What does Cardinals cap situation look like in the off-season?

[the_future23]

Room to sign free agents? Or have to cut some players (Dockett? Fitz?!) Curious.

GO CARDS!

 

[Fitz Rulz]

PP21 will be #1 priority

 

[GatorAZ]

Not great is the short answer. We're pretty much at the cap with 41 players and 7-8 draft picks will run us maybe 5m more? Cutting Brinkley & Powers could save some dough in the short term but I doubt Dockett & Colledge get released until after next season. If Peterson gets extended his major raises won't start until 2015.

Long story short don't expect and FA signings for than the minimum...

 

[JeffGollin]

I think we're in far better shape with our current roster than we were a year ago, so it will be less important to sign new FA's unless we lose key guys (& if that were to happen, it would free up additional cap space anyway).

Exceptions: OL and QB (I'd presume those guys will come via the draft).

 

[Cardiac]

Not great is the short answer. We're pretty much at the cap with 41 players and 7-8 draft picks will run us maybe 5m more? Cutting Brinkley & Powers could save some dough in the short term but I doubt Dockett & Colledge get released until after next season. If Peterson gets extended his major raises won't start until 2015.

Long story short don't expect and FA signings for than the minimum...

I completely disagree with cutting Powers, he is playing incredibly well the past 5 games or so.

 

[Chopper0080]

It isn't terrible. We can add one large contract and several low end ones which is what we should do. Winston is 2 mil, won't re-sign. Mendenhall is 2.5 mil, won't re-sign. Jeff King is 1.8 mil off the books. Cason is 1.5 off the books. That is 7.8 mil to offset contract increases. Now the cuts. Cutting Jasper Brinkley saves us 2 mil and costs only 200k. Ryan Williams is also gone, saving us 1 mil and costing 500k. That's 3 mil saved and only eating 700k. Cutting Colledge saves us 5 mil. There, I have saved you 8 mil by cutting Ryan Williams, Jasper Brinkley, and Daryn Colledge, which is more than enough to sign a decent player and some veteran roster filler.

Palmer will probably be extended which will lower his cap hit. Peterson as well. Dockett could be extended 2 years which would increase his guaranteed money but spread out over 4 years instead of 2.

Keim is creative enough to make this work. Also, it isn't like we need to sign a bunch of top end FAs. The only positions I would pay for would be OL, OLB, QB or TE and the FA crop is pretty thin at the top at those positions. Albert, Veldheer, Jordan Gross, Monroe and Mack are the best offensive linemen that I would pay for (maybe Jon Asamoah or Oher) and there aren't any TEs that should command top dollar. Orakpo is the top OLB and I am not sold on paying him big money. Same goes for QB though if Cutler came available we would have to take a long look.

Honestly, I will be shocked if we don't come out of free agency with one of those OTs. I have to believe that our front office sees how limited our offensive line is and will address the most important spot with a veteran player.

 

[kerouac9]

It isn't terrible. We can add one large contract and several low end ones which is what we should do. Winston is 2 mil, won't re-sign. Mendenhall is 2.5 mil, won't re-sign. Jeff King is 1.8 mil off the books. Cason is 1.5 off the books. That is 7.8 mil to offset contract increases. Now the cuts. Cutting Jasper Brinkley saves us 2 mil and costs only 200k. Ryan Williams is also gone, saving us 1 mil and costing 500k. That's 3 mil saved and only eating 700k. Cutting Colledge saves us 5 mil. There, I have saved you 8 mil by cutting Ryan Williams, Jasper Brinkley, and Daryn Colledge, which is more than enough to sign a decent player and some veteran roster filler.

Palmer will probably be extended which will lower his cap hit. Peterson as well. Dockett could be extended 2 years which would increase his guaranteed money but spread out over 4 years instead of 2.

Keim is creative enough to make this work. Also, it isn't like we need to sign a bunch of top end FAs. The only positions I would pay for would be OL, OLB, QB or TE and the FA crop is pretty thin at the top at those positions. Albert, Veldheer, Jordan Gross, Monroe and Mack are the best offensive linemen that I would pay for (maybe Jon Asamoah or Oher) and there aren't any TEs that should command top dollar. Orakpo is the top OLB and I am not sold on paying him big money. Same goes for QB though if Cutler came available we would have to take a long look.

Honestly, I will be shocked if we don't come out of free agency with one of those OTs. I have to believe that our front office sees how limited our offensive line is and will address the most important spot with a veteran player.

We'll also "save" $1.3M by letting Andre Roberts depart in Free Agency and signing some undrafted rookie or minimum salary veteran. Hard to lose another productive draft pick, but his production can be replaced with something that's more accommodating of the system.

I think we'll prefer to draft an OT and get him for four years for peanuts rather than shell out money for a top guy. Not sure why you think that Veldheer is good; he's not. He's almost certainly better than Sowell, but I'm not sure he's worth $4M a year or anything like that.

Also, Jerraud Powers isn't good. Most of the completions that opponents seem to make against us seem to be targets at Powers. It's extremely frustrating. I don't think that we could reasonably upgrade from him, but he's just a bigger William Gay out there.

Finally, extending Patrick Peterson will only increase his 2014 cap hold. Peterson has a base salary of $2.8M in 2014 and a cap hold of $5.8M. It'll be interesting to see the extension that Cam Newton will likely get this offseason. If he's the next $100M quarterback, then we're going to have to pay Peterson between $8M and $12M a year, and the new CBA just forestalls the inevitable instead of re-setting salary expectations of players.

If Newton signs for 7 years, $70M (which would still be an excellent salary bump for him, as his 2014 base salary is scheduled to be only $3.4M), then we'll get Peterson for closer to $8M or less per year, and the NFL's victory over the player's union will be complete.

 

[GatorAZ]

It isn't terrible. We can add one large contract and several low end ones which is what we should do. Winston is 2 mil, won't re-sign. Mendenhall is 2.5 mil, won't re-sign. Jeff King is 1.8 mil off the books. Cason is 1.5 off the books.

The 120m cap projection for next season doesn't include any of those players.

Cutting Colledge saves us 5 mil. There, I have saved you 8 mil by cutting Ryan Williams, Jasper Brinkley, and Daryn Colledge, which is more than enough to sign a decent player and some veteran roster filler.

Cutting Colledge saves just under 3m. Besides he's been good this year so it doesn't make much sense, even with Cooper returning.

 

[Chopper0080]

The 120m cap projection for next season doesn't include any of those players.



Cutting Colledge saves just under 3m. Besides he's been good this year so it doesn't make much sense, even with Cooper returning.

Colledge's base salary is 4.8. If you cut him after June 1st, you can split his bonus over two years and you would save about 5 mil (4.8 to be precise).

 

[Chopper0080]

The 120m cap projection for next season doesn't include any of those players.



Cutting Colledge saves just under 3m. Besides he's been good this year so it doesn't make much sense, even with Cooper returning.

Salary cap was 126 this year and I don't see it dropping 6 mil. Furthermore, we had 18 mil in dead money this year, so active and reserve contracts only came to a bit over 100 mil. As of now, we are at 120 mil in 2014. Even if the cap stays the same, we will be 6 under before any cuts are made. Expected cuts and creative signings make it easy to add some needed talent.

 

[Chopper0080]

We'll also "save" $1.3M by letting Andre Roberts depart in Free Agency and signing some undrafted rookie or minimum salary veteran. Hard to lose another productive draft pick, but his production can be replaced with something that's more accommodating of the system.

I think we'll prefer to draft an OT and get him for four years for peanuts rather than shell out money for a top guy. Not sure why you think that Veldheer is good; he's not. He's almost certainly better than Sowell, but I'm not sure he's worth $4M a year or anything like that.

Also, Jerraud Powers isn't good. Most of the completions that opponents seem to make against us seem to be targets at Powers. It's extremely frustrating. I don't think that we could reasonably upgrade from him, but he's just a bigger William Gay out there.

Finally, extending Patrick Peterson will only increase his 2014 cap hold. Peterson has a base salary of $2.8M in 2014 and a cap hold of $5.8M. It'll be interesting to see the extension that Cam Newton will likely get this offseason. If he's the next $100M quarterback, then we're going to have to pay Peterson between $8M and $12M a year, and the new CBA just forestalls the inevitable instead of re-setting salary expectations of players.

If Newton signs for 7 years, $70M (which would still be an excellent salary bump for him, as his 2014 base salary is scheduled to be only $3.4M), then we'll get Peterson for closer to $8M or less per year, and the NFL's victory over the player's union will be complete.

Peterson is going to want closer to 12 than 8, you can bet on it. I would guess the Cardinals would backload it ala Fitzgerald's contract.

 

[GatorAZ]

Jurecki says we're almost 10m under the cap next year with no cuts. Not sure where he's getting that but it must be from his Cards' sources. Makes me feel a little better.

 

[Chopper0080]

We'll also "save" $1.3M by letting Andre Roberts depart in Free Agency and signing some undrafted rookie or minimum salary veteran. Hard to lose another productive draft pick, but his production can be replaced with something that's more accommodating of the system.

I think we'll prefer to draft an OT and get him for four years for peanuts rather than shell out money for a top guy. Not sure why you think that Veldheer is good; he's not. He's almost certainly better than Sowell, but I'm not sure he's worth $4M a year or anything like that.

Also, Jerraud Powers isn't good. Most of the completions that opponents seem to make against us seem to be targets at Powers. It's extremely frustrating. I don't think that we could reasonably upgrade from him, but he's just a bigger William Gay out there.

Finally, extending Patrick Peterson will only increase his 2014 cap hold. Peterson has a base salary of $2.8M in 2014 and a cap hold of $5.8M. It'll be interesting to see the extension that Cam Newton will likely get this offseason. If he's the next $100M quarterback, then we're going to have to pay Peterson between $8M and $12M a year, and the new CBA just forestalls the inevitable instead of re-setting salary expectations of players.

If Newton signs for 7 years, $70M (which would still be an excellent salary bump for him, as his 2014 base salary is scheduled to be only $3.4M), then we'll get Peterson for closer to $8M or less per year, and the NFL's victory over the player's union will be complete.

Veldheer is an upgrade over what Levi was IMO, and should cost less, that is why I had him listed. Not my top priority, but an upgrade.

As far as the draft and drafting an OT, that would be ideal, but I'm seeing us in the position to get a top LT prospect. If we are comfortable drafting a Brandon Sherff and plugging him in whereever he wins a job, then it is a good plan. However, if we draft him to be the starting LT, that could backfire very quickly. It will be a tough decision with the draft being so far away from the start of free agency. Have to like a ton of OTs in the draft or be pretty comfortable with Sowell, to count on who will be available in the late teens to fill the LT position.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

, and the NFL's victory over the player's union will be complete.

Am I the only one that read that last line in this guy's voice ?

You must be registered for see images

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

If Newton signs for 7 years, $70M (which would still be an excellent salary bump for him, as his 2014 base salary is scheduled to be only $3.4M), then we'll get Peterson for closer to $8M or less per year, and the NFL's victory over the player's union will be complete.

Unless the whole 70 mill was guaranteed, highly unlikely, I can't see any way Newton would accept that kind of deal.

He's most definitely going to want more than Flacco. Plus, he seems like the kind of guy who is going to want to be the "highest paid" QB, at least on paper. It will all come down to structure and guaranteed money.

 

[oaken1]

Unless the whole 70 mill was guaranteed, highly unlikely, I can't see any way Newton would accept that kind of deal.

He's most definitely going to want more than Flacco. Plus, he seems like the kind of guy who is going to want to be the "highest paid" QB, at least on paper. It will all come down to structure and guaranteed money.

Cam does not have the resume or production to be a "Highest Paid" anything in the NFL...Carolina will tell him to take his happy ass home if he tries for that

 

[Krangodnzr]

Cam does not have the resume or production to be a "Highest Paid" anything in the NFL...Carolina will tell him to take his happy ass home if he tries for that

I watch Carolina regularly, and Cam is easily one of the most underrated QBs in the game. His offensive line is awful and his receiver corps is one of the worst in the league.

I will be shocked if he signs for anything less than 16 mil per season.

 

[Chopper0080]

Cam is going to want Flacco and Matt Ryan type money. The contract that might impact his negotiations the most will probably be Cutler's this offseason. Hopefully, the Bears screw this all up and we can make him an offer on the open market. He would be awesome in Arizona.

 

[Totally_Red]

Cam is going to want Flacco and Matt Ryan type money. The contract that might impact his negotiations the most will probably be Cutler's this offseason. Hopefully, the Bears screw this all up and we can make him an offer on the open market. He would be awesome in Arizona.

Love Cutler as a quarterback, but I am concerned about his durability.

If the Bears are stupid enough to let him walk, there will be multiple suitors for his services, probably starting with the Minnesota Vikings.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I dunno, Cutler somehow reminds me of Jeff George.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Jurecki says we're almost 10m under the cap next year with no cuts. Not sure where he's getting that but it must be from his Cards' sources. Makes me feel a little better.

Sounds about right:

Link is to whom I think the Cardinals should keep around next season:
http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2916588&postcount=7

The players I would let go in the offseason:
- Colledge, Brinkley, and either Acho or Alexander.


The list below is whom I think, out of the free agents we will have on this roster at the end of the year, the Cardinals should bring back:

- Alfonso Smith
- Jim Dray
- Jake Ballard
- Paul Fanaika
- Alameda Ta'amu
- Matt Shaughnessy
- Karlos Dansby
- Dave Zastudil

 

[Chopper0080]

Love Cutler as a quarterback, but I am concerned about his durability.

If the Bears are stupid enough to let him walk, there will be multiple suitors for his services, probably starting with the Minnesota Vikings.

You make it a priority to protect him, he will protect himself. There would be ton of suitors, and I am just saying that we should be one of them if the unlikely happens.

 

[Denny Green Fan]

Am I the only one that read that last line in this guy's voice ?

You must be registered for see images

LMAO

 

[PDXChris]

Sounds about right:

Link is to whom I think the Cardinals should keep around next season:
http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2916588&postcount=7

The players I would let go in the offseason:
- Colledge, Brinkley, and either Acho or Alexander.


The list below is whom I think, out of the free agents we will have on this roster at the end of the year, the Cardinals should bring back:

- Alfonso Smith
- Jim Dray
- Jake Ballard
- Paul Fanaika
- Alameda Ta'amu
- Matt Shaughnessy
- Karlos Dansby
- Dave Zastudil

They already extended Fanaika and Ta'amu and Smith are both RFA's.

http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/20...ls-give-contract-extension-to-ol-paul-fanaika

 

[Cheesebeef]

Cam does not have the resume or production to be a "Highest Paid" anything in the NFL...Carolina will tell him to take his happy ass home if he tries for that

you are drinking drano if you really believe any of the above.