current plans and demolish their lineups if the CBA was not extended. The Colts are #1 on this list.

Right. Sterling & Mr. Bill were going through some machinations about the NFLPA bargaining. They’re a pig in slop right now. However, even they know that this deal MUST be done.

It’s all about the Benjamins. Poor teams want more share of the pie, players, too. The real stumbling block is Jerry’s side deals, that other big markets have also implemented. Players want all money to count. If shared, it counts.

Be selfish, JJ. It’s a competitive advantage.

Fighter15:

The only machinations I was referring to was the importance of credibility and good faith by both sides in any collective bargaining negotiation. The players would not necessarily want to delay roster bonuses, and I’m sure the players with more sound legal contracts can legally get their bonuses on time, even if the league were to change the start of the fiscal year. Others, maybe not. It’s that disparity that could potentially cause some problems. My point was that to do so may very well put quite a few teams in a very tough spot, since it makes their cap decisions more uncertain. Yes, roster bonuses play a vital role in this planning process.

I’m not sure that the NFLPA does have the upper hand in these negotiations. My guess is that the outcome will be pretty much status quo, with neither side gaining too much ground on the other.

I don’t think the players are going to be getting any money off of owner/franchise side deals. That one looks like a non-starter to me. The owners could very easily turn that one back on the players and ask for all of their “side money” endorsement deals by star players to count against the cap if that were the case.

I also don’t see how the delay helps FA’s by giving more time to get salary caps in order or negotiate FA deals. That would only be the case if teams knew what the new salary cap figures would be going forward, which they obviously would not. It’s kind of hard to go shopping, especially if you are trying to get legal contracts in order, if you don’t know what budget or rules you have to adhere to. Too many what-if’s. The condensed 3 week FA period before the draft could make it even more difficult for the FA’s, since so many agents would be scrambling to make sure their clients are commanding top dollar in a much shorter time span.

Sterling,

The advantage to teams working to clear cap space would come if a new CBA was in place. It will be a lot easier to renegotiate player contracts if that were to happen.

Neither the teams, nor the free agents, nor existing players want to negotiate contracts under current conditions. That is because of the ‘30% rule’, which states that a players base salary may not increase by more than 30% per year, after the final capped year — 2006. So, the players can’t get the big signing bonuses, because of the 4-year restriction on pro-rating the money, and they can’t make it up in future salary. Most teams won’t be able to make it up in current salary, either, especially if they are cap-strapped. Incentive clauses are also limited by the current rules.

If and when a new CBA is implemented, the rules will be far less stringent. [The only reason the current rules are so stringent is that the framers of the CBA wanted it to hurt as the NFL got close to an uncapped year, in order to strongly encourage an extension.] Players who can wait until after a new CBA is in place will get much better terms.

By the way, another problem with delaying the start of the league year is with RFAs. The time limit for an RFA signing with a new team is about a week before the draft. This gives the old team time to match. If it does not match, it receives draft-pick compensation in the upcoming draft. Extending the business year until April 1 would allow only 2 weeks for RFAs to interview and receive offers.

Rafael,

I could see going after Bentley ONLY if it does not hinder our chances for an upgrade at right tackle, which I fear it might. It would not make sense to me to spend a ton of money on yet another ‘really good’ player, only to be sabotaged (again) by poor tackle play.

Last year, the Cowboys were a playoff team while Adams was still healthy. When he went down, we were saddled with (I believe) the worst set of offensive tackles in the NFL. I fear a repeat performance there a lot more than I do our center play. I don’t believe that having Bentley on the team would have put us into the playoffs last year.

If the Cowboys can do both, fine. I fully agree with your assessment of Bentley. Of course, Bentley has expressed an interest in playing for his home-town team — the Browns. That will impact the bidding.

Just please, please, please, leave enough cap space to bring in someone to play right tackle who will not be an embarrassment.

They were the worst set of tackles. Pettiti gave up the most sacks, Tucker the second most (in only 10 games!).

However, I can see a scenario where Bentley gets franchised and traded for Glover straight up.

if you get bentley do you cut AJ? and if so i wonder what his cap figure would be? maybe save some more there and keep gurode as his backup

You think the Saints want glover back? If so I would make that swap costs about the same.

I think since parcells said the only position he had been held hostage at was center i think he keeps AJ too.

Mr. Bill:

Good analysis. Although, presumably if a new CBA was in place there would be no need to ask for a delay in the league’s fiscal year. Like I said, until a new CBA is in place it would be difficult to seriously hammer out numbers with a player because the benchmark (cap) is not known by teams. That means they could only attempt to negotiate in principle and show interest at the very best.

I spent a bit of time last week reading up on some of these rules and the implications of not having a new CBA. Ironically, the 30% rule seemed to be one of the recurring themes, because of its effect on the term structure of the contracts and to discourage teams from backloading or trying to sneak contracts through the league office by offering incentive laden deals that can easily be met. It’s like they had to pile more rules on top of rules to stop teams from gaming the cap system.

The 30% rule cuts the other way too. It can create problems for situations like the Jets trying to renogotiate with Chad Pennington. If they ask him to take $1 million instead of the $9 million he was due to receive, then without a new CBA the rest of his contract would likely be similarly affected. Since his salary couldn’t go up by more than $300,000 the next season without a new CBA in place, it would be a lot more than a one-time $8 million hit for him. Both sides are really stuck in a hard place with that situation, unless a new CBA can be negotiated before the roster bonus has to be paid.

The RFA situation is interesting too if they delay the league year start date. That would be one more thing to keep agents from sleeping for about 2 weeks straight, since they would have to deal with those situations at the same time as their UFA’s and their clients preparing for the draft. Sounds like 20 to 24 hour workdays, with cell phones growing from each ear. I can imagine the appearance of some agents on draft day…like extras from a zombie film.