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.