Interesting offseason cuts around the league thread

[Brady6]

Per NFLN, the Eagles have told Cullen Jenkins that he will be released.

Nice versatile DL.

 

[DaBruinz]

Dan Connor (Cowboys - ILB) has been asked to re-do his contract or he'll be released.

Antonio Garay (Chargers - DE/DT) may be released.. I think he might be a good fit for the 5 Tech next to Wilfork.

 

[supafly]

Dan Connor (Cowboys - ILB) has been asked to re-do his contract or he'll be released.

Could Dan Conner fill the coverage LB role we would like some depth and competition with Fletcher for?

I know he's no Sean Lee over there, but I thought he played pretty well at times in that role.

 

[supafly]

Interesting that Dallas is keeping Miles Austin. They do know there is a cap, don't they?

Supposedly they weren't panicking because they knew all along that there was a very high guaranteed payment due to Carr in his 2nd yr, so they basically had a built-in restructure waiting for them.

That saved them over 10 million right there towards the cap with Carr, and restructures by Ware, Witten, and a couple of OL saved them a total of almost 20 million so far in the past 24 hrs.

Cue the 'cap is crap' comments....not that I believe that, but it's situations like these that make me hold off on speculating too much about the "gutting" of teams statements from the fans/media, as they can always choose to gamble and move money into the future which will almost always end up failing in the bigger picture, but allow them space at the moment. Pittsburgh is another prime example of that this year, although all of these teams will be scrambling around in the near future too.

 

[supafly]

Per NFLN, the Eagles have told Cullen Jenkins that he will be released.

Someone I wanted when he was a FA. Wonder if he's got anything left.

Supposedly visiting the NYG today.

 

[DaBruinz]

Supposedly they weren't panicking because they knew all along that there was a very high guaranteed payment due to Carr in his 2nd yr, so they basically had a built-in restructure waiting for them.

That saved them over 10 million right there towards the cap with Carr, and restructures by Ware, Witten, and a couple of OL saved them a total of almost 20 million so far in the past 24 hrs.

Cue the 'cap is crap' comments....not that I believe that, but it's situations like these that make me hold off on speculating too much about the "gutting" of teams statements from the fans/media, as they can always choose to gamble and move money into the future which will almost always end up failing in the bigger picture, but allow them space at the moment. Pittsburgh is another prime example of that this year, although all of these teams will be scrambling around in the near future too.

When I hear people say the "Cap is crap" I laugh because I just have to point to all the players who are getting cut to show that it's not. If it was, these players wouldn't be getting cup and teams like the Jets would have plenty of depth behind their starters. Something that everyone knows they don't have... Hell even Antonio Cromartie basically said it and we all know how thick he is...

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

When I hear people say the "Cap is crap" I laugh because I just have to point to all the players who are getting cut to show that it's not. If it was, these players wouldn't be getting cup and teams like the Jets would have plenty of depth behind their starters. Something that everyone knows they don't have... Hell even Antonio Cromartie basically said it and we all know how thick he is...

I was having a discussion like this recently in which I was arguing how much more difficult it is not to put together a 10-year-or-so run of excellence in a salary cap era as opposed to, say, the Niners in the 80s/90s.

I was arguing that guys you would normally consider as part of your core group of players, based on their performance, must head out the door if they don't fit your price points. The other guy was saying that you still can keep you core together but that you just can't make expensive mistakes.

Seems clear to me, though, that now it's tough. I think Asante, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Deion Branch in 2006, and others clearly fit the profile of core guys suddenly unaffordable or projected to be unaffordable soon. Hopefully Wes is not the next example.

Back in the 80s you just asked the owner to sign a bigger check. Sure, everyone had a budget at some point, but the choices were easier and were only performance & age-based.

 

[eom]

I was having a discussion like this recently in which I was arguing how much more difficult it is not to put together a 10-year-or-so run of excellence in a salary cap era as opposed to, say, the Niners in the 80s/90s.

I was arguing that guys you would normally consider as part of your core group of players, based on their performance, must head out the door if they don't fit your price points. The other guy was saying that you still can keep you core together but that you just can't make expensive mistakes.

Seems clear to me, though, that now it's tough. I think Asante, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Deion Branch in 2006, and others clearly fit the profile of core guys suddenly unaffordable or projected to be unaffordable soon. Hopefully Wes is not the next example.

Back in the 80s you just asked the owner to sign a bigger check. Sure, everyone had a budget at some point, but the choices were easier and were only performance & age-based.

you can tell your buddy this:
I looked some stuff up for another post on another board, and I forget which year it was, exactly, but I looked at the niners payroll a couple years before the cap was put in place.
I think that year they led the league in wins, were a final four team, but didn't make the superbowl.
all 4 of those final 4 teams were top 7 in team payroll that year, but san fran's payroll was 25% higher than the other 3 teams.
50% higher than league median that year.
100% higher than a division 'rival'.

imagine the roster we'd have if we were spending double the jets payroll.

 

[supafly]

When I hear people say the "Cap is crap" I laugh because I just have to point to all the players who are getting cut to show that it's not. If it was, these players wouldn't be getting cup and teams like the Jets would have plenty of depth behind their starters. Something that everyone knows they don't have... Hell even Antonio Cromartie basically said it and we all know how thick he is...

I do not believe that the cap is crap by any means. None whatsoever. It's no coincidence that the successful teams have been very mindful of the future while remaining as competitive as they can at the moment.

I do believe that teams can and often do move money into the future to free up current room. Just in the last 24 hours we've seen both the Steelers and the Cowboys free up something that totals about 35 million dollars...without cutting one single player, not one. That is why I hold off on the "gutting" of team comments by so many fans and media outlets, because we just don't know "how" these teams are going to approach it. More often than not it isn't half of the total "gutting" that we hear it's going to be. I am leery about the supposed downfall of Baltimore for the same reasoning. Every team loses key players every year, us included of course. That doesn't necessarily mean they are suddenly "re-building around Joe Flacco" like some of the comments I have seen here lately state. That's ridiculous. They still have the same core group of guys and will likely remain a playoff competitive team, even if they lose a couple/few players.

Obviously moving money ahead into future years is one hell of a gamble, and those teams will need to make some expensive decisions regarding pay and cuts in the upcoming years. In other words, they are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

But...that also doesn't necessarily mean that those teams are going to lose all of their key players and suddenly submerge themselves into irrelevancy, at least not this year anyway. Time will tell what kind of future decisions will be affected by these questionable/poor decisions at the moment.

My guess is that they are relying on the hope that they draft more efficiently in the next couple of yrs, which can make more expensive players expendable, but that is certainly a gamble. If they do not draft more efficiently they will be continuing the cycle until they ARE in cap hell, but it also doesn't mean that it's going to happen for the 2013 season.

The NY Jets are a total other subject completely, because they have made a plethora of stupid moves and choices from poor scouting of talent, to bringing in overpriced vets, to giving their supposedly "franchise QB" a bank breaking deal (again). There aren't many teams like them, if any, and it certainly isn't just due to poor cap decisions. Their failures are monumental on many levels.

 

[Joey007]

Saw a report saying the Panthers are ready to cut Chris Gamble....

If true, a potential replacement if Talib walks.

 

[Sciz]

Saw a report saying the Panthers are ready to cut Chris Gamble....

If true, a potential replacement if Talib walks.

Yeah, he's been talked about a few pages ago. I'm a big fan.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I would have no problem with replacing Talib with Gamble. He should come a lot cheaper, at least.

 

[supafly]

I would have no problem with replacing Talib with Gamble.

I'd prefer it to be honest.

 

[Joey007]

I'd prefer it to be honest.

Hopefully he keeps healthy, though.

 

[supafly]

Hopefully he keeps healthy, though.

I think we'll have the same concerns no matter who is back there, especially between Talib and Gamble though.

For what it's worth Gamble has played in at least 15 games in 7/9 total seasons, with the only other notable injury occurring in the 2010 season where he played in 11 games (before last year of course, where he only played in 4).

Not by coincidence, he had 3 INTs or more in 6/7 healthy seasons, and the only other time that he didn't were the two yrs where he battled injuries.

I also don't want to pin everything on any player that we sign for the top CB slot. I also want to choose someone like Trufant in the draft with a higher pick, along with bringing in at least one/two vets for added competition. I want to finally see an efficient grouping of CB guys if someone goes down or fails. That's the better way to go rather than waste a ton of money on one guy like Talib.

 

[BradyBranch39]

Hopefully he keeps healthy, though.

yeah, it would be a bit of a... wait for it...
Gamble.

 

[Joey007]

yeah, it would be a bit of a... wait for it...
Gamble.

*Insert comedy rimshot drum line here*

 

[Marqui]

I'd prefer it to be honest.

I think there's almost no chance Belichick will spend money on a freelancer like Gamble.

 

[supafly]

I think there's almost no chance Belichick will spend money on a freelancer like Gamble.

You could be right. I didn't notice that when he was at Ohio St, but maybe that's what he's become in the pros. He's also a very good athlete though, so if the price were right I would want to take a look.

That's one of the reasons why I don't prefer to speak of specific players when it comes to projecting the free agents. I'd much rather keep it in the lower tier/middle tier/upper tier range.

In this case it could potentially be a player who falls in the same class or category as Chris Gamble does, which would be the middle tier. Someone in that 5-6-7 million aav range, and someone who can effectively replace the infamous Aqib Talib and play 50% of the snaps, since the bar is now set so high by his 8 week presence.

 

[borg]

Falcons cut Dunta Robinson, Turner and Abraham