Nnamdi Asumogha Cap Implications
 

Unlike many others I am absolutely convinced that a player such as Nnamdi Asumogha is a player worthy of breaking the bank for, especially for this team. Aside from the unified sentiment of all that there is a veteran presence needed for the group I disagree with many others that Bob McNair is a man who is just merely about his pocket books. I believe he is a man who is fair and just merely doesn't want to get duped into making a mistake that would hurt both the franchise and then inevitably himself. That being said he saw the value of Andre Johnson and immediately rectified his contract so as to assure him of being the highest paid WR in the NFL.

All this being said however the reason I am posting this is because John McClain keeps writing that there would be no chance of us getting him mainly because of the cost of making him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. The contract he keeps eluding to when referring to this is the Julius Peppers contract worthy of a guaranteed $42 million dollars. So my question isn't more about your opinion of the guy but more of if the rules are in place (assuming labor terms are negotiated and we have a collective bargaining agreement in place) what would the salary cap implications be if the Texans were to take on a contract of this magnitude and would we be able to do this without hindering other cornerstone players and their contracts such as Mario Williams (assuming he's deemed worthy of an extention) and their futures with our organization. If someone could please provide an answer for this that would be great. Thanks!

Your first mistake is taking salary cap insights from McClain.

This is a tough one to answer because no one knows the cap room for 2011, assuming (a) there is a 2011 season and (b) the cap rules remain relatively the same.

Don't forget the team hired one of the league office's cap gurus... Chris Olsen http://www.houstontexans.com/team/st...2-4842f91a411d. If the team wants to spend, they will find a way.

Bottom line is the Texans can fit Aso into their cap picture even with their current roster... the question they will have to answer is if the value is worth the price.

My hunch says they will say no (and we all will disagree with them... again). The Texans want to 'build through the draft'... which is code for we'd rather draft a cheap rookie and give him significant snaps than pay for an established high quality vet.

And what if it is an uncapped year?........ I shudder to even think of that.

You know of everything what bugged me the most about last year was that it WAS an UNCAPPED YEAR and they didn't even CONSIDER franchising Dunta. Let me make perfectly clear I don't necessarily think Dunta Robinson was our solution at CB anymore by any means but to not even have an adequate replacement in place is an absolute joke of a move. Especially in a year that we had it as a playoffs or bust mentality. And of course we busted.

IF THEY ARE SERIOUS they sign Nnamdi this year. No if's and's or but's about it. People can say whatever they want but a corner who is one of the best at his position and can shut down an entire half of the side of the field he's on is absolutely worth the investment of highest paid defensive player in the NFL (assuming there are no other factors to consider i.e injuries, character concerns), which for him seems like it all pretty much checks out. I truly do sincerely hope they do it.

Saw this amusing Nnamdi clip in another forum.....

[QUOTE=itssharif;25287]You know of everything what bugged me the most about last year was that it WAS an UNCAPPED YEAR and they didn't even CONSIDER franchising Dunta. Let me make perfectly clear I don't necessarily think Dunta Robinson was our solution at CB anymore by any means but to not even have an adequate replacement in place is an absolute joke of a move. Especially in a year that we had it as a playoffs or bust mentality. And of course we busted. QUOTE]

When is it not a playoff or bust year for any team?

And even though "we" might have felt this way, ownership obviously did not, as we have the same HC and GM in place.

That is pretty funny.

Anyhow hope we do get a proven experiencd CB such as Nnamdi, spelled like it sounds, in here.

Hey sorry to bring this back up but was wondering with a few more potential details coming back into play here what the implications would look like now. Apparently Nnamdi will be pursued by us, with rumors of the cap being along lines of the 2009 figure. If the reported rumor of him potentially being able to command 16-19 million dollars per yr is true how is it looking for us?

The only article I found so far that is the closest to anything on information is how the Lions would be interested but probably will bow out because this price will be too rich for their blood. And unfortunately in this article it doesn't mention anything about us and our situation. I'm dreaming here I know but if someone could provide some insight now with current implications in place I would sure love to know and be interested.

Tough to say where we will be for 2011, as there will be ALOT of activity once pen hits paper. Based on Keith's 2010 cap estimate, we were at around $93MM, which would leave them ~$27MMish to the cap (est. @ $120MMish).

But again, lots of activity left, and that was based on 2010 estimates. Should know more in the coming weeks.

(I would rather have a Joseph and a "real" safety).....

Here is what Pro Football Weekly is reporting about the Salary Cap on Thursday night.

Ok so if that were the case and I'm not really good with this cap thing at all I must admit but I'm guesstimating that if the Texans have to spend 95% that would mean that they would HAVE to at least spend $21MMish? If that's the case a Nnamdi Asumogha figure of 15-19 per year does seem plausible? Let alone if they got closer towards their cap figure then an Eric Weddle also could be do-able? I guess it all depends on the market. Heard the Bucs would have to spend a lot under this scenario too.

I honestly believe though and I'm trying not to get overly excited here but I believe sincerely that their intentions are to bring Asumogha and Sensabaugh to Houston. If that were the case I couldn't be more ecstatic. Can't wait for this freaking deal to get done. I'm just trying to keep the fingers crossed man!

And though its debatable if money spent this way on one player is even the right move (mainly because we could allocate that funding to bring more players maybe) I complete beg to differ. This guy is the final piece to the puzzle in my opinion. Adding him will not only give veteran presence but a real veteran presence of showing the others saying hey this is how the best does it. Additionally we don't know the potential we have in Brandon Harris, and Kareem Jackson's development (though I'm not expecting much of him). Throw that in with the potential that one of the following corners (R.Carmichael, B.McCain, S.McMannis, A.Molden, J.Allen) blossoms maybe and we may have solutions and not problems anymore in our secondary. Wishful thinking probably. But I'd like the chances of them flourishing with a guy like Nnamdi there guiding them instead of a Joseph, Cromartie or anybody else. Again just my opinion.

Let's get er done though Houston!

Jason LaConfor (sp?) said something interesting on Total Access. He said they could spend above the cap pretty much what they want to????? Followed that with "The rich get richer". I have also seen that there is some sort of "Credit" that teams may get that could drive their ability to spend above 130 mill. It's looking and sounding like, at least for this year, the cap may not work like it has in the past.

Peter King on NFL Network this morning: (paraphrasing) "It would be a huge mistake if the Texans don't sign him (Nnamdi) right out of the chute".

For me, I'd be happy with a top 10 CB and top 10 Safety being signed in free agency or trade whenever that starts , perhaps pretty soon.

Take it for what its worth........

But Jabba McClain reported thru his chat that the Texans were right at the $120MM cap figure already, and will have to cut or restructure several contracts in order to have cash to spend in FA.

Carving a few MM here and there is one thing, but trying to care $20ish+ is likely a MUCH taller task. They are going to have to fill the roster out somehow, and whatever savings they do have from cuts/restructures will likely be doing this.

Didn't see it (or want it) before, and really don't see the Nnamdi thing happening now (assuming he is even remotely close to being accurate).

I'm not sure McClain is right on his cap totals... I think he's going with some numbers that have been floating around lately but I'm not sure those numbers are correct. I think most numbers are estimates and you have to be a front office person to actually know the real deal...

Don't the Texans still have that cap guru guy they hired about 3 or 4 years ago? Seems like he was from Washington or New England or some place in the Northeast.... Someone like that can tuck and fold contracts to his liking... "objects in your rear view mirror are closer than they appear"....

There's several cuts/loss to free agency coming up that may or may not happen: JJ, Okoye, Butler to name a few....

We'll have to wait for the new CBA but I've read several things about how it's going to be OK to go over the cap.... Not sure how much truth there is in that....

What I'm saying here is, I think they are going to get him. I really do.

Edit: Doh! Keith covered much of this in post #2.

I am so majorly behind on 2011 cap updates that I really don't have a clear sense of where they stand currently. The NFLPA has been a bit more tight on sharing their salary data too, and that will make it a little more difficult to catch back up. That said, I don't feel much different from what I posted in this thread in May.

Also, expect a lot of cap casualties here in the next 10 days or so. I also suspect that if the Texans really wanted to create some cap room, they could sign Mario to an extension, maybe Schaub too.

The real wildcard here in pursuing Aso is that the cap floor ought to encourage teams with a ton of cap space to spend lots. I'm curious to see how long of a deal Aso wants to sign as well.

Based on one cap list it's looking like Tampa Bay will be Nnamdi's new home, they are listed as having a cap that is less than one-half of the new salary cap. 10-6 and a 60 million dollar cap...I am just a little bit sadder now. :(

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Don't be, because whoever gets this guy is going really overpay for him.
If he was 27 maybe, but at 30 years of age he's too old for that kind of money IMO. Let's just concentrate on getting the #2 or #3 corner in FA.

Clayton has another list up, this one reflecting the Texans as being $7.6 million under, not counting any RFA tenders.

As you all probably know being regulars and astute fans, the media reports on cap figures are not always 100% reliable, at a minimum there are plenty of caveats to disclose, (just top 51 salaries included, or all players? for example).

Anyway, I imagine the figure Clayton has isn't too bad... but keep in mind that the Texans have some dead weight and overpaid players still on the roster.

And sure, some of these team, like the Bills for example, are way under the cap, but they're way under for a reason, a fiscal one. Keep in mind the cap figure is just an accounting one, not a cash flow one. Teams will need to get to the floor, but I don't think it or the apparent lack of cap space necessarily keeps the Texans from signing Aso if they made it a priority when UFA opens.

One more note on McClain.... I really don't have an axe to grind with him or anything, but he is reporting what he hears, not what he knows or understands. And the Texans and McClain are chummy as the Texans use the paper as their unofficial megaphone and McClain gets to fill his columns and blogs. Point being, the Texans don't want to hurt their negotiating position by advertising how much space they can possbly have.

It'd be like going to buy a car and telling the seller the absolute most you could ever possibly pay for their product. The Texans are just fine posing themselves as cap-poor instead of saying, well we could extend Mario, cut Amobi and Slaton and whoever and create $25MM more in cap space...

Both Shefter & LaConfor are reporting that teams will be able to spend well above the CAP. Not sure how that will work, but I THINK some of it will be that dead money wont count, just real money. That way when teams spend the 90% of CAP room it will have to be real dollars. Plus, I think there is some sort of exemption. LaConfor made the statement that "The rich will get richer". Meaning the teams that have CASH will be able to spend it. Going to be interesting to see what the heck the deal really is.

Ya, McClain was on 610 this morning saying, due to the Texans high cap, "NO WAY" could they sign Aso much to the chagrin of Vandermeer and Lopez. Lopez countered that it sounded like the Texans couldn't sign anyone (no Joseph, no Taylor, etc.)... To this, McClain hemmed and hawed a bit and said well they could probably sign one of the lower tier CB's.... 610 used McClain's speculations as a point of conversation all day all the way into the afternoon show with Rich Lord and Doofus Boy. (I would also like to say I respect McClain's work - he does a lot of work, most of the time he furnishes info that checks out fine. I also respect the way he deals with his many, sometimes unfair critics.....JMO).

McClain may end up being right but I've heard and read an equal amount to the contrary. Lance Zierlein has said the Texans "are a lock" to sign a top CB. There was the Peter King comment urging the Texans to go after Nnamdi although PK may not know a thing about the Texans cap.... There was Kubes grinning like a possum on NFLN when asked about AJ contacting Aso to come play for the Texans.... All this puts me in the camp that says they are going to make a strong bid for Nnamdi Asomugha.... They may not end up getting him, but maybe they'll do better than projected and get a Joseph or a Taylor....

I would go for this one and only one big signing and go with a bunch of vet minimum guys to fill out the roster... Try to hang onto Leach, restructure here, let one of JJ/Butler go there, yada, yada.... Aso would be so good for the young secondary....

McClain tweeted this earlier today:

"As expected"?? As in expected by everyone but you?? :p

Yeah, I saw that....McClain *can* backslide with the best of 'em.... :p

Just saw this posted at the Mothership (first mention of Aso at ht.com):

I'm not as optimistic as I once was but it ain't over till it's over.....

Personally think the Jets "hype" for Asomugha is somewhat media-driven.

In McClain's defense and I read all the chat transcripts and try to listen in on 610 as much as possible he did say that the Texans would pursue Asumogha but not get him. My only problem with McClain is how grossly wrong he was about our cap figure situation. When that report came out it broke my heart that the Texans had the cap situation they did. But now the off-season has hit and we haven't made one cut, resigned 3 of our guys and are still going after the highest priced free agent. We were most definitely under and that guy attempted to lead us to believe otherwise.

Either way I'm still here just hoping and wishing that this Nnamdi thing somehow some way happens. I truly do feel like that would put it over the top for us.

The McClain tweet right after the one above:

"I never thought the Texans would even be in the running for Asomugha because of cap situation. They'll have to get very creative. "

Like you say, I think his big mistake was just taking the not-so-accurate "internet" cap numbers and rolling with them... Perhaps also underestimating that the Texans could "get creative"..

NFL Network has been mentioning Aso and Jets all day. Saying how Asomugha will end up taking less money to go for a Super Bowl contender. Revis even put some influence in there by saying that playing with the best CB in the league Nnamdi would be awesome. Also earlier Schefter said that if Jets end up getting Asomugha then the Texans would land Cromartie.... I think Texans are offering more money but eventually Nnamdi will go for less money for a greater chance to win :(

Per SR610 radio: Michael Lombardi announcing that Texans are in the lead in the Nnamdi sweepstakes with a 12-14 mil offer....

(one must be careful not to assume anything till the race is over...)

Interesting.......

Tweet from @michaelombardi
@michaelombardi: Hearing Houston has moved into the lead for Nnamdi Asomugha?money will be in the 12-14 mill per year range...Revis makes 11.5 per year

Ok, I'm trolling the guy now, but seriously... like the Texans *just* figured this out. :rolleyes:

I think news of Mario's extension would be coming soon, obviously a couple cuts by the 8/4 deadline like Okoye, Orlovsky, and Slaton (or whenever that deadline is now). Wouldn't surprise me if Schaub got an extension in short order too.

Yep, its definitely not a can we or can't we, its just whether or not he wants to come here. I just wish he would shit or get off the pot. If its not gonna happen, their wasting a whole lot of time for nada, while letting a couple other quality DB's slip by. Still a couple out there, but I just worry about too much focus on 1 guy.

We STILL need a true S.....

Man.....this needs to get done.

We're "in the lead" for him, according to most everyone. 12-14 mil a year.

49ers just cut Clements freeing up ~$15MM off their cap. Texans better get this Aso deal done soon if they really want him.

i am no fan of smith, nor am i going to say he is one of the sharper pencils in the box, but i would be willing to be a lot that they already knew they could restructure contracts to get where they need to be.

my guess is that the idiot mclain "just" figured out that they could do that. for someone who has been reporting on the nfl for so long, his lack of understanding as to how the league works is amazing.

my guess is none of the other top 2-3 corners that are free agents are going to agree to anything until they see what Asumogha gets. they will use his contract to set the market for the rest.

That is my thinking also. And I have been seeing that the Texans have been in talks with Joseph, they are looking at all there options, Aso is most likely the 1st one to fall.

I think part of it is that the Texans have contacted Joseph, et al and their agents and said something like "don't sign anything until we find out if we get Nnamdi - if we don't, we will make you a better offer than you currently have".

Also I think that the agents are strongly encouraging their clients to go where the money is regardless of any other side benefits (media center town, acting schools/Broadway, close to home, etc.). Because..... the more money the client makes, the more money the agent makes. A "good" agent just wants the $$$$.

Eeesh, this kinda resembles Beltran '05. I think the difference is, I don't think anybody is going to outbid the Texans.... But, they (the Texans) are going to have to bid a significant amount over whatever side benefits NY and SF (or whomever) can offer to sway the decision to their side. And you know agents just hate leaving money on the table...

I'll be inconsolable if this does not happen.