MichaelWinicki
03-13-2005, 10:36 AM
INSIDE THE NFL
Redskins paying dearly for their salary cap bungling
By MARK GAUGHAN
3/13/2005
Receiver Laveranues Coles was anything but a free-agent catch for the Redskins.
The Laveranues Coles affair is the latest, mind-boggling chapter in the Washington Redskins' textbook titled "How Not to Operate in the NFL's Free Agency Era."
It's hard to remember a team admitting such an embarrassing free-agent mistake.
Two years ago, the Redskins paid Coles a $13 million signing bonus, still the third-largest ever paid to a wide receiver. And they gave the New York Jets the 13th overall pick in the 2003 draft because Coles was a restricted free agent.
Thursday, the 'Skins took a $9.3 million hit to their salary cap this year by trading Coles back to New York for Santana Moss. Coles was miserable in Washington and wanted out of Joe Gibbs' run-first offense, even though in 2004 he caught 90 passes, seventh best in the league. Moss had 45 catches for the Jets.
Since the move ate up so much salary cap space, Washington had no chance to re-sign two good defensive starters - cornerback Fred Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce. They left for Minnesota and the Giants, respectively.
What's worse for the 'Skins is they are getting themselves further into cap trouble in the coming seasons. They have restructured the contracts of LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels, along with a half-dozen other veterans. That's pushing more money into the future.
A lot of fans wonder how the 'Skins can keep making big free-agent splashes and never have to go deep into salary cap jail.
The fact is their spending hasn't gotten them far. Big spending has kept them top-heavy in salaries and has hurt their ability to build a deep roster. Washington has not had a winning record since 1999, the year Daniel Snyder bought the team. The 'Skins spent big in 1999 and 2000 on acquisitions such as Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Mark Carrier, none of whom produced big-time.
That kept them financially in check in 2001 and 2002. They did not spend much those two years on free agents. (They did spend big on coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Steve Spurrier, who lasted just one and two years, respectively.)
Snyder was a two-fisted spender in '03 and '04. But now the Redskins could spend more than 25 percent of their salary cap - more than $22 million - on players who are already gone, probably will be or aren't supposed to get on the field.
After the $9.3 million hit from Coles, the 'Skins take a $4.8 million hit from linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who was cut last June. Defensive end Regan Upshaw ($1.2 million) and guard Dave Fiore ($750,000) are dead money. Return man Chad Morton ($833,000) and linebacker Mike Barrow ($2.1 million) look like dead wood, if not dead money.
Why would Gibbs knuckle under to Coles' trade wishes and take such a cap hit? A chronic injury to Coles' right big toe no doubt is part of the answer. Even though Coles had 90 catches, he averaged a career-low 10.6 yards per catch in Gibbs' offense. He averaged 14.7 in New York and 17.0 his first three games in Washington before suffering the injury. Coles has declined surgery because the operation can be career-ending, which is what happened to ex-Dolphin O.J. McDuffie.
The Jets had better be ready to throw Coles a lot of balls. Said Coles: "There's only so much you can take. How are you supposed to be happy as a receiver when you go from a passing offense to a running offense? This wasn't what I signed up for." Yet, according to STATS Inc., Coles had more balls thrown his way than anyone in the NFC.
This is a deal that may not make either team any better.
Running back glut
It's a depressed market for running backs in the NFL. Proof came again last week when Colts President Bill Polian acknowledged that he will take less than a No. 1 pick in return for Edgerrin James. Edge is a guy who was second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage last season with 2,031 and has averaged 1,703 rushing and receiving yards in his six seasons. James will be 27 in August.
But there simply are not many teams desperate for a running back, and the draft is loaded with good backs. In fact, only Arizona, Tampa Bay and Miami are certain to need a starting back. Arizona appears committed to getting one in the draft. Tampa Bay has very little room under the cap. Cleveland might look for a challenger to Lee Suggs. There's a slim chance Carolina could be interested. That's about it.
So trading Travis Henry is not going to be simple.
It says here that an acceptable deal for the Bills would be to get a fourth- or fifth-round pick in 2006 that would turn into a No. 2 if Henry rushes for 1,000 yards.
Krumrie drill
NFL coaches and executives are on the run this month attending the workout drills each college team conducts for its draft prospects. Oklahoma, Ohio State and Wisconsin held their workouts the past several days. Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Notre Dame are among those on tap this week.
Bills defensive line coach Tim Krumrie was at his alma mater's workout in Madison, Wis., last week, along with coach Mike Mularkey and President and General Manager Tom Donahoe. Krumrie has become well known at these workouts for running defensive linemen through an exhausting drill in which he plays an offensive lineman and tries over and over to get his hands on the defenders. The defensive linemen must repeatedly knock his hands off them.
Krumrie, in jeans and cowboy boots, wore out Wisconsin linemen Erasmus James, Anttaj Hawthorne, Jason Jefferson, Jonathan Welsh and Kalvin Barrett during the drill. James is projected to be a first-round pick.
"You're looking for character, see how they compete, see if there's no quit," Krumrie told the Wisconsin State Journal. "In this group of guys, there was no quit. None of them. When you watch them on tape, they can hide a few plays here and there. You get them out here, get them isolated one-on-one, (and you can) expose a guy who's going to quit on you. None of these guys quit."
Mularkey said the intensity of Tim Anderson versus Krumrie at Ohio State last year helped convince the Bills to draft him.
"That was the first time I saw Tim do it," Mularkey said. "And a lot of (drafting Anderson) was based on his stamina and fight and demeanor - not only how he did on the field (in games) but how he held up against Tim."
Onside kicks
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Dept.: Running back Larry Ned, who played for the Vikings last year, was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals last week. After meeting with the Cards, he went to the Phoenix airport to head back home. But as he was going through the security checkpoint, he decided to steal the laptop of another flier off the security belt, according to police. Phoenix police officers found Ned hiding in a men's restroom five minutes later. He was arrested and booked on a theft charge. The Cards cut him the next day. So much for the $305,000 salary Ned would have made this year.
• Dallas signed Buffalo native and St. Joe's graduate Sean Ryan to a one-year deal worth $305,000. Ryan is a tight end who was a fifth-round pick out of Boston College last year. He spent the first part of the season on the practice squad and was active for the final six games. He started once.
• Green Bay announced its sixth ticket price increase in the last 10 years. Lambeau Field seats between the 20-yard lines increased to $67. Other sideline sections increased to $59 and end-zone seats increased to $54. That same end-zone seat cost $24 in 1995. Lambeau's 10,000 club seats require multiyear leases to procure. Last year, indoor club seats cost $175 and outdoor club seats were priced between $175 and $250, depending on location.
e-mail: mgaughan@buffnews.com
Redskins paying dearly for their salary cap bungling
By MARK GAUGHAN
3/13/2005
Receiver Laveranues Coles was anything but a free-agent catch for the Redskins.
The Laveranues Coles affair is the latest, mind-boggling chapter in the Washington Redskins' textbook titled "How Not to Operate in the NFL's Free Agency Era."
It's hard to remember a team admitting such an embarrassing free-agent mistake.
Two years ago, the Redskins paid Coles a $13 million signing bonus, still the third-largest ever paid to a wide receiver. And they gave the New York Jets the 13th overall pick in the 2003 draft because Coles was a restricted free agent.
Thursday, the 'Skins took a $9.3 million hit to their salary cap this year by trading Coles back to New York for Santana Moss. Coles was miserable in Washington and wanted out of Joe Gibbs' run-first offense, even though in 2004 he caught 90 passes, seventh best in the league. Moss had 45 catches for the Jets.
Since the move ate up so much salary cap space, Washington had no chance to re-sign two good defensive starters - cornerback Fred Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce. They left for Minnesota and the Giants, respectively.
What's worse for the 'Skins is they are getting themselves further into cap trouble in the coming seasons. They have restructured the contracts of LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels, along with a half-dozen other veterans. That's pushing more money into the future.
A lot of fans wonder how the 'Skins can keep making big free-agent splashes and never have to go deep into salary cap jail.
The fact is their spending hasn't gotten them far. Big spending has kept them top-heavy in salaries and has hurt their ability to build a deep roster. Washington has not had a winning record since 1999, the year Daniel Snyder bought the team. The 'Skins spent big in 1999 and 2000 on acquisitions such as Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Mark Carrier, none of whom produced big-time.
That kept them financially in check in 2001 and 2002. They did not spend much those two years on free agents. (They did spend big on coaches Marty Schottenheimer and Steve Spurrier, who lasted just one and two years, respectively.)
Snyder was a two-fisted spender in '03 and '04. But now the Redskins could spend more than 25 percent of their salary cap - more than $22 million - on players who are already gone, probably will be or aren't supposed to get on the field.
After the $9.3 million hit from Coles, the 'Skins take a $4.8 million hit from linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who was cut last June. Defensive end Regan Upshaw ($1.2 million) and guard Dave Fiore ($750,000) are dead money. Return man Chad Morton ($833,000) and linebacker Mike Barrow ($2.1 million) look like dead wood, if not dead money.
Why would Gibbs knuckle under to Coles' trade wishes and take such a cap hit? A chronic injury to Coles' right big toe no doubt is part of the answer. Even though Coles had 90 catches, he averaged a career-low 10.6 yards per catch in Gibbs' offense. He averaged 14.7 in New York and 17.0 his first three games in Washington before suffering the injury. Coles has declined surgery because the operation can be career-ending, which is what happened to ex-Dolphin O.J. McDuffie.
The Jets had better be ready to throw Coles a lot of balls. Said Coles: "There's only so much you can take. How are you supposed to be happy as a receiver when you go from a passing offense to a running offense? This wasn't what I signed up for." Yet, according to STATS Inc., Coles had more balls thrown his way than anyone in the NFC.
This is a deal that may not make either team any better.
Running back glut
It's a depressed market for running backs in the NFL. Proof came again last week when Colts President Bill Polian acknowledged that he will take less than a No. 1 pick in return for Edgerrin James. Edge is a guy who was second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage last season with 2,031 and has averaged 1,703 rushing and receiving yards in his six seasons. James will be 27 in August.
But there simply are not many teams desperate for a running back, and the draft is loaded with good backs. In fact, only Arizona, Tampa Bay and Miami are certain to need a starting back. Arizona appears committed to getting one in the draft. Tampa Bay has very little room under the cap. Cleveland might look for a challenger to Lee Suggs. There's a slim chance Carolina could be interested. That's about it.
So trading Travis Henry is not going to be simple.
It says here that an acceptable deal for the Bills would be to get a fourth- or fifth-round pick in 2006 that would turn into a No. 2 if Henry rushes for 1,000 yards.
Krumrie drill
NFL coaches and executives are on the run this month attending the workout drills each college team conducts for its draft prospects. Oklahoma, Ohio State and Wisconsin held their workouts the past several days. Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Notre Dame are among those on tap this week.
Bills defensive line coach Tim Krumrie was at his alma mater's workout in Madison, Wis., last week, along with coach Mike Mularkey and President and General Manager Tom Donahoe. Krumrie has become well known at these workouts for running defensive linemen through an exhausting drill in which he plays an offensive lineman and tries over and over to get his hands on the defenders. The defensive linemen must repeatedly knock his hands off them.
Krumrie, in jeans and cowboy boots, wore out Wisconsin linemen Erasmus James, Anttaj Hawthorne, Jason Jefferson, Jonathan Welsh and Kalvin Barrett during the drill. James is projected to be a first-round pick.
"You're looking for character, see how they compete, see if there's no quit," Krumrie told the Wisconsin State Journal. "In this group of guys, there was no quit. None of them. When you watch them on tape, they can hide a few plays here and there. You get them out here, get them isolated one-on-one, (and you can) expose a guy who's going to quit on you. None of these guys quit."
Mularkey said the intensity of Tim Anderson versus Krumrie at Ohio State last year helped convince the Bills to draft him.
"That was the first time I saw Tim do it," Mularkey said. "And a lot of (drafting Anderson) was based on his stamina and fight and demeanor - not only how he did on the field (in games) but how he held up against Tim."
Onside kicks
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Dept.: Running back Larry Ned, who played for the Vikings last year, was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals last week. After meeting with the Cards, he went to the Phoenix airport to head back home. But as he was going through the security checkpoint, he decided to steal the laptop of another flier off the security belt, according to police. Phoenix police officers found Ned hiding in a men's restroom five minutes later. He was arrested and booked on a theft charge. The Cards cut him the next day. So much for the $305,000 salary Ned would have made this year.
• Dallas signed Buffalo native and St. Joe's graduate Sean Ryan to a one-year deal worth $305,000. Ryan is a tight end who was a fifth-round pick out of Boston College last year. He spent the first part of the season on the practice squad and was active for the final six games. He started once.
• Green Bay announced its sixth ticket price increase in the last 10 years. Lambeau Field seats between the 20-yard lines increased to $67. Other sideline sections increased to $59 and end-zone seats increased to $54. That same end-zone seat cost $24 in 1995. Lambeau's 10,000 club seats require multiyear leases to procure. Last year, indoor club seats cost $175 and outdoor club seats were priced between $175 and $250, depending on location.
e-mail: mgaughan@buffnews.com