Comparables for Adam

[mavfan2390]

ok, dont kill me :bricks: but its time to draft connor hughes and let vinny walk

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I give Adam the same deal that he received in 2002 with a couple of changes.
In 2002 Adam was given a 3-year deal ($1.8 million signing bonus, salaries of 750,000 in 2002, 1,400,000 in 2003, 1,425,000 in 2004). All of Adam's salaries were fully guaranteed. My proposal would have a more balanced salary structure (1,000,000 in 2006, 1,275,000 in 2007, 1,300,000 in 2008) and I not guarantee his 2008 salary). Plus, I would bump his signing bonus to $2.1 million. Adam could earn $250,000 in incentives each year. Adam's 2006 cap number would be $1.7 million, a decrease of over a million dollars from his 2005 cap number. Given the Patriots' recent tendency to play close games, Adam's unmatched ability to come through in the clutch is worth a slight increase.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1352796.html
In 2002 Adam was willing to sign a deal that was not the best ever for a kicker. In 2006 why not expect him to do the same??

I'm with Mike the Brit. I do not believe in adding phony years to a contract, especially with older players.

I agree with you in principle - and Adam won us 2 games this season with last last second walk off FG's (Steelers and Falcons) without which we don't even sniff the playoffs this year in a crappy division. Longwell is the only real comparable to Adam on this years FA list as the others are much older or not cold weather kickers. And Longwell only made 74% of his FG attempts this year (and just 6-10 from 30-39 range) on a team that hasn't felt pressure in some time. And his kickoffs average 2 yards less than AV over their careers. Not to mention he will likely be franchised by the Packers, and if not he does want highest paid and wouldn't mind a cushy warm weather or indoor job to prolong his career (he's 32).

My only question would be why not go for a 4 year deal to max out the available amortization? And perhaps sweeten the deal with a split signing/option bonus of say another $1M in 2007 similar to what they did with Tom? Adam will only be 37 at the end of a 4 year deal and for a kicker who works out like he does and has been consistent, clutch and durable I see no reason not to. That lowers his cap number further to $1.5M this season while raising it by about $100K over the last 3 years with maybe the performance incentives as the potential bonus in just the final 2 years. The cap by 2009 should be approaching the $120M range by then and we'd still have a HOF kicker on the roster for a little more than $2M. It would also take him into the $10M range which I believe is something he probably wants to approach.

His last deal may not have been the best ever if you measure it in dollar average, but it was I believe unprecedented in that it was a fully guaranteed contract. And I do unfortunately believe that perception (and security) matter to AV even more this time out. We could go that route again guaranteeing his salary in whole or in part and I wouldn't flinch either. He's shown no signs of appreciable dropoff. He had a slightly off season accuracy wise, but then again as a team we all did.

 

[patchick]

The punter just catches the ball and swings his leg half a dozen times, and makes a million a year. No backlash usually.

Tell that to Ken Walter!

Some good points in this thread, particularly on the use of a phony year as an exclusive bargaining period. One more thing to keep in mind about the distribution of base salaries over contract years...the current CBA rumors point to a dramatic annual cap escalation over the next several years. So a million in 2006 might mean significantly more cap-wise than a million in 2008.

 

[spacecrime]

I
Adam won us 2 games this season with last last second walk off FG's (Steelers and Falcons) without which we don't even sniff the playoffs this year in a crappy division.

This is over-simplification. One play does not win a game. It looks that way because itis the last paly of the game, but between the opening kickoff and final gun, there were some 120 plays.

Adam's last play field goal won because in part our offense had scored enough points to get us to within three, and our defense kept the other team to within three.

Take away any long pass defended by our D in either of those games and Adam's FG was meanless because the Steelers or Falcons would be up by more than a TD.

He is good, but one play does not win a game.

Adam's last play FG against the Panthers was as dramtic as the two you cite, but he only "won" the game with that FG becasue he missed two earlier in the game.

The question is not how many last minute FGs did he kick, but how accurate is he? How likely is he to make the FGs he attempts. Deifying him for making a couple FGs and ignoring his misses is as bad as the JETS firing their kicker because he missed a couple, even though he did well generally.

You can't pay a guy based on one or two plays, whether kicker, CB, QB, RB, what ever. take the body of work.

Adam is good. He is not the best, not last year.