“Legal” Tampering Day 2 Superthread | Page 63 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

“Legal” Tampering Day 2 Superthread

Some of the FA contracts are beginning to show up on overthecap and the Patriots, despite having plenty of space, are deferring their cap hits into future years in order to be doing all of this spending. Here are some examples:

Godchaux: Salary 1M (yup only one million), but he has per game bonuses that add up to another 1M, and received another 5.5M in a signing bonus. His salary next year? 6.5M (with only 2 M guaranteed) and another 1M in per game bonuses available. This means that his actual cap number is only a little over 4M this year (and 10M+ next year). If he's cut though... 5M in immediate dead cap.

Agholor: the same sort of contract... only higher. 1M salary, again 1M in game bonuses, but a 10M signing bonus. So, his cap cost is 7M this year, and 15M next year. He could be cut next year, but would leave 5M in dead cap.

Judon: Again... a laughable 2021 salary. 1M, plus that same 1M in game bonuses, but an 18M signing bonus and 11M guaranteed next year. He could be cut after 2 years with a 9M cap hit.

Smith: Same 1M in 2021 salary, same game bonus. 15M signing bonus... 9M guaranteed in 2022, 6M in 2023.

All of these contracts are time bombs... and any every one of these players who become injured or fail will leave the Patsies with incredibly negative cap consequences... it is almost like Bellichick is thinking very short term here.

For a team that had quite a bit of cap space, their approach defies reason. It's almost like they said, we could sign 4 players comfortably, but we really want 8 players... and we'll spend our 2022 cap in order to get them right now. Which seems odd, for a team with an iffy older QB.

This will be fun to watch.
 
Feverdream said:
Some of the FA contracts are beginning to show up on overthecap and the Patriots, despite having plenty of space, are deferring their cap hits into future years in order to be doing all of this spending. Here are some examples:

Godchaux: Salary 1M (yup only one million), but he has per game bonuses that add up to another 1M, and received another 5.5M in a signing bonus. His salary next year? 6.5M (with only 2 M guaranteed) and another 1M in per game bonuses available. This means that his actual cap number is only a little over 4M this year (and 10M+ next year). If he's cut though... 5M in immediate dead cap.

Agholor: the same sort of contract... only higher. 1M salary, again 1M in game bonuses, but a 10M signing bonus. So, his cap cost is 7M this year, and 15M next year. He could be cut next year, but would leave 5M in dead cap.

Judon: Again... a laughable 2021 salary. 1M, plus that same 1M in game bonuses, but an 18M signing bonus and 11M guaranteed next year. He could be cut after 2 years with a 9M cap hit.

Smith: Same 1M in 2021 salary, same game bonus. 15M signing bonus... 9M guaranteed in 2022, 6M in 2023.

All of these contracts are time bombs... and any every one of these players who become injured or fail will leave the Patsies with incredibly negative cap consequences... it is almost like Bellichick is thinking very short term here.

For a team that had quite a bit of cap space, their approach defies reason. It's almost like they said, we could sign 4 players comfortably, but we really want 8 players... and we'll spend our 2022 cap in order to get them right now. Which seems odd, for a team with an iffy older QB.

This will be fun to watch.
Click to expand...
Those numbers for dress cap don’t seem that bad unless they all wash out. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be very unhappy if Grier played that game.
 
Feverdream said:
Some of the FA contracts are beginning to show up on overthecap and the Patriots, despite having plenty of space, are deferring their cap hits into future years in order to be doing all of this spending. Here are some examples:

Godchaux: Salary 1M (yup only one million), but he has per game bonuses that add up to another 1M, and received another 5.5M in a signing bonus. His salary next year? 6.5M (with only 2 M guaranteed) and another 1M in per game bonuses available. This means that his actual cap number is only a little over 4M this year (and 10M+ next year). If he's cut though... 5M in immediate dead cap.

Agholor: the same sort of contract... only higher. 1M salary, again 1M in game bonuses, but a 10M signing bonus. So, his cap cost is 7M this year, and 15M next year. He could be cut next year, but would leave 5M in dead cap.

Judon: Again... a laughable 2021 salary. 1M, plus that same 1M in game bonuses, but an 18M signing bonus and 11M guaranteed next year. He could be cut after 2 years with a 9M cap hit.

Smith: Same 1M in 2021 salary, same game bonus. 15M signing bonus... 9M guaranteed in 2022, 6M in 2023.

All of these contracts are time bombs... and any every one of these players who become injured or fail will leave the Patsies with incredibly negative cap consequences... it is almost like Bellichick is thinking very short term here.

For a team that had quite a bit of cap space, their approach defies reason. It's almost like they said, we could sign 4 players comfortably, but we really want 8 players... and we'll spend our 2022 cap in order to get them right now. Which seems odd, for a team with an iffy older QB.

This will be fun to watch.
Click to expand...
With normal annual rise in the cap this would definitely create a problem down the line... but once again it looks to me that Bill is working the system to his advantage. I F A BIG MOVE IN THE CAP NEXT YEAR COVERS THE OVERHEAD ... then he can grab more higher level players now while a lot of teams are purging their rosters. The cap room grows with the reset after this year and he will be able to hold on to more of the better players that pan out. This is the only time this will likely work, and I hope the Dolphins don't sleep on this opportunity to structure signings now to take full advantage. Properly structured contracts now mustallow for a lower hit this year only. Expands our market tremendously. Don't sleep on this.
 
jhortondj2 said:
With normal annual rise in the cap this would definitely create a problem down the line... but once again it looks to me that Bill is working the system to his advantage. I F A BIG MOVE IN THE CAP NEXT YEAR COVERS THE OVERHEAD ... then he can grab more higher level players now while a lot of teams are purging their rosters. The cap room grows with the reset after this year and he will be able to hold on to more of the better players that pan out. This is the only time this will likely work, and I hope the Dolphins don't sleep on this opportunity to structure signings now to take full advantage. Properly structured contracts now mustallow for a lower hit this year only. Expands our market tremendously. Don't sleep on this.
Click to expand...
Well...

In general, I had some of these same thoughts... but here's where I think this breaks down. 1) These are not a particularly special group of players. Godchaux is just a guy, Agholor is no better. Hunter Henry would probably be pretty good if he were ever healthy for longer than a month at a time. Jonnu Smith? The best of them is is probably Judon and he is already 28 and has never been much more than a tease.

So... if Bill is ahead of the curve on this and is trying to load up on players when no one has any money, I think he's hiring the wrong guys.

2) By bringing all these guys in at 1M salaries and low cap costs this year, he guarantees that most of them double in cost next year... so yeah, he's getting guys for next year, but he's seriously reducing his ability to sign guys NEXT year, and the year after that. I think a better plan might have been to pay them as much as he could this year, and leave himself the cap to make changes next year. I think he is tying his own hands here. Not that I mind... indeed, I think he's making a major mistake.

Finally... 3) What happens if Covid mutates and we lose another year of people in stadiums? Then, the patsies will REALLY be screwed. Of course, the entire world will be, as well... but it just seems like he is spending a deal deal of money... on credit.
 
NBP81 said:
I just dont think FA should be used to upgrade your best players...
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I think you might want to reconsider that position based on the following "truisms":

1) The draft is a source of raw talent that is successful less then 1/2 time. The success rate may be higher with early round picks and those players may be significantly better then average, but those players have yet to prove them selves against NFL competition. Offsetting the high risk of failure or long development time is their lower salary requirement.

2) Free Agency is a source of known talent that is typically peaking or has already peaked or has too much salary for the current teams cap structure. These players are pretty much a known quality against NFL competition. Offsetting the lower risk of failure and almost no development time, except to adjust to a new coaching scheme; their salary requirements are significantly higher.

Based on this characterization of draftees vs. Free Agent veterans, it is clear that an established team will generally upgrade the weakest positions through the draft and bolster their stronger positions, when necessary, through Free Agency, relative to their cap situation.

All teams do this to maintain their effectiveness while accounting for players lost to Free Agency, injury, failed players and to adjust the team as the coaching schemes change. This is all normal.

What happens occasionally is when a team decides to rebuild.

There is an immediate need for critical positions that get eliminated during the tearing down of the team to establish cap space. A lot of otherwise good players get scrapped. A few of those positions, such as key offensive and defensive players can be refilled immediately by Free Agency.

This is very expensive and there needs to be enough cap space left for the new draftees and for bringing in UDFA's. This will result in almost twice as new many players as usual. Each rebuilding case is somewhat unique, depending on how many good key players can be retained.

This is why I feel you usually upgrade your better players through Free Agency.

The GM's are going to do what they want to do anyway, so there is that - LOL
 
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