OT Sean Payton "stepping away"

[Triumph]

Why is Sean Payton 'stepping away?' Saints coach leaves New Orleans with murky future | Sporting News

Why is Sean Payton stepping away?

www.sportingnews.com

 

[Bill Lee]

The Saints borrowed from future cap to give themselves a shot at winning a ring at the end of Brees run, it didn't work and now they're in cap hell. They''re paying a 22.6 million dollar dead cap hit for Brees, split up between this year and next. They're dead last in cap space with a massive number. Payton's getting out at a great time. There's going to be a fire sale there with the new guy coming in.

In other words:




It's kinda odd watching NO praise this guy as he leaves town. It's kinda like an ex-wife longing after the hansdome ex-husband who divorced her after spening all her money, staying drunk and high all the time, and sleeping with all her friends. Have some self-respect, NO!

 

[Bill Lee]

The problem is they have that dead cap number and are carrying so many expensive veterans, and don’t have a QB. They’re going to be stuck like this for quite some time.

Video says they have $88M of salary that can be converted to bonus next season to get under the cap, even lists the players.

Problem with that plan is it presumes that Hill is their starting QB.





Or, as this random guy on Twitter wrote:

 

[amfootball]

I was over on the Saints Forum, those poor fans are crestfallen over this. First Brees last year which they all accepted because he could not throw anymore but to have Payton leave a year later is a gut punch. They didn't see it coming but probably should have. That team is literally upside down in terms of the cap with no viable QB.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Video says they have $88M of salary that can be converted to bonus next season to get under the cap, even lists the players.

Problem with that plan is it presumes that Hill is their starting QB.





Or, as this random guy on Twitter wrote:

Converting it to bonus does free up space now, but it pushes the cap hits into the future too. I’m sure they’d love to just take it on the chin for one year and be done with it, but I don’t see how they can. They’ll have major issues next year and beyond.

 

[TheRainMaker]

This is like Pete Carroll bailing on USC.

 

[Ross12]

Converting it to bonus does free up space now, but it pushes the cap hits into the future too. I’m sure they’d love to just take it on the chin for one year and be done with it, but I don’t see how they can. They’ll have major issues next year and beyond.

I never understand this argument. “They’re not in a bad spot, they can just convert the money into signing bonuses!” Okay, but then they’re just spreading this year’s trouble out across several future years. They’ll get under the cap, because they have to, but it will basically handicap them for several years financially. Bizarre that people try to brush it off as if it’s not a problem.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I never understand this argument. “They’re not in a bad spot, they can just convert the money into signing bonuses!” Okay, but then they’re just spreading this year’s trouble out across several future years. They’ll get under the cap, because they have to, but it will basically handicap them for several years financially. Bizarre that people try to brush it off as if it’s not a problem.

There is no difference between that and transferring credit card balances from one to another so you can push/lower payments.

 

[Sicilian]

I never understand this argument. “They’re not in a bad spot, they can just convert the money into signing bonuses!” Okay, but then they’re just spreading this year’s trouble out across several future years. They’ll get under the cap, because they have to, but it will basically handicap them for several years financially. Bizarre that people try to brush it off as if it’s not a problem.

Yup. Basically, there's a pipe dream scenario where you are so perfect as a FO that every player on your team provides production that exceeds how much you're paying them. This can be anything from getting every draft pick right to always precisely valuing free agents. But because this standard is impossible, there are always going to be contracts that are more expensive than the player is worth. This forces the expenditure of additional resources to make up the production and field a good football team, while also (usually) moving on from the overvalued player and suffering some kind of dead money hit.

Every team has to deal with some of this. The better ones are able to keep it minimized and balanced so there's always a small dead money hit, but never one that forces their hand on players they'd rather keep. The worst end up on the opposite end of that. But once a cap hit is on your books, it's is like matter in the universe: you can never create or destroy it. You can only make it take a new form.

 

[captain stone]

This is like Pete Carroll bailing on USC.

Or Chip Kelly on Oregon...

 

[mgteich]

Video says they have $88M of salary that can be converted to bonus next season to get under the cap, even lists the players.

Problem with that plan is it presumes that Hill is their starting QB.





Or, as this random guy on Twitter wrote:

Pushing $88M into future years isn't always a good idea.

 

[Bill Lee]

Pushing $88M into future years isn't always a good idea.

It's a way of life for NO tho...

 

[Ross12]

Yup. Basically, there's a pipe dream scenario where you are so perfect as a FO that every player on your team provides production that exceeds how much you're paying them. This can be anything from getting every draft pick right to always precisely valuing free agents. But because this standard is impossible, there are always going to be contracts that are more expensive than the player is worth. This forces the expenditure of additional resources to make up the production and field a good football team, while also (usually) moving on from the overvalued player and suffering some kind of dead money hit.

Every team has to deal with some of this. The better ones are able to keep it minimized and balanced so there's always a small dead money hit, but never one that forces their hand on players they'd rather keep. The worst end up on the opposite end of that. But once a cap hit is on your books, it's is like matter in the universe: you can never create or destroy it. You can only make it take a new form.

Yeah I think people who don't grasp the salary cap system are conflating different concepts - the Saints are in "salary cap hell" but that doesn't mean there's no way for them to get under the cap. There must be a way - that's the whole point - if there wasn't then the team would not be able to conform to the salary cap and faces severe penalties like having further space taken away in future years, fines, losses of draft picks, contracts canceled... etc.

I think some people are just trying to say "don't worry, the Saints can still become compliant this year" and it's causing uninformed people to interpret that as "oh cool, everything is perfectly fine" but it absolutely is not, at least not long-term.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

How soon until fans start wearing bags on their heads again?

 

[Pape]

I never understand this argument. “They’re not in a bad spot, they can just convert the money into signing bonuses!” Okay, but then they’re just spreading this year’s trouble out across several future years. They’ll get under the cap, because they have to, but it will basically handicap them for several years financially. Bizarre that people try to brush it off as if it’s not a problem.

time/value of money... the cap goes up incrementally every year (usually), the cap hits percentage wise aren't as significant... dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow... but, overall, agreed, Loomis was irresponsible leveraging the future of that team...

 

[Ross12]

time/value of money... the cap goes up incrementally every year (usually), the cap hits percentage wise aren't as significant... dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow... but, overall, agreed, Loomis was irresponsible leveraging the future of that team...

True, but I feel like most multi-year deals are structured to be backloaded already to account for that. So when you have contracts that are already backloaded and now you’re converting salaries and other perks into signing bonuses you are even further backloading beyond the level the cap would theoretically rise. Unless you’re also adding void years on. But even then, you end up with an accelerated dead money hit when that player leaves (see Devin McCourty this off-season for a Pats example) which sucks because then you’re paying a bunch of money for a guy who isn’t even there anymore.

 

[BTTA]

Managing their cap for a "win while we have Brees" strategy wasn't just the coach's decision. That's on the entire organization. Heck, he could have told them years ago that he was going to leave when the strategy had run its course. I've got no problem with him doing this, especially if he takes a year or two to recover from the physical and mental stresses of NFL coaching. He can decide if/when to come back to it, or discover that he prefers a different life for himself.

And, this is a great job for a next coach. Low expectations, you get to clean house and bring in your own players, and have a five year rebuilding plan in a Division that's full of mediocrity. The best of the young star QB's are in the AFC.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

The Saints can restructure contracts and not only get under the cap without cutting anyone, they can end up with over $20 million in cap space next year.

The Pats are in a much worse cap situation.

I think Payton is going to Dallas, its just a matter of time until Jerrah makes the deal with the Saints.

 

[masterbouncer]

The Saints can restructure contracts and not only get under the cap without cutting anyone, they can end up with over $20 million in cap space next year.

The Pats are in a much worse cap situation.

I think Payton is going to Dallas, its just a matter of time until Jerrah makes the deal with the Saints.

how are the Pats in much worse cap situation?

 

[Pape]

True, but I feel like most multi-year deals are structured to be backloaded already to account for that. So when you have contracts that are already backloaded and now you’re converting salaries and other perks into signing bonuses you are even further backloading beyond the level the cap would theoretically rise. Unless you’re also adding void years on. But even then, you end up with an accelerated dead money hit when that player leaves (see Devin McCourty this off-season for a Pats example) which sucks because then you’re paying a bunch of money for a guy who isn’t even there anymore.

Those big deals especially on the back end, with a few exceptions, aren't guaranteed... So unless teams convert salary to guaranteed bonus money, they are a wash when a player is sent packing... Most of those big dollars provide an illusion for the player to claim they broke the bank...