Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 21s22 seconds ago
Patriots placed their franchise tag on kicker Stephen Gostkowski, per a league source.
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 21s22 seconds ago
Patriots placed their franchise tag on kicker Stephen Gostkowski, per a league source.
Either that or they are close enough on a deal that they don't want to use the franchise on himilol@u said:Does this mean DMC is gone?
ilol@u said:Does this mean DMC is gone?
No, it doesn't mean DMC is gone. They still have 8 days to exclusively negotiate with him as well.ilol@u said:Does this mean DMC is gone?
ilol@u said:Does this mean DMC is gone?
No.ilol@u said:Does this mean DMC is gone?
"Panic" is pointless because we can't influence events one way or another.Doug Kyed @DougKyedNESN · 3m
3 minutes ago
Patriots still have a week to negotiate with McCourty on a long-term deal. I'd advise Patriots fans not to panic.
BigJimEd said:What does this mean long term for Gost?
Did they try to work out a long term deal and were unable to or are the Patriots happy to go year to year?
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:I'm not sure where the $4.5 million number is coming from.
From this October article by La Canfora, the kicker franchise amount is 2.88 percent of cap.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24749485/nfl-franchise-tags-position-by-position-projected-numbers
The cap this year is 143,280,000. So, by my calculation, kicker is due $4.126 million. I don't think, even with a long term deal, Gost would have ended up taking up much less cap space than this if the Patriots had resigned him, given their need to spend cash -- maybe a few hundred k.
Gostkowski's franchise-tag figure is $4.5 million. That is computed based on a 120 percent increase of his 2014 salary-cap charge
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:I'm not sure where the $4.5 million number is coming from.
From this October article by La Canfora, the kicker franchise amount is 2.88 percent of cap.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24749485/nfl-franchise-tags-position-by-position-projected-numbers
The cap this year is 143,280,000. So, by my calculation, kicker is due $4.126 million. I don't think, even with a long term deal, Gost would have ended up taking up much less cap space than this if the Patriots had resigned him, given their need to spend cash -- maybe a few hundred k.
Certainly giving this line of thought more credence than I would have a week ago.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:I don't think this is really all that surprising. They've had two years to work out a long-term extension with McCourty and never showed much inclination to do that. BB also clearly has a decent amount of confidence in Harmon playing the single-deep safety role, given that he was perfectly willing to move McCourty up to cover a TE and leave Harmon back in certain looks (like the decisive play against the Ravens).
I'm not saying DMC is necessarily gone. But I think the Pats will be unwilling to go over a certain number on him and I wouldn't be surprised if that number is lower than many people assume.
Section 1. Franchise Player Designations: Except as set forth in Section 9 below, each Club shall be permitted to designate one of its players who would otherwise be an Unrestricted Free Agent as a Franchise Player each season during the term of this Agreement. The player so designated may be one who would otherwise be a Restricted Free Agent. Except as set forth in Section 2(a)(i) below, any Club that designates a Franchise Player shall be the only Club with which such Franchise Player may negotiate or sign a Player Contract during the period the player is so designated, notwithstanding the number of his Accrued Seasons.
The period for Clubs to designate Franchise Players will begin on the twenty-second day preceding the first day of the new League Year and will end at 4:00pm New York time on the eighth day preceding the first day of the new League Year. Section 2. Required Tender for Franchise Players: (a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) below, any Club that designates a Franchise Player shall on the date the designation is made notify the player and the NFLPA which one of the following two potential required tenders the Club has selected:
(i) Nonexclusive Franchise Tender. The Nonexclusive Franchise Tender shall be a one year NFL Player Contract for (A) the average of the five largest Prior Year Salaries for players at the position (within the categories set forth in Section 7(a) below) at which the Franchise Player participated in the most plays during the prior League Year, which average shall be calculated by: (1) summing the amounts of the Franchise Tags for players at that position for the five preceding League Years; (2) dividing the resulting amount by the sum of the Salary Caps for the five preceding League Years (using the average of the amounts of the 2009 and 2011 Salary Caps as the Salary Cap amount for the 2010 League Year); and (3) multiplying the resulting percentage by the Salary Cap for the upcoming League Year (e.g., when calculating the Tender for the 2012 League Year, dividing the aggregate sum of the Franchise Tags for players at that position for the 2007–2011 League Years by the aggregate sum of the Salary Caps for the 2007–2011 League Years and multiplying the result by the amount of the Salary Cap for the 2012 League Year) (the “Cap Percentage Average”) (See Appendix E for an illustrative example); or (B) 120% of his Prior Year Salary, whichever is greater; if the Club extends the Tender pursuant to this Subsection (a)(i), the player shall be permitted to negotiate a Player Contract with any Club as if he were a player subject to Section 5 below, except that Draft Choice Compensation of two first round draft selections shall be made with respect to such player in the event he signs with the New Club, and the Signing Period for such player shall be determined under Section 14 below. For purposes of this Subsection, the “Franchise Tag” is the average of the five largest Prior Year Salaries (e.g., the Franchise Tag for the 2010 League Year equals the average of the five largest Salaries for the 2009 League Year for players at that position); or
(ii) Exclusive Franchise Tender. The Exclusive Franchise Tender shall be a one year NFL Player Contract for (A) the average of the five largest Salaries in Player Contracts for that League Year as of the end of the Restricted Free Agent Signing Period that League Year, as set forth in Article 9, Section 2(e), for players at the position (within the categories set forth in Section 7(a) below) at which he participated in the most plays during the prior League Year, or (B) the amount of the Required Tender under Subsection (a)(i) above, whichever is greater.
tims4wins said:Yeah I think there is a good chance they get something done longer term. You could do 4 years, $16M total, $6M guaranteed. Base salaries of say $1.5M-$2.5-$3.0-$3.0 with hits of $3.0-$4.0-$4.5-$4.5 or something like that. Everyone wins. Could even reduce the 2015 base salary lower and increase one of the back years.
tims4wins said:
Chuck Z said:
Yeah, La Confora doesn't factor in that it can also be 120% of the player's cap charge, which is why Suh would have had a franchise tag of nearly $27M despite the positional tag being far less. So that's how Gostkowski gets to $4.5M.
Chuck Z said:There will be nowhere close to 10M guaranteed on a deal for a kicker this offseason. That's topping the previous high in guaranteed money by 25%.
Edit: shitty at math.
tims4wins said:Fine, sure. Split the difference. Guarantee first year salary so $7.5M guaranteed. Basically a win all around right? The whole point here is that coming up with a contract that benefits both parties and helps with the 2015 cap seems far easier for a kicker than for DMC.
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
Ahh, interesting. Thanks guys. I guess "prior year salary" must be defined to be the cap charge and to include prior amortized bonuses. If I'm reading Miguel's 2014 pages right, Gostkowski had 2.9m in salary last year, 800k in deferred signing bonus, and a 105.6k workout bonus. If the workout bonus counts, the franchise salary for Gostkowski next year will actually be a bit closer to 4.6 million than 4.5. With all due respect to Chuck, that's a lot of freaking money for a kicker.
Ed Hillel said:
So what? They just guaranteed him 4.5 million for one year. If you're his agent, why are you taking anything less than 10?
There are two ways to look at it. The first is that NFL kickers the last couple years have made 40-49 yard FGs at nearly an 80% clip. So while it will have some effect, if we're talking about 40 TDs per year, the net change is maybe 8 points on average, so half a point per game. And I don't know if that's enough to really change things in terms of pay, since you start getting towards equavalences in expected point scored if you look at 2 point conversions then. Plus, if a kicker misses one, you then have more 2 point conversions to make up for that and try to equalize scores, so you may see further reduction in number of XPs attempted.Ed Hillel said:Lurker Cowboyup15 brought up an interesting point that I thought was worth mentioning: What happens if the extra point is moved back to, say, 40 yards? Does that start to increase the value for kickers? Personally, I'm not sure it would make a huge difference, as kickers are getting more accurate and have more leg, but it would certainly add some value, I'd think.
Not really. He's middle of the pack in terms of touchback percentage, so it's more coverage when he doesn't whack it through the end zone. His hang is around 4 seconds so pretty average as well. Gostkowski's strength is that he has an incredibly accurate leg that is consistent through 50 yards and is likely to stay that way for the forseeable future. But for reasons mentioned above, you still don't give a kicker a lot of guaranteed cash because yips happen.Rudy Pemberton said:Isn't Gostkowski potentially providing more value on kickoffs than FG's? The Pats have been a top 3 team for kickoffs the past four years, since the NFL moved the kickoffs back, according to Football outsiders.
Chuck Z said:Not really. He's middle of the pack in terms of touchback percentage, so it's more coverage when he doesn't whack it through the end zone. His hang is around 4 seconds so pretty average as well.
Harry Hooper said:
This isn't a park-adjusted measure, though, is it? Kickers dealing mostly with indoor kickoffs or kickoffs in non-windy environments would have an easier time of it.
Rudy Pemberton said:So, Gostkowski isn't getting that many touchbacks- yet the Pats are consistently one of the top 3 teams in kickoffs- is that all coverage? Just trying to understand how they are below average in terms of TB's, yet still ranked so highly by this measure.
j44thor said:Seems like Ghost discussion is starting to creep into the Revis thread so might be worth a bump.
The reason I question the Ghost franchise is due in large part to his usage. Ghost is an upper echelon kicker but where he is on that list is very tough to gauge for one simple reason, NE does not have him attempt tough kicks. He attempted only one 50+ kick last year which ties him for dead last.
If you take out 50+ kicks there are an awful lot of kickers kicking near 90%.
NE seems to be paying a premium for a position they don't really leverage.
Ask Indy about this. They need a dedicated kick off kicker. What a waste of a roster spot.Stitch01 said:Most of what smart teams pay for in a kicker is for kickoff value given the year-to-year accuracy in volatility, so I don't think its fair to say they don't leverage the position. They kick off a lot in tough weather.
NortheasternPJ said:Chuck do you have a breakdown of how many of those were in foxboro?
Seems like you already have a ton of kicker data on hand. If not I'll look it up later.
McAfee is also their punter, unless I'm missing something here.NortheasternPJ said:Ask Indy about this. They need a dedicated kick off kicker. What a waste of a roster spot.