Salary Cap minus Rookie Pool (hide this from Rosenhaus)

[spanky1]

So if Clayton at ESPN is right, our salary cap as of 4/29/05 = $9,850,000. The NFL has awarded the Cardinals a Rookie Poll of $4, 274,000.

That means we have $5,576,00 in available salary cap, after paying the draft class of 2005. Take away $1,500,000 for the "slush fund" in the event of needed player additions during the season due to injury, and that leaves us with $4,076,000

Add in about $1,800,000 for Shelton once he is "off the books" and we are likely looking at a total of $5,876,000 of salary cap room.

My friends.......that is a huge amount going into the 2005 season and augers well for us in 2006.

 

[ThunderCard]

So if Clayton at ESPN is right, our salary cap as of 4/29/05 = $9,850,000. The NFL has awarded the Cardinals a Rookie Poll of $4, 274,000.

That means we have $5,576,00 in available salary cap, after paying the draft class of 2005. Take away $1,500,000 for the "slush fund" in the event of needed player additions during the season due to injury, and that leaves us with $4,076,000

Add in about $1,800,000 for Shelton once he is "off the books" and we are likely looking at a total of $5,876,000 of salary cap room.

My friends.......that is a huge amount going into the 2005 season and augers well for us in 2006.

We will only save 500K from Shelton. However if we do cut Shelton which I don't think will happen. I Believe we will have 12 million of dead cap money coming to us next year. Throw in the raise of the cap with the new stadium and we should have 15-20 million next year to play with ....

We are in a good situation right now ....

 

[BACH]

We will only save 500K from Shelton. However if we do cut Shelton which I don't think will happen. I Believe we will have 12 million of dead cap money coming to us next year. Throw in the raise of the cap with the new stadium and we should have 15-20 million next year to play with ....

We are in a good situation right now ....

New contracts for Dockett, BIG and a QB.

 

[AntSports Steve]

Of that $4.25M rookie fund, only about $3.25M will actually count against the cap. Why? The first 3 rounds of players actually hit the cap, but the rest of the draft class, if they make the team, usually save cap space as they push a higher priced vet off the books.

Set aside $625,000 for the practice squad, and the rest can be spent.

But, since June 1st has been slim pickings lately, there's not much of value left to spend.

Since most Cardinal contracts are level base salary contracts (no backloading), the Cards should always have huge cap space in every future year. 2006 is looking close to $20M.

 

[john h]

Of that $4.25M rookie fund, only about $3.25M will actually count against the cap. Why? The first 3 rounds of players actually hit the cap, but the rest of the draft class, if they make the team, usually save cap space as they push a higher priced vet off the books.

Set aside $625,000 for the practice squad, and the rest can be spent.

But, since June 1st has been slim pickings lately, there's not much of value left to spend.

Since most Cardinal contracts are level base salary contracts (no backloading), the Cards should always have huge cap space in every future year. 2006 is looking close to $20M.

I would think that Agents and other FA's would look at this and think still a cheap organization that will not spend its CAP money. I wonder how many other organizations hold on to this much money? We keep thinking this looks good for next year but there is no next year as we do it over and over. We could have purchased a good DB early on with the money we will not spend. Good money management but not conducive to winning super bowls.

 

[kerouac9]

I guess that this would be a good time to ask this: who are the pending free agents that will likely be re-signed by October (before the deadline)?

I'm guessing Leonard Davis (with Adrian Wilson the last remaining Cardinal from the disasterous 2001 draft). Wendall Bryant, Josh McCown, and Josh Scobey (is he even still on the team?) are the leftovers from the equally-disasterous 2002 draft, and I don't imagine any of them earning big paydays before the season's over.

Any vets that we'll want to keep around? If we don't want to keep Bryant, we'll be really flush with cash come next season. If we re-sign Big and Anquan during the season (which is really what I expect--Big will demand dollars a little north of what L.J. got), and clear the dead cap space from Shelton and Clement next year, we're going to have a ton of dough in 2006.

 

[spanky1]

We will only save 500K from Shelton. However if we do cut Shelton which I don't think will happen. I Believe we will have 12 million of dead cap money coming to us next year. Throw in the raise of the cap with the new stadium and we should have 15-20 million next year to play with ....

We are in a good situation right now ....

Nope.....not true.

I think we are currently carrying about $7MM in dead cap space......which will all come off the books next year. Shelton will only add about $1,500,000 in dead money this year and another $1,500,000 in 2006......oh and by the way, he is gone before the season starts.

How does the new stadium affect the determination of our salary cap? This is determined by the NFL.

 

[Rocco]

I guess that this would be a good time to ask this: who are the pending free agents that will likely be re-signed by October (before the deadline)?

I'm guessing Leonard Davis (with Adrian Wilson the last remaining Cardinal from the disasterous 2001 draft). Wendall Bryant, Josh McCown, and Josh Scobey (is he even still on the team?) are the leftovers from the equally-disasterous 2002 draft, and I don't imagine any of them earning big paydays before the season's over.

Any vets that we'll want to keep around? If we don't want to keep Bryant, we'll be really flush with cash come next season. If we re-sign Big and Anquan during the season (which is really what I expect--Big will demand dollars a little north of what L.J. got), and clear the dead cap space from Shelton and Clement next year, we're going to have a ton of dough in 2006.

If I'm not mistaken, Davis has 2 years left on his rookie deal (6 year contract as the number 2 pick in the draft). Other than Russell Davis and Darling, I don't see any starters hitting free agency next year. Both of those guys are over 30 now too. I guess either resigning Warner or looking for another qb next year will be the big story.

 

[BigDavis75]

I guess that this would be a good time to ask this: who are the pending free agents that will likely be re-signed by October (before the deadline)?

I'm guessing Leonard Davis (with Adrian Wilson the last remaining Cardinal from the disasterous 2001 draft). Wendall Bryant, Josh McCown, and Josh Scobey (is he even still on the team?) are the leftovers from the equally-disasterous 2002 draft, and I don't imagine any of them earning big paydays before the season's over.

Any vets that we'll want to keep around? If we don't want to keep Bryant, we'll be really flush with cash come next season. If we re-sign Big and Anquan during the season (which is really what I expect--Big will demand dollars a little north of what L.J. got), and clear the dead cap space from Shelton and Clement next year, we're going to have a ton of dough in 2006.

Davis already has a deal "a little north of what L.J. got" and he will certainly want a contract bigger than his rook deal. Also, I believe we only take a 1.5 mil. hit next year because of LJ's bonus.

 

[Dan H]

Didn't Big extend his deal when he restructured a couple years ago?

 

[BigDavis75]

Didn't Big extend his deal when he restructured a couple years ago?

Davis, LeonardView Stats at Players Inc Site Player Info

Draft Info

OL (#75)

Year: 2001

Arizona Cardinals

Round: 1

Wortham, TX

Position: 2

Salary History

2001 Year
209000.00 Compensation
2002
892000.00
2003
6617667.00
2004
4815000.00
2005
5839000.00
2006
7169000.00

BY THE LOOKS OF THIS HE RESTRUCTURED AFTER '03, OR MAYBE HE JUST REACHED SOME WEIRD INSCENTIVES.

 

[Dan H]

PFW:

"Also, the team reworked the last three years of guard Leonard Davis's contract, giving him more money in 2003."

So no extension.

 

[BACH]

Josh, Warner, Darling, Rackers and Russell Davis are the only significant FAs after this season. I'm guessing one of the QBs is signed while the other is let go (depending of their production. Darling is expendable given our awesome depth at LB. Russell Davis will probably get one of those veteran deals worth 850,000 that only counts 450,000 against the cap. Rackers could too.

Big and Bryant has two years left. If Big plays really good this year the team could consider extenting him after this season.

If Dockett continues and improves his production on the field he'll get a new deal. It's normal practice to extent "overproducing" players on their rookie deals after their 2nd year - the reason why Boldin didn't get a new deal last year (and just like that this turned into another Q thread).

Hayes is a RFA and will get the $1,3M tender if he wins the starting job and $600,000 if he's a back-up.

We have a lot cap space next year because we have a lot of dead money under the cap this year due to Green's housecleaning. LJ and possibly Bryant are the only players in danger of being released after June 1st meaning the dead-money cap hit will be lowered from around $7M to under $2M

I would think that Agents and other FA's would look at this and think still a cheap organization that will not spend its CAP money. I wonder how many other organizations hold on to this much money? We keep thinking this looks good for next year but there is no next year as we do it over and over. We could have purchased a good DB early on with the money we will not spend. Good money management but not conducive to winning super bowls.

Doubt it. Just because we have a lot of cap space doesn't mean that we're not spending it. Philly and Baltimore uses the same cap management like us and they have a lot of cap space, too. The key is smart management. The Ravens were desperate for a big-play WR last year, but weren't able to sign any. Instead of overpaying a #2 WR they decided not to spend all their cap.

 

[azwulf]

technical question on rookie pool

what is the purpose of the allocation of the rookie cap. Who decides on it and with what consequences?

Any help appreciated.

 

[BACH]

what is the purpose of the allocation of the rookie cap. Who decides on it and with what consequences?

Any help appreciated.

Decided by the NFL.

The rookie pool is the limit on the cap number for all our drafted rookie for the first year. So the aggregated 1st year cap number for our 7 drafted players has stay under 4,200,000.

I really don't know the reasoning for allocating a rookie pool, but my guess is that it was put there to protect the teams and veteran players from unproven rookie players taking up too much money in their first year.

 

[azwulf]

Decided by the NFL.

The rookie pool is the limit on the cap number for all our drafted rookie for the first year. So the aggregated 1st year cap number for our 7 drafted players has stay under 4,200,000.

I really don't know the reasoning for allocating a rookie pool, but my guess is that it was put there to protect the teams and veteran players from unproven rookie players taking up too much money in their first year.

Thanks Bach.