2009 Cap

[Keith]

Just to show that the Texans' 2009 cap room is nothing special, here's a clip from Adam Schefter's blog on today's playoff teams:

Arizona — Projected to be at least $41 million under the salary cap, the money will go quickly. The Cardinals face two significant issues.
Quarterback Kurt Warner is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, as is linebacker Karlos Dansby. Plus, wide receiver Anquan Boldin, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and safety Adrian Wilson all want more money. Who doesn't?

Carolina — A mere $10 million under the 2009 salary cap, the Panthers could use another franchise tag. Both defensive end Julius Peppers and offensive tackle Jordan Gross are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, and either will land a bounty if he doesn't have the franchise tag.

Baltimore — At $25 million under the salary cap, the Ravens would seem to have plenty of flexibility. Problem is, each of their three starting linebackers — Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis and Bart Scott — are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents. Baltimore can franchise only one. Chances are, Scott is the most likely to leave.

Tennessee — The Titans have left themselves $30 million under the salary cap, but it will go quickly. Quarterback Kerry Collins and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth are scheduled to become free agents, and Tennessee is banned from using its franchise tag on Haynesworth.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/01/10/satu...hape-for-2009/

A couple names mentioned though that might be interesting if the Texans wanted to spend big this offseason.

[jcp]

Originally Posted by Keith

Just to show that the Texans' 2009 cap room is nothing special, here's a clip from Adam Schefter's blog on today's playoff teams:

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/01/10/satu...hape-for-2009/

A couple names mentioned though that might be interesting if the Texans wanted to spend big this offseason.

Yeah, here's to hoping that Carolina tags Gross over Peppers.

Imagine a line with Peppers and Mario...then pick up Mays or Moore in the draft and we might have ourselves a decent D

[Bigtinylittle]

Originally Posted by NickO

Just a couple points:
1) All teams have some sort of zone-blocking in their offenses, so the skill itself doesn't bother me as much as the coordination with other linemen.
2) No idea of his agility, but Brown's a big boy (6'3", 320lbs). Myers certainly had trouble holding the point of attack at times this season, and with Henderson/Haynesworth in the division (at least for now), it's something to think about.
3) Myers is cheap (4yrs, $11MM, $3MM bonus), durable, and has 16 games of experience with the same linemen.

Not to start an argument, but Gibbs is ZBS all the way. I know lots of teams use some ZBS but Gibbs has been quoted as saying going hybrid is a mistake. In other words, you MUST only go after linemen who are very quick and backs who are quick, have great vision, and don't like dancing around. If you look at the three players we added to the offense last year (Slaton, Brown, and Myers), they describe to a T what Gibbs is looking for, though Gibbs obviously would like a center with more core strength. If Jason Brown doesn't fit Gibbs' system, then he won't be here.

[gunn]

Originally Posted by jcp

Yeah, here's to hoping that Carolina tags Gross over Peppers.

Imagine a line with Peppers and Mario...then pick up Mays or Moore in the draft and we might have ourselves a decent D

According to Lombardi, Carolina is nowhere close to a contract with Peppers and will almost assuredly use the tag on him.

[Keith]

More info on the last capped year and the potential of an uncapped year for those interested. In addition to noting some key rule changes to keep in mind, I found this angle I sorta alluded to in an earlier article:

It still appears that Kansas City chose to not rollover over $20M of Cap room into this year, perhaps figuring it would have “too much room.” It will be interesting to see if that rationale is tolerable to two groups of constituents that would like them to do whatever it takes to fix their ills: their fans and the Players’ Association.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...ey-matters-20/

The idea that some teams (mostly smaller market teams) spent so closely to the cap floor is evidence of a severe crack in the uniformity of the ownership. Worse still, I fear if something doesn't change with the new CBA, the NFL will lose some more of what makes it special in terms of trying to keep the field level between large market and small market teams.

[Fonz the Boss]

Quick question... If there is indeed an uncapped year and several big market teams choose to go on spending sprees for superstar free agents, what will happen if the next year is capped and these teams are already tied up with mega contracts for a few more years?.... Wouldn't they have to think about that? I think that even if there is an uncapped year, big market teams will be reluctant to offer huge contracts. Therefore, I dont think it's going to be too much of a factor..... Not unless they offer most of the salary in that uncapped year with a monumental signing bonus. A signing bonus that surpasses Peyton Manning's 34 million in 2004. I dont think too many owners will want to risk that much money.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Fonz the Boss

If there is indeed an uncapped year and several big market teams choose to go on spending sprees for superstar free agents, what will happen if the next year is capped and these teams are already tied up with mega contracts for a few more years?

First, welcome. Not sure why you post in bold, it really isn't necessary.

As for what will happen should the cap return after an uncapped year, I have no idea other than I'm sure something will be considered in negotiations. It's been so long since the league first had a salary cap (1994), that I don't remember exactly how Year One went. It was different then though, because the cap came as a sort of negotiating item to even having free agency as I remember it, i.e. teams wrote contracts in '93 knowing that the cap was coming the next year (and even then some teams didn't know how to manage it, hence all the cap-strapped teams in the late 90s and early 00s).

The last time the CBA was extended (2006) would have been relatively equivalent to having it extended again during the first week of March 2009, which is to say that the extension happened just before the league opened the new year that would have been the last capped year.

Given the NFLPA still doesn't even have a director, I think it's a safe assumption that we'll be entering unfamiliar territory when free agency opens in another six weeks. That said, I imagine the owners will look to continue (or re-introduce) the cap at some point, and as such, I think spending will for the most part remain somewhat in line as if the cap were still in place. Granted, there will be some major exceptions, but in the scheme of things, there are probably far fewer 'haves' than 'have nots'.

[kravix]

Both sides have said that if an uncapped year were to happen then it is possible they may never go back. The players definatly wouldnt want to, but unless FA is addressed in the new agreement without a cap the owners can hold it over the players head to put a cap back in. It is kinda pointless to go uncapped and have no FA for the players.

[Keith]

From ESPN.com's AFC South blog:

Tennessee Titans: $30 million under
Houston Texans: $19.2 million under
Jacksonville Jaguars: $15 million under
Indianapolis Colts: $3.8 million over

It differs from the ItB.com '09 cap page, but without more info from the blog, it's difficult to determine where the variances lie. It could be an interpretation issue, it could be something I'm missing.

As always, if anyone has input into the figures I have here, let me know. The #s were solid as of 10 months ago, so I can't imagine I'm too far off, but things can change, especially if something slipped the media.

[Keith]

Shadowy capologist AdamJT13 posted at KFFL what teams used the Philly Loophole to increase their 2009 cap space and by how much. Take the link to read it in full detail (27 of the 32 teams took advantage of the loophole this year).

Pertinent to the Texans is this:

Houston -- $2,032,327
...
Houston -- Mike Brisiel $2,032,327

So, this is interesting for a couple reasons.
(1) The Texans finished the 2008 season somwhere shy of $3 million in available space (last credible figure I seem to remember having was around $2.41 million, yes the ItB.com page is a little out of date in that regard). The # above forwarded to 2009 shows a minimum of available space left in 2008.
(2) It obviously reflects some additional purchasing power in 2009, but it ranks around 21st if I counted down correctly, so please hold your cartwheels.
(3) In order to forward this sum, the Texans had to of renegotiated a contract with Brisiel... something which not surprisingly eluded our local media. Basically the team inserted a junk incentive very late in the season into Brisiel's contract; the extent to which the rest of his contract was altered is at this time unknown.

Brisiel had been scheduled to become a ERFA this offseason. The NFLPA currently shows him under contract for 2009 at a minimum base salary ($460k) for someone with his # of years. Other similarly situated players, like Earl Cochran, don't appear to have been tendered yet.

[Keith]

A few sites are trying to pull together cap data for all teams as they look ahead to the opening of the UFA signing window on 2/27. AsktheCommish is one such site, and like our cap page here, they acknowledge that the data is unofficial and compiled largely from NFLPA and "various media sources" (as I'm guessing USAToday and even ItB.com might qualify).

Anyhoo, the Texans rank 10th on this list with the most available cap room. I've seen another adjusted for the forwarded cap space from 2008 that ranks the team around 11th.

http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp

Most striking to me is that the Cardinals, defending NFC champs, are 2nd with roughly $41 million available. The Titans are 5th.

So while 11th puts the Texans closer to the middle of the pack than way out in front, it does represent the team's ability to re-sign all they players they choose. It also affords them an opportunity to take a hard look at other UFAs as well.

We are nearing the end of the calm here (if you discount the Outside the Lines thriller)... in another two weeks or so, we're going to be busting with some news.

[jppaul]

As long as we can afford to resign Dunta, Demeco, and Daniels, I am good.

[Keith]

I've updated the 2009 salary cap page to reflect some recent changes. I'm in a rush at the moment, but I'll probably write up something here later about key points, plus I plan to do one final clean-up of the 2008 cap page later tonight as well.

http://www.inthebullseye.com/cap2009.html

[Keith]

Some good news on the ItB.com '09 cap estimate....

PFT.com seems to think they have solid info on all 32 teams' 2009 cap expenditures. For the Texans, they estimate $101 million (or about $22-23 million available) as of yesterday. I wish they would have reported this number out another couple of digits.

Regardless, since I would guess that this figure does not include the recently announced cuts of Green and Greenwood, that would lower the cap committments by $4.868 million for Greenwood and (roughly) $5 million for Green, for a total of about $10 million...

Meaning, with the PFT figure adjusted down to roughly $91 million, this falls very closely in line with the $91.4 million I have now on the ItB.com cap page.

[Nconroe]

Thanks again Keith for all this detail work and update to the 2009 cap nos.

I was wondering, the guys down on bottom of payscale , that were perhaps on practice squad, if they are cut, does that stay on cap or go away?

And just for discussion, if Demps were cut how much cap would that save?

[Keith]

For any players cut, the dead money remains. Cap-wise, a few of them don't really get a true signing bonus, sometimes just the standard workout bonuses. I don't detail each of these when they get cut, but I do keep track of them to sum their measly bonuses... they often add up to a couple hundred thousand or so.

As for Demps, if he were cut, the team would save the base salary of $2.35 million. The remaining bonus amortization for the final year of his contract would become $500k in dead money.

I think Demps (and possibly Weaver) haven't been cut yet because the team still feels like there's potential for him. With $30 million or so in cap room, there is no rush to move Demps since that base salary isn't guaranteed until Week 1. Might as well keep him through camp, especially since he (a) performed so well down the stretch in '07 and (b) might be worth keeping if the team needs bodies. Remember that C.C. Brown and Eugene Wilson are UFAs, at least at the moment.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Keith

I'll probably write up something here later about key points,

A couple things, mostly about Mario...
- It's official. Mario Williams is a badass. His performance to date has apparently allowed his contract to trigger a couple key functions, namely his ability to void the final two years (2010 and 2011). Fear not, per the original agreement, the Texans exercised the buyback option, but only at supercharged base salaries of $9.4 million and $13.6 million, respectively.

The buyback bonus is $8.5 million, and per my notes from a year ago, it was supposed to have been payable within two equal installments, the first on 3/15/2010 and the second one year later. Since it appears as though the option has already been bought back, I'm a little unclear as to whether this affects the 2009 cap right now. I don't think it does, which would be good if 2010 remains an uncapped year. Mario's cap figure will be ginormous in 2010 and 2011 if there is a salary cap.

- Chris Brown is still on the roster. I know, I'm surprised, too. He finished the 2008 season on IR, and apparently there was no injury settlement from what I can tell. Maybe he'll take care of the bug problem in the Reliant Stadium basement until the payroll glitch gets fixed.

Even though 2010 is looking like an uncapped year, I still intend to publish a 2010 cap page on the site when I get some time to put one together, hopefully in the next day or two. In spite of Williams' huge cap figure, the available cap space might have grown another $10 million or so. Given the # of teams with literally dozens of millions of cap room this year, I think it is a little easier to see why some owners think the players' piece of the pie is getting harder to stomach. Specific to the Texans... they have very little reason to "make it happen" when it comes to re-signing the UFAs and RFAs they want around (Dunta, Owen) and other key players (DeMeco, Pitts, Walter, K. Brown).

[papabear]

Keith- Wouldn't it make sense to sign Mario to a long term extension...maybe after this year, to spread out the cap hit?

[nero THE zero]

Originally Posted by papabear

Keith- Wouldn't it make sense to sign Mario to a long term extension...maybe after this year, to spread out the cap hit?

You'd have to think he'd have Jared Allen/(new)Julius Peppers money coming to him. Regardless, I can't imagine an argument against signing him long term.

You gotta pay to have one of the best DE in the league.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by papabear

Keith- Wouldn't it make sense to sign Mario to a long term extension...maybe after this year, to spread out the cap hit?

Well, cap hit may be irrelevant after this year. And an extension would mean more up front bonus money (probably in excess of the base salary). I think to avoid some uncapped year rules in '09/'10, they would probably wait until early 2011 or so to do this.