Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

http://tinyurl.com/yaqe5w
Show them the money
.....San Francisco owner John York's austerity plan has worked wonders, and the 49ers top the list with $41.78 million to spend. After years of salary-cap hell, the Tennessee Titans are next with $39.9 million under next season's cap. ....There are 20 teams with about $20 million or more to spend if they choose to do so. Here are the rest of the top ten teams: 3. Buffalo $37.86 million, 4. Arizona $35.2 million, 5. Cleveland $31.9 million, 6. Minnesota $31.5 million, 7. Jacksonville $31 million, 8. Cincinnati $28.8 million, 9. Green Bay $28.36 million and 10. New England $$26.98 million.

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

This is good news, of course. But I dont think it will signal a free agent spending spree.
My opinion is that extra cap money will be used to structure the cap long term. Not that BB and Pioli have not always taken a long term approach to the cap, but I think this is an opportunity to strengthen that.

In other words, there are 2 very different ways to handle having 27mill of cap room. 1 is to buy up everything you can, and backload heavily so you can get a bunch of free agents. Another is to to look at your roster, and your long term needs, then strutcture new deals, or restructure, extend etc players to have a heavier hit early in the deal.

We have seen that our success means that when contracts are up, retaining players costs more than it would have projected to years before. I think BB and Pioli react to that, by trying to structure deals that keep future years clean of huge cap increases.

Miguel,
Do you see that as a feasible plan? Is it realistic that you CAN structure contracts that will be more front loaded? Would that kind of deal be better or worse for the player?

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

I'd like to see a chart with these numbers along with how many players are signed for the taken money.

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

Cheap bastards! I won't be satisfied until they go OVER the cap!!!!

;)

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

Sign Warren, Wilford, Graham, and Samuel this offseason.

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

You tell 'em Joe.:D

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

Yes.
Yes, that's what some teams (Eagles, Packers, Vikings) are already doing
Better.

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

You can fulfill your wish by going to the NFLPA.org site and do the legwork yourself:)

Using data from the RedZone.Org site, here are the number of free agents each team has as of today.

49ers ERFA 1
RFA 3
UFA 9
49ers Total 13
Bears ERFA 1
RFA 3
UFA 7
Bears Total 11
Bengals ERFA 1
RFA 8
UFA 15
Bengals Total 24
Bills ERFA 1
RFA 4
UFA 10
Bills Total 15
Broncos ERFA 1
RFA 1
UFA 8
Broncos Total 10
Browns ERFA 4
RFA 4
UFA 6
Browns Total 14
Buccaneers ERFA 2
RFA 2
UFA 11
Buccaneers Total 15
Cardinals ERFA 6
RFA 4
UFA 14
Cardinals Total 24
Chargers ERFA 6
RFA 5
UFA 5
Chargers Total 16
Chiefs ERFA 2
RFA 6
UFA 8
Chiefs Total 16
Colts ERFA 1
RFA 8
UFA 9
Colts Total 18
Cowboys ERFA 6
RFA 8
UFA 5
Cowboys Total 19
Dolphins ERFA 3
RFA 5
UFA 15
Dolphins Total 23
Eagles ERFA 1
RFA 1
UFA 10
Eagles Total 12
Falcons ERFA 7
RFA 3
UFA 7
Falcons Total 17
Giants ERFA 3
RFA 3
UFA 12
Giants Total 18
Jaguars ERFA 12
RFA 8
UFA 9
Jaguars Total 29
Jets ERFA 1
RFA 5
UFA 3
Jets Total 9
Lions ERFA 3
RFA 5
UFA 12
Lions Total 20
Packers ERFA 4
RFA 1
UFA 8
Packers Total 13
Panthers ERFA 2
RFA 3
UFA 7
Panthers Total 12
Patriots ERFA 5
RFA 3
UFA 13
Patriots Total 21
Raiders ERFA 6
RFA 3
UFA 9
Raiders Total 18
Rams ERFA 1
RFA 6
UFA 13
Rams Total 20
Ravens ERFA 8
RFA 5
UFA 8
Ravens Total 21
Redskins ERFA 5
UFA 10
Redskins Total 15
Saints ERFA 2
RFA 5
UFA 13
Saints Total 20
Seahawks ERFA 2
RFA 6
UFA 14
Seahawks Total 22
Steelers ERFA 3
RFA 1
UFA 6
Steelers Total 10
Texans ERFA 7
RFA 7
UFA 16
Texans Total 30
Titans ERFA 3
RFA 7
UFA 8
Titans Total 18
Vikings ERFA 3
RFA 8
UFA 8
Vikings Total 19
Grand Total 562

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

As I understand it the Pats DL is signed through 2009. So basically it comes down to whether or not to keep Graham or Samuel. That still leaves money to spare for a few free agents. How about Lance Briggs?

Re: Pats 10th in cap space for the 2007 season
 

Even though the Pats have alot of UFA (13 I think) really they only have a couple high priced ones, in Graham and Samuel. I wonder how much they'd have to pay Samuel to keep him around. For some reason the Giants were able to sign Sam Madison to a very reasonable contract...I think 3M per year or something. I wonder why we didn't grab him.

Other teams seem to bank on the cap rising over time and thus bailing them out of their troubles, whereas the pats don't seem to. They could easily sign a FA or two and sign Samuel and Graham. But then the next year they'd have Warren (IIRC) and Wilson as well as Caldwell.

Also they may be able to cut Dillon's salary somewhat. The skins just signed Ladell betts for 2M a year or something....seems very reasonable compared to Dillon's salary.