NY Jets Players - "Just Cut Chad!"

[JoeSixPat]

http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/62063.htm

February 17, 2006 -- The Jets are feverishly attempting to come to an agreement with Chad Pennington to restructure the quarterback's contract before March 3, which marks the start of the NFL's new year, a time when teams must get under the salary cap.

But while the Jets continue to negotiate with Pennington's agent, there are rumblings within with organization about whether the Jets should keep the injury-plagued quarterback at all.

Two members of the Jets' offense told The Post they believe the Jets should release Pennington.

The comments reveal a definite crack in a foundation that was built with Pennington as the leader in the Jets' locker room as well as the face of the franchise.

"I think we should release him; he's too injury-prone," one player said.

"He's like an egg back there," another player said, referring to Pennington's fragility. "I mean, look at the ways he's gotten hurt. He hasn't even been hit that hard. The injuries have come from awkward hits and falls. I think we should just cut him."

That's easier said than done, because cutting Pennington would subject the Jets to a $12 million salary-cap hit in 2006. For a team that's already some $26 million over the cap, that's a daunting prospect.

Interestingly profootballtalk.com suggests that the $12 million cap hit the Jets would technically take might not be all that unpalatable to the team - especially considering that no one expects them to contend in 2006

JETS NET CAP HIT FOR CUTTING CHAD? ZERO

As the New York Jets try to finagle a reduction in quarterback Chad Pennington's 2006 wages, some NFL observers are explaining that the Jets have no real leverage because cutting Pennington would give rise to a $12 million cap hit.

We've confirmed that, indeed, dumping Pennington will result in a $12 million cap charge due to the $22 million he already has received under a contract signed in 2004. But cutting Pennington also will result in a savings of $9 million owed to Pennington in 2006.

Coupled with the $3 million signing bonus proration, the net cap hit technically would be zero.

Actually, cutting him would result in $3 million in cap savings, since there's a $3 million LTBE incentive in Pennington's deal based on him participating in a percentage of the team's special teams snaps in 2006. Though such devices are used to increase the basis for the 30 percent rule, it wasn't necessary in Pennington's contract, since his 2007 salary is only $4 million, far less than his $9 million pay in 2006.

Regardless, this incentive means that there's currently $15 million tied up under Pennington's name. Since the $3 million eventually will go away when it becomes impossible for him to participate in 05 percent of the special teams snaps, cutting him would be a wash.

There's another minor twist. The Jets have the right to guarantee his 2006 base salary of $6 million. So if they keep Chad at his current wages in 2006 and guarantee the base (and if we ignore the $3 million incentive payment), his cap number would be $7.5 million. Since cutting him would cost $12 million against the cap, the net cap hit as a practical matter would be $4.5 million.

But given that the CBA extension likely will get done, cutting Chad now gets him off the books, with no cap charges in future years. And because no one expects the Jets to do much on the field in 2006, it might be wise for the Two Utes who are running the show to bite the bullet now.

The bottom line here is that if Pennington refuses to take a significant pay reduction, the fact that cutting him creates a $12 million cap charge should not be an impediment to getting rid of him -- especially since keeping him at a $7.5 million cap number will require paying him $9 million in 2006, but taking a $12 million cap hit by releasing him requires the placement of no further cash into his already unjustifiably deep pockets.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/62063.htm


But while the Jets continue to negotiate with Pennington's agent, there are rumblings within with organization about whether the Jets should keep the injury-plagued quarterback at all.

Two members of the Jets' offense told The Post they believe the Jets should release Pennington.

The comments reveal a definite crack in a foundation that was built with Pennington as the leader in the Jets' locker room as well as the face of the franchise.

"I think we should release him; he's too injury-prone," one player said.

"He's like an egg back there," another player said, referring to Pennington's fragility. "I mean, look at the ways he's gotten hurt. He hasn't even been hit that hard. The injuries have come from awkward hits and falls. I think we should just cut him."

That's pretty heavy duty stuff. I wonder what Mike Lupica has on that subject.

 

[Bill's Girl]

Poor Noodle Arm! The Jets can always take Matt Lienert in the draft since the Texans signed Carr to a new contract.

I have been reading Mangement Secrets of the NEP and one thing that Lavin writes about BB is that he has set up his coaches and this organization for sucess after him! I think Mangini will do things like BB did!

 

[Pats726]

I have been reading Mangement Secrets of the NEP and one thing that Lavin writes about BB is that he has set up his coaches and this organization for sucess after him! I think Mangini will do things like BB did!

I am not sure the rest of the Jets org will allow for that..they are NOT in great cap shape..and I think the pressure cooker of NYC may be a barrier..Wanting to do things a certain way and accomplishing it..miles apart.

 

[DarMan]

In reality the net cap hit is not zero, because if they cut him, they have to replace him. Besides the 12 million already allocated for his cap hit, they have to pay another starting qb which could easily run another 5 -6 million. The Jets then have 17-18 million tied up in a starting qb as opposed to the 12 million for just Chad.

 

[DaBruinz]

In reality the net cap hit is not zero, because if they cut him, they have to replace him. Besides the 12 million already allocated for his cap hit, they have to pay another starting qb which could easily run another 5 -6 million. The Jets then have 17-18 million tied up in a starting qb as opposed to the 12 million for just Chad.

Darman -
The Jets have Brooks Bollinger under contract. They could cut Pennington, have Bollinger as the starter and bring in a rookie from the draft to groom behind Bollinger as well as bringing Fielder back. Its not going to cost them 5-6 Million in additional cap space to do that.

However, the gist of your argument is correct. The net cap hit isn't zero because there will be someone who has to take Pennington's place.

However, should the CBA extension get done, then there is a very good chance that Pennington gets cut after June 1st, thereby lessening the cap hit the Jets take this year.

 

[JR4]

yes but JETs get hit with a CAP hit of 12M if they cut him or they
keep him. (Assuming they don't guarantee his salary so that after TC they can cut him.)

Why let him go now? Maybe for a roster spot but they don't have to make
that decision until after preseason.
He might come back and do well in TC and preseason so then
they have options like
1. to use him as a starter or #2 QB if they pick up a starting QB in the draft.
2. trade him and get some value for the 12M.

I think it is true the Owner will have to pay new money for his 3M roster Bonus so they can wait until end of preseaon to decide what to do
but that is already part of the calculated 12M CAP hit for this year if they
keep him.

Some JETs just want to cut him and many other high CAP players and
go into 2006 with CAP under control and some young rookies with potential.
They are willing to wait 3 years for Mangini to rebuild. I can understand that.

 

[kwf]

Wouldn't it be better from a management point of view to take the cap hit, which they'll do anyway...cut the player, and save the actual cash?...they'll just need to get a new QB, which they'd need to if he cracks like an egg, or gets demoted to 2nd string...where's Rohan?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

In reality the net cap hit is not zero, because if they cut him, they have to replace him. Besides the 12 million already allocated for his cap hit, they have to pay another starting qb which could easily run another 5 -6 million. The Jets then have 17-18 million tied up in a starting qb as opposed to the 12 million for just Chad.

Exactly - this is a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario. Makes no sense to pump another $9M into a dead hole, but the alternative is facing the music on the $12M dead money hit (since the player knowing there is no longer anyone in his corner in the FO realizes he's not really going to get his anticipated shot at a comeback has no incentive to bail this franchise out) and the cost of acquiring a new QB or two ... not to mention the cost of replacing anything approaching the production of a pro bowl caliber Center, DE, CB, RB....

The additional problem the JETS will now have to grapple with, as they cut veteran players in an effort to dig there way out of cap hell, is building an entirely new core for the franchise and putting a new face on it. Abraham is disgruntled so he ain't gonna be part of it, Law is gone and while not a leader he was brought in to give the defense a stronger identity last year, Mawae won't restructure and wants out, Chad will be gone, Martin will be asked to restructure if he hasn't already and is being nudged towards the door, and a handful of others (Fabiani, Coles) will either restructure or become cap casualties.

Aside from the fact that both situations included pre-existing cap problems, this is nothing like when BB (with SP and a lot of savvy football staffers in tow) rode into Foxboro. BB was able to keep the nucleaus of the old corp in tact (QB, WR, LB's, CB, S) - and it was one that had been to a SB just a few years earlier - and get them to sip the koolaid as he rebuilt segments of the team and transitioned to a new corp leadership group. In NY it's hard to say who's towing whom and the corp leaders are alienated if not already on the way out. The JETS are being dismantled (blown up) across the board by a rookie filled FO with no substantive track record and in some cases little or no football operations experience. A rebuild of this magnitude would be daunting for the most veteran of FO's.

Prisco touches upon FO reorganization in his notebook this week:

"There have been plenty of snickers around the league at Mike Tannenbaum being named New York Jets GM. Tannenbaum is not considered a football guy, which has some real football guys scratching their heads.

Tannenbaum did have one important thing going for him in his power play -- yes, that's what it was. He was a good friend of new coach Eric Mangini. That meant something. Now Tannenbaum has the task of dealing with a serious cap issue.

"That guy's ambitious," said one league source. "It's not a surprise he pulled a coup. That's his nature." Tannenbaum has made a meteoric rise from intern to general manager. It was only a few years ago that some in the New Orleans Saints organization considered him the coffee boy.

This isn't to say Tannenbaum can't get the job done. But once again it's proof that when front office personnel and coaches tell the media they have no business writing things because they don't understand the game, we can point to the abundance of lawyer types now taking over the football side of things. Does law school make someone any more qualified to make football decisions than journalism school? I didn't think so.

By the way, the Jets have hired a new senior director of football administration. They planned to talk to John Idzik, the Arizona Cardinals director of football operations, but they canceled when they decided to hire an attorney from a prestigious law firm in Washington D.C. "

It will be interesting to see if Tangini can survive long enough in the big apple spotlight to even have a shot at getting it all figured out, provided either or both actually has what it takes. I seriously doubt it.



http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9244108

 

[JoeSixPat]

yes but JETs get hit with a CAP hit of 12M if they cut him or they keep him. (Assuming they don't guarantee his salary so that after TC they can cut him.)

Cut him or keep him, Pennington is going to cost the Jets plenty in terms of cap hit. But while the Cap is important, in many ways its just Monmopoly money.

If you had a choice between paying Pennington $9 million in actual, all REAL CASH - or cutting him and saving that amount in salary and bonus for YOURSELF which would you choose?

Is Pennington worth $9 mil? Absolutely not.

If he doesn't take a very serious pay cut, he is gone.



What I find most interesting is the fact that Mike Florio at PFT.com had all this very keen insight int the cap.

Of course he didn't. Someone from the Jets called or emailed him and explained it all to him just as he explained it to readers.

Say what you will about profootballtalk.com about having baseless rumors. It often does - that's why the column itself is called the "rumormill".

But there's also no denying that people in the NFL are leaking info and using this column for their own purposes.

This seems to be a clear example of that.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Jets | Pennington could be released
Sat, 18 Feb 2006 06:18:54 -0800

Rich Cimini, of the New York Daily News, reports a person close to New York Jets QB Chad Pennington seemed resigned Friday, Feb. 17, to the likelihood of the quarterback being released in the coming days. "It looks like they're ready to move on," the person said of the Jets. The moment of truth likely will occur next week, when GM Mike Tannenbaum and Pennington's agent, Tom Condon, are expected to meet at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. It will take a lot of bending from both sides to produce a reworked contract. Pennington is scheduled to make a total of $9 million in 2006 (a $3 million roster bonus, due March 3, plus $6 million in base salary), but he is being asked to take an almost-unheard-of reduction. The Jets want him to forfeit the bonus and reduce his base pay to $1 million, with a chance to recoup the difference with playing-time incentives. There is always a chance the stalemate could end before March 3, but both sides appear entrenched in their positions.

 

[The Gr8est]

Is there any way we would consider "Noodles Pennington" as a backup QB, or is there still some team that would want him as their starter?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Is there any way we would consider "Noodles Pennington" as a backup QB, or is there still some team that would want him as their starter?

A better question might be why would we want to?

We have a fine young #2 locked up for the next few seasons, and I'll take the midget whose 43 year old arm (not to mention durability and judgement) is still a damn sight better than Noodle's ever was as my #3.

Pennington will want to prove he can still play, and there are enough desperate HC's in the NFL with little better to do than give him a shot.

 

[BionicPatriot]

No way Penny takes backup duties, no way in hell.

 

[Patriot Missile]

They are so screwed. How can they take a 12 million dollar cap hit and sign Leinhardt? Didn't Alex Smith sign like a 50 million dollar contract with the 49ers? They would basically have to give ML a huge signing bonus and then tell him no paychecks until this Pennington guy is off the books.

 

[sdaniels7114]

The Jets have a certain 'talent' for getting themselves out from under cap troubles. I remember laughing out loud when I heard they signed Neil O'Donnel to some extravagant deal that SHOULD have put them in cap hell for years.

 

[JoeSixPat]

They are so screwed. How can they take a 12 million dollar cap hit and sign Leinhardt? Didn't Alex Smith sign like a 50 million dollar contract with the 49ers? They would basically have to give ML a huge signing bonus and then tell him no paychecks until this Pennington guy is off the books.

That's why they are hoping he takes a paycut

Keep him at the current salary or cut him - he's costing you a lot - and by cutting him the owner actually keeps the cash.

But I think if he agrees to lower his $6 mil salary and his $3 mil roster bonus down to something like $2 million, they save $7 million on the cap compared to what they would if they kept him as is, or cut him.

If Pennington is smart he'll realize that $2 mil and a chance to be a starter is a lot more than many teams will give him.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

I heard John Clayton the other day say that the Jets are definatley going to cut Feidler, so if they cut noodle-arm, that would leave them with only Bollinger, and if he goes down, then who. In a best case scenario for them they are going to be a .500 team next year, it may be time to go into the tank for the #1 pick next year. I don't see how they can franchise Abraham and keep Pennington. What is Curtis' cap number, if they are going to tank it, he would be the first one to go.

 

[Joker]

Curtis is at 6mil + this year

 

[JoeSixPat]

I heard John Clayton the other day say that the Jets are definatley going to cut Feidler, so if they cut noodle-arm, that would leave them with only Bollinger, and if he goes down, then who. In a best case scenario for them they are going to be a .500 team next year, it may be time to go into the tank for the #1 pick next year. I don't see how they can franchise Abraham and keep Pennington. What is Curtis' cap number, if they are going to tank it, he would be the first one to go.

There are some decent QBs on the free agent market - if Pennington doesn't want a fair deal with incentives to compete for a starting spot, they could probably bring in guys like John Kitna or potentially Drew Brees

Pennington has already pocketed a ton of the Jets money and hasn't shown much for it - he should suck it up and accept the fact that this year he should be paid for his actual performance only