ESPN Clayton: Salary plan will help, hurt these teams

[viman96]

Just the NFCE teams.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=6699864

Teams affected positively:

1. Washington Commanders: Owner Dan Snyder gave defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and cornerback DeAngelo Hall around $36 million in bonus money in 2010 to free up room to be a big spender in free agency in 2011. Snyder and Mike Shanahan will have to be creative in how they structure contracts, because the $120 million cap would give them only around $10 million of cap room. On the positive side, the Commanders' current payroll is $75.7 million, meaning Snyder would have to spend close to $45 million in cash to meet the potential minimum floor requirements. Imagine a system that forces Snyder to spend.

5. Philadelphia Eagles: Among last year's playoff teams, the Eagles may have one of the best chances to upgrade their roster and bring in stars. They have $13 million of cap room, and their payroll is a modest $95 million. They could try to bring in defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, wide receiver Plaxico Burress and maybe running back Reggie Bush if the price were right. They would have enough cap flexibility to even go for Nnamdi Asomugha or a top cornerback, if they like.

Teams affected negatively:

4. Dallas Cowboys: Owner Jerry Jones made sure his team wouldn't be ripped apart during tough labor times. He's always aggressive in re-signing his top players. But the Cowboys are currently a minimum of $18.9 million over the salary cap, which could spell doom for right tackle Marc Colombo, wide receiver Roy Williams and others. Jones also has to come up with some room to re-sign left tackle Doug Free and others.

 

[AmishGangsta]

It's one of the things Bruce Allen is good at. They basicallly structured the large contracts to be paid in the uncapped year.

They will definitly be agressive in Free Agency (QB, WR, OL, DL, CB) - but spend wisely w/ incentive laiden contracts - they will likely get the label of being cheap in the future. (they brought nothing but cheap free agents laast year - though, there wasn't much to pick from).

; don't pay no attention to the Cowboys Cap Hell stuff, we heard that for years, and it never came (not to the extent that the media had predicted).

 

[gmoney112]

Hey John. How about before you start name dropping certain cuts, make sure the player doesn't cost more to cut than to keep. Thanks.

 

[speedkilz88]

It's one of the things Bruce Allen is good at. They basicallly structured the large contracts to be paid in the uncapped year.

They will definitly be agressive in Free Agency (QB, WR, OL, DL, CB) - but spend wisely w/ incentive laiden contracts.

; don't pay no attention to the Cowboys Cap Hell stuff, we heard that for years, and it never came (not to the extent that the media had predicted).

They were in cap trouble when they parted with high paid vets like Novacek, Haley, and Aikman, but they aren't even close to be in trouble this time. A lot of teams are already maxed out their contracts restructuring wise to open up room, the Cowboys waited to make sure there wasn't another uncapped year. Austin has a 17 million base right now, that won't stay that way.

 

[AmishGangsta]

The Cowboys and Skins are 2 agressive teams, they are goiong to do what they want regardless of what the media cap experts think - same with Denver and New England.

Hell, the Eagles have the one of the best cap situations for over a decade. However, had they been just a bit more agressive, they might have something to show for it. They've always been 1-2 players off - one day and a dollar short in FA.

Who do you think will win the bidding war for Nnamdi Asomugha's services? The Cowboys or Eagles?

"Hey Nnamdi, this is the Eagles Gm calling, we have a nice vet minimum contract with incentives for you (and we will cut you when you're 32)" - click, Nnamdi hangs up the phone half way through the sentence.