Pats in "hot pursuit of Lance Briggs"

[dryheat44]

I'm not worried about Briggs age. I'm worried that if he's signed his tender (I don't know if he has), he has a valid one-year deal for 8.something. It seems that we're assuming that Thomas will sign a long term deal if we trade for him. If we do, it won't come cheap, since he's set up for UFA next year.

On second thought, I don't think you can trade a tagged player. So the Patriots and Briggs would have to come to a contract agreement, and the Bears would have to withdraw the unsigned tag.

Don't get me wrong, Briggs is a great player. He was my #2 target in FA (after Thomas). However, I don't really see a trade scenario that makes sense to all parties.

 

[BradyManny]

Not that I think we're actually going after Briggs (especially if we are making an effort for Thomas), but didn't we tag and trade Tebucky? And haven't we been discussing tag and trading Asante?

 

[BelichickFan]

On second thought, I don't think you can trade a tagged player. So the Patriots and Briggs would have to come to a contract agreement, and the Bears would have to withdraw the unsigned tag.

The mechanics are irrelevant, you can trade a franchised player - whether the tag has to be withdrawn first doesn't matter to us, the front offices take care of those details. But we could trade for him if he, the Patriots and Bears agree on the contract and the trade.

 

[unoriginal]

Ummmmm, the Colts

I'm racking my brain to find one Colt starter that wasn't drafted - or signed off the scrap heap. The Colts are as good as anyone at squeeing value out of their drafts.

 

[salty]

I'd be really surprised if there were any truth to this. I could see the Patriots giving Briggs a huge contract, if they really thought he would be a great fit in this system. But a huge contract AND the necessary high draft picks that it would take to trade for him? Thats an awful lot to give up for one player, even a player of Briggs' caliber.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I'm racking my brain to find one Colt starter that wasn't drafted - or signed off the scrap heap. The Colts are as good as anyone at squeeing value out of their drafts.........

....... and at "big spending stragegy" .... the essence of my point.

I mean tons of people in here talked about how little depth the Colts had and how poor ther defense was because they spent like crazy keeping their stars!. The talk in here was that it was going to be time to pay for all that crazy spending. Well, despite paying gobs of sal cap money on players like Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Mathis, McFarland, Simon, Glenn, and Clark, the Colts still won a SB despte having crap for depth and a defense that was one of the worst in the league. So, teams can spend huge amounts of sal cap $ on players and win the SB. They just have to be wise about who they spend those huge sal cap $'s on.

Teams get into sal cap trouble not by overpaying productive players but by overpaying unproductive players.

If the Pats add say Thomas and Briggs (to go with Samuel) and pay them huge dollars all will be good if they produce to their salary amounts and we win a SB.

 

[Triumph]

I'm not worried about Briggs age. I'm worried that if he's signed his tender (I don't know if he has), he has a valid one-year deal for 8.something. It seems that we're assuming that Thomas will sign a long term deal if we trade for him. If we do, it won't come cheap, since he's set up for UFA next year.

The cap is rising every season. 7 Mil this season.

The new CBA includes new money previously not in the pot.

 

[ayjackson]

If we were able to land two solid LBs, like a Thomas and a Briggs, I would be hoping we could turn those two number ones (plus) into Detroit's #2 (overall) and take mr johnson.

 

[patsfan13]

If we were able to land two solid LBs, like a Thomas and a Briggs, I would be hoping we could turn those two number ones (plus) into Detroit's #2 (overall) and take mr johnson.

It will take 1 of the #1's to get Briggs. And with a Briggs, Thomas and (Hopefully) Samuel contract no cap room for the #1 or 2 pick. Sign Joe Horn.

 

[unoriginal]

....... and at "big spending stragegy" .... the essence of my point.

I mean tons of people in here talked about how little depth the Colts had and how poor ther defense was because they spent like crazy keeping their stars!. The talk in here was that it was going to be time to pay for all that crazy spending. Well, despite paying gobs of sal cap money on players like Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Mathis, McFarland, Simon, Glenn, and Clark, the Colts still won a SB despte having crap for depth and a defense that was one of the worst in the league. So, teams can spend huge amounts of sal cap $ on players and win the SB. They just have to be wise about who they spend those huge sal cap $'s on.

Teams get into sal cap trouble not by overpaying productive players but by overpaying unproductive players.

If the Pats add say Thomas and Briggs (to go with Samuel) and pay them huge dollars all will be good if they produce to their salary amounts and we win a SB.

We're talking free agency. The Colts are not big players in that arena. They retain their stars and draft the hell out of everyone else.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

We're talking free agency. The Colts are not big players in that arena. They retain their stars and draft the hell out of everyone else.

I wasn't talking about free agency.

My point was teams can spend huge $ on players and win a SB. Whether those players are retained from within or added from outside the organization doesn't matter.

They key is to have those players perform to their salary amounts. if they do then their salary cap hit isn't an issue. it only becomes an issue if they fail to produce to their new salary amounts.

 

[salty]

I wasn't talking about free agency.

My point was teams can spend huge $ on players and win a SB. Whether those players are retained from within or added from outside the organization doesn't matter.

They key is to have those players perform to their salary amounts. if they do then their salary cap hit isn't an issue. it only becomes an issue if they fail to produce to their new salary amounts.

But the Colts don't spend a huge amount of cap space on a lot of their players. Manning, Harrison, and Wayne are pretty much it. Freeney is looking to join the club. They let Edge go because they didn't want to spend a lot of cap space on him, and found a perfectly good replacement in Addai. Lets face it, teams that throw a lot of cap space at a handful of players don't do well if there is any sort of injury or other setback.

 

[dryheat44]

But the Colts don't spend a huge amount of cap space on a lot of their players. Manning, Harrison, and Wayne are pretty much it. Freeney is looking to join the club. They let Edge go because they didn't want to spend a lot of cap space on him, and found a perfectly good replacement in Addai. Lets face it, teams that throw a lot of cap space at a handful of players don't do well if there is any sort of injury or other setback.

Not to jump in here, but you just argued against your own argument. The Colts HAVE tied up a lot of cap space in just a few players. They did not have an injury issues amongst those players. Therefore, they were able to do well. Manning, Harrison, Wayne, and Glenn accounted for probably 30% of their cap room last season.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

But the Colts don't spend a huge amount of cap space on a lot of their players. Manning, Harrison, and Wayne are pretty much it. Freeney is looking to join the club. They let Edge go because they didn't want to spend a lot of cap space on him, and found a perfectly good replacement in Addai.

Huh, in Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Mathis, Simon, and Glenn the Colts have 6 players alone who are in the high upper echelon salary at their respective position.

Teams can throw a lot of cap money at a select few stud players and win if those select few players perform to their salary amounts. The Colts proved this this past season!

Lets face it, teams that throw a lot of cap space at a handful of players don't do well if there is any sort of injury or other setback.

Well you can't go predicting injuries that would preclude a player from helpng his team so this point isn't relevant. And I already have stated that the key is to add players who produce commensurate with their salary.