Quote:Hey if we got to have a minimum average, unless you advocate overspending on other 'okay' free agents we should just keep our decent, but overpaid guys that will come off the books soon enough. I would anticipate with the cap being 6 million more than expected that less of the premium free agents make it out.

 

I don't want to have to overpay a bunch of new guys with longer contracts just cause we need to hit a average. What I mean is that Poz and Lewis contracts end sooner than almost any player we would have to (presumably) overpay now (d/t lack of free agent talent being available). This means in a couple years when some of our actual good rookie contracts are up (also presumably from the 2013 draft and on, cause all the Gene years have almost no one whose gonna break the bank), we will have money to pay them. 

 

I think the minimum spending clause makes the NFL now kind of like the NBA where you have to space out where and when you want to have money, rather than dealing with salaries as much. Its not a logical model, but it is the one that I believe the NFL is creating. We do not need extra cash this offseason. We have basically no one to resign (Henne), and are no where near even the 89%. So why make them restructure?

 

Also consider the average minimum spending. If we are taking the average of the years this year we are somewhere at 55% cap usage going into the season. I got that from 73 million on the rolls and a project 132 million cap. So the question is If we are taking the average of 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 what would we have to average to even be at 89% over those 4 years, if you have one year with a 55%? Were we at 89% last year? I don't think so (I think we were less), but lets pretend.

 

(89 + 55 + x + x)/4 = 89

(144+ 2x)/4 = 89

144 + 2x = 356

2x =  212

x = 106 %

 

So we would have to average 106% of the cap over both 2015 and 2016. If you can't spend over the cap, it is impossible to average that amount. So we have to sign players to even get this years number up to an area that would even be possible to average 89% over 4 years. You can do that a couple ways, but the important priorities for us is this:

 

1. We want to be above the minimum

2. We want to be able to retain our actual good players when their contract ends

3. We would presumably start needing that space next year.

 

So what do you do when you are in the year before you really needing the money? Do you make your old overpriced signings whose contract expire in a year or two reduce their salary so you have even more cap room?  No, you need that space next year (maybe) not this year.

 

What will you have to do anyway? Go out and pay some players to get another 20 million on the cap, so you don't have to overpay everyone next year to have a chance at making the average (and consequently sabotaging yourself in the future when you need the space for actual important players).

 

Feel free to add more accurate (like our actual payroll right now or our actual percentage use last year), but the general idea holds out. We have to balence spending to the minimium limit, while maintaining space for our new players. This will be a GM's most important role in the future, and I am sure that it will actually end up with a stronger free agency in another 4 years, cause some teams will botch it for sure (Redskins, Cowboys, prob Raiders).

 

And I guess the most important question is: What happens if you don't make the minimum average?