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Wheeler Dealer · 08-30-2011, 06:10 PM

The ultimate question is "How much can I spend on FAs?"

I have $14.6M room going into the FA Signings. I have the number 10 pick in the draft. According to ebongreen's excellent research, I should expect 1% to 2% for draftees in rounds 2 through 7. That would be $2.2M or less. The number 10 pick in the 2008 draft signed a contract with a $3.3M 2008 cap hit.

So, $9M to work with, right? Except, there will be 6 unsigned rookies for $1.8M and enough for the FAs my GM invites to get me up to 70 players in camp. I have 51 players under contract for 2009, 7 from the draft, so that would leave the GM to opportunity to invite 6 FAs. If they were all $900K then that's another $5.4M.

If I have to leave room for 13 "walk-ons" then I only have $1.8M for FAs.

Which is it?

How is the salary cap handled before the final cuts? Do you really have to fit 70 players into a cap meant for 53 players? Can you be over the cap up until final cuts?

I would hate to have to redo the FA signings, scouting and drafting because I made the wrong assumption.

ebongreen · 08-30-2011, 06:22 PM

I'd suggest you approach this from a different perspective. I'd ask you: what weaknesses are you trying to address this off-season? Which do you plan to deal with via the draft? Who or what are your left-over goals for free agency, and who are your targets?

Drafting people is cheap; free agents are expensive. If all you've got is $14.6M available, you don't have a lot of room to play with in FA, and your Salary Cap situation screen should say so.

Wheeler Dealer · 08-30-2011, 08:21 PM

I apparently need more than I thought I did. I hired several new coaches including Jim Caldwell, OC, and Mike Smith, DC. I had to give up some control, including the preferences for some player types. My talent was rated 8th in the league before, 21st now! Oh well, I know that Ted Ginn is really better than a 69 in some situations!

Two positions were in need before and after the revised standards, TE and OLB. There are target FAs who would be a big lift and might be affordable.

I need a TE. L J Smith (84), Ben Patrick (79) or Ben Troupe (77) would be a significant upgrade (69). The price should be somewhere between a low of $2M and a high of $4.5M for 2009.

OLB Terrell Suggs (87) would fill a huge hole (72) and meet one of my team goals. He should be $3.5M to $5.0M if I understood your post on that subject.

Other FAs either aren't a good fit, they are too old or they rate to be too expensive for my tiny budget. I just don't want to repeat my mistake of the first year. I was too careful before training camp and my owner got to pocket over $20M at the end of the year (you'd think that would have earned me some love!

)

I want to go after Suggs and one of the TEs. That should leave me just enough to sign my draft choices. If "walk-ons" have to fit under the cap, I may have a 57 player training camp!

During the 2008 season, I signed any remotely useful backup if he would agree to no bonus and no incentives. So, I do have several backups under no penalty contracts that I could cut to grab a specific "walk-on".

Things will get better next year. I had over $10M in penalties in 2009 and none in 2010!

ebongreen · 08-30-2011, 08:54 PM

Who is available in the draft at your positions of need? Can you draft a good TE and/or ROLB?

If Suggs is the top player available at ROLB, he's gonna cost you more than you probably estimate to sign. Top free agents, particularly at glamor positions like ROLB, frequently get "overpaid", i.e. bid beyond their contract expectations by needy teams. Especially if you can get a ROLB with your first round pick (even trading down in the first round), that is likely to be your cheaper-better option.

TE Patrick, OTOH, should be available at a much more reasonable price.

Wheeler Dealer · 08-31-2011, 01:46 AM

I'm sorry, I didn't see your response until I had already pushed forward. That was rude of me to ask you a question and then not wait to consider the response.

I appreciate your suggestions re filling my needs through the draft and I'm sure that is the best long term strategy. Right now this franchise has more money than draft picks and I would think I could get it going quicker with some free agents. Later when I need money for Jake Long, Kenny Phillips and Andre Woodson (all 2008 picks headed for big money), cheap labor from the draft to fill holes will be the only way to go.

I couldn't bid on Suggs, Baltimore Franchised him. But, I found a LOLB, Michael Boley, who was the same age (25) with the same OVL (87) was also available. I got him for 3 years with a $4.6M cap hit in 2009. (He didn't meet my GM's season goal, even when I moved him to ROLB!)

Two factors kept me from getting L J Smith. I hadn't accounted for the fact that 1) I was going to have to pay a bonus on top of my bids and 2) the bidding on Smith went higher than I expected. I did get Patrick for 5 years with a $3.6M impact in 2009. (The bonuses added 16.7% in one case and 20% in the other).

A couple of minor cuts left me at $6.88M for the draft and "walk-ons". I actually only had picks 10, 42, 74 and two 7th rounders. I needed help at WR, DT, CB and FS. What I got with my 5 draft picks were WR, WR, CB, OT and CB. The second WR and the OT were rated (on my draft board) significantly higher than the spot where I drafted them.

Now I finally got to the question of how "walk-ons" impact the cap. I signed 5 UDFAs for $1.59M total. The cap space went from $6.88M to $6.36M as my roster went from 52 to 57. The cap space went down $520K, not $1,590K. $1,070 didn't hit the cap. Not enough for the 4 cheapest 2009 "walk-ons", but maybe enough for my 4 cheapest players. A quick check shows my 4 least expensive players are 240, 250, 290 and 290, exactly 1,070!!!

Sorry to tell such a long story to get to an answer that I may be the only one who cares about!

I do think that the best way to minimize the money given back at year end is to push the cap space as close to zero as possible during training camp. It can only go up as I make cuts and then as players get put on IR and replaced by cheaper players the cap space will go up some more.

RougeRogue · 08-31-2011, 02:05 AM

Do remember, you might want to leave some cap room for any players who are in the last year of their contracts -- you'll have to re-sign them over the course of the season, which can quickly chew up the remainder of your cap, if you have some significant players to re-sign.

Wheeler Dealer · 08-31-2011, 12:53 PM

Yikes, I forgot about that!

Whew, only two starters in their last contract year. They aren't that expensive and I'm not sure I want them back anyway. One is a 30 year old CB, OVL 81 making $3.1M and the other a 76 OVL, 30 year old FS making $2.5M. I hope neither is still starting by the end of training camp!

My GM brought in enough players for training camp to put me at 73 and then I went and got two stopgap FAs to boot. Cap space was down to $1.08M. After I cut the roster to 69 I managed to trade two players who might not have made the team (along with a 5th and a 6th pick) for young players I expect to play every game. Now my cap space is $1.18M.

Still haven't found the downside to spending heavily with a really bad team, but it's early yet.

08-30-2011, 06:10 PM	#1
Wheeler Dealer Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Blog Entries: 2	Cap Headache The ultimate question is "How much can I spend on FAs?" I have $14.6M room going into the FA Signings. I have the number 10 pick in the draft. According to ebongreen's excellent research, I should expect 1% to 2% for draftees in rounds 2 through 7. That would be $2.2M or less. The number 10 pick in the 2008 draft signed a contract with a $3.3M 2008 cap hit. So, $9M to work with, right? Except, there will be 6 unsigned rookies for $1.8M and enough for the FAs my GM invites to get me up to 70 players in camp. I have 51 players under contract for 2009, 7 from the draft, so that would leave the GM to opportunity to invite 6 FAs. If they were all $900K then that's another $5.4M. If I have to leave room for 13 "walk-ons" then I only have $1.8M for FAs. Which is it? How is the salary cap handled before the final cuts? Do you really have to fit 70 players into a cap meant for 53 players? Can you be over the cap up until final cuts? I would hate to have to redo the FA signings, scouting and drafting because I made the wrong assumption.

08-30-2011, 06:22 PM	#2
ebongreen Pro OVR: 7 Join Date: Jun 2009	Re: Cap Headache I'd suggest you approach this from a different perspective. I'd ask you: what weaknesses are you trying to address this off-season? Which do you plan to deal with via the draft? Who or what are your left-over goals for free agency, and who are your targets? Drafting people is cheap; free agents are expensive. If all you've got is $14.6M available, you don't have a lot of room to play with in FA, and your Salary Cap situation screen should say so.

08-30-2011, 08:21 PM	#3
Wheeler Dealer Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Blog Entries: 2	Re: Cap Headache I apparently need more than I thought I did. I hired several new coaches including Jim Caldwell, OC, and Mike Smith, DC. I had to give up some control, including the preferences for some player types. My talent was rated 8th in the league before, 21st now! Oh well, I know that Ted Ginn is really better than a 69 in some situations! Two positions were in need before and after the revised standards, TE and OLB. There are target FAs who would be a big lift and might be affordable. I need a TE. L J Smith (84), Ben Patrick (79) or Ben Troupe (77) would be a significant upgrade (69). The price should be somewhere between a low of $2M and a high of $4.5M for 2009. OLB Terrell Suggs (87) would fill a huge hole (72) and meet one of my team goals. He should be $3.5M to $5.0M if I understood your post on that subject. Other FAs either aren't a good fit, they are too old or they rate to be too expensive for my tiny budget. I just don't want to repeat my mistake of the first year. I was too careful before training camp and my owner got to pocket over $20M at the end of the year (you'd think that would have earned me some love! ) I want to go after Suggs and one of the TEs. That should leave me just enough to sign my draft choices. If "walk-ons" have to fit under the cap, I may have a 57 player training camp! During the 2008 season, I signed any remotely useful backup if he would agree to no bonus and no incentives. So, I do have several backups under no penalty contracts that I could cut to grab a specific "walk-on". Things will get better next year. I had over $10M in penalties in 2009 and none in 2010!

08-30-2011, 08:54 PM	#4
ebongreen Pro OVR: 7 Join Date: Jun 2009	Re: Cap Headache Who is available in the draft at your positions of need? Can you draft a good TE and/or ROLB? If Suggs is the top player available at ROLB, he's gonna cost you more than you probably estimate to sign. Top free agents, particularly at glamor positions like ROLB, frequently get "overpaid", i.e. bid beyond their contract expectations by needy teams. Especially if you can get a ROLB with your first round pick (even trading down in the first round), that is likely to be your cheaper-better option. TE Patrick, OTOH, should be available at a much more reasonable price.

08-31-2011, 01:46 AM	#5
Wheeler Dealer Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Blog Entries: 2	Re: Cap Headache I'm sorry, I didn't see your response until I had already pushed forward. That was rude of me to ask you a question and then not wait to consider the response. I appreciate your suggestions re filling my needs through the draft and I'm sure that is the best long term strategy. Right now this franchise has more money than draft picks and I would think I could get it going quicker with some free agents. Later when I need money for Jake Long, Kenny Phillips and Andre Woodson (all 2008 picks headed for big money), cheap labor from the draft to fill holes will be the only way to go. I couldn't bid on Suggs, Baltimore Franchised him. But, I found a LOLB, Michael Boley, who was the same age (25) with the same OVL (87) was also available. I got him for 3 years with a $4.6M cap hit in 2009. (He didn't meet my GM's season goal, even when I moved him to ROLB!) Two factors kept me from getting L J Smith. I hadn't accounted for the fact that 1) I was going to have to pay a bonus on top of my bids and 2) the bidding on Smith went higher than I expected. I did get Patrick for 5 years with a $3.6M impact in 2009. (The bonuses added 16.7% in one case and 20% in the other). A couple of minor cuts left me at $6.88M for the draft and "walk-ons". I actually only had picks 10, 42, 74 and two 7th rounders. I needed help at WR, DT, CB and FS. What I got with my 5 draft picks were WR, WR, CB, OT and CB. The second WR and the OT were rated (on my draft board) significantly higher than the spot where I drafted them. Now I finally got to the question of how "walk-ons" impact the cap. I signed 5 UDFAs for $1.59M total. The cap space went from $6.88M to $6.36M as my roster went from 52 to 57. The cap space went down $520K, not $1,590K. $1,070 didn't hit the cap. Not enough for the 4 cheapest 2009 "walk-ons", but maybe enough for my 4 cheapest players. A quick check shows my 4 least expensive players are 240, 250, 290 and 290, exactly 1,070!!! Sorry to tell such a long story to get to an answer that I may be the only one who cares about! I do think that the best way to minimize the money given back at year end is to push the cap space as close to zero as possible during training camp. It can only go up as I make cuts and then as players get put on IR and replaced by cheaper players the cap space will go up some more.

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08-31-2011, 02:05 AM	#6
RougeRogue Rookie OVR: 1 Join Date: Jul 2011	Re: Cap Headache Do remember, you might want to leave some cap room for any players who are in the last year of their contracts -- you'll have to re-sign them over the course of the season, which can quickly chew up the remainder of your cap, if you have some significant players to re-sign.

08-31-2011, 12:53 PM	#7
Wheeler Dealer Rookie OVR: 5 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Blog Entries: 2	Re: Cap Headache Yikes, I forgot about that! Whew, only two starters in their last contract year. They aren't that expensive and I'm not sure I want them back anyway. One is a 30 year old CB, OVL 81 making $3.1M and the other a 76 OVL, 30 year old FS making $2.5M. I hope neither is still starting by the end of training camp! My GM brought in enough players for training camp to put me at 73 and then I went and got two stopgap FAs to boot. Cap space was down to $1.08M. After I cut the roster to 69 I managed to trade two players who might not have made the team (along with a 5th and a 6th pick) for young players I expect to play every game. Now my cap space is $1.18M. Still haven't found the downside to spending heavily with a really bad team, but it's early yet.

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