Once again Browns prove cap is a joke

[Grogan14]

The pats cap abundance means not much

Look at this article at how the browns manipulate the cap. There will be plenty of teams that can pretty much offer whatever they want for free agents regardless of “cap space”

This restructuring bit is bs

More details emerge on Deshaun Watson's latest contract restructure

The Cleveland Browns restructured the contract of quarterback Deshaun Watson once again, and now new details are emerging about what it means for both parties. This is the third time in three years that the Browns and Watson have agreed to restructure his deal to c

www.yahoo.com

 

[Pape]

Eh, eventually they will hit a wall like the saints did with the drew Brees contracts... Hit them hard for years...

 

[Ross12]

The pats cap abundance means not much

Look at this article at how the browns manipulate the cap. There will be plenty of teams that can pretty much offer whatever they want for free agents regardless of “cap space”

This restructuring bit is bs

More details emerge on Deshaun Watson's latest contract restructure

The Cleveland Browns restructured the contract of quarterback Deshaun Watson once again, and now new details are emerging about what it means for both parties. This is the third time in three years that the Browns and Watson have agreed to restructure his deal to c

www.yahoo.com

Using a fully guaranteed contract to argue that the cap is crap is certainly an interesting position.

All of the same dollars are being spent, they are just pushing some of those dollars into future years when the player will not even be on the roster anymore.

Sure teams can do that, but is that smart football? Is it wise to pay big bucks for guys who aren't even on your team?

If the cap wasn't real then the Browns would be able to just magically rocket to the top of the charts in cap space. But they can't, they can only make moves like this to try to make themselves competitive short-term at their longer-term expense. If the Patriots decided to do the same thing with their Onwenu, Dugger, Barmore, etc contracts then they could, and they'd jump up tens of millions more in cap space in 2025. But would it really do any good? No.

 

[Ring 6]

The pats cap abundance means not much

Look at this article at how the browns manipulate the cap. There will be plenty of teams that can pretty much offer whatever they want for free agents regardless of “cap space”

This restructuring bit is bs

More details emerge on Deshaun Watson's latest contract restructure

The Cleveland Browns restructured the contract of quarterback Deshaun Watson once again, and now new details are emerging about what it means for both parties. This is the third time in three years that the Browns and Watson have agreed to restructure his deal to c

www.yahoo.com

The cap isn’t crap. It’s real, but there are accounting measures available to spread money out. Watson still gets all of his money and it still all hits the cap.

 

[AQPE]

If you draft and develop well, you can get away with cap games. If not then see JETE. Miami, and Cleveland, stuck in the middle of the pack or worse. I'm fairly outspoken on this forum in regard to criticizing the way the Krafts have gone about things but I think they are wise to try to preserve flexibility for the inevitable contract disappointments, e.g., Barmore, Onwenu, and Duggar this year.

 

[FortressX]

If the cap was really a joke Watson would be gone and the Browns could move forward.

 

[Huckleberry1]

You could make the argument that the Browns need the rookie QB more than anyone, as that 5 year rookie deal would be their best way out of the mess they created.

 

[maust]

Non guaranteed money in a contract can be a joke, in fact it often is. Nothing about this restructure is a joke though, it is fully guaranteed so that piper is getting paid. The Brownies have elected to mortgage the future rather than bite the bullet today, it's not all that uncommon a practice. The joke here is not only on the Brownies, it's authored by them as well.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

The Browns have to do stuff like this to open up cap space. The Pats can spend cap space without maneuvers like this… and then they can open up even more in future years with room like this.

The Pats having cap space does not mean that only they can sign players. With maneuvers like this one, no one is ever truly “unable” to sign players. Having cap space like the Pats do just means that they can sign more. Their buying power to add talent to the roster is higher than other teams. But that matters more cumulatively than it does in a bidding war for an individual player because if anyone really wants someone enough they can do the math to make it work.

 

[VJCPatriot]

The pats cap abundance means not much

Look at this article at how the browns manipulate the cap. There will be plenty of teams that can pretty much offer whatever they want for free agents regardless of “cap space”

This restructuring bit is bs

More details emerge on Deshaun Watson's latest contract restructure

The Cleveland Browns restructured the contract of quarterback Deshaun Watson once again, and now new details are emerging about what it means for both parties. This is the third time in three years that the Browns and Watson have agreed to restructure his deal to c

www.yahoo.com

There have always been ways to free up cap money. The Patriots have done it themselves when restructuring Brady's contract. There just has been an unwillingness to spend what it takes to retain key free agents and sign new ones.

Patriots haven't had an official GM yet ever since BB took over, maybe it's time to rethink that. This team needs serious help in the talent acquisition department. We've got a bottom 3 offense in the NFL for a reason.

 

[TheRainMaker]

While on the surface, the contracts thrown out to Owenu, Dugger, Barmore and Rham are horrible, they are really short term deals. By the time they cut bait with all of them after the 2026 season (Barmore probably retires), they will have a **** ton of cap space again.

49ers do this a lot with their contracts.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

The cap isn't crap but the Patriots are behind the times basically working cash to cap, you actually benefit by kicking the can down the road since the cap is constantly going up and the players are becoming more expensive than they were when you signed them so if you're kicking the can down the road you're getting a bargain as long as you don't overdo it and sign too many bad ones.

The Browns can do it with Deshaun but the real negative is now they can't do it with talented players who they want to fit under the cap who are producing like Philadelphia has been doing for years.

The Eagles have spent more than $100m more in real cash than the Patriots in the last 10 years.

 

[Urgent]

The Browns will have a $53M dead cap hit in 2027. The article suggests the cap will increase by $60M “so they can afford it.” However, if the cap also increases for any of the other teams, that will just bid up the price of retaining players. So they will face a constrained cap a couple years out.

It is concerning when you think about spending the $135M or whatever space the Patriots have. There seem to be more Watson and Cousins deals in free agency that teams regret. Teams overpay to restock.

 

[Ross12]

Non guaranteed money in a contract can be a joke, in fact it often is. Nothing about this restructure is a joke though, it is fully guaranteed so that piper is getting paid. The Brownies have elected to mortgage the future rather than bite the bullet today, it's not all that uncommon a practice. The joke here is not only on the Brownies, it's authored by them as well.

I am guessing they are doing this in order to make the job more attractive to a new regime. “Hey, you will have at least SOME cap space to work with…! For now…”