Everyone needs to remember...

[Reality]

NOTE: I am not a salary cap expert nor do I claim to be one. I am simply reminding everyone that there is a purpose to the supposed madness by some teams in signing free agents to what previously would have been considered overpaid contracts.

The per-team salary cap floor will take effect in 2013, but for now the league as a whole must spend 99% ($3.8 billion) of the salary cap. That means teams like Tampa Bay and Denver who are well under the salary cap will need to spend a lot of money this year to help the league reach that goal.

That is why you are seeing some of the teams giving players such huge signing bonuses and upfront money in their free agent contracts. The teams that have a lot of cap space due to lack of spending in recent years have a huge advantage over teams who have fully utilized their salary cap.

Even though the teams can spread the upfront money out over several years of the contract with regards to their own salary cap, all of the upfront money counts as part of the 99% league minimum for this season. So in other words, the league is likely encouraging teams to do this and as a result, teams with tighter salary caps will have a harder time competing with offers from some of the teams with a lot of salary cap space if those teams want a player badly enough.

#reality

 

[DallasEast]

bump...

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Great points and should be stickied.

 

[Reality]

Great points and should be stickied.

Stickies are the DEVIL!!!

#reality

 

[Hostile]

All 32 teams not only have to be under the Salary Cap, but for the first time they have to be above the Cap floor. Jacksonville giving Robinson a big deal is part of that. Same with Detroit upping Calvin Johnson's deal. Buffalo going hard after Mario and Buccaneers going for Jackson and Nicks.

New ball game out there, with a rule in place that means money is going to get tossed out like water.

 

[Risen Star]

I thought they had until next year to be above the salary floor.

 

[Bluestang]

I thought they had until next year to be above the salary floor.

Yes this will not be in effect until next year, however, it would be easier for teams that need to get there to overprice contracts now so that they don't hamstring themselves years down the road.

All 32 teams not only have to be under the Salary Cap, but for the first time they have to be above the Cap floor. Jacksonville giving Robinson a big deal is part of that. Same with Detroit upping Calvin Johnson's deal. Buffalo going hard after Mario and Buccaneers going for Jackson and Nicks.

New ball game out there, with a rule in place that means money is going to get tossed out like water.

I fully expect the FA market to settle to more fixed rates in 2014 when everyone is operating at the same level.

 

[Hostile]

I thought they had until next year to be above the salary floor.

That could be, but they still have to build towards it if they are way below it and some teams are.

 

[Risen Star]

Very true.

 

[Goku]

yep this new rule hurts the big spenders like us imo b/c it forces the historically cheap franchises to spend money. more competition for free agents.

 

[sonnyboy]

All 32 teams not only have to be under the Salary Cap, but for the first time they have to be above the Cap floor. Jacksonville giving Robinson a big deal is part of that. Same with Detroit upping Calvin Johnson's deal. Buffalo going hard after Mario and Buccaneers going for Jackson and Nicks.

New ball game out there, with a rule in place that means money is going to get tossed out like water.

All the more reason to rejoice in the Carr signing.

IMO A significant CB was the one absolute must have in FA. Didn't want to chance not getting a good one in the draft early on and or starting a rookie at LCB even if we did.

Would I like Nicks or Williams? Of course. It going to be tough to match what the Bills can offer. Anything we could/would offer may have a high overall value, average per year and signing bonus......

But we can't afford to give large salaries early on and that's the killer.

 

[Arch Stanton]

The Commanders seem to be spending enough $$$$$'s for 32 teams.

 

[Fletch]

Stickies are the DEVIL!!!

#reality

Well, Satan is wearing a Santa's hat in your avatar. Need I say more? :

 

[newlander]

All 32 teams not only have to be under the Salary Cap, but for the first time they have to be above the Cap floor. Jacksonville giving Robinson a big deal is part of that. Same with Detroit upping Calvin Johnson's deal. Buffalo going hard after Mario and Buccaneers going for Jackson and Nicks.

New ball game out there, with a rule in place that means money is going to get tossed out like water.

........I didn't know that: now I understand the Robinson deal but still....that's not good business I don't care how much money they HAVE to spend.....unreal.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

........I didn't know that: now I understand the Robinson deal but still....that's not good business I don't care how much money they HAVE to spend.....unreal.

Yeah I've been trying to mention this in threads when people were overreacting over the amount of money. The FAs of this year and next year really got lucky with this happening right now.

What I do like about our situation is the fact that we just so happen to have had 2 first rounders in Felix and Jenkins that are FAs for next year, but we are semi-prepared for it already. That's why I was so down when it was thought Carr was leaving, I was thinking about the monsterous contract we might have to give Jenkins if he has a good season.

With Carr, we have leverage, and if a team throws a huge amount of money at Jenkins, we will be fine now. Since we have Murray, we are also fine if Felix gets a big offer. Not getting Carr just plain scared my pants off.

I'm glad it worked out like it did, and I was wishing we could make a run at Mario but since teams are already throwing their money around at the big FAs as they should to prepare for next year, it just seems so unlikely now. In our situation, this wasn't the best timing for us, plus the penalties, so Jerry and company actually did a better job handling the situation than most would think.