I decided to break down the cards vs. eagles and see how much we've spent total, percentage of cap etc, since 2000 (2000-2007) on players picked in the 1st round from 1996-2007. This is to gauge the effects of picking up high, versus picking down lower. (Very long)
Year Per Team Cap
2008 salary cap is $116,729,000
2007 $109 M
2006 $102 M
2005 $85,500,000
2004 $80,582,000
2003 $75,007,000
2002 $71,100,000
2001 $67,400,000
2000 $62.172 million
1999 $58.353 million
1998 $52.388 million
1997 $41.45 million
1996 $40.777 million
1995 $37.1 million
1994 $34.6 million
What the cards paid out 2000-2008
Team Total Payroll
2000 Arizona Cardinals $ 58,610,500 1st (yep 1st)
2001 Arizona Cardinals $ 74,891,809 14th
2002 Arizona Cardinals $ 66,967,535 14
2003 Arizona Cardinals $ 81,034,928 11
2004 Arizona Cardinals $ 78,961,345 21
2005 Arizona Cardinals $ 76,539,161 24
2006 Arizona Cardinals $ 105,685,931 11
2007 Arizona Cardinals $ 98,694,817 20
1st round draft picks of players still on our team for at least 2000 season
2007 1 5 Levi Brown OT Penn State
2006 1 10 Matt Leinart QB USC
2005 1 8 Antrel Rolle DB Miami (Fla.)
2004 1 3 Larry Fitzgerald WR Pittsburgh
2003 1 17 Bryant Johnson WR Penn State
2003 1 18 Calvin Pace DE Wake Forest
2002 1 12 Wendell Bryant DT Wisconsin
2001 1 2 Leonard Davis G Texas
2000 1 7 Thomas Jones RB Virginia
1999 1 8 David Boston WR Ohio State
1999 1 21 L.J. Shelton T Eastern Michigan
1998 1 3 Andre Wadsworth DE Florida State
1997 1 9 Tom Knight CB Iowa
1996 1 3 Simeon Rice DE Illinois
2000 We had these 1st round picks on our 'CAP'
Simeon Rice $ 4,002,800
Tom Knight $ 1,793,600
Andre wadsworth $ 2,107,100
L.J. Shelton $ 950,300
David Boston $ 1,677,500
Thomas Jones $ 1,731,000
Total 12.26
% of cap 12.26/62.172 = ~19.7% of salary cap
2001
Tom Knight $ 1,943,000
Andre Wadsworth dead space either 2.5 mill this year and next or 5 solely this year..i'll go with 2.5 for 2001 and 2002...$2,500,000
L.J. Shelton $ 1,020,320
David Boston $ 1,823,000
Thomas Jones $ 1,807,820
Leonard Davis $ 2,490,249
Total 11.583
% of cap = 11.583/67.4 = ~17.2% of salary cap
2002
Andre Wadsworth dead space not reported if any (2nd season from cut) From some reports that I found he got 10 mill signing bonus over 6 year contract, 5 mill was left...so either 5 mill dead space in 2001 or 2.5 in each of 2001 or 2002 ...so 2,500,000
L.J. Shelton $ 1,090,720
David Boston $ 1,968,500
Thomas Jones $ 1,749,000
Leonard Davis $ 3,423,249
Wendall Bryant $ 1,316,165
Total 12.046
% of cap = 12.046/71.1 = ~16.94% of salary cap
2003
L.J. Shelton $ 3,993,733
Thomas Jones Cut, 4 years, $7.4 million ($5.7 million signing bonus)....1.425 million dead space full hit or 0.7125m each of the two years, I'll add it all here.
Leonard Davis $ 6,457,249
Wendall Bryant $ 1,404,400
Calvin Pace $ 1,275,000
Bryant Johnson $ 965,000
Total 15.519
% of cap = 15.519/75.007 = ~20.7% of salary cap
2004
L.J. Shelton $ 3,837,633
Leonard Davis $ 5,775,416
Wendall Bryant $ 1,397,788
Calvin Pace $ 1,619,500
Bryant Johnson $ 1,251,341
Larry Fitzgerald $ 2,300,000
Total = 16.179
% of cap = 16.179/80.582 = ~20.077% of salary cap
2005
Leonard Davis $ 6,774,416
Wendall Bryant Cut, 5 years, $7.427 million ($5.522 million signing bonus)...cut 2 years early....1.1044 lost from sb each year for 2 years (2.2088m total dead space created)...so $1,104,400
Calvin Pace $ 1,483,556
Bryant Johnson $ 1,398,611
Larry Fitzgerald $ 3,110,840
Antrel Rolle $ 1,800,000
Total = 15.669
% of cap = 15.669/85.5 = ~18.33% of salary cap
2006
Leonard Davis $ 10,079,418
Wendall Bryant Cut, dead space of $1,104,400
Calvin Pace $ 1,957,970
Bryant Johnson $ 1,549,453
Larry Fitzgerald $ 6,122,460
Antrel Rolle $ 4,903,210
Matt Leinart $ 1,500,000
Total = 27.214
% of cap = 27.214/102 = ~26.68% of salary cap
2007
Calvin Pace $ 1,378,550
Bryant Johnson $ 1,159,465
Larry Fitzgerald $ 5,475,374
Antrel Rolle $ 3,985,000
Matt Leinart $ 8,114,920
Levi Brown $ 2,210,000
Total = 22.321/109
% of cap = 22.321/109 = ~20.48% of salary cap
Note: It's still 20 percent AFTER the cap went up ~16-17 million in ONE year.
2008 (joeschmo's 2008 cards figures)
Fitzgerald (was ~16.4, now~ 7.643)
rolle $3,476,667
leinart $4,583,333
brown $3,386,669
Will have #16 (use 2007 figures)...GB Justin Harrel $ 1,247,000 cap figure
Potential total before fitz = 29.092/116.729 = 24.9%
Current total = 20.335/ 116.729 = 17.42%
You can bet with leinart, brown, and rolle all top 10 picks, and leinart having the qb premium built in, those guy numbers will go up for 2009 and more so for 2010. Fitzgerald's will too.
Pay like a player is in his prime when they are a rookie. Remember back after the 1998 season? We had to restructure jakes rookie contract (because we needed to created more cap hell to show people we want to win, and we want a stadium). We had to resign those guys right?
Hindsight is 20/20....that critical year where we let our guys go...did we really have a choice? We had to pay 2 first round picks that year. A high #9, and still a decently high #21. Additionally we had the escalating contracts of....
1998 1 3 Andre Wadsworth DE Florida State
1997 1 9 Tom Knight CB Iowa
1996 1 3 Simeon Rice DE Illinois
TWO #3 picks overall, and 1 #9. This year the #3, 4 and 9 picks will probably total 65 million in GUARANTEED money or thereabouts. Of course the numbers were smaller, but so was the cap. Not to mention you had guys at the end of their already escalated contracts, that wanted much more like Jamir Miller.
Looking back I think what doomed us was so many high picks in a row, coming up, and the need to resign players like plummer (WAAAY to early), and at that point reserving some for rice...or looking towards now.... Boldin and Dockett want their THIRD contracts.
Here's a good photo on the breakdown of salaries
You must be registered for see images
http://www.thesportjournal.org/arti...nalysis-one-nfls-most-closely-guarded-secrets
Also I didn't include our 2nd round picks. Which generally tended to be top 10 2nd round picks and salary wise relatively close to say the 28-32nd pick overall and alot higher than picking 50-64. So take all of these numbers and add a small bit to them, as the aggregate amount of income going towards rookies is even higher than these figures suggest when compared to say the Eagles. (I.E. 5th and 37th pick vs 32nd and 60th is even more out of whack salary cap wise than just 5th versus 32nd)
Now for comparison..i'll use the eagles. They use LTBE alot, and have consistently drafted pretty low this decade, and generally did pretty well, aside from the wr's.
2007 No 1st round pick
2006 14 Brodrick Bunkley DT Florida State 06-07*
2005 31 Mike Patterson DT USC 05-07*
2004 16 Shawn Andrews T Arkansas 04-07*
2003 15 Jerome McDougle DE Miami (Fla.) 03-07*, injured in 07
2002 26 Lito Sheppard CB Florida 02-07*
2001 25 Freddie Mitchell WR UCLA 01-04
2000 6 Corey Simon DT Florida State 00-04**
1999 2 Donovan McNabb QB Syracuse 99-07*
1998 11 William Thomas T Florida State 98-07*
1997 25 Jon Harris DE Virginia 97-98
1996 25 Jermane Mayberry G Texas A&M - Kingsville 96-04
2000 * denotes final year on team
Jermane Mayberry (2nd contract) $ 1,437,100
William Thomas $ 2,785,100
Donovan McNabb $ 2,214,000
Corey Simon $ 1,870,000
Total 8.306
Total on 1st contracts 6.869
% of cap 8.306/$62.172 = (I have it totaled for 2000-2007 toward the bottom of post)
% of cap from 1st contracts 6.869/$62.172 (DItto)
2001
Jermane Mayberry $ 1,102,320 (2nd)
William Thomas $ 2,945,497
Donovan McNabb $ 2,577,902
Corey Simon $ 2,158,750
Freddie Mitchell $ 1,099,916
Total 9.881
Total on 1st contracts 8.779
% of cap 9.881/$67,4
% of cap from 1st contracts 8.779/$67,4
2002
Jermane Mayberry $ 975,990 (2nd)
William Thomas (2nd contract extended in last year of original contract) $3,458,594
Donovan McNabb $ 5,754,938 (restructure so 2nd but different)
Corey Simon $ 2,269,500
Freddie Mitchell $ 1,168,196
Lito Sheppard $ 1,005,000
Total 14.449
Total on 1st contracts 5.237
% of cap 14.449/$71,1
% of cap from 1st contracts 5.237/$71,1
2003
Jermane Mayberry $ 1,025,800 (2nd)
William Thomas $ 4,295,714 (2nd)
Donovan McNabb $ 7,825,490 (2nd but different)
Corey Simon $ 2,436,950
Freddie Mitchell $ 1,237,616
Lito Sheppard $ 1,089,250
Jerome McDougle $ 1,185,000
Total 19.092
Total on 1st contracts 5.947
% of cap 19.092/75.007
% of cap from 1st contracts 5.947/75.007
2004
Jermane Mayberry* $ 1,100,000 (2nd)
William Thomas $ 3,495,714 (2nd)
Donovan McNabb $ 7,863,355 (restructure 3rd but different)
Corey Simon* $ 1,669,500
Freddie Mitchell* $ 805,900
Lito Sheppard $ 3,337,450 (2nd)
Jerome McDougle $ 1,683,366
Shawn Andrews $ 1,221,666
Total 21.173
Total on 1st contracts 5.378
% of cap 21.173/80.582
% of cap from 1st contracts 5.378/80.582
2005
William Thomas $ 4,295,714 (2nd)
Donovan McNabb $ 7,862,265 (3rd)
Lito Sheppard $ 3,387,980 (2nd)
Jerome McDougle $ 2,001,666
Shawn Andrews $ 1,602,721
Mike Patterson $ 1,090,000
Freddie Mitchell (released and dead space 1.165 lumped)
Total 21.402
Total on 1st contracts 5.858
% of cap 21.402/85.5
% of cap from 1st contracts 5.858/85.5
2006
William Thomas $ 5,195,714* (2nd)
Donovan McNabb $ 8,555,121 (3rd)
Lito Sheppard $ 3,803,333 (2nd)
Jerome McDougle $ 1,306,251
Shawn Andrews $ 7,779,791
Mike Patterson $ 3,227,500
Brodrick Bunkley $ 1,316,000
Total 31.181
Total on 1st contracts 13.628
% of cap 31.181/102
% of cap from 1st contracts 13.628/102
2007
Donovan McNabb $ 8,557,991 (3rd)
Lito Sheppard $ 2,226,920 (2nd)
Jerome McDougle $ 1,306,251
Shawn Andrews $ 4,941,250
Mike Patterson $ 3,020,520
Brodrick Bunkley $ 1,650,400
No 1st round pick
Total 21.583
Total on 1st contracts 10.8
% of cap 21.583/109
% of cap from 1st contracts 10.8/109
2008
William Thomas
Donovan McNabb
Lito Sheppard
Jerome McDougle
Shawn Andrews
Mike Patterson
Brodrick Bunkley
1st round pick #19
Total
Total on 1st contracts
% of cap
% of cap from 1st contracts
Cards
2000-2007
Total cap hit
132.791
Total cap for years 2000-2007 ~590.589m
Total percentage of cap from years 2000-2007 used on 1st round rookie contracts = 22.484%
Cards 2008
Potential total before fitz = 29.092/116.729 = 24.9%
Current total = 20.335/ 116.729 = 17.42%
Eagles 2000-07
Total Cap hit
125.538m
Total Cap hit from 1st contracts
62.496m
Total % of cap used on rookie 1st round contracts
62.496m/590.589m =10.58%
Raw difference in amount spend 132.791-62.496 =70.295m more spent on rookie contracts during 8 year period of 2000-2007
Per year it means capwise Cardinal teams had an additional 8.7869 million dollars of cap was consumed by rookie contracts.
Prorate that out, and the current cap is 50 percent higher than the average of (590.589/8 =73.82 mill average cap during last 8 years). The cap in 2007 was 109m)
So based on timing either at the end of 2007 season and going into the 2008 season the 109-73.82 mill = 35.18m or the number the current cap is above the average. 47.6 percent above the average means that if we look at this years cap...on average, because of our picks in this years numbers it would have the effect of 1.476*8.7869 =12.9694m MORE prorated out
Which means this year going by the figures, we'll have 12.9694m more devoted to rookies or guys on their rookie contracts (you know the crapshoot ones) than the eagles this year.
Or you could think of it in simpler terms and know the Cards on average spend more than double on rookie contracts than the eagles.
Granted a few extensions took a few million off their total, but many of their 2nd contracts were signed after they had expired. Donovan McNabb restructured his deal numerous times.
But the key is, if you are restructuring, or resigning your players...they are then veterans, you know what they bring, and are probably pretty good.
So that's 13 million we could spend on this year's cap figure for veteran players just to equal what the Eagles do.
Of course this doesn't take into the account of compensatory picks or LTBE in contracts.
Cardinals had 14 1st round picks
1 resigned (actually restructured during) after rookie contract...and it was Fitz here in 2008
Cards years played with team return on investment (years go before 2000 and end in 2007) = 55 player years (96-07)
Notes: This year we have 4 of these 14 - 1st round picks still on roster (not counting 08 future selection)
1st round players that played well in Arizona:
Simeon Rice
David Boston (1 year)
Calvin pace (1/2 year, and is in here because of huge jets contract and potential..but jury is still out)
Larry Fitzgerald (stud)
1st round players that became decent nfl players whether here or anywhere
Leonard Davis
Thomas Jones
L.J. Shelton (barely)
Antrel Rolle (hopefully)
Eagles had 11 1st round picks
4 reisgned after rookie contract or restructured
Eagles years played with team return on investment = 56 player years (96-97)
Note:This year Eages will have 7 of their 11 - 1st round picks still on the roster
1st round players that played well in Philadelphia:
Donovan McNabb
Jermane Newberry
Tra Thomas
Corey Simon
Lito Sheppard
Decent NFL guys who played in Philly or elsewhere, or are young and close to showing they are
Andrews
Patterson
Bunkley??? Not sure. At this point my brain is mush.
My Final conclusion based on the data (not the other way around)
As you can see, who would you rather have Eagles drafts or Cardinals draft considering the talent level with 11 picks equals and most likely surpasses the talent the cardinals had. Did it with 3 less first round picks, and capwise took up less than 1/2 that of the Cardinal 1st round picks. They did this even though they took Donovan McNabb 2nd overall, the same highest spot we took Leonard Davis.
With more than double annually invested in risky picks, for roughly the same talent, or less. The Eagles have the ability of constantly keep 4-5 quality veteran players making a cap hit of 2-3 mill a year....which can be distributed more easily because it's not locked in every year. Additionally that money is spent on proven players...either resigning of ones own players, or dipping into the fa market. In my honest estimation this puts the Cardinals when compared to the Eagles as at a serious competitive disadvantage.
10 hours lol, took a bit longer than I thought.
