On contracts, we need to be reasonable

[BW52]

That's how NFL teams function. Stars and scrubs is increasingly becoming the rule--maybe not so much "scrubs", but guys who make max salaries and guys who are at or near the veteran minimum. The $4-$6M per year vet is increasingly disappearing.

And 25% of a team's cap space is over $30M. That would never happen on two players.

But I will tell you that the 2013 Seattle Seahawks had $25.4M tied up in Zach Miller, Russell Okung, and Percy Harvin, all three of whom underachieved.

How many games did they win?

I didn`t see the steelers,Giants,Redskins,Packers or several others in the Super Bowl either.I agree that the 4-6 vet is disappearing.It will soon be the Big dollar guy and couple of medium pay guys and a bunch of low pay to fill out.My point is backloaded deals always never work out value wise.I like Fitz and hope he stays but will he be worth it monetary wise? Dockett isn`t worth his money nmow IMO.But I am not the GM.

 

[GuernseyCard]

That's how NFL teams function. Stars and scrubs is increasingly becoming the rule--maybe not so much "scrubs", but guys who make max salaries and guys who are at or near the veteran minimum. The $4-$6M per year vet is increasingly disappearing.

And 25% of a team's cap space is over $30M. That would never happen on two players.

But I will tell you that the 2013 Seattle Seahawks had $25.4M tied up in Zach Miller, Russell Okung, and Percy Harvin, all three of whom underachieved.

How many games did they win?

The number of players over age 30 has dropped by 20% under the new CBA.

 

[kerouac9]

I didn`t see the steelers,Giants,Redskins,Packers or several others in the Super Bowl either.I agree that the 4-6 vet is disappearing.It will soon be the Big dollar guy and couple of medium pay guys and a bunch of low pay to fill out.My point is backloaded deals always never work out value wise.I like Fitz and hope he stays but will he be worth it monetary wise? Dockett isn`t worth his money nmow IMO.But I am not the GM.

It depends what you mean by "work out." A marriage that doesn't end with one or both partners dying of natural causes isn't the only definition of a "successful" marriage. Any deal that is more than two years in the NFL probably only has a 50-50 shot of reaching it's term date.

There are several reasons that teams/agents "backload" deals that still end successfully when the player is released/waived/etc.

1) Backloaded deals push up the total value of the contract for PR purposes. No one really expected Fitz to see the last three years of his current deal, at least not on its current terms, so there's no real harm done there.

2) Backloaded deals naturally terminate early, allowing the player to get another contract when he may be in the prime of his career still. This is what happened with Antrel Rolle's rookie contract, and what Darrelle Revis has managed to do several times now.

3) Backloaded deals allow teams to spread out a signing bonus for a longer period, through a time of cap transition, while allowing them to "eat" the remainder of that bonus in years where the player isn't expected to play. This is, IMO, what happened with Fitz's deal. There was a very, very slim possibility that he was going to be playing well enough to have a $25M cap charge at age 32, but he got to sell a huge contract, and so did his agents. The Cards were able to spread some cap pain over five or six years.

 

[Duckjake]

I didn`t see the steelers,Giants,Redskins,Packers or several others in the Super Bowl either.I agree that the 4-6 vet is disappearing.It will soon be the Big dollar guy and couple of medium pay guys and a bunch of low pay to fill out.My point is backloaded deals always never work out value wise.I like Fitz and hope he stays but will he be worth it monetary wise? Dockett isn`t worth his money now IMO.But I am not the GM.

Funny that you mention the Steelers, Giants and Packers who have won 4 Super Bowls between them since 2008.

The 49ers have 15 players with cap #'s over $3 million for 2014. The Cards have 10. Seattle has 10 at over $5 million. The Texans have 11 over 3. The Cards had plenty of cap space and used it on
Stewart Bradley and Adam Snyder and Levi Brown. So it does it really make much difference?

 

[Jetstream Green]

As a Fine Artist, I once asked my gallery director about pricing a work of art and she gave the most simple and accurate statement, "Something is worth what people are willing to pay for it." I think the amount of money paid to professional athletes is ridiculous but here I am on this forum talking about my Cardinals, here I am paying for the NFL package on Direct TV so I do not miss a Cardinal game in Texas... people all over paying tons of money for the NFL. The players are the NFL, they are worth what they are being paid believe it or not because our society places such an emphasis on the sport. The Super Bowl in itself has become a holiday for the most part. As far as DD, I'm predicting he is going to actually take a pay cut to remain a Cardinal when his salary becomes a problem

 

[GatorAZ]

Underwhelming play???? From everything I've seen he's the same player he's always been. He has also been, since signing his huge deal, part of a Cardinal Defense that hasn't finished in the 20's in either points or yards allowed three years in a row after being in the 20's in at least one of the two categories 24 times in the 26 years previous and finished in the top 10 in both categories for the first time since 1994 last season.

This is what I expected. He gets a pass because he's on a good defense.

When our D sucked a couple years ago and his QB hits/hurries were tanking people had more of a problem with it. Whether it be the media calling him out or showing up on every player-poll overrated list he is beloved here. I was just curious as to why, it seems to be the homegrown thing.

 

[Jetstream Green]

This is what I expected. He gets a pass because he's on a good defense.

When our D sucked a couple years ago and his QB hits/hurries were tanking people had more of a problem with it. Whether it be the media calling him out or showing up on every player-poll overrated list he is beloved here. I was just curious as to why, it seems to be the homegrown thing.

One hell of a city limit to that homegrown town you speak of since Duck and I are Texans lol

 

[GatorAZ]

One hell of a city limit to that homegrown town you speak of since Duck and I are Texans lol

I just mean a lifetime Card. There aren't many that have lasted that long but I don't think it means certain players should be owed more than others. Like people freaked out when A-Dub was released but I didn't think we "disrespected" him by doing so...