Comments on: In uncapped year, Steelers plan to apply their own cap

By: EVH12345

EVH12345 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:00:06 +0000

Are total salary numbers really going to climb that much in an uncapped year? Remember there will not be a salary floor either. While some big name players will get big front-loaded contracts the majority of NFL players could be forced to see a pay cut. Owners got to be/stay owners by being smart businessmen. I don’t expect that to change.

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:11:22 +0000

.VoxVeritas …
Now isn’t that a silly thing to say? More than a decade ago when everyone was trying to figure out how the cap works, we had a player with a clause in his contract that he’d get more money if he switched from tackle to guard or vice versa, and the mix-up over his contract took us a smidge over the cap. So we got penalized and sorted it out. Talk about trying to construct a mountain from a molehill. Good grief.

By: Vox's Mommy

Vox's Mommy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:13:06 +0000

Vox….are we just jealous again b/c we all know that the Cowboys aren’t “America’s Team”?? BTW…great job by your QB this year…AGAIN! Go fap to your Romo fathead again sonny.

By: KRC

KRC — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:29:13 +0000

@looking forward to another 9-7 finish for the bumblebees
We’ve got SIX loudmouth. Count’em. SIX. Shut your face until you’re in our neighborhood.

By: .VoxVeritas

.VoxVeritas — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:08:17 +0000

“This, Ladies & Gents, is why the Steelers are the NFL’s premiere franchise….like it or not.”
Sorry, but getting busted cheating the salary cap precludes that distinction forever.

By: AmishCowboy

AmishCowboy — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:44:25 +0000

The Cowboys can one sign one big name FA because they we’re a final 8 team, The team that might spend is Washington, they need so much help. No Big news on the Steeler front they never we’re big spenders and I’m sure every team has a budget, this isn’t going to turn into the Yanks/Red Sox. There will be a cap somewhere down the road again.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:09:03 +0000

I love how every Steelers story brings out predictions of failure from rival fans. But Pittsburgh remains the model franchise for creating on-field success through sound business practices. I never doubted the Rooneys would operate as though a cap were still in place–and the good news for lesser players is they’ll also act as though a floor is still in place. They won’t overpay the big names while undercutting everyone else.
While some owners may try to buy a championship by throwing mega bucks at superstars (something that hasn’t worked well for the Redskins), others may slash payroll knowing they can still reap the rewards of their television contracts. Then, if a cap is reinstated, what happens to the mega-buck players? They suddenly become liabilities. And even if the floor is reinstated, the players whose salaries were slashed for a year can never recoup their losses. This uncapped year will not be a win for most players.
The Steelers, meanwhile, will be just fine–and their players will fare better than most.

By: steeltownpride

steeltownpride — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:08:00 +0000

Haterade . 6 trophies .

By: TryTheVeal

TryTheVeal — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:06:47 +0000

Will Hines Ward call Big Ben a Big pussy again next year?

By: Katmanduu

Katmanduu — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:40:04 +0000

This, Ladies & Gents, is why the Steelers are the NFL’s premiere franchise….like it or not.
I kinda like it myself…..

By: slipkid

slipkid — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:27:44 +0000

that’s nice but snyder and jones dont have budgets.

By: superfan99

superfan99 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:27:20 +0000

The entire article states that the Steelers will work on what they project the cap would have been under the old season, which is about $132 million.
So they still plan on spending more money than they did in 2009. If you read between the lines, Colbert’s statement doesn’t mean much of anything. They are going to work under the same strategy of building through the draft that they have used for the last 15 years.
Throwing a ton of money at Free Agents will never work the way it does in baseball.

By: Reasonable

Reasonable — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:24:08 +0000

The biggest reason the teams will not be in a spending frenzey is there isn’t really very many players to throw money at. With 200+ players getting two years added onto their contracts (4year deals turning into 6 year contracts.) add in the Franchise and Transistion tags and that leaves just a handful of free agents. And very few of those players are worth throwing a pile of cash at.

By: Al_Davis_needs_a_dirtnap

Al_Davis_needs_a_dirtnap — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:21:37 +0000

Steelers matto.Why pay a player six million a year?pay player 3 million and the other 3 million to the refs.

By: Stillerz

Stillerz — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:12:15 +0000

This is gonna be great…
Skins/Boys buy all these huge long term guaranteed contacts, fail miserably next year, pay guarenteed money during a lock-out then have to cut superstars with guarenteed salaries when the cap is back in place.
HAHA

By: netdawg

netdawg — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:11:58 +0000

Florio you Stooler cronie!!!
Leave it to you to make it news that the Yinzers know they can only spend $2 if they have $2. I know Stooler nation has a collective IQ of 9 but even they aren’t stupid enough to spend more than they should on players.
…Tomlin might want to, but the box under the Rooney’s matress only hold what it holds

By: steeelfann

steeelfann — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:11:04 +0000

Collusion claims are a joke. In a competitive environment, who is to say who wants to save up for the following year, or as Colbert mentioned, they have no idea what will happen. What number does a team HAVE to spend? Who can make the judgement. And, BTW, the players don’t even want to abide by their own agreements, whining when the Franchise Tag is applied.
They should have a rookie salary cap. Stupid to pay JaMarcus Russell all that money (stupid to pay him any money).
They should slide some over to the retired guys.
They could have a retro pay for rookies who play great and those that don’t get no bonues. Similar to what they give to players who have great years on minimum contracts.
Tons of things, but the agents are the enemies. Remember that.

By: What you said?

What you said? — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:10:23 +0000

“I can’t imagine why any team would spend over the current salary cap. After 2010 season, if your over whatever the new cap they install, your screwed. Unless you go out a bsically buy a 2010 Super Bowel Championship team (that actually wins the SB), then its all good.”
Teams can spend freely with an uncapped year without it affecting their cap in future years… All they need to do is pay 90% of the players salary in the uncapped year… Example: 6 years at 100m can be paid with 90m in year 1 (extreme I know, but) and the last 10m paid out over the next 5 years of the deal… Owners with DEEP pockets will be doing this!

By: steeelfann

steeelfann — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:04:54 +0000

Yea, and then beat teams like the Vikings, the Packers, the Ravens, and the Chargers. Yea, they will suck, right.

By: this class sucks

this class sucks — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:47:02 +0000

Epic win for the Steelers. Steeler fans don’t complain about us not spending as much money as other teams, we still have the most Super Bowls and I think we can still win another in the reasonably near future with a salary cap even if we are the only team that has one. Why? Because what makes the Steelers good is their depth, their seemingly endless supply of players that can step up to replace old, injured or ineffective players. That is why when we have a 9-7 season it is considered a failure, that is why we replaced Joey Porter with the defensive player of the year, and that is why we have 6 Super Bowls. When we win another Super Bowl people can’t say “well they just bought a ring” like people will probably if the Cowboys, Patriots or Redskins win.

By: longrodvanhungendong

longrodvanhungendong — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:37:50 +0000

I can’t imagine why any team would spend over the current salary cap. After 2010 season, if your over whatever the new cap they install, your screwed. Unless you go out a bsically buy a 2010 Super Bowel Championship team (that actually wins the SB), then its all good.

By: Route36West

Route36West — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:28:28 +0000

Ya I guess this story needed to be pointed out to people that dont understand how sports work but for the most part I think people already knew this. Its really just common sense. Obviously owners are going to have a limit of how much money they are going to spend.
I mean its like having $500 and going shopping and saying your only going to spend $100 b/c you need the rest for rent even though your allowed to spend more money your not going to be dumb and spend it all then not be able to afford a place to sleep.
Like in MLB even though there is no cap limit every team has a limit on how much their willing to spend. The Yankees can afford to spend $200+ million b/c they easily can make that much back in sales. The next teir of teams like the Phillies can spend only around $140 million b/c they dont make the same profits as the Yankees. While teams like the Marlins spend around $50 million. The Marlins owner could go out and spend $200 million per year but would be broke in 10 years.

By: Citizen Strange

Citizen Strange — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:22:31 +0000

The Steelers are bluffing BIG TIME. From what I hear they plan to pring in Vick, T.O and Pac Man Jones.

By: hank moody

hank moody — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:20:55 +0000

What a shocker! Pittsburg has always been a thrifty team and will continue to be that way! Rooney is a tightwad!

By: scrapdawg12

scrapdawg12 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:20:41 +0000

Did Dan Snyder get this memo? I think all the owners should get together and make a contract saying they will not spend more than a certain number. Maybe the same as last years cap number. Players however will not like this since they want to maximize what they will get. I don’t think any player is worth what they get but football is not as bad as basketball or baseball. Salaries should be no more than 5 million. But i’m not running things so I guess what I say don’t matter.

By: braindead

braindead — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:19:58 +0000

If some of the owners spend money like drunken sailors on players, and then a new labor deal comes out at some point, complete with a cap, and those “drunken sailor” owners are way, way, over that cap, what happens?

By: saturn111

saturn111 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:14:20 +0000

And by the way, this looks an awful lot like collusion by the owners to me:
At the very least, it answers the question of how to stave off the potential “seller’s market” engendered by an uncapped year.
Taking one of the most successful franchises of the decade, and having *them* announce that they’re going to operate as if there’s a cap anyway gives every other team in the league “permission” of sorts to say “Well, we’re going to follow suit.”
Of course, not every owner will follow suit: Al Davis anyone?

By: MkePackFan

MkePackFan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:12:38 +0000

At a certain point, however, the approach could fuel a collusion claim, especially if the union believes that teams generally aren’t spending in free agency as much as they have in past years.
————————————————-
The only problem with claiming collusion is it is really hard to prove…and with the state of the economy as it is, cost cutting measures based on future economic uncertainty is a sound, and reasonable, business decision.

By: MkePackFan

MkePackFan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:10:56 +0000

I think a majority of teams will set an internal cap similar to what it may have been for the upcoming season…other teams might cut spending drastically (probably the same teams that were well below their cap this year) and maybe a few teams will spend above what the cap may have been for this upcoming season.

By: saturn111

saturn111 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:08:17 +0000

If the Eagles were to announce their intentions to do something like this, their fans would try to put run Joe Banner’s shorts up a flag pole topped with his head.
and by “their fans” I mean the same fans who routinely wish out loud for their FO to be more like the Steelers FO.