AndyJohnson

How is the rookie pool affected by the new CBA?
I havent read anything about this.
Since the cap went up dramatically,did the rookie pool also go up?
IIRC, we have normally seen no more than a 10% increase in rookie pools (slot to slot that is) each year. Since the cap went up so dramatically, did the rookie pool follow it?
I know there are also new rules that limit the length of rookie deals. I would assume when requesting that the union would have wanted a corresponding separate bump to the rookie pool, because a shorter contract with the same first year cap number would mean less overall $$ to the player. (Unless of course the increase for subsequent years are higher.....the shorter time to amortize a signing bonus at the same cap hit means a smaller signing bonus)

It seems that the answers to these questions could mean a tremendous increase in the cost of rookies. That would balance out some of what is being perceived as boatloads of cap room out there.
In past years, with the rule of 51 a rookie class would only take up something like 2mill in total cap room. That is partly because everyone after round2 had almost a zero,or a zero cap cost due to the rule of 51.
I could conceive of increases in the rookie pool of 25-30% doubling or tripling the cap hits of signing a rookie class because of that.

I also havent even seen reported whether the rookie pool is still part of the CBA under the new deal.

I guess to boil down this rambling post to one question: How was the rookie pool affected by the new CBA?

Also, Miguel, I know you always do this once the draft is over, but based on the previous question do you have a ballpark idea of what the rookie class would project to costing us, if we kept all of the picks?

solman

1. The entering player pool goes up by the same percentage as the increase in total league revenues, subject to a maximum of 5% and a minmum of 0%. When there are years of revenue increase greater than 5%, the fraction of the cap allocated to rookies decreases.

2. Entering Player Pool is part of the salary cap. More or less, better rules for rookies means less money for veterans and vice-versa. The language of the CBA clearly indicates that the NFLPA requested this pool. The owners have the option of getting rid of this pool, but they must pay a penalty to the veterans if they do so.

3. I believe that current contract length limitations are 6 years for the first 16, five years for the next five years, four years for everybody else.

Miguel

The main changes regarding rookies are
1.) the shortening of the length of rookie contracts
2.) the prohibition of a redoing of a rookie's deal for 2 years

The rookie pool has not changed that much. The increase in the rookie pool has not matched the increase in cap for the past few years.

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AndyJohnson

In other words, the relative cost of your rookie class is unchanged or maybe even cheaper?

I guess building through the draft holds even more value now than before if the cost of FAs apparently is rising, and the cost of rookies may be rising but only a tiny amount. Although it seems to be balanced a bit by not being able to lock them up for as long under that rookie contract.

Owl

Miguel,

In your best estimation, can the Patriots afford to sign two players in the top ten of the first round, two players in the top ten of the second round, and our comp. picks, for a total of 8 picks?

solman

This isn't even close. We clearly have room to sign any draft picks that are good enough to make the team.

First, factoring in a Dillon release, Miguel's got the Patriots at $19.5M in available cap space.

Add in around $5M in 2006 LTBE bonuses, and figure that cap adjustments due to 2006 cash spending will be negligible, and we've got over $24M available.

Last year Moroney was taken 21st overall and cost less than $1.2M against the cap. Jackson was taken at the top of the second and cost a bit more than $700K in cap as a rookie. Mario Williams took up a bit less than $3M in cap space.

We could have the most first and second round picks in history, and we'd still have more than enough space.

All this ignores the fact that draft picks are the best value in town. Even if we had severe cap problems, we'd still sign them all, then make room by restructuring and cutting.

Owl

Thanks, for answering my question "Andy Johnson" and "Solman."