6 players reached escalators

[PATSNUTme]

Does this help everyone understand why it was important to trade Vrabel rather than release him? We were not rolling in dough when we did that and traded Cassel. It just seemed that way for a moment.

 

[eom]

first off, I'm not even going to say I qualify as an AMATEUR HOBBYIST capologist, but wouldn't it be possible to restructure deals on some keeper players that pushes money from this season into the following, possibly uncapped, year?
ordinarily, this might be problematic because you'd have even worse cap issues the next year, but who knows what things will look like.

also.......frick I forgot what I was going to ask.
oh yeah --- I just wanted to point out all the injury issues we had on defense last year, which could certainly be repeated, but if we can stay reasonably healthy the guys we have now plus some good rookie picks should do pretty well, although I'd like to see a little more pressure and a little more dependable secondary.
we'll see --- I'm optimistic.
I'd like to think the younger corners would improve and get more snaps.

 

[Miguel]

Or they can convert his roster bonus to signing bonus and save a quick $1.5M this season.

Since Brady already received his roster bonus, I am pretty sure that it is too late to convert it to a signing bonus.

Miguel doesn't have the restructure on the Moss deal factored in yet.

Actually, I did but I did not say that I did.

 

[Miguel]

Does this help everyone understand why it was important to trade Vrabel rather than release him? We were not rolling in dough when we did that and traded Cassel. It just seemed that way for a moment.

There would be no cap difference between trading and releasing Vrabel.

 

[Michael]

Congrats to Wilfork and Ghost. The rest....try and earn it.

 

[JSn]

Congrats to Wilfork and Ghost. The rest....try and earn it.

"Reached Escalators." Is this a complex concept for thee?

 

[PATSNUTme]

There would be no cap difference between trading and releasing Vrabel.

I thought that he was due another $1mil if he wasn't traded or release by Sat?

 

[Miguel]

I thought that he was due another $1mil if he wasn't traded or release by Sat?

True.

I just meant that Vrabel would have the same dead money hit if he had been released on 2/28 instead of being traded.

 

[Jimke]

Not almost, was. We should get an upgrade at corner via free agency, rookie cbs always stink anyway. Hopefully our to sophmore CB's will make leaps in production. The LB position will be dealt with in the draft, the 23 to 34 spots are traditionally great spots to draft stud LB's in the draft. Remember, if their not ready to play full time by week one, its ok, we need them to be ready to play full time week 18.

The Patriots are not going to get an upgrade at cornerback during

free agency. My guess is that they will sign Hank Poreat. The Jets

don't need him since they traded for Lito Sheppard.

 

[Taxed in Maine]

A few of my thoughts in red.

I don't think that we will be worse, even without a major addition.

DL - About the same
We do need a replacement for Wright, but LeKevin should be fine with a few more reps.
I think they may get a mid-rnd NT to spell Wilfork. Warren-Wilfork-Seymour-Green-LKS-RookieNT (Brace,Hill?)

OLB - improved
I believe that Thomas-Woods-TBC-Redd is better than what we had late in the season.
And Crable, a rookie is also possible here as well.

ILB - improved
We are counting on the same three. Bruschi may be a bit less effective. Both Guyton and Mayo should be more effective.
This is where we need one more guy, I just have a gut feeling that Ruud might show better than expected and win the 4th ILB/ST spot.

CB - improved
I expect that we will replace the vets with equal players. Let us say that Lew Sanders re-signs. Wheatley and Wilhite should be improved and certainly contribute more than last year.
Agreed, I think W& W are going to surprise many people, with Richardson and one more- either a JAG FA or a rookie.

S - the same
We have Meriweather-Sanders-Spann and likely Lew Sanders and a JAG.
This is where I could see some improvement. Those four and a 1st day rookie SS - Chung, I think Moore is still a possibility, maybe Chip Vaughn, could improve the S position as the season progresses.

 

[Brettlax3434]

The Patriots are not going to get an upgrade at cornerback during

free agency. My guess is that they will sign Hank Poreat. The Jets

don't need him since they traded for Lito Sheppard.

And your 100% about the patriots not getting an upgrade at corner in freeagency?

 

[upstater1]

Here's what I don't understand. These escalators must have kicked in AFTER free agency.

Otherwise, they would have been over the cap with Matt Cassell on the team. When they got rid of Cassell and Vrabel, they DID open up a wad of cash, anyway you cut it, they did.

So, I'm assuming these escalators kicked in this week, correct?

 

[eom]

is the cap really even an issue this time of year, or is it simply something you have to adhere to when the season starts?

edit: also, you could, say, be right at the cap but still have only 45 guys signed right now, which would obviously have to change prior to the season, so maybe that was also part of the story.
the trade enabled us to make the signings and re-signings we have so far, while the escalators seem to be more an issue of miguel tweaking his cap estimates than any legit cap issue right now.

 

[Miguel]

Here's what I don't understand. These escalators must have kicked in AFTER free agency.

Otherwise, they would have been over the cap with Matt Cassell on the team. When they got rid of Cassell and Vrabel, they DID open up a wad of cash, anyway you cut it, they did.

So, I'm assuming these escalators kicked in this week, correct?

No, they kicked in the second FA began - the start of the 2009 League Year.

 

[Miguel]

is the cap really even an issue this time of year, or is it simply something you have to adhere to when the season starts?

The 2009 cap has been in effect since the 27th and will remain in effect until the 2010 league year starts.

 

[upstater1]

No, they kicked in the second FA began - the start of the 2009 League Year.

In that case, we should really have all the savings from trading Cassel and Vrabel, and things aren't as dire a everyone in this thread is assuming.

 

[billdog3484]

it would really help if Wilhite and/or Wheatley improve tremendously this offseason. just 1!!!!!!

 

[eom]

ok, well then I have a question about that.

let's say you're right exactly at the cap and some escalators kick in to put you over.
how long do you get to operate over the limit and what does the league do to police that, as far as penalties go?
is it just a case of being unable to get any new signing approved by the league 'til you get back under?

 

[Miguel]

ok, well then I have a question about that.

let's say you're right exactly at the cap and some escalators kick in to put you over.
how long do you get to operate over the limit and what does the league do to police that, as far as penalties go?
is it just a case of being unable to get any new signing approved by the league 'til you get back under?

A team can never be over the cap once the league year begins. The league figured out before free agency began how much the salaries of these 6 players were increased because of earned escalators. When I said that the escalators kicked in at the start of free agency, I meant that a year ago Wilfork's 2009 salary was listed as $800,000 on the NFLPA site and there were reports that the Pats were X dollars under the cap that report was using the $800,000 salary. It was not until really close to February 27th that cap reports reflected Wilfork's 2009 salary of $2,200,000.

 

[bucky]

Will this finally kill the Julius Peppers talk?

Not necessarily. I'll give you 3 reasons:

1) AD's first year Cap hit was only $3.4 mil. They could easily sign Peppers and only have a $4 mil cap hit this year. Haynesworht's huge deal only carries about a $6.5 mil cap hit - and that's because they have him a $6 mil salary. They could have easily brought that down by $4 mil.
2) If they sign Peppers, they'll probably have to give up their 1st rounder - which will free up close to $1.5 mil in cap space.
3) With Peppers in the fold, they could retract their RFA offer to Woods, freeing up an additional $1.5 mil.

So there's one quite possible scenario where the Pats can bring in Peppers for a net cap hit of $1 mil.