Pats unfairly gaining advantage with compensatory picks?

[neuronet]

Listening to opening drive this morning on Sirius NFL station and interview with guy asked why Pats are so good (I never got his name). He was actually a very good interview, he gave the standard answer: Belichick is amazing, Brady is a God.

His third answer about why the Patriots are so good is that Belichick exploits the compensatory pick rules to his advantage (he was very clear to say it was not cheating, and was actually pretty respectful on this point so I don't want to throw him in with the usual mediots). He said he thinks these rules are obsolete and that teams like the Patriots exploit them to their advantage in a way that hurts league parity because we let go of players just to pile up draft picks.

Frankly I have always been confused by compensatory draft picks, so if anyone can explain why they exist I'd be curious. But the suggestion that we are killing parity by using them seems frankly ridiculous. Because everyone has them, and that is the definition of parity.

Seems another way of saying that Belichick is smarter than everyone else because he works within the rules more intelligently than the other teams.

But I wouldn't be surprised if this became another point of discussion to try to bring the Patriots down and #integrity will once again tamper with the rules to try to hurt the Patriots. It won't work of course.

 

[brdmaverick]

Good post.

It's all about perspective.

If BB/Pats exploit a loophole in a rule it's generally viewed as cheating.

If anyone else does it then it's viewed as being smart.

 

[XLIX]

PFT had a report about this earlier in the week. Florio said that the Pats and 9ers use a loophole to their advantage by structuring contracts in such a way that the final years are club options. In a certain sense, any contract that isn't guaranteed is a club-option, but to actually structure the contract as a club option means the difference between letting a guy's contract expire and losing him to free agency (which means you get a comp*) versus cutting him (no comp).

* You don't automatically just get a comp, but what I mean is that it will work in your favor regarding the formula for determining comp picks.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Some teams are using option years to enhance compensatory draft picks

A league source recently pointed out that the Patriots and 49ers have been using option years on the back end of player contracts. This allows the team, if/when ready to move on, to let the contract lapse without picking up the option. Absent option language, the team has to cut the player if it wants to move on.

Maybe the other teams should learn the rules then they could do the same thing.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

It is just a way for the Pats to overcome their lack of draft capital they are stuck with on a yearly basis.

This years free agency could net an extra 2 3rd rounders and 2 4th rounders for next years draft if they stay out of high spending free agency. It is one of the reasons Pats have been more likely to sign players that have been released than outright UFAs, and have become the poster child for trading for other teams talent.

The Pats leave no stone unturned, and it allows them to get every last drop of value out of the league.

The funny thing is, now with comp picks being tradable, it will give BB even more reason to let free agents walk, as he will have more and more draft capital to move around the draft board at his pleasure. It will also give him more trade capital in season, which is again, BB playing chess to everyone else's checkers.

 

[The Gr8est]

Most teams don't have the discipline to draw a financial line on what they will pay players, or not chase the big names in FA.

It isn't BB's fault when it blows up in their faces

 

[AtomicDawg]

I have always been confused by compensatory draft picks, so if anyone can explain why they exist I'd be curious.

Maybe this will help you.

 

[XLIX]

Most teams don't have the discipline to draw a financial line on what they will pay players, or not chase the big names in FA.

It isn't BB's fault when it blows up in their faces

Financial discipline is definitely a part of this tactic. A signing bonus is pro-rated over the life of a contract but I am 99% sure that doesn't include option years. So a 3 year deal with years 4 and 5 as club options has the signing bonus prorated over 3 years, as opposed to a 5 year deal which prorates it over 5.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Good post.

It's all about perspective.

If BB/Pats exploit a loophole in a rule it's generally viewed as cheating.

If anyone else does it then it's viewed as being smart.

Ineligible receiver much?

 

[Simpelton]

It is just a way for the Pats to overcome their lack of draft capital they are stuck with on a yearly basis.

This years free agency could net an extra 2 3rd rounders and 2 4th rounders for next years draft if they stay out of high spending free agency. It is one of the reasons Pats have been more likely to sign players that have been released than outright UFAs, and have become the poster child for trading for other teams talent.

The Pats leave no stone unturned, and it allows them to get every last drop of value out of the league.

The funny thing is, now with comp picks being tradable, it will give BB even more reason to let free agents walk, as he will have more and more draft capital to move around the draft board at his pleasure. It will also give him more trade capital in season, which is again, BB playing chess to everyone else's checkers.

And yet whenever we think of value-maximizing schemes in sports, for some reason it's always baseball and Billy Beane, rather than the real master of Moneyball. Bill Belichick and the Patriots.

 

[Ring 6]

Financial discipline is definitely a part of this tactic. A signing bonus is pro-rated over the life of a contract but I am 99% sure that doesn't include option years. So a 3 year deal with years 4 and 5 as club options has the signing bonus prorated over 3 years, as opposed to a 5 year deal which prorates it over 5.

It does include option years.

 

[Ring 6]

And yet whenever we think of value-maximizing schemes in sports, for some reason it's always baseball and Billy Beane, rather than the real master of Moneyball. Bill Belichick and the Patriots.

Who is "we"?

 

[XLIX]

It does include option years.

OK I stand corrected (and I really should have known better because of the Revis deal but oh well), but now I am befuddled over why more teams don't use this tactic. I mean, I know the Patriots are smarter than other teams, but this particular tactic isn't exactly rocket science.

 

[archstanton543]

Who is "we"?

Me and the mouse in my pocket.

 

[Ring 6]

OK I stand corrected (and I really should have known better because of the Revis deal but oh well), but now I am befuddled over why more teams don't use this tactic. I mean, I know the Patriots are smarter than other teams, but this particular tactic isn't exactly rocket science.

Well to be fair the patriots just started using it recently.

 

[Deus Irae]

Listening to opening drive this morning on Sirius NFL station and interview with guy asked why Pats are so good (I never got his name). He was actually a very good interview, he gave the standard answer: Belichick is amazing, Brady is a God.

His third answer about why the Patriots are so good is that Belichick exploits the compensatory pick rules to his advantage (he was very clear to say it was not cheating, and was actually pretty respectful on this point so I don't want to throw him in with the usual mediots). He said he thinks these rules are obsolete and that teams like the Patriots exploit them to their advantage in a way that hurts league parity because we let go of players just to pile up draft picks.

Frankly I have always been confused by compensatory draft picks, so if anyone can explain why they exist I'd be curious. But the suggestion that we are killing parity by using them seems frankly ridiculous. Because everyone has them, and that is the definition of parity.

Seems another way of saying that Belichick is smarter than everyone else because he works within the rules more intelligently than the other teams.

But I wouldn't be surprised if this became another point of discussion to try to bring the Patriots down and #integrity will once again tamper with the rules to try to hurt the Patriots. It won't work of course.

In order to use this "advantage", the team has to limit its FA activities more than a team that decides it's going to either keep its own players or go more heavily into the FA approach. As such, it's not really an advantage, as much as it's just a decision on roster building approach.

It basically comes down to "Do I want to sign ____, or do I want to gamble on a guy I draft at the bottom of the 3rd/4th/etc... round?".

 

[jmt57]

Frankly I have always been confused by compensatory draft picks, so if anyone can explain why they exist I'd be curious. But the suggestion that we are killing parity by using them seems frankly ridiculous. Because everyone has them, and that is the definition of parity.

When free agency was first being set up (real free agency, not the bogus "Plan B") there was a great fear of the unknown. Good teams felt they would be raided for their best players, and it was unfair that another club could just swoop in and cherry pick the best players off their roster. There was a feeling that 'hey, we took the time and effort to develop these players; why should another team get them in their prime and we're left with nothing?'

To alleviate those concerns the process for compensatory draft picks was set up.

The league also went further so that a team's best player - the face of the franchise - could not so easily depart in free agency; teams were given the option of applying a franchise tag to those players.

Seems another way of saying that Belichick is smarter than everyone else because he works within the rules more intelligently than the other teams.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

 

[TomPatriot]

Some teams are using option years to enhance compensatory draft picks

A league source recently pointed out that the Patriots and 49ers have been using option years on the back end of player contracts. This allows the team, if/when ready to move on, to let the contract lapse without picking up the option. Absent option language, the team has to cut the player if it wants to move on.

Maybe the other teams should learn the rules then they could do the same thing.

See? Genius is simple and contagious, or so I've heard.

 

[Tuck]

Compensatory picks are just one of the mechanisms owners have at their disposal to keep salaries down. It essentially rewards or incentivizes one potential suitor to under bid or not enter the biddding at all for a free agent player's services thereby reducing the number of bidders and establishing a lower floor for the opening bid.

You can bet this is one thing the owners will not change or take away because of a perceived advantage for the patriots. It's lining their pockets.

 

[jmt57]

Also, the philosophy of attempting to only sign players that will help you with compensatory draft picks is not fool-proof. By doing so you are limiting yourself to a smaller pool of players, especially early in free agency.

And if you wait for June 1 cuts you may find yourself without any decent options at a position of need. Signing players earlier also affords them more time to get acclimated to a team's system and playbook.

Another consideration is that it takes time to benefit from the compensatory pick. If a team has a net loss of players in the 2017 free agent market, they don't get the comp pick until 2018. It's not unusual for a player out of college to not contribute much until his second or third year. At minimum your team is losing the benefit of the replacement player (the player drafted with the comp pick) for another year, and may not get decent production from that player for another year or two afterwards. That's before considering that the draft is a roll of the dice and not a sure thing at all.