Boots Electric

With the way things are headed, chances are no new CBA will be agreed upon and Free Agency this year will be the most interesting.

Free Agency: What will it be?
By: Roshan Bhagat
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With the owners having opted out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire in 2010, there could be some dramatic changes reshaping the NFL the way we know it. If a new CBA isn’t agreed upon by March of 2010, the NFL’s salary cap will vanish. Fans: Don’t fret; it may not be quite as bad as you imagine. Like most people, I would like to see the two sides get a deal ironed out, but here are a number of changes that will fall into place, preventing the deep pockets of Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones buying themselves a Championship.

Players must accrue SIX seasons. Currently, players must accrue only four seasons before they can enter the market as an unrestricted free agent. So what is the change? Players will have to accrue six full seasons before having the ability to enter unrestricted free agency. For example, many players drafted in the second round or later in the 2006 draft are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents under a 2010 capped season, having signed four-year rookie deals. If a new CBA is not agreed upon and the 2010 season becomes uncapped, free agents-to-be such as Marcus McNeill, DeMeco Ryans, and Thomas Howard, will not have accrued six seasons and will therefore qualify as Restricted Free Agents. The Restricted Free Agents pool will consist of all players who have accrued three, four, or five years and have expiring contracts

Two tags. Under the current CBA, teams have one franchise tag OR one transition tag to apply on one of their free agents-to-be while paying them at an elite level. Under the conditions set forth, a 2010 uncapped year would lead to an extra transition tag being available. So, teams would be able to retain their top two unrestricted players with either two transition tags, or one franchise tag and one transition tag. This would make it all the more difficult for players to reach unrestricted free agency.

Restrictions on playoff teams. The eight teams that make the divisional playoffs will have restrictions placed upon them in unrestricted free agency. They will be able to only sign free agents in accordance to the number of players they lose. The four teams that lose in the Divisional rounds will have some additional flexibility. They may sign one player with a salary of $4.925 million or higher, as well as any number of free agents with a first year salary under $3.275 million and an increase of no more than 30 percent in the subsequent years. This will prevent the competitive teams from dominating the open market year in and year out.

There are obvious rules put in place to keep the NFL competitive even with an uncapped season and future. However, where there is money, there are always people finding loopholes; the NFL is no different. You can bet the rich owners will find ways to manipulate the rules, but the league should stay far more competitive than some are envisioning. The owners and the players will also have an incentive to agree upon a new deal because an uncapped future could be detrimental to members on both sides.

Free Agency: What will it be?

The last part is very interesting. Anyway, I saw someone compiled a list of the players who would be RFAs if no salary cap is in place for 2010:

Arizona Cardinals: Hamza Abdullah, S; Justin Green, FB; Deuce Lutui, G; Mike Nugent, K; Jerheme Urban, WR; Gabe Watson, DT.

Atlanta Falcons: Tyson Clabo, T; Harvey Dahl, G; Jamaal Fudge, S; Michael Koenen, P; Jerious Norwood, RB; Quinn Ojinnaka, G; Charlie Peprah, S.

Baltimore Ravens: Chris Chester, G; Mark Clayton, WR; Billy Cundiff, K; Sam Koch, P; Dawan Landry, S; Tony Moll, T; Quinn Sypniewski, TE; Adam Terry, T; Fabian Washington, CB; Demetrius Williams, WR.

Buffalo Bills: Keith Ellison, LB; Gibran Hamdan, QB; Richie Incognito, G; Joe Klopfenstein, TE; George Wilson, S; Ashton Youboty, CB.

Carolina Panthers: James Anderson, LB; Thomas Davis, LB; Jeff King, TE; Richard Marshall, CB; Rob Petitti, T.

Chicago Bears: Mark Anderson, DE; Josh Bullocks, S; Dusty Dvoracek, DT; Danieal Manning, S; Jamar Williams, LB.

Cincinnati Bengals: Abdul Hodge, LB; Rashad Jeanty, LB; Brandon Johnson, LB; Evan Mathis, G; Frostee Rucker, DE.

Cleveland Browns: Abram Elam, S; Arnold Harrison, LB; Jerome Harrison, RB; D'Qwell Jackson, LB; Brodney Pool, S; Matt Roth, LB; Lawrence Vickers, FB.

Dallas Cowboys: Miles Austin, WR; Stephen Bowen, DE; Cletis Gordon, CB; Jason Hatcher, DE; Sam Hurd, WR; Pat McQuistan, T; Duke Preston, C; Cory Procter, G; Gerald Sensabaugh, S; Marcus Spears, DE; Pat Watkins, S; Shaun Suisham, K.

Denver Broncos: Elvis Dumervil, LB; Chris Kuper, G; Brandon Marshall, WR; Kyle Orton, QB; Tony Scheffler, TE; Le Kevin Smith, DE.

Detriot Lions: Daniel Bullocks, S; Dylan Gandy, c; Jason Hunter, DE; Adam Jennings, WR; Daniel Loper, G; Ko Simpson, S; Cody Spencer, LB.

Green Bay Packers: Atari Bigby, S; Will Blackmon, CB; Daryn Colledge, G; Nick Collins, S; Johnny Jolly, DE; John Kuhn, FB; Derrick Martin, S; Jason Spitz, C.

Houston Texans: John Busing, S; Rashad Butler, T; Owen Daniels, TE; Ryan Moats, RB; Bernard Pollard, S; DeMeco Ryans, LB; Chris White, C.

Indianapolis Colts: Hank Baskett, WR; Antoine Bethea, S; Aaron Francisco, S; Tyjuan Hagler, LB; Marlin Jackson, CB; Tim Jennings, CB; Charlie Johnson, T; Freddy Keiaho, LB; T.J. Rushing, CB.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Clint Ingram, LB; Montavious Stanley, DT; Troy Williamson, WR.

Kansas City Chiefs: Brodie Croyle, QB; Derrick Johnson, LB; Corey Mays, LB; Rudy Niswanger, C; Ryan O'Callaghan, T; Jarrad Page, S.

Miami Dolphins: Ronnie Brown, RB; Anthony Fasano, TE.

Minnesota Vikings: Ryan Cook, T; Ray Edwards, DE; Fred Evans, DT; Tarvaris Jackson, QB; Karl Paymah, CB; Naufahu Tahi, FB.

New England Patriots: Stephen Gostkowski, K; Logan Mankins, G; Pierre Woods, LB.

New Orleans Saints: Mike Bell, RB; Jammal Brown, T; Jahri Evans, G; Tony Hargrove, DT; Roman Harper, S; Herana-Daze Jones, S; Lance Moore, WR; Courtney Roby, WR; Zach Strief, T; David Thomas, TE; Leigh Torrence, CB.

New York Giants: Chase Blackburn, LB; Kevin Boothe, G; C.C. Brown, S; Barry Cofield, DT; Kevin Dockery, CB; Derek Hagan, WR; Sinorice Moss, WR; Guy Whimper, T; Gerris Wilkinson, LB.

New York Jets: Kellen Clemens, QB; Drew Coleman, CB; Braylon Edwards, WR; Howard Green, DT; Wayne Hunter, T; Brad Smith, WR; Eric Smith, S; Leon Washington, RB.

Oakland Raiders: Jon Alston, LB; Khalif Barnes, T; Ricky Brown, LB; Charlie Frye, QB; Thomas Howard, LB; Kirk Morrison, LB; Stanford Routt, CB.

Philadelphia Eagles: Jason Avant, WR; Nick Cole, C; Omar Gaither, LB; Chris Gocong, LB; Ellis Hobbs, CB; Max Jean-Gilles, G; Alex Smith, TE; Leonard Weaver, FB.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Willie Colon, T.

San Diego Chargers: Tim Dobbins, LB; Malcom Floyd, WR; Antonio Garay, DT; Eric Ghiaciuc, C; Marques Harris, LB; Vincent Jackson, WR; Travis Johnson, DE; Marcus McNeill, T; Shawne Merriman, LB; Darren Sproles, RB; Charlie Whitehurst, QB.

San Francisco 49ers: David Baas, G; Ahmad Brooks, LB; Marcus Hudson, CB.

Seattle Seahawks: Lance Laury, LB; Jon Ryan, P; Rob Sims, G; Chris Spencer, C; Darryl Tapp, DE.

St. Louis Rams: Victor Adeyanju, DE; Oshiomogho Atogwe, S; Alex Barron, T; Sam Gado, RB; Gary Gibson, DT; Ruvell Martin, WR; Mark Setterstrom, G.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Mark Bradley, WR; Brian Clark, WR; Matt McCoy, LB; Donald Penn, T; Barrett Ruud, LB; Maurice Stovall, WR; Jeremy Trueblood, T; Carnell Williams, RB; Rod Wilson, LB.

Tennessee Titans: Dave Ball, DE; Tony Brown, DT; Bo Scaife, TE; Stephen Tulloch, LB; Kevin Vickerson, DT; LenDale White, RB.

Washington Redskins: Jason Campbell, QB; Reed Doughty, S; Kedric Golston, DT; Rocky McIntosh, LB; Anthony Montgomery, DT; Will Montgomery, C; Carlos Rogers, CB.

Just posting this to give people a little more insight as to what will happen and how it works. Thoughts? Who do you want from that list?

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HEY BRO! WHAT UP?

FA will suck if a new agreement isn't in place. The Pats might be able to Peppers, if that. If they want anybody else, they will have to give up high draft picks.