How is it that we never have enough cap space?

[RoaringRiot]

cowboys have won a grand total of two playoff games since the panthers came into the league.

Yep...and two is more than one, right?

<sarcasm>

[tiger7_88]

I just read about the Dolphins, they didn't have a lot of cap space this off season but their owners forked over a lot of guaranteed money for the Suh deal.

So for those saying JR has no involvement......

I also remember reading about Brady taking a pay cut but getting more guaranteed money, the thing is guaranteed money come straight from the owners pocket.

so if we really wanted to we can go after some of these receivers that would actually help our team instead of being a gap fill, they just have to fork over some of that guaranteed money.

Holy sheeyot....

[rayzor]

guaranteed money comes straight from the owners pocket?

[rayzor]

Holy sheeyot....

 

*shrug* i got no idea

[Car123]

cowboys have won a grand total of two playoff games since the panthers came into the league.

Poster made it seem 1998 was the last time they were in the playoffs. They've had some pretty good teams over the years. Still Carolina shouldn't model the franchise after Dallas.

[GoobyPls]

guaranteed money comes straight from the owners pocket?

 

the team to be specific

 

 

 

[MadHatter]

the team to be specific

 

No...the owner to be specific.

 

Everything comes out of his pocket.

[KSpan]

I remember Lucas he was basically Maxwell, no way in hell can you compare him to Dez or Hardy guys who were pro bowl caliber players. Neither Wahle nor Lucas ever made a pro bowl before reaching the panthers. Lucas wasn't even our number 1 corner

And neither of them were given huge contracts

Thomas Davis has never made a Pro Bowl either, so what's your point? And Wahle and Lucas did receive large contracts for 10 years ago, and even large by some standards today - Wahle got $25M over 5 years and Lucas got $36M over 6 years with a $13M signing bonus.

[tailg8or]

Biggest free agent acquisition for the team ever was Sean Gilbert. Perfect example of overpaying and how it costs you later on.

 

I understand not wanting to get burned again after stepping into that fire.  However, it's never good to use extreme cases of stupidity to guide future actions.

[DanTheMan]

Lat big FA was K. Johnson. Boom...game over

[tailg8or]

We did have a ton of money once ... the year of labor negotiations when Jerry cleaned house.  Problem was that Marty blew it all the following year trying to keep players from jumping ship.  Should have let him go much sooner.

[Ricky Spanish]

I just read about the Dolphins, they didn't have a lot of cap space this off season but their owners forked over a lot of guaranteed money for the Suh deal.

 

So for those saying JR has no involvement......

 

I also remember reading about Brady taking a  pay cut but getting more guaranteed money, the thing is guaranteed money come straight from the owners pocket.

 

so if we really wanted to we can go after some of these receivers that would actually help our team instead of being a gap fill, they just have to fork over some of that guaranteed money.

 

Guaranteed money is slippery slope. That is money you will not get back if the player is cut/released before their contract is up. What you are banking on when you give contracts like that out, are that the FA is worth every penny when you sign them. This is rarely the case.

 

To answer your question, these teams like the Cowboys, Redskins, Dolphins, etc. are all able to sign these players to these huge contracts with guaranteed money by escalating their pay each year. If you sign a player to a 7 year 100 million dollar contract with 55 million guaranteed, you can spread that money out throughout that 7 year period. That is how teams get around the salary cap. While the player will be payed 55 million no matter what they do, their first year they might only be getting 3 million dollars of their guaranteed money. They still have to pay the player 97 million, 52 of that being guaranteed. The next year, the money they hand out escalates, and the player might now be making 15 million with 10 of that guaranteed. Each year into the future their cap hit increases because each year into the future, more and more contracts from other players come off the books, meaning they actually do "have" cap room to keep that player around at those high prices. 

 

The shortsightedness of this strategy, however, is that the team puts so much stock and money into the one player, they neglect others that might be deserving of a pay raise. That's when they have to release talent around the roster in order to keep the player that's making 20 million in his contract's 5th year. So while you still have that one stud, you are losing 2 or 3 contributors to the team that produce solidly for you. Those would be the guys like KK short, or Josh Norman, who have talent and are getting better each year, but deserve a pay raise based on how they have improved and how they have been playing. If you are paying 20 million to one guy in a year, you have to let other talent walk, talent that is worth possibly 5-7 a year which you now can't afford because you owe that one guy 20 million. So by keeping one position strong, you make two others weaker. This hurts the overall talent of the team. 

 

The goal is to pay the players what they are worth, preferably the ones you drafted because doing so means you keep the talent on your roster at very reasonable prices for 4 or 5 years until they are due for a pay raise. Building through the draft allows you to have that young talent, and when their initial contracts run out, pay them a fair amount when they deserve it. Where we got into trouble a few years ago was giving out terrible contracts filled with guaranteed money to all the wrong players. Hurney had terrible foresight and gave 100 million to two running backs loaded with guaranteed money, a position whose importance is dying out each year. Then he threw a bunch of money at CJ so he wouldn't go to the falcons. He then extended Jon Beason, who was coming off a significant Achilles injury and hasn't been the same since. Then he threw a ton of money at Godfrey and Gamble and we knew how that went... Then at James Anderson, someone half the fan base doesn't even remember. Because he threw all that money at those players, he was not able to go out and get guys with something to prove at cheaper prices. Guys like Ted Ginn or Mike Mitchell. Couple these horrible contracts with horrible drafts and you have a perfect storm for a terrible team. That's why people are skeptical of the strategy of building through the draft and signing stop gaps/hole fillers because it didn't work well for us in the past. That is not the strategy's fault, that is the guy executing the strategy's fault. Hurney drafted like crap which mean he had no actual good players to throw money at, so he threw all his money at mediocre players or players who didn't really deserve what they were being paid. 

 

Gettleman is different. Gettleman can actually evaluate talent. Case in point, the past two years where all our no name free agents and rookies have been starting in place of players that Hurney drafted or signed. We won two division titles the past two years with Gettleman at the helm and he's done it on a shoestring budget. We haven't signed any of these bigger name guys this year because we are STILL TO THIS DAY dealing with the crappy contracts that Hurney handed out years and years ago. Gettleman is playing it smart and leaving us in a position to where all the crappy contracts come off the books next year, and we will have a ton of money to play with and hand out to players who actually deserve it. Players like Cam. Players like Luke. Players like Josh Norman. If we go out and blow all our cash this year, we run the risk of losing the pillars of our team that actually make us good, and that's something Gettleman sees but few around here do. This is the strategy that the Steelers and Packers use and they seem to have done well for themselves the past 20 years (with a few down years here and there). They can actually evaluate talent, keep the good ones around, and fill their needs in FA with guys who are anywhere between decent and not bad.

 

TL;DR We aren't spending cash on these guys because it's a gamble we can't afford and we will be using the money we are saving now to sign the players we KNOW are worth it who are already on the team. 

[GoobyPls]

Guaranteed money is slippery slope. That is money you will not get back if the player is cut/released before their contract is up. What you are banking on when you give contracts like that out, are that the FA is worth every penny when you sign them. This is rarely the case.

 

To answer your question, these teams like the Cowboys, Redskins, Dolphins, etc. are all able to sign these players to these huge contracts with guaranteed money by escalating their pay each year. If you sign a player to a 7 year 100 million dollar contract with 55 million guaranteed, you can spread that money out throughout that 7 year period. That is how teams get around the salary cap. While the player will be payed 55 million no matter what they do, their first year they might only be getting 3 million dollars of their guaranteed money. They still have to pay the player 97 million, 52 of that being guaranteed. The next year, the money they hand out escalates, and the player might now be making 15 million with 10 of that guaranteed. Each year into the future their cap hit increases because each year into the future, more and more contracts from other players come off the books, meaning they actually do "have" cap room to keep that player around at those high prices. 

 

The shortsightedness of this strategy, however, is that the team puts so much stock and money into the one player, they neglect others that might be deserving of a pay raise. That's when they have to release talent around the roster in order to keep the player that's making 20 million in his contract's 5th year. So while you still have that one stud, you are losing 2 or 3 contributors to the team that produce solidly for you. Those would be the guys like KK short, or Josh Norman, who have talent and are getting better each year, but deserve a pay raise based on how they have improved and how they have been playing. If you are paying 20 million to one guy in a year, you have to let other talent walk, talent that is worth possibly 5-7 a year which you now can't afford because you owe that one guy 20 million. So by keeping one position strong, you make two others weaker. This hurts the overall talent of the team. 

 

The goal is to pay the players what they are worth, preferably the ones you drafted because doing so means you keep the talent on your roster at very reasonable prices for 4 or 5 years until they are due for a pay raise. Building through the draft allows you to have that young talent, and when their initial contracts run out, pay them a fair amount when they deserve it. Where we got into trouble a few years ago was giving out terrible contracts filled with guaranteed money to all the wrong players. Hurney had terrible foresight and gave 100 million to two running backs loaded with guaranteed money, a position whose importance is dying out each year. Then he threw a bunch of money at CJ so he wouldn't go to the falcons. He then extended Jon Beason, who was coming off a significant Achilles injury and hasn't been the same since. Then he threw a ton of money at Godfrey and Gamble and we knew how that went... Then at James Anderson, someone half the fan base doesn't even remember. Because he threw all that money at those players, he was not able to go out and get guys with something to prove at cheaper prices. Guys like Ted Ginn or Mike Mitchell. Couple these horrible contracts with horrible drafts and you have a perfect storm for a terrible team. That's why people are skeptical of the strategy of building through the draft and signing stop gaps/hole fillers because it didn't work well for us in the past. That is not the strategy's fault, that is the guy executing the strategy's fault. Hurney drafted like crap which mean he had no actual good players to throw money at, so he threw all his money at mediocre players or players who didn't really deserve what they were being paid. 

 

Gettleman is different. Gettleman can actually evaluate talent. Case in point, the past two years where all our no name free agents and rookies have been starting in place of players that Hurney drafted or signed. We won two division titles the past two years with Gettleman at the helm and he's done it on a shoestring budget. We haven't signed any of these bigger name guys this year because we are STILL TO THIS DAY dealing with the crappy contracts that Hurney handed out years and years ago. Gettleman is playing it smart and leaving us in a position to where all the crappy contracts come off the books next year, and we will have a ton of money to play with and hand out to players who actually deserve it. Players like Cam. Players like Luke. Players like Josh Norman. If we go out and blow all our cash this year, we run the risk of losing the pillars of our team that actually make us good, and that's something Gettleman sees but few around here do. This is the strategy that the Steelers and Packers use and they seem to have done well for themselves the past 20 years (with a few down years here and there). They can actually evaluate talent, keep the good ones around, and fill their needs in FA with guys who are anywhere between decent and not bad.

 

TL;DR We aren't spending cash on these guys because it's a gamble we can't afford and we will be using the money we are saving now to sign the players we KNOW are worth it who are already on the team. 

 

Can't you give out guaranteed money in bonuses?

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

I just read about the Dolphins, they didn't have a lot of cap space this off season but their owners forked over a lot of guaranteed money for the Suh deal.

So for those saying JR has no involvement......

I also remember reading about Brady taking a pay cut but getting more guaranteed money, the thing is guaranteed money come straight from the owners pocket.

so if we really wanted to we can go after some of these receivers that would actually help our team instead of being a gap fill, they just have to fork over some of that guaranteed money.

Eeeeehhh, no. It does not work that way.