I found this to be very interesting. i wonder how other teams are preparing for this?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/145829-new-england-patriots-prepare-for-nfls-poison-pills-in-2010
"You may not know of the existence of the Final Eight Plan, a provision in the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement which may haunt several franchises next year.
The basic principle of the Final Eight Plan—which will go into effect if there is no salary cap—is to prevent a mass movement of free agent talent in 2010 to the top teams from 2009.
In a nutshell, it places restrictions on the eight teams that reach the Divisional round of the playoffs. In other words, the two teams with byes in each conference, and the four teams that win their Wild Card games will have a harder time pursuing free agents.
The main restrictions on the four teams that reach the Conference Championship round are:
They can resign their own players with no additional restrictions beyond those placed on any other team.
Beyond that, however, they can only sign one free agent for each one they lose, and the departing free agent's new contract sets a limit on the size of the new player's contract.
The teams can trade for players given franchise and/or restricted free agent tenders, but they cannot circumvent the above rule by trading for a player they couldn't sign as a free agent. "
"One rule regarding this system, though, is that in order to count as a "quality" free agent, those free agents must reach free agency via an expired contract. Players who are waived by their previous team do not count against the teams signing them. More importantly, they also do not count as free agents in the Final Eight Plan.
In other words, any player who gets cut by his old team is fair game for everyone.
This is where the Patriots seem to have slipped under everyone's radar.
With the possible exception of former Cardinals center Al Johnson (whose contract may not be large enough to count under any circumstances), all of the Patriots' 2009 free agent signings—Fred Taylor, Shawn Springs, Leigh Bodden, Chris Baker, Joey Galloway, and Nathan Hodel—were players released by their old teams.
Not one of them will count against the Patriots in determining compensatory picks, which means the Patriots could get as many as four picks on day two (for Jabar Gaffney, Heath Evans, Lonie Paxton, and LaMont Jordan)."
"Using contracts
As stated above, the Final Eight Plan allows the top four teams to sign a new free agent for each one they lose. That rule might explain why the Patriots were willing to sign Leigh Bodden to a one-year deal that prohibits them from using the franchise tag. Should his career take off, and the Patriots be unable to resign him, they will then be able to sign a new free agent to a contract with a similar cap hit.
The same holds true for any other free agents the Patriots might lose, such as defensive linemen Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork. If the Patriots aren't able to extend their contracts, they at least will have the ability to land a blue-chip free agent."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/145829-new-england-patriots-prepare-for-nfls-poison-pills-in-2010
"You may not know of the existence of the Final Eight Plan, a provision in the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement which may haunt several franchises next year.
The basic principle of the Final Eight Plan—which will go into effect if there is no salary cap—is to prevent a mass movement of free agent talent in 2010 to the top teams from 2009.
In a nutshell, it places restrictions on the eight teams that reach the Divisional round of the playoffs. In other words, the two teams with byes in each conference, and the four teams that win their Wild Card games will have a harder time pursuing free agents.
The main restrictions on the four teams that reach the Conference Championship round are:
They can resign their own players with no additional restrictions beyond those placed on any other team.
Beyond that, however, they can only sign one free agent for each one they lose, and the departing free agent's new contract sets a limit on the size of the new player's contract.
The teams can trade for players given franchise and/or restricted free agent tenders, but they cannot circumvent the above rule by trading for a player they couldn't sign as a free agent. "
"One rule regarding this system, though, is that in order to count as a "quality" free agent, those free agents must reach free agency via an expired contract. Players who are waived by their previous team do not count against the teams signing them. More importantly, they also do not count as free agents in the Final Eight Plan.
In other words, any player who gets cut by his old team is fair game for everyone.
This is where the Patriots seem to have slipped under everyone's radar.
With the possible exception of former Cardinals center Al Johnson (whose contract may not be large enough to count under any circumstances), all of the Patriots' 2009 free agent signings—Fred Taylor, Shawn Springs, Leigh Bodden, Chris Baker, Joey Galloway, and Nathan Hodel—were players released by their old teams.
Not one of them will count against the Patriots in determining compensatory picks, which means the Patriots could get as many as four picks on day two (for Jabar Gaffney, Heath Evans, Lonie Paxton, and LaMont Jordan)."
"Using contracts
As stated above, the Final Eight Plan allows the top four teams to sign a new free agent for each one they lose. That rule might explain why the Patriots were willing to sign Leigh Bodden to a one-year deal that prohibits them from using the franchise tag. Should his career take off, and the Patriots be unable to resign him, they will then be able to sign a new free agent to a contract with a similar cap hit.
The same holds true for any other free agents the Patriots might lose, such as defensive linemen Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork. If the Patriots aren't able to extend their contracts, they at least will have the ability to land a blue-chip free agent."