It's time for Amendola to step up

[supafly]

I am not extremely familiar with Danny Amendola. With that being said, here's what I have noticed with him though. He seems to be injury prone and that could be an issue depending on how you look at it. However, when he's healthy I think he does an excellent job helping the team win games.

Whether you think that he underperformed in 2013 or not with his 54 receptions (or 4.5 catches per game that he took part in over 12 games), the issue is that they signed him to a contract that would have the team lose money from his dead cap hit, should they decide to move on from him prior to the end of the 2014 season (next fall). This is a gamble that many teams have to take when taking on a higher profile free agent for a multi year deal. The same goes for anyone.

Either way you look at it, there aren't really any options to "cut" or move on from Danny Amendola after the first year, as it relates to the salary cap savings. When the contract was structured, Belichick was apparently okay with taking on this risk and giving him 2 full seasons to show his worth before making any decisions.

 

[Christiancat]

Whether you think that he underperformed in 2013 or not with his 54 receptions (or 4.5 catches per game that he took part in over 12 games), the issue is that they signed him to a contract that would have the team lose money from his dead cap hit, should they decide to move on from him prior to the end of the 2014 season (next fall). This is a gamble that many teams have to take when taking on a higher profile free agent for a multi year deal. The same goes for anyone.

Either way you look at it, there aren't really any options to "cut" or move on from Danny Amendola after the first year, as it relates to the salary cap savings. When the contract was structured, Belichick was apparently okay with taking on this risk and giving him 2 full seasons to show his worth before making any decisions.

Thanks for explaining it supa.

 

[supafly]

Thanks for explaining it supa.

No problem. I just want to make it clear that we have guys who are well versed and much better at explaining the finer nuances of these specifics much better than I ever come dream of doing. There are posters here who understand the ins/outs of these matters and are about 100x smarter than me, or even a good majority of us.

After the 2014 season, Belichick can assess what he'd like to see happen with Amendola for the future. That could mean continuing to move forward with the deal, asking him to take a pay cut, or even letting him go, but they have the first 2 yrs to pretty much come to that conclusion.

 

[Ivan]

Big props to Amendola for playing through a really nasty injury all season. I think he is going to come through for them in the play-offs despite the injury.

 

[supafly]

Big props to Amendola for playing through a really nasty injury all season. I think he is going to come through for them in the play-offs despite the injury.

Hope you're right. We could use someone to step up tonight.

As much as Amendola's 4.5 catch average didn't impress many here (including myself on some level, just the same as many), I do think that we have plenty of other things to worry about rather than the future of Danny Amendola. Actually, we probably have a lot of other things to worry about just at the WR position itself that would come before Amendola

 

[Ivan]

Hope you're right. We could use someone to step up tonight.

As much as Amendola's 4.5 catch average didn't impress many here (including myself on some level, just the same as many), I do think that we have plenty of other things to worry about rather than the future of Danny Amendola. Actually, we probably have a lot of other things to worry about just at the WR position itself that would come before Amendola

Sup, "the future" for Danny Amendola is that he is going to have surgery to repair the abdominal tear in the offseason and he is going to play for the Patriots in 2014. The idea that won't happen is ludicrous and I have always wondered why it was a rational subject for debate. Amendola is a really good player imo and I think the first Buffalo game was the real player and not the one we saw playing with the abdominal injury throughout the season. I do think he can contribute for them because he can still catch and run, he just can't cut for the most part, so if teams don't pay enough attention he can still hurt them. The "either/or" argument about Edelman/Amendola is a strawman because there is no room in Amendola's contract to make room for Edelman this offseason. The more likely debate for the Patriots is Edelman or Emmanuel Sanders and they will likely pursue both and take the better deal for them. I hope they find a way to re-sign Edelman because he has turned himself into a key part of their offense, however if he gets priced out of their market then Sanders is a likely option for them.


At the end of next season a debate about whether or not they should keep Amendola makes a lot of sense, but until then it's just mental masturbation for the haters.



***MEA CULP*********

I made the argument that Wes Welker would be the best value signing of any free agent, and for a while it looked like I was right, however when all is said and done the best value of any free agent from last year's market was without question Julian Edelman, vet minimum with team friendly clauses. Who could blame him if he goes for the money?


Not me.

 

[Brady6]

You are free to analyze in any way you please.

However, Amendola's 2014 salary is $3M. You can make believe that he has a chance of being cut. I've watched the NFL for over 50 years. Amendola is worth a $1M salary as a #4 receiver (actually $1.375M including roster bonus). IMHO, he is more than a #4 receiver. I've analyzed Belichick's decisions for only a dozen years. There is no reason to believe that he is so unhappy with Amendola that he will be cut. And yes, I understand that you will soon start listing the rookies, players who have never played, and UDFA's who will beat Amendola out for a position.

Average annual salary makes no difference, except for press releases. All that matters each season is the amount of new money that must be spent, the cap effect, and options on future services. Those amount need to be compared with projected value and options at the position.

I will stand by my statement that there is zero chance barring injury or criminal charges that Amendola isn't worth the $1.375M to keep on the team.

As has been explained many, many times before:

Danny Amendola has almost a SEVEN million dollar dead cap hit for 2014, meaning that there's absolutely no way in the world that he'd be released prior to the spring of 2015/offseason of 2014, unless they'd want to be in the red more than 2 million dollars. This is the norm with any larger type of multi million dollar pacts, as you normally need to get through the first couple/few years until you're in the black (so to speak), and can actually save money. Gregory was a prime example of a guy who we really couldn't have saved money from if we would've cut him prior to this past season, although that may change when they can see a savings for the upcoming 2014 campaign.

As mgteich said, you are obviously free to believe what ever you choose to believe, but unless you are banking on the fact that they'd trade him at his lowest point of potential compensation of his entire career (not likely at all), then he'll definitely be here for the 2014 campaign.

If Amendola isn't living up to Belichick's expectations after 2014, then he may be approached for a pay cut or other options may be explored, but as many, many posters have pointed out--we're basically "stuck" with him for the first 2 years. That's just the gamble that teams take when they sign a higher profile player to a multi year deal for millions of dollars. It's the same everywhere around the NFL.

Not meaning to sound argumentative, but he's not making "5.7 million dollars per year." That is simply the average of the entire 5 yr deal, but after the first 2-3 yrs that becomes the Patriots choice on a year to year basis. You are attempting to look at the Amendola pact much like the Donovan McNabb pact (not exactly, but still an appropriate example for this exercise), in the sense that you're factoring in the maximum amount of possible money that he would earn after staying here for the full 5 yrs. If you simply looked at it year to year (after the initial period post 2014/2015) as the team does, you would see it in the correct way and realize that he made:

--2 million dollar base, with 3 million total guaranteed for 2013 (3.5m cap hit). I don't really see why a guy who caught 54 balls would be considered such a horrible deal for that kind of money, when you factor in a replacement's salary. I'm not going to pretend that he tore it up, but we're talking about maybe 1 million dollars or so when you consider the replacement. The Pats were prepared to sign Emmanuel Sanders to a deal this season consisting of 2.5m dollars, so the salary was close. He caught 13 more passes than Amendola, so the deal would have been much of the same. The kicker is that Sanders would once again be a free agent, while we have Amendola for the future as long as we want, or at least until spring of '18.

Going on about what he could potentially make after 2017 should he realize the full value of his entire 5 yrs isn't fair, but it's basically pointless too, because Belichick and the team will assess it year to year. For the next upcoming 2014 year though, he's safe.

Amendola received $8,500,000 in 2013 and is going to receive another $3,375,000 in 2014 that’s $11,875,000 paid to him over 2 season. Just because it shows up on a salary cap spreadsheet differently doesn’t change the fact that Robert Kraft and the organization will have written checks to Amendola for that amount in 2013 and 2014 combined. This is a business as people always point out well that’s a large investment for a player that had 633 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns this season.

I understand the salary cap # is what we as fans always look at but that’s a cost structure figure on a spreadsheet the money is actually being paid by this franchise, and other members of this team are witnessing a player make nearly $12,000,000 in 2 years for mediocre contributions as a 3rd WR.

I remember the episode of the football life that took place during the 2009 season and Belichick was heard on the sidelines saying I cannot get this team to play how I want it to; that likely had a something to do with players like Adalius Thomas, Derrick Burgess, Shawn Springs and others being paid a lot of money but playing subpar football. Football players are humans just like the rest of us and like us they don’t want to look across a room at another person who does the same or a similar job but is paid much more and performs at a lower level then them. Now I acknowledge that Amendola is a hard worker so maybe that won’t happen with him and his pay will not affect locker room moral, but do you think that Edelman hasn’t had the thought roll through his mind this year that Amendola was cut a check for $8,500,000 this year and I am only getting a check for around $1,000,000? I don’t think he would be human if that hadn’t ran through his head.

 

[moosekill]

And your point being?

 

[primetime]

Edelman has the ability to sign a new contract this offseason. I don't even know why people bring up Edelman in comparison to Amendola. Edelman was fully healthy all year but had never been healthy nor caught more than 30 balls in the past, is on a 1 year contract, and is a complementary player to Amendola, not a substitute - see, for example, lining both up on one side and running a screen pass to Edelman, with Amendola blocking for him, because they do this regularly and its highly effective.

The cap argument is tilting at windmills because the salary cap doesn't really matter as much as fans like to think it does. It may as well be a soft cap with the amount of gymnastics available to teams to stay under it. Unless you're throwing out eight figure contracts to every other player like the Redskins liked to, the salary cap is never really going to enter play. This would be the case even if Danny Amendola was overpaid, which he is not.

The real argument is, is Danny Amendola good for the New England Patriots? If you actually watch the football games, the answer is clearly yes.

 

[Brady6]

Hope you're right. We could use someone to step up tonight.

As much as Amendola's 4.5 catch average didn't impress many here (including myself on some level, just the same as many), I do think that we have plenty of other things to worry about rather than the future of Danny Amendola. Actually, we probably have a lot of other things to worry about just at the WR position itself that would come before Amendola

That sort of highlights my point about Amendola not being the one who has been unimpressive but instead those who set these unrealistic expectations for him being the disappointments. Take a look at his number prior to coming here.

Pre Patriots
• Games – 42
• Targets per game – 6.9
• Receptions per game – 4.6
• Catch rate – 66%
• Receiving yards per game – 41.09
• Touchdowns per game – 1.66

With Patriots
• Games – 12
• Targets per game – 6.9
• Receptions per game – 4.5
• Catch rate – 65%
• Receiving yards per game – 52.75
• Touchdowns per game – 1.66

Amendola was on par with the rest of his career and actually significantly better in receiving yards per game, of all things that having Brady as a QB would help it would most likely be the yards per game because Brady is able to put the ball in spots that allow the receiver to make more plays after the catch, and also more accurate intermediately, etc. You see that improvement for Danny this season. What Brady can’t do help Amendola get open more often which is why he had basically the same targets, receptions, catch rate and touchdowns per game as his career numbers.

Basically to say you have not been impressed with Amendola this season is the same as saying you were not impressed with him in prior seasons and that you expect him to be a player he has never been in 5 NFL season in 2014. If everyone looked at what Amendola was as a player coming and compared it to what he was this season you would not be disappointed in him you would actually see that he was as good and even better in some areas as he has been in his NFL career.

 

[Brady6]

Edelman has the ability to sign a new contract this offseason. I don't even know why people bring up Edelman in comparison to Amendola. Edelman was fully healthy all year but had never been healthy nor caught more than 30 balls in the past, is on a 1 year contract, and is a complementary player to Amendola, not a substitute - see, for example, lining both up on one side and running a screen pass to Edelman, with Amendola blocking for him, because they do this regularly and its highly effective.

The cap argument is tilting at windmills because the salary cap doesn't really matter as much as fans like to think it does. It may as well be a soft cap with the amount of gymnastics available to teams to stay under it. Unless you're throwing out eight figure contracts to every other player like the Redskins liked to, the salary cap is never really going to enter play. This would be the case even if Danny Amendola was overpaid, which he is not.

The real argument is, is Danny Amendola good for the New England Patriots? If you actually watch the football games, the answer is clearly yes.

Edelman caught 43 footballs in 12 games as a rookie (11 regular season games = 37 receptions and 1 playoff game = 6 receptions). I can assure you that if Danny Amendola was on this team 2009-2012 with players like Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Branch all playing either the Y-WR, Z-WR, or in the middle of the field/underneath he would not have caught 196 footballs entering 2013s season.

I think Danny is good for the football team, I just don’t think he is good for the payroll. He is absolutely being overpaid based on his career production and this season’s production. Saying he isn’t is relying on hope that he plays like you think he is going to breakout in 2014, in my opinion the only contracts that should be paid on hope in the NFL is the first (rookie) contract.

Edelman also was not healthy all season, he appeared on the injury report the following weeks:

• 10/20/13 – questionable
• 10/27/13 – questionable
• 11/03/13 – probable

 

[Brady6]

Amendola doesn't need surgery as been reported endless times, the injury he suffered did what the surgical procedure does.

Doctors often treat chronic groin pain by snipping the adductor longus – one of the muscles in the groin – from the pubic bone. Since Amendola's tendon ruptured, he essentially did the doctors' work for them, eliminating the need for surgery during the season. It also means he has a faster recovery time than if he had a groin operation

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--p...zcgRwb3MDNwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA01PVVMxMjlfMQ--

 

[primetime]

Edelman caught 43 footballs in 12 games as a rookie (11 regular season games = 37 receptions and 1 playoff game = 6 receptions). I can assure you that if Danny Amendola was on this team 2009-2012 with players like Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Branch all playing either the Y-WR, Z-WR, or in the middle of the field/underneath he would not have caught 196 footballs entering 2013s season.

He also never played a full season. I can assure you that your hypothetical doesn't matter at all.

I think Danny is good for the football team, I just don’t think he is good for the payroll. He is absolutely being overpaid based on his career production and this season’s production. Saying he isn’t is relying on hope that he plays like you think he is going to breakout in 2014, in my opinion the only contracts that should be paid on hope in the NFL is the first (rookie) contract.

The 'overpaid' argument has been countered time and again but you refuse to stop believing it.

Edelman also was not healthy all season, he appeared on the injury report the following weeks:

• 10/20/13 – questionable
• 10/27/13 – questionable
• 11/03/13 – probable

He didn't miss any games. This hair-splitting and refusal to give ground despite overwhelming evidence on the other side is why people think you hate Amendola.

 

[Ivan]

Edelman has the ability to sign a new contract this offseason. I don't even know why people bring up Edelman in comparison to Amendola. Edelman was fully healthy all year but had never been healthy nor caught more than 30 balls in the past, is on a 1 year contract, and is a complementary player to Amendola, not a substitute - see, for example, lining both up on one side and running a screen pass to Edelman, with Amendola blocking for him, because they do this regularly and its highly effective.

Belichick clearly stated that Edelman and Amendola play different positions on Salk and Holley in a weekly interview a few weeks back.

There is no Amendola or Edelman question, the Patriots will either sign Edelman or not depending upon how high his market value goes and whether or not he wants to take less to stay in New England, it has absolutely nothing to do with Amendola's contract, and those pretending it does are doing so because they either know nothing about the salary cap or because they just want to argue.


imo the real question for them will be either Edelman or Sanders, and they will probably take the lower price.

 

[Brady6]

He also never played a full season. I can assure you that your hypothetical doesn't matter at all.

Edelman played a full season this year; what does that even have to do with the context of the conversation we were having? I provided contradiction to your statement Edelman took 5 years to click by finishing 5th amongst all rookie wide receivers in 2009 with 37 receptions, so now you’re going to turn to the he has never played a full season angle?

My hypothetical makes a lot of sense actually, if you really think Amendola would have been successful any more than Edelman in his first 4 seasons you have Tebow fan outlook to Amendola. Amendola would have been playing 5th or 6th string WR and STs just like Edelman was. In their first NFL seasons Amendola played 14 games, was targeted 63 times for 43 receptions, 326 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown; Edelman played 12 games, was targeted 62 times for 43 receptions, 403 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns – from day 1 Edelman was the more productive receiver than Amendola, he just was in the background due to the greatest slot WR of all time playing in front of him.

The 'overpaid' argument has been countered time and again but you refuse to stop believing it.

What exactly has it been countered by? Oh his cap number shows up different on a spreadsheet… does that mean the Patriots did not write him a check for $8,500,000 in 2013, because they did and the actual money in his bank account is a lot more tangible than a number on a cap spreadsheet. I don’t care about the cap number that is like the equator it’s an imaginary line I am talking about what is being paid by the Patriots during each year for the services of Danny Amendola.

Cash Received
• 2013 - $8,500,000
• 2014 - $3,375,000
• 2015 - $4,375,000
• 2016 - $5,375,000
• 2017 - $6,375,000

This organization actually paid Amendola (real money no equator money) $2,125,000 more this season than they will pay him in any year of the 5 year deal. Everyone talks about it only being a 2 year deal and we can restructure or cut him that’s all well and good but the first 2 season of Amendola actually cost the most in terms of paid monies – years 1 and 2 the average is $5,937,500 compared to years 3, 4 and 5 when the average is $5,375,000.

Please explain to me how the overpaid has been countered; all I have seen is people using cap numbers. Do you think Amendola only had to pay taxes on his cap figure this year of the full $8,500,000 million he was paid? Did you know Aaron Hernandez cap number this season was $3,290,000 but we paid him $12,740,000? Do you think he Patriots are fighting to get the cap money back or the almost $13 million?

He didn't miss any games. This hair-splitting and refusal to give ground despite overwhelming evidence on the other side is why people think you hate Amendola.

So Amendola would have compiled 51 receptions, 423 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns in the 4 games he missed this season?

On a side note I understand the desire that fans have for Danny to step up but in an interesting coincidence is that the games in which Amendola received a lot of targets the team was 2-3 and won its 2 games but 3 combined points (2 points in week one and 1 point in week 13).

• Week 1 – 14
• Week 5 – 9
• Week 11 – 7
• Week 13 – 8
• Week 14 – 14

I think the offense works best when we run the football, have Edelman as the primary target (with Gronkowski out) and use Amendola, and one of the rookies complementary pieces, at least in 2013-2014.

To your point I have not seen any evidence, all I have seen is a group of Amendola fans telling me why he is going to be different than he has been 7 years after entering the NFL. The most interesting part is I am the one everyone portrays as the basher of Amendola but I am also the only one saying there is nothing wrong with Danny’s performance and my only reservations is that he is overpaid, while his fans and faithful are implying that there is something wrong with his performance by arguing that it is going to be so much better next year.

 

[varjao]

HOW ABOUT THAT

Just a few catches, but crucial ones.

GO DANNY

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

HOW ABOUT THAT

Just a few catches, but crucial ones.

GO DANNY

As great as his receptions were today, I liked even more that DA was the first to get in the face of Butler after the late hit on Ridley.

 

[supafly]

HOW ABOUT THAT

Just a few catches, but crucial ones.

GO DANNY

As great as his receptions were today, I liked even more that DA was the first to get in the face of Butler after the late hit on Ridley.

And again...his blocking was very good, as it has normally been this season.

Actually, all of Hooman, Devlin, and the offensive linemen were as well obviously. We imposed our will physically, which is always great to see this time of year.

Amendola is hardly any kind of "damaged goods" here. As usual, Edelman had many more targets tonight (9 vs 5), but Amendola produced some timely grabs and had almost as many yards at 77 to Edelman's 84. It'd be great to have both of them again, especially if we added a healthy Dobson, along with even the potential of an additional free agent who was somewhat reasonable in cost. Either way you look at it, Amendola should be more productive next season with another year with Brady, along with better targets in the passing game--such as the PIT game example.

 

[supafly]

As great as his receptions were today, I liked even more that DA was the first to get in the face of Butler after the late hit on Ridley.

Danny is a sparkplug, not meaning to claim that Julian isn't. They are both scrappy and ready to go, but Amendola is built pretty well. He's stocky as hell for his size.

 

[JDot]

HOW ABOUT THAT

Just a few catches, but crucial ones.

GO DANNY

That's great and all, but why up this thread. Now you going to have that Dola hater writing more insane essays on why he believes Dola is bad..