mayoclinic

Nice article from Don Banks at CNNSI:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/don_banks/03/23/nfl.meetings/index.html

Banks suggests that an uncapped 2010 is viewed by many teams as a virtual certainty, with a lockout in 2011 as a real possibility, and mentions that many teams have been making moves this year assuming an uncapped 2010.

Most interestingly, he quotes Robert Kraft: "It's not scary at all to us,'' Patriots owner Robert Kraft said of the possibility of playing without a salary cap next year. "There are a lot of pluses to it. It's definitely not a doomsday scenario, and it might have to happen to get things right. I hope it's the vehicle to get us a deal. I hope it's the ultimate hammer.''

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maverick4

An uncapped year helps the Pats the most. We have lots of money and there are lots of vets who want a ring, who we could fit if there wasn't a salary cap.

Rob0729

Well, it actually helps Daniel Snyder the most because he has the most money of any owner and the largest revenue stream, but Kraft isn't that far behind. Snyder is looking forward to overpay for every free agent available next year.

One popular misconception is that Kraft is afraid to spend his money. If you look at the deals he made prior to Belichick, Kraft was fast and loose with his money. In fact, he made Belichick overpay for Bledsoe and Milloy. It took like seven years for a CB to get a bigger deal than Ty Law got in the late 90s. Even when salaries grew exponentially, no CB got the deal Law did until I think Champ Bailey did his current deal.

eom

well, hopefully pats will be in the top 4, so their spending will be restricted somewhat.

I'm not really sure what kind of hog wild spending you'll see considering a possible work stoppage the next year, or a tighter cap in a new cba.
anyway, the pats would probably prioritize re-signing their own guys over bringing in big names off the street ---- I wonder who would be the bigger names out there.

PromisedLand

All those guys who were gonna be free agents next year? How many of em will be now?

Seymour, Wilfork Bruschi (if he doesn't retire) and Neal will be because they will have 6 years in.

Hobbs, Mankins Kascur and Watson will not because they will only have 5 years.

Gostkowski, LeKevin Smith and David Thomas will not because they will only have 4 years.

I am not sure I understand the status of guys like Alexander who were already ERFA, or guys like Hochstein who are not still under their rookie contracts (although in Hoch's case I am sure he will have >= six seasons).

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MoLewisrocks

That was before Belioli taught him about the system and teambuilding. Made tremendous sense to Kraft the businessman as well as Mrs. Kraft whose father was quite the philanthropist. They aren't inclined to throw money at flashy talent. They'd rather give it away to people and programs that deserve it. They aren't going to mortgage the future to pay for a shot. They have 3 Lombardi's in the trophy case already so they don't even have to toy with bad ideas. They also have a couple of hundred million in stadium debt still to be paid off. And substantial real estate in development. Tied to a league heading for a work stoppage in 2011.

PS Neither Bledsoe, Law or Milloy saw the phony backloaded end of those deals here...

Patsfanin Philly

Unfortunately for him, it requires 6 years not 5 to be an UFA in an uncapped year...

Rob0729

Daniel Snyder has the money to give a player a seven year/$100 million contract and have $90 million of it be paid out in salary in 2009 if he chooses. That means even if there is a tighter salary cap in a new CBA, the player he has under contract will have a low cap number the final six years.

Even for teams with more realistic budgets, you seem to forget teams pay out a large chunk of money of a player's contract in the first year but most of it is in a signing bonus that is amortized over the life of the contract. In an uncapped year, there will be no signing bonuses because there is no cap to worry about. Everything that would have been a signing bonus in any other year will be either straight salary or a roster bonus to avoid problems with a new CBA that has a more restricted cap. If there is no cap next year and a new cap implemented in 2011, every deal made in 2010 (unless you have a stupid GM) will be far more cap friendly than the same deal in any other year.

As for a work stoppage, if the league loses a year, the contracts just get pushed back a year. So if there is no football in 2011 and it picks up again in 2012, all the contracts for 2011 will be in 2012. Besides, with no dead bonus money for any contracts signed in 2010, it will be easy for teams to cut loose players signed in 2009 in the 2012 season if there is no football in 2011 and they become too old for their contract.

Daniel Snyder desperately wants a Super Bowl championship for his team. I don't think he would be totally opposed to spending an extra $50-100 million to get it done especially when he sees that overpaying players in an uncapped year will have no negative effect if the cap is reinstated. The only thing stopping Snyder from spending the money now is the cap.

As for Kraft, he may look at it as an opportunity to get some top quality free agents in 2009 which may actually improve the Pats' cap situation if they implement a cap in 2010.

ctpatsfan77

It's really quite simple: Assuming you reach free agency via contract expiration, if you're a free agent with fewer than three accrued seasons, you're an ERFA. If you have three or more accrued seasons, but not enough to be a UFA, you're an RFA.

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JoeSixPat

That's funny. All this time I thought the NFL owners had unanimously voted to let the current CBA expire because they felt they were paying out TOO MUCH money.

But apparently what they really want is to be able to spend MORE on players!

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