NFL Free Agency 2022 edition

[Ross12]

His void years w/ HOU aren't the Pats problem. They'll convert to dead money for HOU this year. I think they take a $7.5M dead money hit.

That's what I'm unclear on. From my understanding, the Texans would take the acceleration of the dead money from those void years now but the void years would still exist, they just wouldn't mean anything to the receiving team. However they could be repurposed with a new signing bonus. But I could be wrong, I have not looked at very many trades with a player who had a contract with void years on it.

 

[venecol]

That was a GREAT article. Thanks for sharing.

The money shot



So net-net, Rams pay a premium for proven players and gladly give up top pick to accomplish that. They accumulate mid-round picks because the 2nd contract is more economically friendly than a 1st or 2nd rounder. That is how they are able to balance out their salary cap.

Exactly. Looks like MIA is trying the same approach w/ Hill. Even the Browns w/ Watson.

The thing that stuck out was only 31% of 1st RD players are signed to a 2nd contract by the same team. 1 out 3. We've seen it here w/ Sony, Harry, maybe Wynn? These 1st RD players are very risky. Even Bill has said how difficult it is to translate college production & scheme to NFL.

 

[Ring 6]

That was a GREAT article. Thanks for sharing.

The money shot



So net-net, Rams pay a premium for proven players and gladly give up top pick to accomplish that. They accumulate mid-round picks because the 2nd contract is more economically friendly than a 1st or 2nd rounder. That is how they are able to balance out their salary cap.

The downside is the cap cost for a veteran is much higher than a pick.

 

[venecol]

That's what I'm unclear on. From my understanding, the Texans would take the acceleration of the dead money from those void years now but the void years would still exist, they just wouldn't mean anything to the receiving team. However they could be repurposed with a new signing bonus. But I could be wrong, I have not looked at very many trades with a player who had a contract with void years on it.

Void years are only there to spread out players signing bonuses and such. They stay w/ the original team. Cook's contract is over after 2022. That doesn't mean the Pats can't add void years of their own if they want to restructure his last remaining year

 

[RobertWeathers]

The downside is the cap cost for a veteran is much higher than a pick.

Yep. The Rams have accepted that pot'l downside.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Exactly. Looks like MIA is trying the same approach w/ Hill. Even the Browns w/ Watson.

The thing that stuck out was only 31% of 1st RD players are signed to a 2nd contract by the same team. 1 out 3. We've seen it here w/ Sony, Harry, maybe Wynn? These 1st RD players are very risky. Even Bill has said how difficult it is to translate college production & scheme to NFL.

Yep. Issue the Fins have is Tua sucks.

At the end of day to win in this league teams still need to 1) spend money wisely on players who will produce and 2) draft and develop players 3) avoid cap jail so good players aren't cut/traded unnecessarily 4) have a franchise QB

 

[Sicilian]

Exactly. Looks like MIA is trying the same approach w/ Hill. Even the Browns w/ Watson.

The thing that stuck out was only 31% of 1st RD players are signed to a 2nd contract by the same team. 1 out 3. We've seen it here w/ Sony, Harry, maybe Wynn? These 1st RD players are very risky. Even Bill has said how difficult it is to translate college production & scheme to NFL.

It's a really fascinating thing to think about, because beyond just the 31% that you reference, there are obviously the total busts, and even among the good players there are guys who don't aren't net positives in year 1 (projects, QBs who sit a year, etc). So your number of cost controlled years where the player is actually productive is potentially reduced even further. And once a player gets to their free agency year, there's not a big difference in value versus a free agent from another team (the major benefit being you KNOW that player works in your system).

This to me is why the draft is both really important for getting value talent, but also is a pretty volatile part of team building. Two bad drafts in a row can really hamper you, but at the same time two GOOD drafts in a row can turn things around VERY quickly. For example, for as panned as the Patriots recent drafts have been, if they nail 2022 like they did 2021 and get three big contributors at some key spots (say, CB, LB, and G), they're right back in the mix.

 

[DaBruinz]

Patriots need to shore up the OL. At least 2 needs to be selected in draft.
Patriots does very well on OL in mid/late rounds.

BTW - They stink in 1st/2nd round on WRs/CBs...

Whatcha thinking for OL? OT isn't very deep in this draft. So trying to find an upgrade over Herron & Cajuste for swing tackle might be tough.

I think that an OC/OG with the emphasis on OC is a must.

 

[gobesmug]

Whatcha thinking for OL? OT isn't very deep in this draft. So trying to find an upgrade over Herron & Cajuste for swing tackle might be tough.

I think that an OC/OG with the emphasis on OC is a must.

Bill is great at finding starting quality Oline in the draft. It's his strength, along with getting late rd DBs.

I've never understood why Bill doesn't play into his strength in team building.

Instead of paying his own Oline top teir contracts, he should just replace in the draft and use the salary cap to pay for premium players he is terrible at evaluating, namely Wrs

 

[upstater1]

I'm totally confused by that article. There are a lot of players in that 31% who performed perfectly well for the team and were cheap because they were on their first contracts.

Heck, we might let Damien Harris go soon.

We have sent off Trey Flowers, Sony Michel, Joe Thuney, Malcolm Brown, Jamie Collins, Logan Ryan, Chandler Jones, Patrick Chung.

Just because they are part of the 69% that didn't get a second contract doesn't mean they weren't useful to the Patriots during their first contract.

And then you look at so-called productive players that signed big second contracts with other teams but ended up busting there, like Flowers and Collins.

The idea of trading "busts" for "proven" players is not so easy to understand when you realize that Thuney and Chandler Jones are part of the 69% while Flowers and Collins are part of the 31%.

 

[Ring 6]

Yep. The Rams have accepted that pot'l downside.

We won’t know the downside until those bills start coming due. They lost a number of players this year.
In 2024 they have 160 mill cap hit for 6 players.
The beginning of the process is not hard, but you are pushing a lot of money back.
If they didn’t have Donald and Kupp, those moves would not have won them anything.

Those 6 players that count 160 mill in 2024 only counted 56 mill in 2021 (I’m using Robert woods in the Robinson spot).
So working now and working when those few guys cost 100 mill more may be a very different equation.

 

[venecol]

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

Yep. Issue the Fins have is Tua sucks.

I agree, in both losses we hold tua to low stats. But they added Hill, Wilson, Edmonds, Armstead and Williams. While their O-Line was one of the worst Lines last year we still lost both games (own mistakes as well). Waddle in his second year. They have added some great pieces. Next year's game will be harder

At the end of day to win in this league teams still need to 1) spend money wisely on players who will produce and 2) draft and develop players 3) avoid cap jail so good players aren't cut/traded unnecessarily 4) have a franchise QB

 

[SHOWTIME15]

LOL

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

LOL

hopefully he is better than Josh Wells for Brady's sake

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

Void years are only there to spread out players signing bonuses and such. They stay w/ the original team. Cook's contract is over after 2022. That doesn't mean the Pats can't add void years of their own if they want to restructure his last remaining year

i imagine the packers could be interested in cooks

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

where do the cowboys go from here?
It will be a tough for Dak next year, he needs to improve his game and stay healthy.
They lost collins williams wilson and cooper in their offense. Gregory is gone.

 

[venecol]

where do the cowboys go from here?
It will be a tough for Dak next year, he needs to improve his game and stay healthy.
They lost collins williams wilson and cooper in their offense. Gregory is gone.

I think they take a step back this season. The Dak contract won't look too hot if they do.

 

[mgteich]

If the Titans trade AJ Brown I officially have no idea what they’re doing because their super bowl window is not long for this world.

It would mean their window is closed.

 

[venecol]