All is quiet--for now

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I disagree with his analysis on Clements. The team will be able to clear enough space to match or beat any deal on the table for Nate Clements, if they so choose.

When all is said and done, by March 1st I'd estimate the Skins will have at least $15 million in cap room to work with. The writer is clearly not considering the restructures the 'Skins are currently working on/going to work on.

Every year people say the Skins are strapped, the Skins are strapped. And every year, they're all left scratching their heads, wondering how the 'Skins continue to massage the cap year in and year out, allowing them to spring on whatever free agents their heart desires. It's just not going to happen. These writers just don't understand the cap. The 'Skins are in good shape. If they want Clements, they WON'T be outbid.

Now whether the free agency strategy is a good plan is a whole other ball of wax. But regardless, if we want Clements, rest assured we'll get him.

the only reason it didn't happen already is cause of the new tv deals... BUT, we are DEFINITELY at a competitive disadvantage every year, since we lead the league in dead cap, which is money spent on player's that are no longer working for you, and the price/performance deals dan snyder and crew make for free agents are vastly inferior to those made by most teams, which again, puts us at a disadvantage.

if the skins clear 15$mill and st louis has $20mill clear, we can't win unless they let us. we CAN be outbid, cause the skins overspent immediately once the cap raised when other clubs didn't, and now the lions may have $40mill or something insane in cap space, and we have to hustle new contracts to existing players for more future dead money to make space. we're just paying on credit instead of with cash, but it really does hurt the team and its ability to maximize talent over a longer period of time.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by That Guy

the only reason it didn't happen already is cause of the new tv deals... BUT, we are DEFINITELY at a competitive disadvantage every year, since we lead the league in dead cap, which is money spent on player's that are no longer working for you, and the price/performance deals dan snyder and crew make for free agents are vastly inferior to those made by most teams, which again, puts us at a disadvantage.

if the skins clear 15$mill and st louis has $20mill clear, we can't win unless they let us. we CAN be outbid, cause the skins overspent immediately once the cap raised when other clubs didn't, and now the lions may have $40mill or something insane in cap space, and we have to hustle new contracts to existing players for more future dead money to make space. we're just paying on credit instead of with cash, but it really does hurt the team and its ability to maximize talent over a longer period of time.

Yeah I'd definitely prefer a more draft-centric approach. It would, as you say, maximize talent over time.

But the cap space still wouldn't be a problem for the 'Skins unless Nate Clements was somehow now worth a $20 million signing/roster bonus or something ridiculous. Which he's not. The Rams, in your example, have plenty of cap space to outgun us if they wanted to. But they still wouldn't totally bust the payscale just because they have the cap room. Besides, if any team has shown the propensity to overpay and blow up the payscale for players, it's us. We're still likely to win any race in which we earnestly enter for a player's services.

I'm not arguing that overpaying for Clements is a good idea. But if the team wants him, I think they'll get him.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah I'd definitely prefer a more draft-centric approach. It would, as you say, maximize talent over time.

But the cap space still wouldn't be a problem for the 'Skins unless Nate Clements was somehow now worth a $20 million signing/roster bonus or something ridiculous. Which he's not. The Rams, in your example, have plenty of cap space to outgun us if they wanted to. But they still wouldn't totally bust the payscale just because they have the cap room. Besides, if any team has shown the propensity to overpay and blow up the payscale for players, it's us. We're still likely to win any race in which we earnestly enter for a player's services.

I'm not arguing that overpaying for Clements is a good idea. But if the team wants him, I think they'll get him.

yeah, i don't disagree with any of that. We're just not in the best relative shape compared to other teams. clements probably wants a champ bailey deal though (salaries rise yearly since its a growth industry, and the new tv deals also created massive pay inflation). If they put a lot of the money in the first 3 years, it'd really f with our ability to get him plus dock (or other OG) and a LB (we also have a #6 draft pick to pay).