NFC South's $5 million club

[Reapuh]

Time to take a look at the NFC South players that are scheduled to have the highest 2012 salary-cap figures.

Let’s be clear, these numbers are not what the players will actually make in 2012. These numbers simply reflect what they’ll count against the salary cap. And let’s also be clear that this list isn’t quite complete. You can bet Drew Brees will be on here once the quarterback signs a new deal with the New Orleans Saints. There also are some guys that probably will be cut or have their contracts restructured before the start of the year. Tampa Bay defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is a perfect example of that.

He’s scheduled to count $7.2 million. The Bucs can release him without any salary-cap hit. It’s a similar situation for Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, who is scheduled to count $5.9 million. Davis is coming off his third torn ACL in two years and is due a big bonus in March. I seriously doubt he’ll get to collect that bonus.

Anyway, as it stands right now, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan is the easy winner for the NFC South’s highest cap figure. He’s scheduled to count $13.5 million toward the cap ($11.5 million in base salary and another $2 million in prorated bonus money). Aside from Ryan, 30 other NFC South players are scheduled to count more than $5 million toward the salary cap. Let’s take a look:

Jordan Gross, Panthers, $11.5 million

Charles Johnson, Panthers, $11 million

Steve Smith, Panthers, $10.7 million

Will Smith, Saints, $10.15 million

Chris Gamble, Panthers, $9.75 million

Davin Joseph, Buccaneers, $9.5 million

Gerald McCoy, Buccaneers, $9.44 million

DeAngelo Williams, Panthers, $8.7 million

Josh Freeman, Buccaneers, $8.545 million

Roddy White, Falcons, $8.03 million

Jonathan Vilma, Saints, $7.63 million

Travelle Wharton, Panthers, $7.6 million

Sedrick Ellis, Saints, $7.6 million

Albert Haynesworth, Buccaneers, $7.2 million

Dunta Robinson, Falcons, $7 million

Jermon Bushrod, Saints, $6.9 million

Donald Penn, Buccaneers, $6.43 million

Roman Harper, Saints, $6.35 million

Jabari Greer, Saints, $6.25 million

Jeff Faine, Buccaneers, $5.925 million

Tony Gonzalez, Falcons, $5.92 million

Thomas Davis, Panthers, $5.9 million

Quincy Black, Buccaneers, $5.75 million

Jon Beason, Panthers, $5.5 million

Ryan Kalil, Panthers, $5.35 million

Justin Blalock, Falcons, $5.3 million

Jeremy Trueblood, Buccaneers, $5.25 million

Jahri Evans, Saints, $5.2 million

Cam Newton $5.01 million

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth

Now looking at these we have 10 guys on that list. Out of those 10, I think Davis, Gross, Steve , Gamble, and Wharton should get restructured contracts. Should be able create a little more Cap Room for us, which I think is going to be a little tight anyways.

What do you guys think?

[jtnc]

Gross' contract was already restructured. Wharton should be restructured, and it's better to just re-sign Steve to a whole new contract that's back loaded.

[CRA]

people still think Thomas Davis is going to be part of this team? His body has said no......Thomas just isn't willing to listen.

Panthers need to wise up and move on.

[CRA]

Gross' contract was already restructured. Wharton should be restructured, and it's better to just re-sign Steve to a whole new contract that's back loaded.

Hurney frontloaded one for Williams......you think Steve is going to take one backloaded? Position wise, they are practically the same age.

[jtnc]

Hurney frontloaded one for Williams......you think Steve is going to take one backloaded? Position wise, they are practically the same age.

This would be Steve's, what? Third contract with us? I know Steve's current contract is a lot under the cap.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Would be nice to lower Gross, Smith, and Gamble while saying goodbye/signing TD and Wharton to new contracts. Doubt much can be done about CJ or DWill's since they were just signed.

[SOJA]

I bet Chris gamble gets restructured as well

[SuperMan]

We could end up with a lot of cap room, extend Smith, re-structure Davis Gross and maybe Dwill, cut or restructure wharton.

[Swarly]

Would like to resign Smith. Wharton is a good player, but not worth that money. If we have to cut him so be it. Would love to have him back though because finding consistent(albeit average) OL like him is not an easy task.

Hurney is a cap wizard so I'm not at all worried about us being in "cap trouble".

[stirs]

How much will we be paying Stewart. He will probably make 10% more than D Wllms

[panthers55]

I think folks who keep talk about restructuring these contracts don't understand the process or what happens. Most times restructuring involves turning salary money into upfront signing money which requires you to extend the player for a few more years like we did with Delhomme or they have to have several years left on their deal and the salary has to be going down not going up to not give you a huge hit down the road. This is how I think it works. Correct me if I am full of it...........:D

For example smitty will cost us a cap hit of 10.7 million in 2012. His salary for 2012 is 7.75 million. That means that the other 3 million is the cap hit for the signing bonus he received in 2007. Since he is a free agent in 2013 we couldn't restructure his current contract as there is nothing to defer. We could extend him for 4 years for example which would allow us to take some of that 7.75 million in salary and pay it as a signing bonus which would be spread out over the new contract. For 2012, you will be on the hook for the 3 million signing bonus under the old contract, the prorated part of the new contract signing bonus plus whatever part of the 2012 salary that still applies. So maybe his cap hit goes down 2 or 3 million. The reason you would do that is because the cap is going to go way up when that TV deal hits so we could afford to pay him more down the road. The reason you wouldn't do it is whether you think he will still be playing at 37-38 years of age.

Travelle you might not restructure unless you thought he would be here for several years. His salary in 2012 is 5.7 million and in 2013 is 5.9 million. But his guaranteed money was only 12 million. If you cut him today you would be on the hook for 4 million (2 million for 2012 and 2 million for 2013). If you cut him as of June 1st you can take that hit over 2 years I think. If you do nothing you are on the hook for a cap hit of 7.6 in 2012 and close to 8 million for 2013. If you restructure him you end up saving a million or two this year but add that money on to 2013 making it unlikely you are going to pay him 10 million so you pay a premium for him to play 1 year. If you cut him after this year you end up with several million in dead cap space. If you extend him for a few years you lower the cap hit for 2012 but better make sure you plan to keep him otherwise you have a ton of dead cap space if you let him go down the road.

Clear as mud right??

[panthers55]

How much will we be paying Stewart. He will probably make 10% more than D Wllms

We will likely give him more money than Williams guaranteed and as a tradeoff backload it so that we can take advantage of the higher cap down the road. With Williams being front loaded and Stewart being backloaded we don't end up having to pay them a ton of money at any one time. When Stewart's cap hit is going up, Williams will be going down.

[thunderraiden]

I think folks who keep talk about restructuring these contracts don't understand the process or what happens. Most times restructuring involves turning salary money into upfront signing money which requires you to extend the player for a few more years like we did with Delhomme or they have to have several years left on their deal and the salary has to be going down not going up to not give you a huge hit down the road. This is how I think it works. Correct me if I am full of it...........:D

For example smitty will cost us a cap hit of 10.7 million in 2012. His salary for 2012 is 7.75 million. That means that the other 3 million is the cap hit for the signing bonus he received in 2007. Since he is a free agent in 2013 we couldn't restructure his current contract as there is nothing to defer. We could extend him for 4 years for example which would allow us to take some of that 7.75 million in salary and pay it as a signing bonus which would be spread out over the new contract. For 2012, you will be on the hook for the 3 million signing bonus under the old contract, the prorated part of the new contract signing bonus plus whatever part of the 2012 salary that still applies. So maybe his cap hit goes down 2 or 3 million. The reason you would do that is because the cap is going to go way up when that TV deal hits so we could afford to pay him more down the road. The reason you wouldn't do it is whether you think he will still be playing at 37-38 years of age.

Travelle you might not restructure unless you thought he would be here for several years. His salary in 2012 is 5.7 million and in 2013 is 5.9 million. But his guaranteed money was only 12 million. If you cut him today you would be on the hook for 4 million (2 million for 2012 and 2 million for 2013). If you cut him as of June 1st you can take that hit over 2 years I think. If you do nothing you are on the hook for a cap hit of 7.6 in 2012 and close to 8 million for 2013. If you restructure him you end up saving a million or two this year but add that money on to 2013 making it unlikely you are going to pay him 10 million so you pay a premium for him to play 1 year. If you cut him after this year you end up with several million in dead cap space. If you extend him for a few years you lower the cap hit for 2012 but better make sure you plan to keep him otherwise you have a ton of dead cap space if you let him go down the road.

Clear as mud right??

So basically, pretty good chance we cut Wharton and get an OG in the draft?

[panthers55]

So basically, pretty good chance we cut Wharton and get an OG in the draft?

If we think we can find a starter we might. More likely if we get rid of Wharton we plug in Bernadeau or Schwartz. I think we are likely to keep him given the holes we have to fill on the right side already with Otah up in the air. Gross and Wharton have been a pair for years which helps consistency.