For Me: The Biggest CBA Question Is?

[Sciz]

The smaller the roster, the better for the Patriots. With the possible (Light-pending) exception of Solder, there's no pressure on any of the rookies to contribute immediately, while many (Dowling, Vereen, Ridley, Carter, Williams) can cover kicks, Smith can contribute as a blocker on returns, Mallett doesn't need to be ready for at least another season, and Cannon would presumably be eligible for PUP and probably is not going to contribute much if at all this season anyway. That leaves Solder as the only guy who doesn't fit on the roster either as an ST guy or a planned non-contributor, and I think he's also the most likely to start the season as a starter.

Random fact: The Pats coaches credited Morris, Woodhead, and Green-Ellis with a total of 25 ST tackles, so they are definitely willing to throw RBs out there on kick coverage.

 

[supafly]

Well, I mean the biggest question other than when the season will start.

For me, the biggest unanswered question is roster size manaement for 2011.

IRA and PUP
I don't expect an changes in IR or PUP rules, although that could happen.

Rookie Roster Exemptions
I expect this for at least part of the year, unless there is an increase in the 53 man roster size.

Free Agent Roster Exemptions
How many weeks will a free agent be given before he counts against the roster?

2011 Roster Size
Perhaps there will be a permanent change in the roster size, active roster size and/or Practice Squad size; or not. Even if there is no permanent change, there could be a larger roster size in 2011 only. I expect a larger Practice Squad also to accomodate a couple of more UDFA's who are probably hurt most by the shorter camp time.

BOTTOM LINE
I expect (hope for) an effective roster size of 56 for the 2011 season, plus the IR and PUP lists. I prefer this to long roster exemptions, although that is the other option. In any case, it is clear that many players will not be ready for the season because of the shorter camps. This is true for everyone, but especially rookies and free agents, and most especially undrafted rookie free agents.

The big rumor a couple of weeks ago was only a TC roster increase, from 80 all the way to possibly as much as 90.

Supposedly (at least as of about 2 weeks ago) that was it--no 53 man increase was even remotely being discussed.

Their big rationale was that no one has really missed anything yet, besides a weekend mini-camp; and supposedly BOTH sides felt that as long as the new CBA was taken care of before any TC was missed, there was simply no reason to make things any more complicated for the negotiations that are already way too complex.

Of course, that was about 2 weeks ago, so maybe they will change their minds. I remember there being several articles, and a posted link (at least I thought) somewhere. I will see if I can find it, and post it for you.

I agree that an increase of at least 1-2 players would be appropriate, hopefully maybe it'll happen.

 

[DaBruinz]

I think that there are several big questions regarding the CBA.

1) Salary Cap
2) Salary Floor
3) How "Dead Money" from players cut is handled. (Supposedly a big issue for the players and it would directly affect the salary cap and Salary floor)
4) Roster Size (personally, I've always felt that with a Salary Cap, you don't need to limit roster size, the cap will do it for you)
5) Any changes to the Franchise Tag (Rumors that the O-Line is going to be broken down by position - benefits owners)

 

[doesntmatter1]

For me i wanna see the rookie pay scale. Also, on a side note I feel like the salary cap is a joke sometimes. If they increase the cap by 10 mil then all qbs are about to get an 8 mil raise thats why I think this cash floor sounds more fair than simply raising the cap.

 

[Spiral]

If they raise the floor to 90% or more of the cap, then you can probably kiss Mankins good-bye. There will be a lot of cheap owners out there who will have to spend money, and most of these teams (Jax, Carolina, TB, Cinn, etc.) have young QB's, so they may think that the best place to spend the money is on an o-lineman. Some team will offer him something in the $8-$9M range on day 1.

Raising the floor may also encourage the cheaper teams to cut high-priced players who have large cap hits. That will count against their cap, getting them closer to the cap floor, without increasing the actual amount of cash going out the door. Some big names may find themselves looking for a job before the season starts.

Also, for a team with 2 firsts and 2 seconds in the next draft, the length of rookie contracts is important issue for the Patriots.

 

[Frick]

My question is: Can BB send an envelope to all the agents of the UDFA's that he's interested in, and on the front it says, "From Bill Belichick - URGENT, URGENT, URGENT - Not to be opened until 4 days after the CBA is ratified"?

 

[Spiral]

I think the evaluation period for UDFAs is going to be so short that I'm not sure any will have much of a chance--unless the rosters are expanded quite a bit, or a number of guys end up with pulled groins, hamstrings, etc. (which could happen).

 

[mgteich]

Any that matter will all be signed within 24 hours of the time that that negotiations are allowed. Envelopes; how quaint! All agents will be contact by electronic means within a few minutes after it is allowed.

My question is: Can BB send an envelope to all the agents of the UDFA's that he's interested in, and on the front it says, "From Bill Belichick - URGENT, URGENT, URGENT - Not to be opened until 4 days after the CBA is ratified"?

 

[Ring 6]

You dont think Levoir wouldnt qualify as the 60th guy?? lol What's he done again? Light's gone. I just dont see him coming back here, considering that we basically just drafted his replacement. Kaczur is the only alternative, as I see it currently.

That still doesnt answer why an expanded roster would address that concern.
If Light isnt coming back then the 4 tackles are Solder, Vollmer, Kaczur, Levoir.
No, Levoir would not be the 60th guy. If we need to use our 5th OT as the starting LT we have bigger problems than missing OTAs.

 

[supafly]

According to Chris Mortenson and Adam Schefter as currently as of today, the only roster changes will be the increasing number of the Training Camp roster.

Instead of the usual 80, it will increase to 90, to give some more time for teams to assess the back ends and guys that they are considering.

"12 days after ratification: Rosters will be set at 90 players."

There is nothing at all anywhere about a 53 man increase, and I don't think there has been any talk of it for months now, since there was a minor amount of chatter in the very beginning of the lockout.

As DaBruinz pointed out, the salary cap would take care of the roster limits anyway--especially if they return to a lessened or similar amount of the last cap in 2009--as expected. The increase of a 53 man roster would not coincide with the thinking of a more reasonable salary cap. In my opinion, it would only make it harder, and more of an issue.

I'd be very surprised to see a 53 man increase, as there certainly would have been some hints of at least some negotiations by now. We've heard hints of everything else.

 

[37Harrison]

The two biggest issues I see here is the rookie wage scale coupled with the term length of their initial agreements and the cap floor.

I think these two issues go hand in hand and could be a major change in how things are handled league wide.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Great point, and I'd like to see a team be able to protect half of its Practice Squad.

It'd be unfair to stop teams from putting practice squad players on rosters.

Still given this shortened season the hope all along has been for temporary roster exemptions of some sort to give teams more time to develop players for this season - that's a win win.