Arrington on the way out?

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by BossHog

There is only one cap. And no seperate cap for signing rookies. Period. Teams have to have cap room to be able to sign rookies. That's why teams project salaries and account for how much it will take to sign rookies and free agents. You can essentially be over the cap at any time during the offseason. That's why there's a deadline for getting under the cap. Maybe you're misinformed or just understanding it the best way that you can. No hard feelings.

Yes and No. The point that everyone is trying to make about rookies is this:

Based on the number and placement of draft picks a team makes, it is assigned a "rookie pool". When signing draftees, teams cannot exceed the "rookie pool" (Thus, some of the mid to low round draftees try to sign early before the top draft picks take it all).

Regardless of the rookie pool, a team must fit all its salaries (including those in the draftees) under their salary cap.

I don't know all the mechanics of the rookie pool - I think teams get an estimate before the draft and then a final after the draft to take into account any trades. Also, I assume that the Rookie Pool is governed by the standard cap rules: Thus a signing bonus will be prorated over the length of the contract (up to seven years) and the salary and prorated SB create the cap number.