Quote:The Jags and Panthers were given extra draft picks and a full salary cap to spend on free agents.  The league learned their lesson because the next time they expanded, they didn't give Cleveland or Houston anything close to the advantages that they did to the class of '95. 

 

We're in agreement that the salary cap was badly mismanaged by Coughlin & Co. over the first several years as they had more misses than hits in the draft and in free agency. 

 

I think the lessons were learned, even though the characters running the show have changed completely from those days.  The mindset was already in place to manage the salary cap in a very controlled manner.  It'll be interesting to see how they go about spending all of this money they have to unload this off season.  My guess is that while there may be a good portion of it dedicated to free agency, that a pretty significant chunk will be used to extend the contracts for guys they've identified as foundational players they want to continue to build around.  I don't think they're going to go nuts in free agency, but they still need to spend that money. 

 

My guess is that they'll find ways to continue to hoard a portion of it using contractual language in any extensions they do allowing them to recoup some of the money using incentives not likely to be earned.  People who expect them to blow the bulk of that $60 million in free agency are bound to be disappointed in the reality, but if you look at the free agency market, the team may not be able to spend all that money.  Then what?  I'm sure they'll find a way to stay compliant while allowing them to quietly push forward whatever they can to future years. 

 

 

That sounds like a sensible strategy.

 

The problem I see is that the roster is so devoid of young talent that would be deemed to be the nucleus that can be re-signed at this stage, there are few, if any players that could be re-signed under that paradigm.

 

Blackmon showed he could be star caliber, but he has been unable to be sober enough to stay on the field and not be suspended.  Branch has had moments, but is hardly a dominant guy.

 

Joeckel, Cyp and Gratz have been inconsistent.

 

Last year's rookies are still too early in their careers to be re-signed-see Russell Wilson.

 

The team expressed an interest in re-signing Alualu...but he can't possibly command a big contract that would make much of a dent in the money available.

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