NFL this week

[lonewolfz28]

Originally Posted by sports_fan39

yea, with all these contract reconstructions, wont they be against the cap more in the next 2-3 years?

Anyway as a Rams fan, i hope Steven Jackson gets a gig somewhere, been a massive fan of his, he deserves to be on a winning team

The Cowboys will always be up against the cap. Unlike several other owners, Jerry isn't afraid to spend on his team. They structure contracts from the beginning to be restructured in future years. As these restructures hit in future years, other restructures and signing bonuses are dropping off. Other players' contracts are also structured to decrease through the years (front loaded).

Also, they count on the salary cap increasing steadily after 2014 now that the NFL pension and medical coverage funds for retired players is almost fully funded at its new level per the new CBA. That money being shifted to the retirees was why the salary cap has mostly remained stagnant for the past couple years despite the NFL signing huge new media agreements.

In the meantime, they will restructure where and when needed, cut a few under-performing players, ask others to take pay cuts due to poor performance or change to backup status and resign others to new, cap friendly contracts. They have a very player friendly reputation and Texas doesn't have an income tax. That makes them very attractive to players and in turn, those players are a little more flexible towards salary.

It helps that they have been targeting "team players" for the last couple years. Gone are the "me first" players like T.O., Martellus Bennett, Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams. The Cowboys rarely lose a player they really want to keep. The Giants, Redskins and Jaguars are the only teams to out bid them in the last half dozen years. Chris Canty, Stephen Bowen and Laurent Robinson have all failed to live up to the hefty contracts used to lure them away. Canty was just cut from the Giants because he was expensive and rarely healthy, Robinson underperformed and will likely retire due to concussion issues and Bowen has been relegated to a rotational role. They lost Bennett to the Giants, but "lost" is dependent on who you ask. He didn't exactly set the league on fire like he promised and most fans were happy to see his dumb ass gone.

Believe me, they're not just doing this willy-nilly. They've got it all mapped out all the way out to where all current contracts end while making allowances for new contracts. Remember, despite all of the disrespect thrown their way, these guys took a $140M declining franchise and built it into a league leading $2.1B enterprise. They are also on several key NFL committees that make the cap rules. Contrary to popular belief, they do know what they're doing on the financial side. They learned the hard way through the late 90's and early 00's about the cap and player contracts.

Now, it takes a backdoor meeting by John Mara and Roger Goodell with retroactive penalties for doing things that weren't against the rules (because there were no written rules, just a "gentleman's agreement" at the time) to try to trip them up. Even then, they just smiled took the fine and did what they wanted to anyways.

[sports_fan39]

well Flacco becomes the highest payed player in the NFL, personally i know he won the SB, but i dont think he deserves TOP qb money, yes he should get paid but not this much, they still gotta sign several key players to keep that roster together

jumy my 2 cents

[Ness7891]

Originally Posted by sports_fan39

well Flacco becomes the highest payed player in the NFL, personally i know he won the SB, but i dont think he deserves TOP qb money, yes he should get paid but not this much, they still gotta sign several key players to keep that roster together

jumy my 2 cents

Unfortunately the Ravens had no leverage practically. Joe Flacco played his best football at the best time possible. Since he was going to be a free agent and had just come off a Super Bowl MVP, some team was going to hand him the money he wanted, even if Baltimore didn't. I could see Arizona doing it or some other quarterback-starved team that just wants to have a chance at winning. And you need at least a decent quarterback in this league just to be competitive. I can't remember the last time a franchise was backed into a corner and was strong armed like this. Usually it's the players that have to bow down.

Originally Posted by lonewolfz28

Remember, despite all of the disrespect thrown their way, these guys took a $140M declining franchise and built it into a league leading $2.1B enterprise.

Of course most NFL teams were worth 140 million dollars back in 1989 when he bought them.

Originally Posted by sports_fan39

well Flacco becomes the highest payed player in the NFL, personally i know he won the SB, but i dont think he deserves TOP qb money, yes he should get paid but not this much, they still gotta sign several key players to keep that roster together

jumy my 2 cents

Originally Posted by Ness7891

Unfortunately the Ravens had no leverage practically. Joe Flacco played his best football at the best time possible. Since he was going to be a free agent and had just come off a Super Bowl MVP, some team was going to hand him the money he wanted, even if Baltimore didn't. I could see Arizona doing it or some other quarterback-starved team that just wants to have a chance at winning. And you need at least a decent quarterback in this league just to be competitive. I can't remember the last time a franchise was backed into a corner and was strong armed like this. Usually it's the players that have to bow down.

They better enjoy the SB victory because it will probably be their last for a long time.
I thought Flacco deserved a hefty pay raise, but highest in the league..?
He ain't even close to being that good.

Of course until they got him they had a long period of shitty QB's
so maybe they wanted to make sure this one wouldn't get away.
I bet within two years, they start talking about restructuring that contract
when they realize he isn't the second coming of Tom Brady.

flacco is just another alex smith. . . #ravenfools

[liquid pimp]

In regards to Flacco, Baltimore really had no choice after the run he put together in the playoffs to win the Superbowl. Flacco had all the leverage and I have to wonder if Baltimore's front office is regretting not inking him to an extension last off season. Give Flacco credit though; he rolled the dice by decided not to do an extension and he won big time.

But yeah, I wonder if in 2 or 3 years if we'll hear about some "restructuring" for his contract.

...And now they'll have to do some work to keep Kruger, Ellerbe, Reed, Jones, etc.

[Ness7891]

Originally Posted by TGJamey

flacco is just another alex smith. . . #ravenfools

Wouldn't say that. At least Flacco can actually take over games. He played well against Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Colin Kaepernick. I can't see Alex Smith going on that type of run even with the 49ers.

[lonewolfz28]

The Ravens only viable option was let Flacco walk and hope to trade for Smith. Way too much uncertainty there. Draft a new QB? Not much there either. Flacco definitely was holding all of the cards.

They definitely have a lot of work ahead of them:
No Lewis, Birk and likely no Reed (retirement or NE).
Boldin soon to be 33 and four other players in their low to mid 30’s(not counting the punter).
McKinnie and Kemoeatu old and UFA’s.
Bajema, Ellerbe, Kruger, Cary Williams, Considine and Ihedigbo all UFA’s.
Arthur Jones, Pitta and Harewood all RFA’s.

They had $15.7 under the cap to start with. I haven't seen the structure on the Flacco deal, but that probably ate a hefty chunk of it.

They're better than average at drafting and this draft is heavy on OL and DL. That's where a lot of their holes are. Safety isn't great, but the quality that is there goes fairly deep. LB is also not great, but passable depth goes down well into the middle rounds.

They could pull it off with only a minor stumble from where they were this year. I've got nothing but admiration for the work Ozzie Newsome has done there.

[chajonator]

Originally Posted by Ness7891

Wouldn't say that. At least Flacco can actually take over games. He played well against Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Colin Kaepernick. I can't see Alex Smith going on that type of run even with the 49ers.

He didn't actually played against those guys, he played against their defenses.
And only two (Denver and SF) are worthy enough of being called proper D's.

I say pay the man, but don't bitch (Im talking about Flacco) when the team doesn't have a happy Rice, a happy O-Line and a happy D-Line.

[sports_fan39]

Falcons released Turner, Abraham and Robinson, want to get younger and freed up about 10m cap space