2019 NFL: News & Transactions

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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Jermaine Gresham to be released. Not sure what kind of blocker her is or what he’s got left in tank.
 

Tyrone Biggums

nfl meets tri-annually at a secret country mansion
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Aug 15, 2006
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The fact that it's Howe reporting that about OBJ is interesting.
The fact that we haven't heard anything concrete about the Pats and OBJ makes it seem like something might be there. BB works in stealth mode.

Also is there any question that the best non head coach in the NFL is Scar at this point? Soldier and Brown owe him more of a cut than their agents.
 

Gunfighter 09

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All of the guaranteed money in Trent Brown's deal is in years 1 & 2.

$15M guaranteed and cap hit in 2019
$21M guaranteed and cap hit in 2020, when they get to Vegas.


That is a bit of a tax cheat for California's nation high state taxes relative to Nevada's no state tax. Also gives the Raiders the ability to convert the 2020 money into bonus if they need to work the cap next year.

A team with 5 first round picks in the next two years can make a couple overpays that pay out over the next four years, I guess. Still not the biggest fan of this move.
 

Gunfighter 09

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Do you think they are all in on Carr this year, and will move on if he doesn’t put it together?

That’s a genuinely difficult decision IMO given the relative dearth of clear cut alternatives in FA and the draft. If you like Murray or Haskins, is Carr toast?
I think they are going to try to trade up to 1 to get Kyler Murray.

Derek Carr is their guy for 2019. Seeing how AB's agent (Drew Rosenhaus) was talking about the active role DC played in recruiting Brown, he is staying for this season.

If it all goes to shit, I could see them using the two #1s they have next year to switch to Tua or Hebert. Carr can be cut without a cap hit in 2020.

I dont think they are going to go for Murray and I agree with Vic Tafur and other Raiders beat writers who have stated the team prefers Haskins to Murray in this year's draft if they chose a QB this year.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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All of the guaranteed money in Trent Brown's deal is in years 1 & 2.

$15M guaranteed and cap hit in 2019
$21M guaranteed and cap hit in 2020, when they get to Vegas.


That is a bit of a tax cheat for California's nation high state taxes relative to Nevada's no state tax. Also gives the Raiders the ability to convert the 2020 money into bonus if they need to work the cap next year.

A team with 5 first round picks in the next two years can make a couple overpays that pay out over the next four years, I guess. Still not the biggest fan of this move.
That's really interesting. I've never seen a deal with that much guaranteed money (or anything close to it) where the team has simply decided not to make any of it a signing bonus that it can amortize. Maybe there's some precedent, and maybe the tax situation is so unique that it makes sense, but that's the most straightforward pay to play I've ever seen.
 

Gunfighter 09

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That's really interesting. I've never seen a deal with that much guaranteed money (or anything close to it) where the team has simply decided not to make any of it a signing bonus that it can amortize. Maybe there's some precedent, and maybe the tax situation is so unique that it makes sense, but that's the most straightforward pay to play I've ever seen.

Kirk Cousins is the only other deal like it, I think.

I also stinks of "we're about to write Lev Bell a huge check," which I am opposed to doing.
 

BostonWolverine

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That's really interesting. I've never seen a deal with that much guaranteed money (or anything close to it) where the team has simply decided not to make any of it a signing bonus that it can amortize. Maybe there's some precedent, and maybe the tax situation is so unique that it makes sense, but that's the most straightforward pay to play I've ever seen.
Well it makes sense. They're utilizing the extensive cap space they have now to give them flexibility later on. It's pretty much the opposite of what most teams do, utilizing future cap space to give them flexibility now.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Kirk Cousins is the only other deal like it, I think.

I also stinks of "we're about to write Lev Bell a huge check," which I am opposed to doing.
Cousins' contract is fascinating. I had forgotten about it. But with Cousins the point (I think?) was that since the entire three years was guaranteed anyway then amortizing over the three years didn't give them any cap relief. They were going to essentially take a $30 million cap hit every year of the deal, give or take, no matter what.

Brown's deal is 4 years but zero cap deferred to years 3 and 4. I bet you're on to something about the state taxes. There must be an expectation to convert some of the salary next year once he wouldn't live in CA any more.

Well it makes sense. They're utilizing the extensive cap space they have now to give them flexibility later on. It's pretty much the opposite of what most teams do, utilizing future cap space to give them flexibility now.
Yeah, but unless you are in danger of not making the spending requirement it doesn't really make a difference in the end. If they defer $5 million this year to next year the $5 million in savings carries over to next year any way and so you just have the same net effect but you delay it a year, which is what most teams do. I mean, there's a reason that most teams do it. I think there's something to the taxes point.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Raiders also resigned Johnathan Hankins to a pretty affordable deal. The Pats will probably be looking for a big, relatively cheap run stuffing DT to use situationally (essentially, Shelton's role), so this contract has some relevance as a benchmark if they try to get that player in free agency.

 

Super Nomario

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Well it makes sense. They're utilizing the extensive cap space they have now to give them flexibility later on. It's pretty much the opposite of what most teams do, utilizing future cap space to give them flexibility now.
It also makes sense if (as rumored) the Raiders are cash poor. You actually have to cut the checks for signing bonuses.
 

BostonWolverine

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Cousins' contract is fascinating. I had forgotten about it. But with Cousins the point (I think?) was that since the entire three years was guaranteed anyway then amortizing over the three years didn't give them any cap relief. They were going to essentially take a $30 million cap hit every year of the deal, give or take, no matter what.

Brown's deal is 4 years but zero cap deferred to years 3 and 4. I bet you're on to something about the state taxes. There must be an expectation to convert some of the salary next year once he wouldn't live in CA any more.



Yeah, but unless you are in danger of not making the spending requirement it doesn't really make a difference in the end. If they defer $5 million this year to next year the $5 million in savings carries over to next year any way and so you just have the same net effect but you delay it a year, which is what most teams do. I mean, there's a reason that most teams do it. I think there's something to the taxes point.

I would say there's one big difference. If you don't have job security there's never a reason to not push it till later. That extra 5 million of cap space this year may help you keep your job; and if not, it's the next guy's problem.

For Gruden and his 10 year contract, he has a ton of cap space this year and not enough people to spend it (intelligently) on so if he pushes all the guarantees up front it'll save him that money later in the contract and let him spend it on players who become available then.
 
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jsinger121

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Jul 25, 2005
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And you wonder why the Patriots always win. This is why. Because the rest of the NFL is stupid.
 

Caspir

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This reminds me of every other year. The teams that aren't associated with winning make huge splashes early on. We all freak out and think we're being left behind, priced out, etc. Then the dust settles, we end up with great players on market (or even slightly below) contracts, and we breathe a sigh of relief. I'm encouraged that Trey Flowers isn't sitting on an absurd offer - at least that we know of. The free agent market rewards patience. It always has.
 

KiltedFool

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Dec 22, 2005
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The fact that we haven't heard anything concrete about the Pats and OBJ makes it seem like something might be there. BB works in stealth mode.

Also is there any question that the best non head coach in the NFL is Scar at this point? Soldier and Brown owe him more of a cut than their agents.
Munchak.
 

SMU_Sox

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So as long as the Pats splurge on a guy who was cut and/or trade for a higher salary guy we now are almost guaranteed two 3rd round comp picks again.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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So as long as the Pats splurge on a guy who was cut and/or trade for a higher salary guy we now are almost guaranteed two 3rd round comp picks again.
Not only that but quite possibly the top two comp picks or two out of the top three, since AAV is supposedly the number one factor in the comp pick formula and Brown/Flowers are the two biggest FA contracts by AAV so far. Nick Foles is the wildcard, both in terms of what kind of contract he ends up signing but also in terms of whether the funky two way option he had with the Eagles affects his comp pick status, which I can't quite figure out.
 

kelpapa

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According to Spotrac, there was more than $1.1B of cap space heading into free agency. I don't know what was there in previous years to compare it to, but that seems like a lot.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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According to Spotrac, there was more than $1.1B of cap space heading into free agency. I don't know what was there in previous years to compare it to, but that seems like a lot.
The cap went up about $11 million, so that added $352 million right from the jump. The remaining $748 million works out to an average of $24 million per team which seems a little high but probably not dramatically so. But, yeah, lots of money floating around.
 

Stuffy McInnis

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Ed Hillel

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Yeah, this is the 2016 NBA offseason - tons of money to spend and an overall weak FA class.
 

koufax32

He'll cry if he wants to...
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Dec 8, 2006
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With the exception of Gilmore we’ve spent the last 15 years or so watching everyone else lose it on days 1-2 of free agency only to see NE pick and choose a few guys here and there.

The beauty of it all is this: there’s so much disdain for NE that nobody thinks to copy what they do. Andy Reid might be the only exception. Because the vast majority of the NFL cannot bring themselves to admit that NE does it better than everyone else they don’t try to emulate what is done here. And so, here we are watching another FA sploogefest. People will accuse NE of being cheap. Fireman Ed will get excited about how on paper the NYJ will be greatly improved and might, with a little luck, be able to sneak into the playoffs. And we will be sitting back with BB, sipping on a glass of iced tea between thoughtful smirks.

This tea though...
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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People will accuse NE of being cheap.
It's bizarre that people still call pretty much any NFL team cheap these days. I don't know if it's that writers want headlines or if people legitimately don't understand how roster construction works in the NFL. The Patriots will pay every single dollar they can. It's a zero sum game and I don't really understand where and how that all got lost in translation.

I'll tell you the one team that seems to me to be pretty restrained right now is the Colts. They are scaring me a little bit. They have the money to spend like drunken sailors and they seem to be keeping their power dry at the moment. They were much improved last year.
 

Cellar-Door

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There is so much cap space out there given the increase and so few elite guys to spend it on that there are almost certianly going to be "overpays" but if you can get out cheap after 2 years they might not be bad deals.
 

PedroKsBambino

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With the exception of Gilmore we’ve spent the last 15 years or so watching everyone else lose it on days 1-2 of free agency only to see NE pick and choose a few guys here and there.

The beauty of it all is this: there’s so much disdain for NE that nobody thinks to copy what they do. Andy Reid might be the only exception. Because the vast majority of the NFL cannot bring themselves to admit that NE does it better than everyone else they don’t try to emulate what is done here. And so, here we are watching another FA sploogefest. People will accuse NE of being cheap. Fireman Ed will get excited about how on paper the NYJ will be greatly improved and might, with a little luck, be able to sneak into the playoffs. And we will be sitting back with BB, sipping on a glass of iced tea between thoughtful smirks.

This tea though...
Adalius Thomas was a big signing as well, but yes---Pats pretty clearly tend to sit out the first day or two. In fact, hard to think of a signing other than those two that was a truly big day 1-2 signing.