Bedard's Jacksonville film review - Brady right to call out offense

[patfanken]

With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight the Mankins deal looks less and less productive. There is no question that Mankins hasn't played to the contract the last 2 years. The sorry fact is that few players who get max contract play up to them. Its not that they all play badly, but its hard. To be worth that kind of contract you have to have legitimate probowl years. When you are in the top 5 in salary, you have to play as one of the top 5 in the league. So you can have a "good" year, and still not play to your contract level.

It's like with Welker. People shouldn't be so self righteous pointing out the good season that Welker is having. He's being PAID a salary that demands that he play to that level. I don't blame Mankins for his less than stellar play this season. Injuries have a lot to do with it. BUT he is a good object lesson for people to look at, when faced with the myriad of potential FA signings the Pats will have to make this season. Even with the so called good guys, you are taking big risks when you pay a player the big bucks, and as Mo and Mayo point out, those signings can can negative consequences down the road.

Right now the Pats have 34% of their roster eating up 67% of their cap space. (by comparison the Jets have just 13%) That leaves just $41MM left for the rest of the 36 players on the roster. That's probably a decent ratio in comparison with the rest of the league. But IF we sign Welker, Volmer, and Talib, that percentage is going to shrink

The point is that the factors and thinking that goes into resigning your own FA's to big money contracts is a lot more complex than simply, "is he worth the money?"

 

[Deus Irae]

...Once Mankins held out into the 2010 season he was dead to me from a cap as well as leadership standpoint....

Given that it was the Patriots who were the problem, your approach doesn't really make sense.

 

[mayoclinic]

With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight the Mankins deal looks less and less productive. There is no question that Mankins hasn't played to the contract the last 2 years. The sorry fact is that few players who get max contract play up to them. Its not that they all play badly, but its hard. To be worth that kind of contract you have to have legitimate probowl years. When you are in the top 5 in salary, you have to play as one of the top 5 in the league. So you can have a "good" year, and still not play to your contract level.

It's like with Welker. People shouldn't be so self righteous pointing out the good season that Welker is having. He's being PAID a salary that demands that he play to that level. I don't blame Mankins for his less than stellar play this season. Injuries have a lot to do with it. BUT he is a good object lesson for people to look at, when faced with the myriad of potential FA signings the Pats will have to make this season. Even with the so called good guys, you are taking big risks when you pay a player the big bucks, and as Mo and Mayo point out, those signings can can negative consequences down the road.

Right now the Pats have 34% of their roster eating up 67% of their cap space. (by comparison the Jets have just 13%) That leaves just $41MM left for the rest of the 36 players on the roster. That's probably a decent ratio in comparison with the rest of the league. But IF we sign Welker, Volmer, and Talib, that percentage is going to shrink

The point is that the factors and thinking that goes into resigning your own FA's to big money contracts is a lot more complex than simply, "is he worth the money?"

We've essentially been in "rebuilding" - or "reloading", if you prefer - mode for the past 4-5 years. That means we've added a lot of players who have been playing under their rookie contracts, at relatively low cost. As those players mature and become established building blocks for the long term, they are coming up for new contracts, during a time at which the cap has stayed relatively flat. Those guys have included or will include in the near future:

- 2008: Mayo already done; Talib (acquired by trade) up this year
- 2009: Vollmer up this year
- 2010: Gronk, Hernandez already done; McCourty and Spikes coming up

Add those 7 contracts to Brady, Mankins, Wilfork and Welker (up this year) and you have 11 potentially fairly big money contracts to deal with, with Nate Solder and Stevan Ridley coming up next. And the cap may stay relatively flat through 2014 and possibly 2015.

This year we had 5 players with cap hits of $7M or more (Brady, Welker, Wilfork, Mankins and Mayo), and only 7 with hits of $3M or more (those 5 plus Gostkowski and Hernandez, both who had hits slightly over $3M). Next year we add Brandon Lloyd and Dan Connolly to the group, not including Welker, Vollmer and Talib, which could put us at 11 players with hits of $3M or more. In 2014 you can add Gronkowski and Gregory to the mix, plus possibly Spikes and McCourty. And the cap may remain relatively flat. There's no way to deal with it without either restructuring some of the guys above them, letting some guys go, or cutting into the roster depth.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

All I ask for today is that tightly wound Brady doesn't start screaming obscenities at himself after 3 and outs

 

[mayoclinic]

All I ask for today is that tightly wound Brady doesn't start screaming obscenities at himself after 3 and outs

If it comes to that, Giselle may call out of the offense after the game.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

If it comes to that, Giselle may call out of the offense after the game.

as she's sipping wine?