How does the Giants opportunity to improve compare to the rest of the NFC East?
To this extent, I looked at the future Cap constraints and the relative ages of the East teams.
From Over the Cap;
The Dallas Cowboys;
The Cowboys Total Cap Liabilities for 2017 are projected: $176,754,938 (Top 51: $176,754,938).
Offense: $116,651,457 Defense: $37,408,364 Special: $6,970,000
This puts the Cowboys at $10,754,938. over the Cap.
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What is apparent is that the Cowboys have spent 66% of their resources on offense and they have little to spend to improve their defense. What compounds Dallas CAP difficulties is that they have (19) free agents next year including (6) starters. Key free agents include; Church, Leary, T. McClain, Claiborne, Crawford, Escobar, T. Williams, R. McClain, etc.
The CAP difficulties mean that the Cowboys will have a difficult time in trading Romo for assets. If Romo were to be traded it would create an additional $11,000,000. Cap hit by accelerating Romo's bonus. This would put Dallas $22,000,000 over the Cap.
The Cap limitations mean that the Cowboys will not be able to spend money to improve their team and they may lose some of their key players like Leary, Church, Claiborne, Crawford. With the Cap limitations Dallas, better hope that some of their injured and suspended players return next year.
Also as noted with the Giants, Dallas will have some key contracts expiring in 2018 including Zach Martin, Demarcus Lawrence, Doug Free, Lavel Collins, Jason Witten, and Brandon Carr.
New York Giants;
The Giants despite their 2016 spending extravaganza, will have in excess of $28,000,000 of Cap space next year. This is only exceeded by Washington in the East.
While the Giants do have 25 free agents in 2017 only JPP and Hankins are essential to resign. The Giants have plenty of Cap space to resign both and to still sign others.
The Giants will have problems in 2018 with the key contracts of ODB jr, Pugh, and Richberg. The Giants may select to use some of their Cap space to tie these players up early.
Washington Redskins;
Washington will have $46,000,000 in Cap space. While this sounds like a lot they will need to resign Cousins. Cousins signing will be costly and will leave Washington with +/- $26,000,000.
Including Cousins, Washington has 20 free agents of which (7) are starting, Nsekhe, Garcon, Cousins, Hood, Baker, Compton, and Ihenacho. Some of these players are essential to Washington.
After signing Cousins Washington will have similar constraints as the Giants. They should have enough money to sign all of their key free agents, but not much more.
Philadelphia Eagles;
The Eagles have their own Cap dilemmas. They will be under the Cap by only $500,000 and only have (9) free agents with only (2) starters Logan and Carroll.
Philadelphia will need to release some players just to have enough money to sign their draft class.
I would have thought that the Eagles would been in a better position but the Bradford $5,500,000 Cap hit hurts.
Another component to building the future is the relative ages of the teams. I was very surprised to learn that the Giants are one of the youngest teams in the NFL. In this article about the Eagles it makes the point about how the Giants and the Cowboys are quite young.
| "The Giants, who sit second in the NFC East, are also younger than the Eagles on both sides of the ball and that's even with 35-year-old Eli Manning at quarterback. The average age of the Giants' offensive starters, which includes 24-year-old superstar receiver Odell Beckham Jr., is 26.5. New York does not have a defensive starter over 29 years old and its average age on that side of the ball is 25.6." |
All four teams are young with a great base of young players. The Giants, however, are the only team with an aged quarterback. Eli truncates the age of the Giants but he is also the most important player on the team. It would appear while the Giants are well positioned for the future their window is constrained by a 35-year-old quarterback.
http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/dallas-cowboys/
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Therefore, it is paramount that the Giants catch Dallas to the division to reduce Dallas' chances of going deep in the playoffs (this will be very difficult to do).
If Dallas doesn't at least make it to the Super Bowl this year, their path seems to get a lot harder in the near future.
I love that Philly is screwed cap wise too.
Washington may be the most viable long term rival in the NFC East.
Everytime I see/hear someone bitch about Reese's 200M spree, I want to puke. First, it's really about half of that guaranteed. Second, it absolutely didn't effect the team's cap health.
The Giants allocated about 50/50 to offense/defense this year and likely can moving forward. They will rollover about 4M, and can easily create another 8-10M in space.
I'll save it for another post, but it's absolutely unreal how many 1st round picks in a row the Giants didn't re-sign because of injury. If you want to talk about why Reese had to and could spend so much, start there.
Umm no. It says in the article it would accelerate his bonus money and create an additional 11mil cap hit next year.
They will have to absorb the $11,000,000 accelerated bonus.
Dallas can help themselves by extending existing contracts but it will be difficult and very costly in real dollars.
They will have to absorb the $11,000,000 accelerated bonus.
Dallas can help themselves by extending existing contracts but it will be difficult and very costly in real dollars.
Dallas has been very disciplined about building the team with rookies and supporting their coaching staff -- given their budget on defense I would say that Marinelli is giving them great bang for their buck too
Therefore, it is paramount that the Giants catch Dallas to the division to reduce Dallas' chances of going deep in the playoffs (this will be very difficult to do).
If Dallas doesn't at least make it to the Super Bowl this year, their path seems to get a lot harder in the near future.
I love that Philly is screwed cap wise too.
Washington may be the most viable long term rival in the NFC East.
I agree with this -- Washington has a very good GM now -- and has been slowly but surely bulding that team into contention
Cruz
J.T.
Casillas?
DRC?
Cruz
J.T.
Casillas?
DRC?
I agree with that list, except for DRC. I would also add Dwayne Harris, although admittedly, I don't know how his contract would affect the cap if he was cut. He just seems way too expensive for his role.
Donnell will be a free agent, so the salaries should be low at TE position, even if they draft someone.
Everytime I see/hear someone bitch about Reese's 200M spree, I want to puke. First, it's really about half of that guaranteed. Second, it absolutely didn't effect the team's cap health.
The Giants allocated about 50/50 to offense/defense this year and likely can moving forward. They will rollover about 4M, and can easily create another 8-10M in space.
I'll save it for another post, but it's absolutely unreal how many 1st round picks in a row the Giants didn't re-sign because of injury. If you want to talk about why Reese had to and could spend so much, start there.
Actually my favorite is, "may not affect them now, but down the road, with all their own FA contracts to deal with, we're going to be ip against it." As if there won't be new cap money opened up by the league and some of our players cut
But we're totally in cap hell = )
They will have to absorb the $11,000,000 accelerated bonus.
Dallas can help themselves by extending existing contracts but it will be difficult and very costly in real dollars.
I believe the Romo situation is that he will count $24 million against their cap if on the team in 2017 or $19 million if traded or cut. Thus trading him or cutting him will save the Cowboys $5 million.
Whomever can address their issues with impact players in the draft is going to have the upper hand.
not got much in terms of Depth . I just wonder how much longer
does Eli play at a high level ...
Prescott is a major boon for their cap if they can dump Romo. I wouldn't trade for him personally. I think he's got zero chance of ever playing 16 again. Seriously. Who is a Tony Romo away from a playoff run? He can be had as a FA if the Cowboys let go. Go but any Gm Who reads for him is nuts w his injury history. I think Romo situation may hurt them i the short term as that D blows and is totally protect by their O
Also I'm sorry but Prescott isn't some future All Pro. He's asked to do almost nothing. Minny has a very good D and showed the way. Sell out at stop Elliot. Let the kid beat u i the air. I think this is Luck RG3 all over again. Wentz looks more like the guy who will be better long term to me. Prescott played behind that line and hands off to Elliot. He's done great as a rookie but he's hardly a franchise QB lock to me
They have contracts specifically designed to be restructured. Moving Romo saves around 5 million. They can have substantial space. What Dak allows is for them to lock up anyone they'd like because future space will be created when he's moved. When one position on the cap goes from 15% to <1% it doesn't hurt your cap as much as others might wish it to be so.
2017 14,000,000. 10,700,000. 24,700,000
2018 19,500,000. 5,700,000 25,200,000
2019 20,500,000. 3,200,000 23,700,000
base salaries are obviously not paid to retired or released players, the important parts here are the prorated amounts on each of the years remaining.
Romo has $19.6 million remaining of unamortized signing bonus. If he outright retires, that would accelerate onto the 2017 ledger, meaning the Cowboys would save $5.1 million of space on next year’s cap.
If Romo is traded or dropped the Cowboys will save about $5,000,000 against the Cap.
However all of the other data is based Over The Cap.
Even if they drop Romo they will still $5,754,983.with 8-9 key players to resign.
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Therefore, if you would add that to what Zak is getting, he is not so cheap.
Maybe it's more likely that Cruz just takes another pay cut and stays, but a $7.5m (salary plus roster/workout bonuses) is well above his market. It just can't be justified.
I figure a cap number of about $14-15m for JPP in the first year of a long term deal, and $8m or so for Hankins.
I'm guessing they'll be looking at somewhere about $15m of wiggle room. I'd look to use some of it to early-extend Odell.
They carried Romo's contract this year, no cap benefit, and keeping or trading/cutting Romo in 2017, will cost them $20m+.
2018 & 2019 is where they will greatly benefits. Hopefully with all the attention their OL is getting, the are forced to over pay to retain them.
Tyron Smith & Fredrick are already signed long term. But Leary will be a FA after the season, and Martin & Free after the 2017 season. Free probably will be let go if the draft a RT (will be 33-34), but Martin & Leary will cost them, I'm guessing no less than $16-18m combined. That eats up a big chunk of the savings.
Cruz
J.T.
Casillas?
DRC?
From the list, I think JT Thomas is the only guy who is most likely gone. Cutting him saves the Giants $3m.
Jennings cap is $3m, probably worth keeping, at least through camp & pre-season and see how things go. I'm not a big fan, but they have to see Perkins development.
Casillas, is team captain, playing ok, his cap $3.2m. I dont think he's going anywhere.
DRC cap is $8.5m. But you're 1 injury away from a very suspect CB position if they cut him. They're not in a crunch. I would definitely like him to stay.
Cruz's cap in $9.4m. His level of play now may be as good as he'll be, but sometimes it takes more than a playing year to recover from an injury (JPP, huge jump from 2015 to 2016). If the Giants can cut his number by $2-3m, I think he's worth keeping. Even at his current number, I'd be a little hesitant to cut him.
wouldn't that be broken down evenly over the next three years ,roughly 6.53 per. year?
If Romo is traded or dropped the Cowboys will save about $5,000,000 against the Cap.
However all of the other data is based Over The Cap.
Quote:
In 2017 the Cowboys are projected to be over the cap by $10,754,983
Even if they drop Romo they will still $5,754,983.with 8-9 key players to resign. Link - ( New Window )
They have more space from rollover from this season and their suspended players are counted right now but will be added to the rollover as well. Frederick and Smith have 15$ million in automatic restructures. They're in a much better place than this massive oversimplification would imply.
Yes we have heard this story before. The romo situation is difficult unless he agrees to a restructure.
You mean like losing Ware, Murray, etc while signing nobody? That's wiggling out?
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Over the cap analysis includes;
Travis Frederick signed a $54.6 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys on August 14, 2016. Frederick’s contract contains $28.16 million in guarantees of which $18.16 million is guaranteed upon signing. Frederick received a $3.25 million signing bonus.
Tyrone Smith restructured his contract on March 14, 2016 converting $9 million of his $10 million base salary to a signing bonus. The move created $7.2 million in cap room in 2016 while adding $1.8 million to the next four years cap charges.
As for suspensions it is not that easy and to say that the Cowboys will get some form of Cap relief.
If the player was suspended by the team and received payment then there is no Cap relief.
Also the Cowboys are being penalized for multiple infractions.
Losing a trio of players to suspension will cost the Dallas Cowboys on the field -- and off.
With linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive ends DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory all saddled with league-imposed punishments, the team will be forced to pay a fine up to $250,000.
Last season, any franchise with three suspended players was forced to pay that much, per the NFL's remittance policy. The fine isn't expected to be reduced in 2016, leaving Dallas on the hook to pay a portion of the suspended players' salaries based on an agreed-upon formula.This salary is counted against the 2017 Salary Cap.
Gregory is banned for at least 10 games for violating the NFL's policy against substances of abuse. McClain faces a 10-game suspension and Lawrence a four-game ban for similar violations, triggering the NFL-imposed fine.
No matter how you slice it the Cowboys are in Cap trouble. They are projected to have the least amount of Cap space next year. The Chiefs are next at $1.5M.
Spotrac has their own 2017 Cap analysis and they have the Cowboys at -$13,862,999.00 even less than OTC estimates.
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Over the cap analysis includes;
Quote:
Travis Frederick signed a $54.6 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys on August 14, 2016. Frederick’s contract contains $28.16 million in guarantees of which $18.16 million is guaranteed upon signing. Frederick received a $3.25 million signing bonus.
Tyrone Smith restructured his contract on March 14, 2016 converting $9 million of his $10 million base salary to a signing bonus. The move created $7.2 million in cap room in 2016 while adding $1.8 million to the next four years cap charges.
As for suspensions it is not that easy and to say that the Cowboys will get some form of Cap relief.
If the player was suspended by the team and received payment then there is no Cap relief.
Also the Cowboys are being penalized for multiple infractions.
Quote:
Losing a trio of players to suspension will cost the Dallas Cowboys on the field -- and off.
With linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive ends DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory all saddled with league-imposed punishments, the team will be forced to pay a fine up to $250,000.
Last season, any franchise with three suspended players was forced to pay that much, per the NFL's remittance policy. The fine isn't expected to be reduced in 2016, leaving Dallas on the hook to pay a portion of the suspended players' salaries based on an agreed-upon formula.This salary is counted against the 2017 Salary Cap.
Gregory is banned for at least 10 games for violating the NFL's policy against substances of abuse. McClain faces a 10-game suspension and Lawrence a four-game ban for similar violations, triggering the NFL-imposed fine.
No matter how you slice it the Cowboys are in Cap trouble. They are projected to have the least amount of Cap space next year. The Chiefs are next at $1.5M.
Spotrac has their own 2017 Cap analysis and they have the Cowboys at -$13,862,999.00 even less than OTC estimates.
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Those are from last season. Tyron Smith signed a contract that is akin to a piggy bank for Dallas to continue to restructure. They will still be able to restructure both this offseason. Fred is definitely going to be done for a huge chunk. You see how he only got 3 million in signing bonus? That's because his contract is designed to be redone repeatedly.
The players weren't suspended by the team so your link doesn't respond to the idea that both of those players are currently hitting the 2016 cap for Dallas. Their salaries will be recouped and the ~6 million or so will be applied to the rollover for next year. A 250k fine is unrelated. Doug Free is not going to play at his number next year either. Dallas can create some 50 million in space with pretty simple cap maneuvering. They're not likely to go that far but they have plenty of options and you're mistaken or unaware of the more nuanced reality of Dallas' cap.
Tony Romo was set to hit their cap at 25$ million next season. They instead have found a franchise QB in the fourth and are able to move on from Romo. That opens up entirely new options towards the cap and believing otherwise by relying on info compiled before that reality became clear is simply an attempt to tell yourself a fairy tale.
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Rashad
Cruz
J.T.
Casillas?
DRC?
From the list, I think JT Thomas is the only guy who is most likely gone. Cutting him saves the Giants $3m.
Jennings cap is $3m, probably worth keeping, at least through camp & pre-season and see how things go. I'm not a big fan, but they have to see Perkins development.
Casillas, is team captain, playing ok, his cap $3.2m. I dont think he's going anywhere.
DRC cap is $8.5m. But you're 1 injury away from a very suspect CB position if they cut him. They're not in a crunch. I would definitely like him to stay.
Cruz's cap in $9.4m. His level of play now may be as good as he'll be, but sometimes it takes more than a playing year to recover from an injury (JPP, huge jump from 2015 to 2016). If the Giants can cut his number by $2-3m, I think he's worth keeping. Even at his current number, I'd be a little hesitant to cut him.
I agree with this. I also think that this offseason might be the time to take care of Odell Beckham. If I'm his agent, I don't let him play another season without a new contract.
This is just kicking the can down the road. I am certain that the Cowboys will be creative in reducing their Cap.
Based upon various sports sites we know is that Dallas is presently between $10 M (OTC) - $13 M (Sports Trac) above the 2017 Cap. This is by far and away the most in the NFL. They will have to restructure contracts just to get back to a level field. Then how much money will be left to sign their own free agents much less improve their team.
Also I just want to clarify one point.
The Cowboys will be paying Tony Romo $19.M even if he is not on the team.
This is a result of the kicking the can down the road.
It is likely that Dallas will keep Tony next year. Paying him $5 M to be the best qb next year is not onerous.