Comments on: 11 teams still have $20 million or more in cap room

By: egetto

egetto — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:09:00 +0000

Meanwhile, while PFT only talks about blackouts and spews small market negativity – the Jaguars sign 4 defensive starters @ 100M….. high character, quality free agents coming into their prime years.

Yes that would be the 27th ranked defense, which almost played well enough to clinch the division in Indy in week 15 with a banged up MJD and Garrard.

Gene Smith. Remember the name. Everyone will be talking about him soon.

By: revengeofthefilthymcnasty

revengeofthefilthymcnasty — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:03:51 +0000

where can we find team’s cap numbers?

By: dasportsninja

dasportsninja — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:56:45 +0000

The salary cap means nothing. With creative accounting the teams can spend as much or as little as they want each year. The owners who are willing to spend big have, and will always have a competitve advantage. Fortunatly for the game money cant always buy championships. Instead of wasting time on worrying about how much this or that team is spending on players, yu should consider what they are spending on coaches, delvelopment and scouting, et al. The Patriots spend about 25 million more than the bengals on there scouting and player development department. That is where the organizational differences are.

By: irishdawg42

irishdawg42 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:29:39 +0000

@blackheld sho says;

“Anyone wants to see how to build an NFL team from complete rubbish in 4 years, take a look at the Lions”

“All that in four years, and Detroit is under the cap. That is how you build a football team.”

Please take no offense to this, I mean no animosity towards you or the Lions, but statements like above should be reserved for teams that actually turn themselves into winners…

At this point you are speculating that they will have a winning season and all signs point to it being a possibility(if not probability)…but they are still the team that has only won 17 out of 66 games in the 4 year span that you are quoting and have not had a winning season since 2000.

So, forgive me for not sending e-mails to the GM asking him to emulate the Lions recent history…

By: blackheld

blackheld — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:25:50 +0000

Anyone wants to see how to build an NFL team from complete rubbish in 4 years, take a look at the Lions.

The last 4 years the Lions have moved back up late in round one or two…or HAD a late round one pick via trade (thank you, Dallas)…and added six young, talented, long term starters.

Calvin Johnson
Gosder Cherilus
Matthew Stafford
Brandon Pettigrew (pick from Dallas)
Ndamokung Suh
Jahvid Best

Then, this year they took Nick Fairley in round one (a pleasant surprise) and then traded up in round two, after taking WR Titus Young, (who pencils in as their WR2-WR3 with CJ and Nate Burleson) and grabbed Mikel Leshoure, who fills a need for a powerful, between the tackles guy, which the Lions haven’t had since parting ways with Jones, several years ago.

While doing all this they also managed to pick up their starting middle linebacker in DeAndre Levy (remember the pick-six against Chicago(?), last year) and Louis Delmas at safety.

These guys are all signed and starting, and Detroit also has two guys wh0 made the Pro Bowl on special teams (Wendling and Ekejiubah) and a genuine return threat in Stefan Logan.

Note that in all the names mentioned, only two, Burleson and Logan, were not draft picks, and prior to this year the only other significant free agent signing was Kyle Vanden Bosch, who brought a mammoth locker room presence, and starts at right defensive end.

Detroit also stole Rob Sims from Cleveland to solidify their offensive line, which allowed the sixth fewest sacks in the NFL last year, and Corey Williams, who plugged in at DT as a huge run stuffer and mentor to Suh, and now Fairley, as well.

All that in four years, and Detroit is under the cap. That is how you build a football team.

By: mmcdan13

mmcdan13 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:58:07 +0000

The life of a Chiefs fan…. Our owner chips in 150 million towards renovations of Arrowhead(about 35% of total costs), and then, after driving up the value of his team in doing so, proceeds to take his 150 million back through payroll cuts. We’ve been one of the bottom 3 in payroll every year since we started the renovations. Un-freakin-believable. Not to mention he lists his primary address as Tahiti, so he can avoid paying U.S. taxes.

I want to move to Philadelphia, where there teams are actually trying to win it all. I think, win or lose, that’s what fans really want. They want to know their team is going for it.

By: dennis2488

dennis2488 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:13:39 +0000

maybe every team will need to do what the panthers did: throw away all bunch of money on one player. i mean maybe everybody in the world has no idea who charles johnson is but we all know how much he makes.

By: slickzmoney

slickzmoney — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:46:41 +0000

Keep it short Browns fans.

By: 1historian

1historian — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:06:43 +0000

1) The Bengals it seems won’t spend the money to get better players to make a better team and maybe not be such a laughingstock around the league.

2) About a month ago they were rated as the worst organization in professional sports.

Could there be a connection between #1 and #2?

Discuss

By: hometeam4ever

hometeam4ever — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:06:02 +0000

I see a lot of comments from Cleveland Browns fans here. I am also a life long Browns fan. I like parts of what all of you have posted. I think the bottom line is that ALL of us Browns fans are frustrated with losing. We all agree that as a young team we must build the core of our team through the draft. I didn’t think we would go on a spending rampage in free agency. What I did think we would do was improve our depth at some very thin positions like WR, DE, and CB.

Injuries are running rampant already as training camps have opened. Being a 5-11 team last year I had hoped we would add more than we have so far to our roster. All of our draft picks are now signed. Adding a couple of veteran free agents would go a long way to showing all of us season ticket holders that we aren’t going to a gun fight armed with a knife.

No matter how much we as Cleveland fans are the butt of jokes, we will always root for and stay painfully loyal to our team. Here we go Brownies, Here we Go!

By: bonniebengal

bonniebengal — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:43:47 +0000

Quote: “The Bengals need to extend Leon Hall, Jerome Simpson, Rey Maualuga, Reggie Nelson, Adam Jones, and possibly guys like Andre Caldwell, Manny Lawson, and possible pick up the option on Andre Smith.

It’s a good thing they have so much cap space because these extensions are vital.”

No good players are gonna stay with the Bengals any longer than they have to. Joseph was just the beginning. Really Carson was the beginning. He left 50 million on the table just to get away from Mike Brown. Any good players are going to play out their contracts and get out of town and away from Mike Brown as fast as they can.

By: bigdawg24

bigdawg24 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:42:30 +0000

KANSAS CITY CHEAPS!

By: bonniebengal

bonniebengal — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:59:49 +0000

I checked again, and Mike Brown still sucks.

By: laeaglefan

laeaglefan — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:44:28 +0000

Only Joe Banner knows how much the Eagles have left and he’s not talking.

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:31:10 +0000

If you guys are monitoring comments, can we get a story on how the Steelers’ cap issues are affecting attempts to sign Woodley and any efforts to negotiate a new contract with Polamalu before the season starts? Could we make even a low-key move in the secondary, o-line, or receiving corps if we wanted, or are our hands tied when it comes to bringing in outside talent?

By: kryyyy

kryyyy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:20:09 +0000

The Bengals need to extend Leon Hall, Jerome Simpson, Rey Maualuga, Reggie Nelson, Adam Jones, and possibly guys like Andre Caldwell, Manny Lawson, and possible pick up the option on Andre Smith.

It’s a good thing they have so much cap space because these extensions are vital.

By: larryfitzgerald4mvp

larryfitzgerald4mvp — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:17:34 +0000

The Cardinals are in good shape. They’ve signed many good players, and they still have a lot of cap room.

By: necrondi

necrondi — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:14:32 +0000

chadman128 says:
Aug 2, 2011 9:40 AM
I’m guessing by the time the Bears pay Matt Forte a new contract that cap number won’t be so impressive. I would guess a big chunk of that will be for him.

Brah. Forte is not going to be making 15mill season. Think 4-8mill over the contract life. So no, still too much cap space. Hope Angelo has something up his sleeve.

By: bearsrumorscom

bearsrumorscom — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:07:05 +0000

Any updates on Anthony Hargrove to the Bears?

Whats going on with Malcolm Floyd?

By: trickbunny

trickbunny — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:24:17 +0000

mrfrostyj –

I totally agree with you. The Browns have had a penchant for only taking marquee players who are either still pretty good and just don’t fit in personality/character wise (Jeff Garcia, Andre Rison)- or they take marquee names who are past their prime (Delhomme, Ted Washington, Willie McGinest, Bobby Engram).

It’s refreshing for a change to watch them do what they’re doing now- stick to developing young talent and only adding FAs based on (potential) needs, instead of trying to buy their way into the playoffs. It would be 10 times as satisfying reaching the postseason knowing the players developed into great athletes instead of just trying to buy a championship, like the Miamidelphia Heagles.

By: mrfrostyj

mrfrostyj — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:34:24 +0000

To the discruntled Browns fan, realise that your team made the prestigious list more then once of the NFL’s worst free agent pickups. Your team has a long history even when they were good of overspending in free agency for guys that were big names but never panned out.

Jeff Garcia, Andre Rison, Donte Stallworth, Jake Delhomme & Trent Dilfer just to name a few. The fact that your team is not spending huge on free agency and is concentrating on developing it’s own YOUNG talent shows that for once in a long time the management might actually know what it’s doing instead of getting it’s team building skills from playing Madden on the rookie difficulty setting. If the Browns defense can continue to hold every other team to less then 20 points a game like they did last year and their offense can function at all, they will be a good team soon. Your team has the best offensive line in the NFL with the only missing piece of the puzzle being a decent QB. Now if only the Redskins could follow Clevelands lead.

By: irishdawg42

irishdawg42 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:29:12 +0000

____________________________________
Dawg, until you start writing their paychecks, they are not YOUR team that you support. They are A team that you support.
————–
Secondly, what makes you think that being a fan of the same team precludes me from calling you out on your wait til next year kool-aid opinion?
————–
Lastly, I am no “corporate box holder”. I am a poor man that has neither the money, nor the time, to spend watching a team that keeps feeding it’s fans the same line year after year. They are cheap. Period. Cash is their ONLY motivator.
__________________________________
Well, I am not rich either, yet I spend my hard earned money to support the franchise, who in turn writes the paychecks, so call me crazy but..my $400 or so dollars spent per year on the club goes towards part of that franchise, making me a part of the equation…

No fan support= No team, not rocket science…
———-
2nd, comments like a kool-aid opinion, not a reasonable comment/argument to the contrary. It would be different if you said that by adding playerA, the team would improve in such a way…but attacking an opinion with unsubstantiated words is not being a fellow fan, it is being a hater.
————
I completely understand the economics aspect of your situation, the time aspect? not so much…you have time to complain about the franchise, even on off NFL time on these boards, so you obviously have SOME free time…

I’ll admit that Lerner is clueless as far as American Football and not Futeball is concerned, but cheap and money hungry is not his foray. He wants a championship for this team and FINALLY hired men for the front office to get the job done.

He has questionable hires over the past 10 years, while knowing very little about football. That is his crime, not spending. The Browns have spent according to the GM/coaching philosophy over this last decade..Now they are doing it Heckert and Holmgren’s way…Which is hopefully(hope being the key element here) going to put us back on the map where we belong.

By: bigbeefyd

bigbeefyd — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:26:50 +0000

I don’t want the Broncos to force money on an under-performer…but $26 mil should have been enough to get Cullen Jenkins or Mebane…just sayin’.

By: snnyjcbs

snnyjcbs — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:50:18 +0000

“Your good you, your very good you” I do not know how many times I heard it reported from all the media outlets that Teams are going to be forced to spend the minimum this year.

You can forget Cincy, Tampa and many other from spending until forced to in 2013. You would think the media would have had that one out there. It is very important information with many Fans thinking their Teams will be spending like drunken sailors.

By: texline1

texline1 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:48:51 +0000

Dawg, until you start writing their paychecks, they are not YOUR team that you support. They are A team that you support. Secondly, what makes you think that being a fan of the same team precludes me from calling you out on your wait til next year kool-aid opinion? Lastly, I am no “corporate box holder”. I am a poor man that has neither the money, nor the time, to spend watching a team that keeps feeding it’s fans the same line year after year. They are cheap. Period. Cash is their ONLY motivator.

By: irishdawg42

irishdawg42 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:46:02 +0000

@texline1

One last thing, you do realize “WE” have to extend contracts to Joe Thomas, Ahtyba Rubin and Peyton Hillis…right?

These three alone will raise our cap hit by $12-14M..

Tom Heckert wants to PAY “OUR” young players, not over priced free agents that may or may not fit the system. I certainly trust him making “OUR” roster decisions over the likes of you who just wants a big name free agent to ease your mind.

By: wilddeuce03

wilddeuce03 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:44:29 +0000

texline1 says:
Aug 2, 2011 9:13 AM
Irishdawg,Do you mean losing when you say “I think it is VERY smart to play it the way our front office is.”? Also, there is no “our front office”. You are a fan, not a part of the team, no matter how much you wish it was so. I am also a Browns fan, and I am tired of hearing “Wait til next year.”, especially before the season has even started. If the goal of every team, every year, is not win the super bowl, then they are defrauding the fans. Why would I want to pay to see a team that has already given up on the season before it starts? But you will, and so will a bunch of other rose colored glasses wearers, ensuring that this defrauding continues far into the future. They will not spend money on fielding a competitive team because they don’t have to. “Fans” like you will make sure of it.
___________________________________

So you would rather the Browns spend millions on big name FA’s to try and win now (when clearly they aren’t ready) instead of building for the future?! So what you’re saying is they should act like the Redskins? Yeah, because that’s been working real good for the Redskins, right?! What do the the teams that are competitive year in and year out have in common (ie. Steelers, Ravens, Pats etc)? They built their teams through the DRAFT!

I’d much rather the Browns continue doing what they are doing by building a team through the draft that will hopefully set them up for success for years to come, not just this year.

By: skinsfan1981

skinsfan1981 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:27:10 +0000

Hey idiots who haven’t been paying attention, you won’t be able to use Snyder as an example of overspending anymore. The past two offseasons, this team has gotten 3 years younger overall and are still around 20 mil under cap.

By: irishdawg42

irishdawg42 — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:27:10 +0000

_________________
texline1 says: Aug 2, 2011 9:13 AM

Irishdawg,Do you mean losing when you say “I think it is VERY smart to play it the way our front office is.”? Also, there is no “our front office”. You are a fan, not a part of the team, no matter how much you wish it was so.

————–
I am also a Browns fan, and I am tired of hearing “Wait til next year.”, especially before the season has even started. If the goal of every team, every year, is not win the super bowl, then they are defrauding the fans. Why would I want to pay to see a team that has already given up on the season before it starts? But you will, and so will a bunch of other rose colored glasses wearers, ensuring that this defrauding continues far into the future. They will not spend money on fielding a competitive team because they don’t have to. “Fans” like you will make sure of it.
________________

@texline1…

1st of all, I don’t pretend to be a part of the front office, but being a fan of a single team in the NFL, does preclude me as stating our front office meaning MY TEAM THAT I FOLLOW. Thanks for attacking a fellow fan, you are what gives Browns fans a bad name…

2nd, I DON’T mean losing…I mean learning and putting forth a 100% effort every Sunday. Doesn’t mean I am happy with losing, but a Super Bowl team will not be made by hiring 3-4 over priced free agents that will get you over a small hump for 1-2 years and in cap trouble for 5-6 years, ignorance is bliss.
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You are not a Browns fan if you are calling out true fans opinions of an obvious situation.

You say giving up? I say building a future…BIG difference!

We have tried the route of signing big name contracts and it got us NO WHERE!!

We are starting a very young foundation that will be able to sustain a long prosperous run at prominence, not a one and done for 7 years pretender…

lastly, don’t pay to see them…don’t need you in your corporate box of people that are only here for a Super Bowl Title or jump ship..
___________________________________
We need a sustainable roster that will see us through for the next decade, not a one year run and start over…

By: Browns Blog by Shayler

Browns Blog by Shayler — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:26:41 +0000

Attention fans, each team builds themselves differently. Dan snyder tries to build a winner by high priced free agents and then he fails when there is no chemistry or they are not team players. Steelers draft well and pay them well when they perform and add high priced free agents very seldom except for maybe a hole or spot that needs a lil help. The sttelers is the model the bad teams need to follow because they are always consistently winning and when somebody does leave they just plug in a new person and has no drop off, and why?? cause they develop their own and have a great system players buy into.

The bad teams right now are building the draft picks and developing there system. I love my Browns and was dissapointed they didnt dive into free agency, then i took step back and thought.. hmm are they ready to win now? probably not. we over pay for free agents now and then not resign the joe thomas’s or hadens then they leave the team cause we cant afford to keep them.. so draft well and pay your own players before you add free agents make the most sense.. build a team in the smart way and you wont have to cut everybody you signed now because you need to pay your home built players or let them go.. hmm rather not develop great players for other teams.. thats just me.