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Salary Cap Report (1 Viewer)

VICK-tory

Footballguy
This is from draftsharks its a must read

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Draft Sharks

Team-by-Team Salary Cap Report

January 23, 2009

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** All 32 teams ranked by current salary cap space against the 2009 limit of $123 million per club. They are ranked from most cap room (Tampa) to least (NY Jets). These figures are not exact, but after weeks of exhaustive research at the NFLPA website, NFLMedia, ESPN, FOX, & local newspaper sites, they are pretty close. Detailed free agency & contract info included.

by John Miller, Draftsharks.com

1. Tampa Bay -- $42m under – New GM Mark Dominik steps into the fallout from one of the worst collapses in history. The Bucs were 9-3 and cruising. They finished 9-7 and out of the playoffs, losing in Week 17 to ex-coach Jon Gruden’s ex-team, the Oakland Raiders. Every team since 1993 that started 9-3 had made the playoffs until now. Time to get younger. DE Kevin Carter, LB Derrick Brooks, and CB Ronde Barber are turning 36, 36, and 34. Can they lock up free-agent WR Antonio Bryant now that his mentor Gruden was canned? He’ll test the market. QBs Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, and Luke McCown will all be gone. Classic rebuilding mode here.

2. Arizona -- $41m under – Charley Casserly quoted this astounding figure on CBS last week. It’s kind of deceiving because few teams have as many big names to re-sign. They only have 37 players under contract this year. QB Kurt Warner, DE Bert Berry, DE Antonio Smith and LB Karlos Dansby are free agents. Would Warner stay on a discount so he can stay with Larry Fitzgerald? Obviously WR Anquan Boldin wants more money. WR Steve Breaston warrants an extension. They can cut RB Edgerrin James and DE Chike Okeafor and free up $7m. Overall there’s no reason why Arizona can’t sign studs like DE Terrell Suggs (who went to ASU), C/G Jason Brown (another stud Raven), and maybe RB Darren Sproles (change-up for Hightower?).

3. Denver -- $34m under – New coach Josh McDaniels has needs everywhere, primarily on defense. This unit could see a massive slash-fest that frees up another $15m or so, giving them near $50m to spend! S Marlon McCree, S Marquand Manuel, LB Nate Webster, LB Boss Bailey, DE Ebenezer Ekuban, & DT Dewayne Robertson are just 6 of maybe 10-12 defense cap-cuts. McDaniels won’t leave offense off his wish list since he’s holding a platinum credit card. Free-agent RB Derrick Ward is a perfect fit. They have 2 great WRs in Brandon Marshall & Eddie Royal, but what about adding WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh? McDaniels witnessed T.J. burning New England for 26 catches, 340 yards and 1 TD in the last 3 meetings.

4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?

5. Tennessee -- $31m under – DT Albert Haynesworth is this year’s big prize. They can’t franchise him again because of incentive clauses. Insiders say Haynesworth likes Nashville and might stay on a hometown discount but that’s unlikely. 2-3 other teams will offer tongue-dropping cash and he will leave. QB Vince Young’s cap figure is a manageable $4.6m but it jumps to $14.2m in 2010. If they cut Young it’s a $7.7m cap hit. Owner Bud Adams won’t give up on the flaky kid. Overall the Titans are not big shoppers so don’t look for major splashes. Note: C Kevin Mawae is 38. You know the Titans would love to pry free-agent C Jeff Saturday away from Indy.

6. Miami -- $28m under – Free-agent DE Julius Peppers is linked to the Dolphins in trade rumors. Miami has the cash and also an extra 2nd-rounder (from sending DE Jason Taylor to the Skins) so it’s possible. However, they’d have to part with their 1st rounder - 26th overall - this year too. Miami has some free agents to re-sign like S Yeremiah Bell, LB Channing Crowder, & CB Andre Goodman. OT Vernon Carey is also a free agent but he’ll be offered more money by someone else, if only for his versatility. S Renaldo Hill will probably walk too.

7. Buffalo -- $27m under – They can free up at least $10m more by slicing off some defensive fat, guys like S Ko Simpson, DE Chris Kelsay, DT John McCargo, etc. The Bills have a lot of UFAs to consider re-signing, however: C/G Duke Preston, CB Jabari Greer, LB Angelo Crowell, G Jason Whittle, and T Kirk Chambers. RB Fred Jackson is an exclusive rights free agent, which means they can keep him affordably – though he deserves a nice extension right now. They still gotta hammer out a mega-deal with OT Jason Peters.

8. Detroit -- $26m under – New coach Jim Schwartz is no dummy. The Lions have nowhere to go but up from 0-16. They have two 1st rounders, two 3rd rounders, and 5 of the top-82 picks overall. Owner William Clay Ford will spend money. And they could have way more than $26m in cap room – after trimming off CB Leigh Bodden, QB Daunte Culpepper, S Dwight Smith, TE Dan Campbell & G Edwin Mulitalo. This roster is in for a major overhaul and could be loaded with stud rookies and free agents.

9. San Francisco -- $26m under – In 2007 and 2008 the 49ers were top-3 in cap room, so they’re still hanging in there nicely. They can cut QB Alex Smith and OT Jonas Jennings and free up $7.3 million more. Smith is coming off the busted shoulder and simply isn’t a great player. Jennings has missed all or parts of 47 games the last 4 years. DE Justin Smith’s big contract last year has a bloated cap figure for 2009 - $10.5 million – but they’ll let it ride. Ninersnation.com is clamoring for the team to land free-agent DE Terrell Suggs at all costs.

10. Houston -- $25m under – Cutting S Will Demps, RB Ahman Green, LB Morlon Greenwood and DE Anthony Weaver could add more space to this figure. Defense and offensive line are always the big need, despite using six 1st-round picks on these two areas since 2004. The fans want free-agent DE Julius Peppers but he wants to be in a 3-4 scheme so that rules Houston out. Plus they don’t want to give up the 15th pick. DE Chris Canty (Cowboys) and LB Bart Scott (Ravens) are great fits. S Brian Dawkins could be a sneaky grab who lends valuable leadership to a young defense.

11. Philadelphia -- $25m under – The big question is what do they do with Donovan McNabb? He counts $10.3 million on the cap. If they trade him it would free up $9.2 million in cap space (with only $1.1m left on the books). S Brian Dawkins, OT Tra Thomas, OT Jon Runyan, RB Correll Buckhalter and S Sean Considine are free agents. They can cut TE L.J. Smith and CB Lito Sheppard to free up $5m. Bust WR Reggie Brown is staying because they take a $3m hit if they release him.

12. Cincinnati -- $22m under – Owner Mike Brown must be overcome with grief. QB Carson Palmer, WR Chad Johnson, and OT Levi Jones were all in the top-6 highest paid at their positions – and the Bengals were last in scoring, yards, and yards per play. They franchised RT Stacey Andrews last season after failing to sign him to a long-term deal for the 2nd straight year. This year they might franchise WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh at $7.85m guaranteed for 1 year. Overall none of this cap stuff matters to Cincy if Carson Palmer’s elbow is trashed. Stay tuned.

13. New England -- $21m under – This figure doesn’t count the (gulp) $14.8m one-year tender for Matt Cassel. If they tag Cassel they’ll have $28 million cap dollars tied up in 2 quarterbacks. However, they can make it work. DE Richard Seymour, OT Matt Light, WR Randy Moss, LB Adalius Thomas, and DE Jarvis Green have a combined $65m in cap charges – if 3 or 4 of those guys restructure it frees up $15m easily.

14. Minnesota -- $20m under – Last year the Vikings gave up a 1st & two 3rd-rounders for DE Jared Allen, then tossed him a whopping $31m in guaranteed money. Allen had 14.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and a league-high 52 QB hurries. Cha-ching! This kind of aggressive management approach should set an example for flaccid clubs like Cincinnati and St. Louis. Go get your guy. Sign a true game-changer. This year the Vikings are rumored to be after QBs Matt Cassel or Donovan McNabb.

15. Atlanta -- $20m under – Some old reliables must go, including former superstar LB Keith Brooking. He’s scheduled to count $7m but his contract is voidable. Brooking’s fate was sealed when he got beat by Cardinals TE Stephen Spach in the wild-card game. GM Thomas Dimitroff isn’t afraid to make tough decisions – he cut franchise legends Alge Crumpler & Warrick Dunn last year. Fan favorite LB Michael Boley might be cut too. When they release Michael Vick he’ll still eat up $7.1m in cap space.

16. Pittsburgh -- $19m under – Supposedly a frugal club, the Steelers spent $128m in payroll last year, 6th highest in football. The product bears out that spending. And when they did Roethlisberger’s extension last March they pro-rated his $25m signing bonus over the 8 years of the deal, and his 2009 salary is “only” $4.75m, so his 2009 cap hit is a manageable $7.9m. The big question is will they re-sign G Chris Kemoeatu, T Max Starks, and T Marvel Smith, all free agents?

17. Baltimore -- $19m under – CBs Samari Rolle & Chris McAlister count a combined $17m. Pay cuts or both hit the road. The Ravens are a relatively low payroll club who’s squeezed the most they could out of what they have. 3 of the top-6 defensive free agents on the 2009 market are Ravens: DE Terrell Suggs, LB Bart Scott, and LB Ray Lewis. They can’t keep all three. Maybe only one. TE Todd Heap already took a pay cut once so they might just cut him. It would free up $3.6m. The big rumor is a straight-up trade: Terrell Suggs for Anquan Boldin. Wow!

18. Chicago -- $19m under – Key defensive studs like CB Nathan Vasher, CB Charles Tillman, and LB Brian Urlacher count a combined $20m. Re-do their deals. Yikes, there’s $5.4m in dead money for Cedric Benson, Muhsin Muhammad, and Brian Griese. They can free up $8m by cutting OT John Tait, FB Jason McKie, DE Adewale Ogunleye, DT Dusty Dvoracek, and WR Marty Booker. The Bears are rumored to be after safety O.J. Atogwe in free agency (if he isn’t franchised by St. Louis) and DE Terrell Suggs.

19. Green Bay -- $18m under – Getting rid of Brett Favre and his $12 million salary for a 3rd-round pick turned out to be the right move. Then they signed Aaron Rodgers to a cap-friendly 6-year, $65 million deal on Oct. 31 – shoveling $12 million onto the 2008 cap before the league deadline. If they waited another 24 hours the entire pay increase would have to be treated as a signing bonus -- and pro-rated over the length of the contract for cap purposes. Now they have cap room to extend WR Greg Jennings, S Nick Collins, and S Atari Bigby.

20. Cleveland -- $17m under – The Browns will probably cut Jamal Lewis. They’d be saving a cash payout of $6.4m in salary & roster bonus. RT Kevin Shaffer is a bust, but he only counts $4.4m on the cap so he might stay. WR Donte Stallworth has a roster bonus of $5m due – he’ll fly out to fleece his 5th team in March. The Browns can free up $12m in cap room by cutting QB Derek Anderson, DE Shaun Smith, LB Willie McGinest, LB Andra Davis, DT Robaire Smith, and G Ryan Tucker.

21. Jacksonville -- $16m under – Owner Wayne Weaver got burned last year, giving out $23m in guaranteed dollars to WR Jerry Porter and CB Drayton Florence. He spent $122m in total payroll, 8th most in the league. They’ll let OT Khalif Barnes walk in free agency. S Gerald Sensabaugh, LB Mike Peterson, and C Brad Mester might walk too. Only Meester seems to be on their list of priorities. WR Reggie Williams’ contract is voidable. He’s gone.

22. San Diego -- $14m under – Time for semi-rebuilding on both sides of the ball. Not a complete housecleaning, but GM A.J. Smith knows he has to shake it up. But first he has to extend Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman and Vincent Jackson, all going into the last year of their deals. As crazy as it seems, ending it with LaDainian Tomlinson makes sense. He’s 30 and his body is breaking down. Dumping him off frees up $6.725m in cap space. They also want to re-sign Darren Sproles, who was their MVP in December & January.

23. New York Giants -- $11m under – The first order of business is to lock up Brandon Jacobs, but can (will) they? He’ll want to test the open market and plenty of teams could offer more money. Rumor has it the Giants want free-agent DT Albert Haynesworth (imagine that defensive line with Osi Umenyiora returning from injury) but they’re actually set with DTs Fred Robbins & Barry Cofield. If Plaxico Burress is cut before June 1st he only counts $4.4m in dead money.

24. Dallas -- $10m under – Owner Jerry Jones will always empty his pockets and spend cash-over-cap so it doesn’t really matter how much room Dallas has. The first order of business is Terrell Owens. The reports that his release/trade would cause a massive cap charge are true – but the “net” hit is only $680,000. In other words, he already counts $8.99 million if stays. He counts $9.67m if he leaves. They have until June 1st when his $3.1m roster bonus is due. All-World LB DeMarcus Ware is entering a contract year and deserves to be one of the 5 highest-paid defenders in the NFL. Overall, every offensive starter is signed for at least 2 more years. Cutting QB Brad Johnson, G Montrae Holland, and S Roy Williams frees up $6m.

25. Carolina -- $9m under – Jake Delhomme counts $11m on the cap. Cut him and get $6m in net cap savings. Or accept his apology for the 6 turnovers vs. Arizona, re-do his deal and free up a few million. Ask CB Ken Lucas ($6m cap charge) to restructure too. Cut WR D.J. Hackett, RB Nick Goings, LB Landon Johnson, OG Keydrick Vincent, and CB Ricardo Colclough to free up $8m. Carolina could franchise-tag DE Julius Peppers and trade him for a 1st round pick (they currently don’t have a 1st rounder in this draft). We hear Cleveland and Miami are the most interested.

26. Seattle -- $9m under – The Seahawks can free up $14m in cap space by cutting QB Matt Hasselbeck, OG Mike Wahle, WR Bobby Engram, RB Maurice Morris, and WR Koren Robinson. Robinson might actually stay if his knee gets right. “He's been the key blocker on three of our four longest plays from scrimmage this year, and the receiver in our longest (90 yarder),” says Seahawks beat blogger Chris Sullivan. LB LeRoy Hill will likely be franchise-tagged at $8 million for one year. LT Walter Jones and WR Deion Branch count $17m combined by themselves. Pay cuts, fellas.

27. St. Louis -- $8m under – They could be releasing the last 3 players from their Super Bowl winning team in 1999 – WR Torry Holt, DE Leonard Little, and OT Orlando Pace. It would free up $14m and give them a chance to sign a couple free agents. WR Drew Bennett (coming off a broken foot) might not be back, though cutting him causes a $2.5m cap hit. Rams HC Steve Spagnuolo is rumored to be interested in free-agent DT Albert Haynesworth and DE Terrell Suggs. Who isn’t?

28. Oakland -- $4m under – Ouch, CB DeAngelo Hall counts $5m in dead money after being cut. To make it worse he suddenly played like a Pro Bowler again in Washington. WR Javon Walker has a $5m roster bonus due next month. He’ll actually collect it because of an injury guarantee – and his cap hit is $14m if they cut him. Stupid contracts, Al. OT Robert Gallery will have to rework his deal to shave off his $9.2m cap charge.

29. Indianapolis -- $2m over – Peyton Manning counts a massive $21m by himself, the 2nd biggest cap charge in NFL history behind Steve McNair’s $23m in 2006. The Titans ended up locking McNair out of team headquarters that summer. Indy won’t do anything quite that drastic, but they do need to discuss money with Peyton. They can free up $6m by cutting Marvin Harrison. Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday, CB Kelvin Hayden and RB Dominic Rhodes are free agents. They could franchise-tag Saturday at $8.6m on the 2009 cap. Not too bad. Lots of work to do here, though.

30. Washington -- $3m over – Nothing new for owner Daniel Snyder, he’s from the Jerry Jones Cash-Over-Cap School. Boy, they’ve given out some stupid contracts over the years. Heck, WR Brandon Lloyd still counts $5.5m in dead money from 2007, plus they gave away 3rd & 4th rounders for him that year. We hear the Skins have their eye on 1 stud free agent – Panthers OT Jordan Gross, who could replace the declining Jon Jansen on the right.

31. New Orleans -- $5m over – They just got the credit card bill from their 2005-2008 shopping spree. Deuce McAllister, Reggie Bush, Drew Brees, DE Will Smith, DE Charles Grant, CB Mike McKenzie, huge bonuses thrown around the room. It worked on offense, not so well on defense. Brees counts $14m on the cap but that’s 33% less than Peyton Manning’s rate. Smith counts $9.4m in 2009 so he needs to step it up under new DC Gregg Williams. They can cut RB Aaron Stecker, WR Devery Henderson, WR David Patten, DT Hollis Thomas, and CB Jason David to free up $11m in cap space.

32. New York Jets -- $7m over – Whew, last year they doled out over $100 million in guaranteed dollars. Those bonuses are pro-rated out over the next 4-5 years so they’re going to be in and out of cap jail for a while. Laveranues Coles counts $7m and they need him to accept a pay cut, which he won’t. Leon Washington deserves a big extension. Ks Jay Feely and Mike Nugent are both free agents – Nugent was hurt and Feely might have stolen the gig.

 
7. Buffalo -- $27m under – They can free up at least $10m more by slicing off some defensive fat, guys like S Ko Simpson, DE Chris Kelsay, DT John McCargo, etc. The Bills have a lot of UFAs to consider re-signing, however: C/G Duke Preston, CB Jabari Greer, LB Angelo Crowell, G Jason Whittle, and T Kirk Chambers. RB Fred Jackson is an exclusive rights free agent, which means they can keep him affordably – though he deserves a nice extension right now. They still gotta hammer out a mega-deal with OT Jason Peters.
And the Bills Cap space after free agency: $27 million under.... We need to go out and make a HUGE splash for once.
 
7. Buffalo -- $27m under – They can free up at least $10m more by slicing off some defensive fat, guys like S Ko Simpson, DE Chris Kelsay, DT John McCargo, etc. The Bills have a lot of UFAs to consider re-signing, however: C/G Duke Preston, CB Jabari Greer, LB Angelo Crowell, G Jason Whittle, and T Kirk Chambers. RB Fred Jackson is an exclusive rights free agent, which means they can keep him affordably – though he deserves a nice extension right now. They still gotta hammer out a mega-deal with OT Jason Peters.
And the Bills Cap space after free agency: $27 million under.... We need to go out and make a HUGE splash for once.
They will grab a few second tier players like always. The big time names always look elsewhere.
 
This is from draftsharks its a must read

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Draft Sharks

Team-by-Team Salary Cap Report

January 23, 2009

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23. New York Giants -- $11m under – The first order of business is to lock up Brandon Jacobs, but can (will) they? He’ll want to test the open market and plenty of teams could offer more money. Rumor has it the Giants want free-agent DT Albert Haynesworth (imagine that defensive line with Osi Umenyiora returning from injury) but they’re actually set with DTs Fred Robbins & Barry Cofield. If Plaxico Burress is cut before June 1st he only counts $4.4m in dead money.
XI've seen this figure listed a number of times for the Giants, but I believe it is incorrect. I appears it's closer $20 due to some nice cap"anomics" the the Giants.

With help of loophole, Giants create salary cap space

Late last month, the team took most of the room on its cap for this season and converted it into a $7.2-million "likely to be earned bonus" for [Darcy] Johnson. At least, that's what its called; the bonus isn't really expected to be earned. And when it's not earned, it becomes a credit on the following season's salary cap.

The Giants now get to add $7.2 million to their salary cap next season. The '09 cap is scheduled to be at least $123 million, which means the Giants' cap will be at least $130.2 million.
Edit to add: I'm not an insider by any means, but I have not heard or read anything regarding Haynesworth and the Giants other than fan message board chat of, "Wouldn't it be cool if we signed Haynesworth?"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Minnesota needs to address QB and QB only in this FA pool. Take the best possible and pay him as much as possible this year. Then draft RT, DT, CB, TE, WR in the draft.

 
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.

Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.

Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?

 
This is from draftsharks its a must read

--------------

Draft Sharks

Team-by-Team Salary Cap Report

January 23, 2009

--------------

23. New York Giants -- $11m under – The first order of business is to lock up Brandon Jacobs, but can (will) they? He’ll want to test the open market and plenty of teams could offer more money. Rumor has it the Giants want free-agent DT Albert Haynesworth (imagine that defensive line with Osi Umenyiora returning from injury) but they’re actually set with DTs Fred Robbins & Barry Cofield. If Plaxico Burress is cut before June 1st he only counts $4.4m in dead money.
XI've seen this figure listed a number of times for the Giants, but I believe it is incorrect. I appears it's closer $20 due to some nice cap"anomics" the the Giants.

With help of loophole, Giants create salary cap space

Late last month, the team took most of the room on its cap for this season and converted it into a $7.2-million "likely to be earned bonus" for [Darcy] Johnson. At least, that's what its called; the bonus isn't really expected to be earned. And when it's not earned, it becomes a credit on the following season's salary cap.

The Giants now get to add $7.2 million to their salary cap next season. The '09 cap is scheduled to be at least $123 million, which means the Giants' cap will be at least $130.2 million.
Edit to add: I'm not an insider by any means, but I have not heard or read anything regarding Haynesworth and the Giants other than fan message board chat of, "Wouldn't it be cool if we signed Haynesworth?"
:popcorn: You are correct here. I hear the number was going to creep towards the 22-24 million range depending on Plax, rather than in spite of him. I think 11M is the floor for their cap.

 
16. Pittsburgh -- $19m under – Supposedly a frugal club, the Steelers spent $128m in payroll last year, 6th highest in football. The product bears out that spending. And when they did Roethlisberger’s extension last March they pro-rated his $25m signing bonus over the 8 years of the deal, and his 2009 salary is “only” $4.75m, so his 2009 cap hit is a manageable $7.9m. The big question is will they re-sign G Chris Kemoeatu, T Max Starks, and T Marvel Smith, all free agents?
The Steelers need at OT is most pressing and for that reason I expect them to resign Starks. Kemoeatu's play has been average at best. I guess they'll try to re-sign him but they won't break the bank to keep him as they have Simmons coming back and Stapleton at G who hasn't been too awful.Smith is definitely a goner -- he's old and can't stay healthy.

17. Baltimore -- $19m under – CBs Samari Rolle & Chris McAlister count a combined $17m. Pay cuts or both hit the road. The Ravens are a relatively low payroll club who’s squeezed the most they could out of what they have. 3 of the top-6 defensive free agents on the 2009 market are Ravens: DE Terrell Suggs, LB Bart Scott, and LB Ray Lewis. They can’t keep all three. Maybe only one. TE Todd Heap already took a pay cut once so they might just cut him. It would free up $3.6m. The big rumor is a straight-up trade: Terrell Suggs for Anquan Boldin. Wow!
I keep hearing this but unless they sign Suggs they can't trade him -- he is an UFA. Doesn't make much sense to me...
 
Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:confused:My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
 
Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:confused: My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies....Also keep in mind that $123M is an ESTIMATE - it could be higher.Look for teams to try and figure out what to do with all this extra coin - and also remember 2010 is currently uncapped. Those two factors will make this a VERY interesting FA period.
 
32. New York Jets -- $7m over – Whew, last year they doled out over $100 million in guaranteed dollars. Those bonuses are pro-rated out over the next 4-5 years so they’re going to be in and out of cap jail for a while. Laveranues Coles counts $7m and they need him to accept a pay cut, which he won’t. Leon Washington deserves a big extension. Ks Jay Feely and Mike Nugent are both free agents – Nugent was hurt and Feely might have stolen the gig.
How can they not mention Favre?Favre is the 13 million dollar question... If Favre doesn't come back they shoot up this list in a hurry. Though they may wind up spending on a QB in the process... Other than Favre, the interesting items are Coles and Leon Washington.
 
Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:rolleyes: My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies....Also keep in mind that $123M is an ESTIMATE - it could be higher.Look for teams to try and figure out what to do with all this extra coin - and also remember 2010 is currently uncapped. Those two factors will make this a VERY interesting FA period.
Rookie salary pool is fixed, that's correct. I was referring to situations where teams are going to aggressively lock up younger players to long-term deals in anticipation of the uncapped year. Not only is this FA period going to be interesting, I suspect this entire season we'll see quite a few extensions done as the year progresses; for many of the reasons we've already hashed out.
 
Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.

Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.

Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:rolleyes: My thoughts exactly Jeff.

This means two things:

1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets

2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term core

As to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies....
Jeff,The budget for rookies is set on a team-by-team basis. It's somehow structured on a scale set to the number of draft picks a team has and the specific whereabouts their selections fall. Not only by round, but more specifically by the top of a round or bottom of a round. Something along those lines. In the end, rookie cap dollars are not identical across the league. They vary team-by-team. I'm sure there is a formula to it, but I don't know exactly how it works.

ETA: O.K., I found it. It's all broken down pretty well here-

http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/nfl...guarded-secrets

 
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Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:lmao: My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies.......
The rookie cap isn't an extra amount of money in addition to the cap. It's a limit within your normal team cap that can be spent on your rookies.So if you have $10m in cap room and the league sets your rookie cap at $6m... if you spent the full $6m on rookies then you'd only have $4m left for free agents and to re-sign veterans.There is a little bit more to it than what I just said, though that definition gets you 95% of the way there. The part that I left out is that not every player counts towards your team cap. Only your 51 highest paid players count towards your team cap, whether rookie or veteran. I believe all of your rookie salaries must collectively be under your team's rookie cap, but those who aren't amongst your 51 highest paid players wouldn't count towards your team cap. So using my previous example of $10m in cap room and $6m rookie cap... let's say that $4.5m of your rookies salaries are going to players who are in your 51 highest paid players... while the other $1.5m represent 5 rookies making the minimum and who aren't in the 51 highest paid players. You would be right at your rookie cap of 4.5m+1.5m = $6m and could not sign another rookie UFA, but would have 10m - 4.5m = $5.5m to spend on veterans. So the rookie cap and the normal team cap don't always 100% overlap due to some players not counting towards the team cap.
 
Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:hifive: My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies.......
The rookie cap isn't an extra amount of money in addition to the cap. It's a limit within your normal team cap that can be spent on your rookies.So if you have $10m in cap room and the league sets your rookie cap at $6m... if you spent the full $6m on rookies then you'd only have $4m left for free agents and to re-sign veterans.There is a little bit more to it than what I just said, though that definition gets you 95% of the way there. The part that I left out is that not every player counts towards your team cap. Only your 51 highest paid players count towards your team cap, whether rookie or veteran. I believe all of your rookie salaries must collectively be under your team's rookie cap, but those who aren't amongst your 51 highest paid players wouldn't count towards your team cap. So using my previous example of $10m in cap room and $6m rookie cap... let's say that $4.5m of your rookies salaries are going to players who are in your 51 highest paid players... while the other $1.5m represent 5 rookies making the minimum and who aren't in the 51 highest paid players. You would be right at your rookie cap of 4.5m+1.5m = $6m and could not sign another rookie UFA, but would have 10m - 4.5m = $5.5m to spend on veterans. So the rookie cap and the normal team cap don't always 100% overlap due to some players not counting towards the team cap.
Additionally, the rookie cap is based the location and number of draft picks, so a team does not know for sure what its exact allocation will be until after the draft. Of course, they can make an estimate, I want to say 6 million is on the high end of the amount a team will have to set aside.
 
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Jeff Pasquino said:
If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:mellow: My thoughts exactly Jeff.This means two things:1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term coreAs to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies.......
The rookie cap isn't an extra amount of money in addition to the cap. It's a limit within your normal team cap that can be spent on your rookies.So if you have $10m in cap room and the league sets your rookie cap at $6m... if you spent the full $6m on rookies then you'd only have $4m left for free agents and to re-sign veterans.There is a little bit more to it than what I just said, though that definition gets you 95% of the way there. The part that I left out is that not every player counts towards your team cap. Only your 51 highest paid players count towards your team cap, whether rookie or veteran. I believe all of your rookie salaries must collectively be under your team's rookie cap, but those who aren't amongst your 51 highest paid players wouldn't count towards your team cap. So using my previous example of $10m in cap room and $6m rookie cap... let's say that $4.5m of your rookies salaries are going to players who are in your 51 highest paid players... while the other $1.5m represent 5 rookies making the minimum and who aren't in the 51 highest paid players. You would be right at your rookie cap of 4.5m+1.5m = $6m and could not sign another rookie UFA, but would have 10m - 4.5m = $5.5m to spend on veterans. So the rookie cap and the normal team cap don't always 100% overlap due to some players not counting towards the team cap.
Additionally, the rookie cap is based the location and number of draft picks, so a team does not know for sure what its exact allocation will be until after the draft. Of course, they can make an estimate, I want to say 6 million is on the high end of the amount a team will have to set aside.
Yes, numbers I used were made up and for illustrative purposes only.
 
I'm confused when the author says "re-do the deal". Normally that means extend the contract, convert salary to signing bonus and pro-rate the signing bonus. But with 2010 as an uncapped year, how many years can you pro-rate the cap hit?

 
What are the chances Denver goes after Suggs?
If they are going to switch to the 3-4 as expected, they really need to be looking for a nose tackle, I wonder if Haynsworth is viable.
Yeah, I was wondering that as well. The other option would be to try to trade up and land Raji, but based on the hype he's getting, they may have to move up close to the top 5 to land him. Suggs/Raji would be a nice combo to begin rebuilding that defense.
 
An interesting read.

Some of the tidbits in there had me going :thumbup: though. Such as the trade rumors for the Giants someone mentioned. Also, Peppers being traded was mentioned quite often, but last I read it will cost 17M to Franchise him. How on earth can they afford to do that AND resign their LT Gross? Jamal will be cut??? Houston has spent 5 picks (not 6) on their lines since 2004, and 1 of those guys was traded 2 years ago. Makes me wonder about some of the accuracy of some of those other "nuggets" of info on the teams I am less familiar with.

 
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
 
Last few years I had a link to an Exel sheet that somebody posted with all/teams caps/player salaries.

I've lost the link. Does anyone else have it ??

 
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
There are these strange contracts teams sign to players for "amounts to be earned or not to be earned" or something...I cannot recall the exact terms.Then the guys are let go and the cap amounts somehow carry forward...its a strange beast with a ton of loopholes.

 
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
There are these strange contracts teams sign to players for "amounts to be earned or not to be earned" or something...I cannot recall the exact terms.Then the guys are let go and the cap amounts somehow carry forward...its a strange beast with a ton of loopholes.
this sounds like the money they COULD have carried forward, they elected not to, thus loosing it.
 
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
There are these strange contracts teams sign to players for "amounts to be earned or not to be earned" or something...I cannot recall the exact terms.Then the guys are let go and the cap amounts somehow carry forward...its a strange beast with a ton of loopholes.
I think it might the same deals as the Giants were the team recognized "likely to be earned" incentives in a given year. When the incentive is not earned by the player they can carry this forward to the next year. I don't know how you "elect" not to carry it forward however. You would think it would be done automatically and they would just not spend the money.
 
What are the chances Denver goes after Suggs?
If they are going to switch to the 3-4 as expected, they really need to be looking for a nose tackle, I wonder if Haynsworth is viable.
Yeah, I was wondering that as well. The other option would be to try to trade up and land Raji, but based on the hype he's getting, they may have to move up close to the top 5 to land him. Suggs/Raji would be a nice combo to begin rebuilding that defense.
Ya, Shanny pretty much neglected the line for years and that is becoming the most important part of the D with the switch.
 
I'm not sure of this (so anyone with more firm info please post it here), but I was under the impression that teams could extend player contracts but would not be allowed to break up the salary cap charge for bonuses like in prior years due to the lack of a salary cap this year.

For example, Richard Seymour's contract is up after this year and he would carry a $9.8 million cap hit for the 2009 season. I believe (but am not sure), that the Pats are stuck with that number for 2009 even if they extend him. IIRC, they could release him and save $3.3 million in cap relief, but I don't think they could extend him to reduce his cap hit for 2009.

Anyone else have anything more on this?

 
None_More_Black said:
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. “Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again,” writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
There are these strange contracts teams sign to players for "amounts to be earned or not to be earned" or something...I cannot recall the exact terms.Then the guys are let go and the cap amounts somehow carry forward...its a strange beast with a ton of loopholes.
I think it might the same deals as the Giants were the team recognized "likely to be earned" incentives in a given year. When the incentive is not earned by the player they can carry this forward to the next year. I don't know how you "elect" not to carry it forward however. You would think it would be done automatically and they would just not spend the money.
As I understand it, part of a contract can be turned into a "likely to be earned" incentive for the current year only if there is available room in the current years cap. If this "likely to be earned" incentive isn't actually earned, as was the case for the Giants with Darcy Johnson, this amount is then added to the following years cap.I believe the Eagles have being doing a similar thing for years. Smart cap move if you hve some room to maneuver under the cap in a given year.

 
I'm not sure of this (so anyone with more firm info please post it here), but I was under the impression that teams could extend player contracts but would not be allowed to break up the salary cap charge for bonuses like in prior years due to the lack of a salary cap this year.

For example, Richard Seymour's contract is up after this year and he would carry a $9.8 million cap hit for the 2009 season. I believe (but am not sure), that the Pats are stuck with that number for 2009 even if they extend him. IIRC, they could release him and save $3.3 million in cap relief, but I don't think they could extend him to reduce his cap hit for 2009.

Anyone else have anything more on this?
AskTheCommishThat site has good info.

 
I'm not sure of this (so anyone with more firm info please post it here), but I was under the impression that teams could extend player contracts but would not be allowed to break up the salary cap charge for bonuses like in prior years due to the lack of a salary cap this year.

For example, Richard Seymour's contract is up after this year and he would carry a $9.8 million cap hit for the 2009 season. I believe (but am not sure), that the Pats are stuck with that number for 2009 even if they extend him. IIRC, they could release him and save $3.3 million in cap relief, but I don't think they could extend him to reduce his cap hit for 2009.

Anyone else have anything more on this?
AskTheCommishThat site has good info.
Been to that site several times in the past. Good info there for sure.However, still doesn't answer the question of extending guys as in Seymour's example his contract would be set to expire. The info deals with existing contracts and how teams can take the cap hits and when. However, it doesn't mention adding years to an existing contract and then recalulating the salary cap charges to a new schedule. Given that there is currently no salary cap past next season, that's where it gets dicey.

 
This is from draftsharks its a must read

** All 32 teams ranked by current salary cap space against the 2009 limit of $123 million per club. They are ranked from most cap room (Tampa) to least (NY Jets). These figures are not exact, but after weeks of exhaustive research at the NFLPA website, NFLMedia, ESPN, FOX, & local newspaper sites, they are pretty close. Detailed free agency & contract info included.

19. Green Bay -- $18m under – Getting rid of Brett Favre and his $12 million salary for a 3rd-round pick turned out to be the right move. Then they signed Aaron Rodgers to a cap-friendly 6-year, $65 million deal on Oct. 31 – shoveling $12 million onto the 2008 cap before the league deadline. If they waited another 24 hours the entire pay increase would have to be treated as a signing bonus -- and pro-rated over the length of the contract for cap purposes. Now they have cap room to extend WR Greg Jennings, S Nick Collins, and S Atari Bigby.
According to the most authoritative, yet unofficial source for Packers cap info (here), the Packers are approx. $30m under a projected $123m cap for '09. However, any cap calculation is meaningless if it doesn't contemplate the LTBE carry-forwards. As touched on above, different teams are able to take advantage of the loophole to different extents, and some have done nothing this season, allowing substantial amounts to expire and go unused. The LTBE loophole effectively increases each team's cap number from $123m upward, depending on how much they were able to carry forward.As also noted above, the expiring CBA (if not extended or re-negotiated with a new cap) will be the dominant factor in this offseason's free agency market.

 
13. New England -- $21m under – This figure doesn’t count the (gulp) $14.8m one-year tender for Matt Cassel. If they tag Cassel they’ll have $28 million cap dollars tied up in 2 quarterbacks. However, they can make it work. DE Richard Seymour, OT Matt Light, WR Randy Moss, LB Adalius Thomas, and DE Jarvis Green have a combined $65m in cap charges – if 3 or 4 of those guys restructure it frees up $15m easily.
A more accurate projection is $18.6 million for the Pats. Franchising Cassel would cost them $14.8 million (whether he signs it or not). That would leave only $3.8 million left over. Also of note for NE is that only includes 49 players and does not include (obviously) any draft picks.That's why I am curious as to what the rules are for creative accounting with extensions and salary cap charges given the non-capped season issues.
 
I'm not sure of this (so anyone with more firm info please post it here), but I was under the impression that teams could extend player contracts but would not be allowed to break up the salary cap charge for bonuses like in prior years due to the lack of a salary cap this year.

For example, Richard Seymour's contract is up after this year and he would carry a $9.8 million cap hit for the 2009 season. I believe (but am not sure), that the Pats are stuck with that number for 2009 even if they extend him. IIRC, they could release him and save $3.3 million in cap relief, but I don't think they could extend him to reduce his cap hit for 2009.

Anyone else have anything more on this?
AskTheCommishThat site has good info.
Been to that site several times in the past. Good info there for sure.However, still doesn't answer the question of extending guys as in Seymour's example his contract would be set to expire. The info deals with existing contracts and how teams can take the cap hits and when. However, it doesn't mention adding years to an existing contract and then recalulating the salary cap charges to a new schedule. Given that there is currently no salary cap past next season, that's where it gets dicey.
It's not very clear, but I did start to read about the 30% rule.30% rule

I also found this comment, but it doesn't say why:

Regardless, it probably doesn't matter what Fitzgerald wants to do.

But while Fitzgerald is reportedly willing, there might not be many options. As the NFL embarks on the last capped year of the current labor agreement, the old tricks like guaranteeing a huge chunk of current-year salary and spreading the cap hit over time won't apply. Thus, short of a reduction in dollars due and payable to Fitzgerald in 2009, with no guarantee that he'll make up the difference in 2010 or beyond, Fitzgerald can't really help to solve the problem.
LINK
 
I doubt any of these figures are really close to being accurate.

According to this very well informed site Philly actually has 45M cap space, Eagles Cap

 
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Yeah I am a big Eagles fan,

I really hope the draftsharks 25m quote was low. However I googled around and on FOX this guy says 24 mil No way its 45 million under for the Iggles.

 
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If these numbers are correct, that's $567M available for FA, extensions and rookies.

Given each team is $123M, that's over 4.5 team's worth of salaries, or to put it another way over 14% of the league salary cap available.

Now, anyone know the rookie cap for 2009?
:bye: My thoughts exactly Jeff.

This means two things:

1) Free agents are going to be massively overpaid by undisciplined clubs with money burning a hole in their pockets

2) Smart franchises are going to lock up young talent with hefty bonuses this year and use up that cap space while building a long-term core

As to the Eagles, they have some huge decisions to make. I genuinely believe McNabb comes back as long as he wants to come back. But it's a coin toss as to whether he wants to come back or not. I think his decision will go a long way toward what we do at tackle. If we're grooming a youngster at QB this year, I think the team will go into full rebuilding mode and let Thomas and/or Runyan go. Runyan has said he wants to stay and has shown a willingness to take a below market deal before; I suspect he'll stay with a 2-year deal. Thomas I'm less certain about. I know the Birds have been willing to let "team leaders" go in the past like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas, but I honestly can't see them letting Dawkins walk. He is coming off his best season in three or four years, and is truly the emotional leader of this team.
I could be wrong, but I thought that there was some sort of league-wide budget for rookies....
Jeff,The budget for rookies is set on a team-by-team basis. It's somehow structured on a scale set to the number of draft picks a team has and the specific whereabouts their selections fall. Not only by round, but more specifically by the top of a round or bottom of a round. Something along those lines. In the end, rookie cap dollars are not identical across the league. They vary team-by-team. I'm sure there is a formula to it, but I don't know exactly how it works.

ETA: O.K., I found it. It's all broken down pretty well here-

http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/nfl...guarded-secrets
:confused: Based upon what I read here, the 2007 Rookie Salary Cap was just under $137M and it should increase about $1M for 2009 (the article estimates $2K per $1M increase in cap and ended in 2007 at $109M salary cap. That means $14M increase to the 2009 $123M level x 32 teams, or $896K. Roughly $1M for estimates).

Rounding it to $140M for rookies and you have over $400M for free agency ($567M - $140M = $427M).

That's a lot of cap room.

 
As a Steeler fan, I'm glad to see that 3 of the Steelers O-linemen are UFA's. I say let 'em walk, those 3 guys are nothing more than NFL backups anyway. Sign 1-2 big time UFA O-linemen out there, draft a 1st or 2nd round rookie O-linemen and they should be much improved next season.

 
4. Kansas City -- $33m under – The youngest club in the league last year, and the stingiest too. "Astonishingly, the Kansas City Chiefs elected to not carry forward almost $22m of available cap room to 2009, preferring to leave their money on the table in 2008, never to be used again," writes Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post. New GM Scott Pioli has complete control of operations & personnel and only answers to owner Clark Hunt. You can bet Pioli has the green light to spend – and this cap money plus the 3rd overall pick attracted him to the job. The real question is: What does he do with Larry Johnson?
What does this mean?
There are these strange contracts teams sign to players for "amounts to be earned or not to be earned" or something...I cannot recall the exact terms.Then the guys are let go and the cap amounts somehow carry forward...its a strange beast with a ton of loopholes.
I think it might the same deals as the Giants were the team recognized "likely to be earned" incentives in a given year. When the incentive is not earned by the player they can carry this forward to the next year. I don't know how you "elect" not to carry it forward however. You would think it would be done automatically and they would just not spend the money.
As I understand it, part of a contract can be turned into a "likely to be earned" incentive for the current year only if there is available room in the current years cap. If this "likely to be earned" incentive isn't actually earned, as was the case for the Giants with Darcy Johnson, this amount is then added to the following years cap.I believe the Eagles have being doing a similar thing for years. Smart cap move if you hve some room to maneuver under the cap in a given year.
Yes, it has to do with Likely To Be Earned contract loopholes. What it means is that a team like the Giants would have a cap of ~130 million instead of 123 million because the money that Darcy didn't earn would be added to their available cap. It's a smart move if you're looking forward to a year where big free agents are gonna be available and you'll have extra money with which to pay their big bonuses(essentially taking the big cap hit in the first year and having that number fall in year two). The reason many teams failed to do that this year is because of the last year of the CBA. Too much is uncertain right now with salaries. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I personally don't think guys will be getting the big signing bonuses they're used to since teams can only prorate 2 years to the cap.
 

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