*Official NFL Free Agency thread*

[bdizzle00]

Cap Hell is a combination of dead cap and lost opportunities. If you have a lot of dead cap, then a good portion of your year's money is unavailable to you.

For instance, the Saints have only been able to sign one free agent this year. This means that they'll lose some players to free agency without much opportunity to replace them over time. This means that you HAVE to nail your draft for several years in a row.

The Saints have converted salary to bonus money so many times that they are unable to cut or trade any of their top 12-15 paid players because of the past bonus money (restructuring) would immediately become even more dead cap.

In order to get Watson, can they send the only thing they have left, their draft picks and very young rookie contract players? Sure... but then they have no way to fill holes except with UDFAs...

Ok, but if they are adding (at least trying to add) elite players and staying in the Playoff picture if not outright contending for a title, how does that constitute "Hell"? "Cap challenged", 'Cap inconvenienced" maybe. But this year was the year everyone who believes in "Cap Hell" was sure the Saints would be in it, and it didn't happen.

Has it ever happened to any team ever? At the very least, the term is an over-exaggeration.

 

[Ray R]

Same way that the Fejedelem and Carter contracts were written... all three guys have to earn their way on to the team after the first year... low, easily severable salaries with no cap implications.

Sounds like the Front Office knows what they are doing, even if some posters don't - LOL

 

[bward6460]

Ok, but if they are adding (at least trying to add) elite players and staying in the Playoff picture if not outright contending for a title, how does that constitute "Hell"? "Cap challenged", 'Cap inconvenienced" maybe. But this year was the year everyone who believes in "Cap Hell" was sure the Saints would be in it, and it didn't happen.

Has it ever happened to any team ever? At the very least, the term is an over-exaggeration.

The Jets went through it after those Sanchez years, and we even went through it after the Suh years. It happens all of the time.

 

[SanMarino]

Might be fake.

It's most likely fake because it's unlikely the Cowboys trade him. If they trade him now pre June 1 they incur a 13.95M dead cap hit whereas if they designate him as a post June 1 cut they can spread the dead cap over 2 years. The trade offer would have to blow them out of the water to take on the hit.

La'el Collins | NFL Contracts & Salaries | Spotrac.com

www.spotrac.com

 

[Mike McDaniel]

Watson is a young guy. Why go somewhere knowing that sometime during your career, your team will have to rebuild?

Of the teams he's in talks with (Saints, Falcons, Panthers, Browns), only one of them seems poised to win right now and none of them have much of a future (on paper) after 2022. So the choices aren't great long-term regardless

 

[BillsFanInPeace]

And Now they are stuck with Butt Hurt Baker

 

[andyahs]

And Now they are stuck with Butt Hurt Baker

Will not end well.

 

[Feverdream]

Ok, but if they are adding (at least trying to add) elite players and staying in the Playoff picture if not outright contending for a title, how does that constitute "Hell"? "Cap challenged", 'Cap inconvenienced" maybe. But this year was the year everyone who believes in "Cap Hell" was sure the Saints would be in it, and it didn't happen.

Has it ever happened to any team ever? At the very least, the term is an over-exaggeration.

Your perspective is based almost entirely on whether a team can add a specific player this year. You are ignoring opportunity cost as well as long term harm.
The Saints situation has assured that the ONLY addition they can make this year is one radioactive QB. Their team is a year older, and they've lost players along the way, but no reinforcements are coming. If they get Watson, they wont have many draft picks... when players are hurt midseason, they'll have no money to sign replacements.
Cap Hell.. Cap Distress... whatever you want to call it... severely limits what you can do.

The singular fact that they are unable to trade so many of their players limits their flexibility. As a for instance, they would LOSE 24M of space if they traded Michael Thomas. They are stuck with him, no matter what. The same is true for 15-20 of their players, and that's why Ruiz's name showed up as a rumored trade piece. He is one of the few players with any value that they COULD trade.

...and it'll be even worse next year.

 

[Michael Scott]

And Now they are stuck with Butt Hurt Baker

I hope Baker forces his way out now and they get stuck rotting. Organization deserves it.

 

[Ray R]

I wonder about people on here

I used to wonder, but now I know - LOL

"Lemmings" - LOL

 

[E30M3]

Ok, but if they are adding (at least trying to add) elite players and staying in the Playoff picture if not outright contending for a title, how does that constitute "Hell"? "Cap challenged", 'Cap inconvenienced" maybe. But this year was the year everyone who believes in "Cap Hell" was sure the Saints would be in it, and it didn't happen.

Has it ever happened to any team ever? At the very least, the term is an over-exaggeration.

The fact that the Saints had to let Armstead go is a testament to the position they are in. And by converting Ram and others to signing bonuses, again, they are creating a massive hole that they have not necessarily fallen in yet, but @circumstances out of their control like injury or even trades will severely cripple them. @Feverdream is right, you can only do this so long, and trading picks is the worst thing you can do in their situation. Dynasty's arent built like this, this is a hail Mary to win one year so people forget what was given up when you lose the next 10 years.

 

[bdizzle00]

I hope Baker forces his way out now and they get stuck rotting. Organization deserves it.

I could see Baker or Jimmy G to the Colts, or Baker to the Colts and Jimmy G to the Browns. I wonder if teams have called the Packers about Jordan love.

 

[E30M3]

Furthermore, the Saints are really operating like the US government to be honest, spending with reckless abandon on players like Thomas, Kamara, Brees, supposedly Watson, etc. No care for the current fiscal situation and leaving it for later admins to suffer. Everyone knows the US is in a huge financial pickle yet they don't do f*ck all about it. Same with the Saints. Double down until they call your marker and kick you out of the casino.

 

[Ray R]

This is ridiculous. Does anyway understand how the cap works, can they kick the can down the road forever? It seems like nfl's version of money laundering

Read up on money laundering and then tell me how you feel - LOL

 

[bdizzle00]

The fact that the Saints had to let Armstead go is a testament to the position they are in. And by converting Ram and others to signing bonuses, again, they are creating a massive hole that they have not necessarily fallen in yet, but @circumstances out of their control like injury or even trades will severely cripple them. @Feverdream is right, you can only do this so long, and trading picks is the worst thing you can do in their situation. Dynasty's arent built like this, this is a hail Mary to win one year so people forget what was given up when you lose the next 10 years.

How do you know they HAD to let Armstead go? Maybe they chose to not spend 90 million on an often-injured player past 30 because it didn't make business sense to, not because they couldn't figure out how to make it work. 10 years from now we can look back and see what the results were and if the bill ever actually became due for them. But they've been doing things this way for years and years and their approach has been far more effective than the Dolphins has.