NFL News

[Futureshock]

Btw, the team should be in a good position regardless of their w/l record for the next few years. Well, as long as they stick to the plan. Don't over spend for any one or position in FA and continue to get cheap talented cornerstone pieces.

When you think about it, if they lose they get better picks. If they surprise and start winning, it may set up Staley, Lynn or Glenn for a gig. Which also equates to more fun coupons.

There were five special compensatory selections awarded at the end of the third round — one for the 49ers, one for the Rams, one for the Ravens, and one for the Saints. Those each stem from another team hiring a minority from their organization to be either a head coach or General Manager. The NFL initially announced an incorrect number for San Francisco’s special selections with two this year instead of one. With Robert Saleh becoming the Jets head coach and Martin Mayhew becoming Washington’s G.M., San Francisco will receive a special compensatory selection for each of the next three years.

3 third rounders. That would be nice to cement in some good players. Or replace some players that leave or just don't work out.

[Futureshock]

you look at that list of free agents lost by the Cowboys that presumably led to them getting 4 compensatory picks and I think what the actual fuck. Witten? Iirc the formula is supposed to take into account $'s and actual production, no?

I'm not angry the Lions didn't get any, because Quinn never took advantage of the system in place to make it happen and never drafted anybody that was worth it for another team to sign .... but none of that Cowboy list screams big time FA to me.

Well, he actually has drafted players that are still in the league (of course they're a lot lower on their team's totem pole then they were here) but he was nauseously slow to move and react so he would screw it up. Like Ebron. He could have got a comp pick for him if he had handled it differently the year before. But he waited and I almost think he thought everything would just smooth itself out. Nope. Then he just cut him and now we get nothing out of it.

It's just a WAY to do it where you can still add to your team and get extra selections and there's the way that you just don't take advantage of it because you just don't have a real plan.

[Futureshock]

Hard to believe. The NFL is like an instant ATM machine...


For many teams, lack of cash is as big a problem as lack of cap space

Posted by Mike Florio on March 11, 2021, 6:39 AM EST

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As explained last night, the $15.7 million cap drop becomes compounded by the fact that the cap had been going up by at least $10 million per year, every year since 2013. Still, the total difference of at least $25.7 million in cap space is only part of the story for plenty of teams.

In addition to the drop in cap space, teams also are dealing with a reduction in available cash — thanks to the losses arising from the pandemic.

“Look at how much cash teams have to spend this year and there lies the truth,” one team executive observed on Wednesday night, in response to our item regarding the net cap difference.

Every year, teams set budgets for free agency. Those budgets are based on the available cash. This year, most teams will have much less cash on hand than in other years, due directly to the fact that most teams had no or few fans in attendance last year but still paid out 100 percent of all player compensation.

Some teams will have more cash than others. The Cowboys, for example, had multiple games with more than 30,000 fans present. It’s no surprise, then, that they’re able to pay out $75 million this year to quarterback Dak Prescott without batting an eye. For other teams, coming up with that kind of cash could become a very real challenge, at least until the season starts and both TV money and revenue from ticket sales begins to flow.
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I'm calling BS on this. I don't know who is feeding Florio this but if a team doesn't have "cash" they are mishandling their finances. The teams didn't have crowds, but they also didn't have the employees to handle said crowds either. The TV money would have been the same so that's a wash.

[Futureshock]

Jerry Jones: I’ve overpaid for most special things in my life

Posted by Josh Alper on March 11, 2021, 6:27 AM EST

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Quarterback Dak Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million deal with the Cowboys this week to end years of speculation about whether the two sides would ever find agreement on a long-term contract.

The process included playing out one year on a franchise tag and the result was met by those who think the Cowboys wound up paying too much to secure Prescott’s rights for years to come. If they did overpay, the guy spending the money said he’s fine with it.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that “if anyone has ever taken advantage of me financially, I’m proud it’s the one next to me” in reference to Prescott. He also noted that people said similar things when he bought the Cowboys and that’s worked out pretty well for him.

“The truth is most anything that I’ve ever been involved in that ended up being special, I overpaid for, every time, to the end,” Jones said. “Anytime I’ve tried to get a bargain, I got just that, it was a bargain in a lot of ways and not up to standard.”

Jones said that there’s still money left for the team to make other moves to build around Prescott and the on-field results of that effort will do a lot to determine the final reckoning on the Cowboys’ decision to go all in with their quarterback.

[froot loops]

I'm sure a lot of the newer owners are running into this. When you buy an NFL team you don't hand over a briefcase of cash. You are generally financing the purchase. Cash flow problems are different than getting money. The Lions had this issue a little bit in the 2000s because they financed Ford Field.

[Futureshock]

I can see the issue if you're leasing a venue with the thought that you'll have a specific level of attendance, but player revenues are determined based on a percentage of revenue. Yeah, you may profit less, but I would think you should be able to keep the lights on.

[froot loops]

They will find cash, don't worry about it but cash flow issues are real problem. It's a short term problem and if they need cash they can finance it. But it happens across all sports, basically you don't keep cash reserves. If you get profits you generally put it into something that isn't all that liquid.

[Futureshock]

[Futureshock]

Les Snead: The vision is to get under the cap with restructures, not cuts

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 10, 2021, 4:46 PM EST

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With the 2021 salary cap officially set at, the Rams are one of several teams well over the limit of $182.5 million.

That means Los Angeles has a lot of work to do before the new league year begins at 1 p.m. PT on March 17.

Like all teams, the Rams have veterans who could restructure their contracts to add cap space and veterans who could be released. But General Manager Les Snead would rather take the former approach than the latter.

“We’ve had to knock on the door of a lot of our key figures, key pillars and ask them to in some cases make sacrifices, in some cases adjust their contract to help us get under the cap. The vision right now is to get to the finish line without having to release players,” Snead said during his Wednesday press conference. “With that being said, we’re well aware we’ve had to have some calls with a subset of our unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents and let them know our intent — whether we were going to be attempting to re-sign them or assuming they’e going to have a better market than what we would be able to pay and allowing them to know their path and how they need to move forward.”

Two players the Rams appear unlikely to retain in free agency are safety John Johnson and edge rusher Leonard Floyd.

Johnson will be one of the top safeties on the market, after registering 105 tackles, eight passes defensed, and an interception for Los Angeles in 2020 to finish his rookie contract. Floyd had a career year with 10.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 19 quarterback hits in 2020 playing alongside Aaron Donald on the Rams’ defensive front.

[Futureshock]

Ravens tender Gus Edwards, Trystan Colon-Castillo, and Kristian Welch

Posted by Josh Alper on March 10, 2021, 4:09 PM EST

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Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta said on Tuesday that the team would have running back Gus Edwards back for the 2021 season under the restricted free agent tender or with a long-term contract.

On Wednesday, the team moved closer to making Edwards’ return happen. The team announced that they have tendered Edwards.

They did not announce the level of the tender. A first- or second-round tender will cost more than a right of first refusal, but Edwards’ role in the offense likely means they’ll be making sure any run at Edwards would be costly for another team.

The Ravens also announced that they have tendered two exclusive rights free agents. Center Trystan Colon-Castillo started two games last season and linebacker Kristian Welch appeared in 10 games.

UPDATE 4:23 p.m. ET: PFT has confirmed multiple reports that it is a second-round tender for Edwards.

[The King]

One of the cash flow issues is most likely a major decrease in season ticket holders and those PSL's. Most of that $ is due for fans prior to the season, so the team is essentially getting interest free loans before a game is even played.

[froot loops]

Thats how I kind of understand it, in layman's terms I think of it like petty cash to operate on. That report Florio had might be right and will not affect free agent acquisitions one bit, it just makes it more tedious for the teams than it has been in the past.

[The King]

https://www.nbcsports.com/edge/article/offseason-research/value-nfl-comp-picks-2021

Warren Sharp on the value of comp picks.

[Futureshock]

IMHO looking at the road the league is on with the absolute crazy QB contracts (and other positions too honestly) the draft is going to be even more valuable. KC had to cut their 2 most important OL because they have to pay their QB/WR/TE/DT over half their cap and down the road Froggy's contract will be an albatross.

So getting as many players on rookie deals is good business and will even more important down the road. We may be seeing the beginning of most players being on a 4-5 year rotation.

[froot loops]

Fisher wasn't going to be able to play next year, I wouldn't try to extrapolate too much in this off-season. By the time the next TV contracts kick in, the Mahomes contract may look like a bargain.