WSJ: Maybe the Jets' Cap Situation Isn't Hopeless

[Beerfish]

Originally Posted by detjetsfan

We have the draft. Assume you get 3-4 starters (1x LB, 2X Guards, maybe a Safety) that's going to cost us only about $4 mil in cap room. Then you can sign cheap mid-level veterans like Braylon and Keller to 1 year deals.

4 rookie starters? Tall order.

[Mainejet]

Keep Holmes and Cro. Let the rest go unless they are willing to take massive paycuts and help out the Jets salary cap situation.

[124]

$10.2 million with half of our starters unsigned or being released to give us $10.2 million in space, and that's going to fill the roster with 15-20 veteran players as well as a rookie draft class?

Cap hell.

[JetsfanfromtheBURGH]

Originally Posted by jetswin

good God

seriously! Its pretty damn hard to be that bad

[JamesR]

Given how poorly Pace ranked at OLB last year, we could slot McIntryre in there and get about the same production (potentially more). So Harris, Davis and McIntyre could be 3 of our 4 LB's, then we need to find one more, preferably in the draft. Which I hope to God was the plan anyway, because the guys we had last year were not getting the job done.

So that potentially fills another starter spot, and all you need to do is fill depth instead.

DL - Coples / Ellis / Wilkerson can be our starting line up, all under contract, again need depth.

CB - Revis / Cro / Wilson all under contract (barring any holdouts ...) plus Trufant back from injury, he started to show something before he got hurt

S - biggest concern on D - let's say Allen can replace Smith, we still need two starters. I think we have to pick up at least one guy in the draft that can start, plus keep one of Bell / Landry, or this will be back to being a weakness again.

So up to 3 starter spots to fill / resign, plus promoting depth guys that then need to be replaced with draft picks / UDFA's / cheap FA's. The 8 guys I list above can give us at least the level of play we got in 2012, IMHO, and we may even get some upside out of Coples / Davis if it pans out.

[CleatMarks]

I didn't read the article but I don't think it's hopeless. It's going to require someone to come in and hit the ground running though. It's not in great shape but the Patriots cap was in bad shape with bloated contracts when BB took over and two years later, they went to the Super Bowl. People forget but that team (01)was loaded with free agent acquisitions that were past their prime and on one or two year contracts and rookie starters.

[chiefst2000]

Originally Posted by Choon328

Here's my plan:

Projected 2013 Cap $122,000,000

Projected NY Jets 2013 Cap Number as of now- $141,589,382

1. Cut Pace----Saves $8,560,000

2. Cut Scott---Saves $7,150,000

3. Cut E. Smith---Saves $3,000,000, or take pay cut to $1.0 million for the year. Still good depth to have but at the right price.

4. Cut J. Smith---Saves $12,000,000

5. Cut Tebow---Saves $1,531,875 but more importantly a ton of BS

6. Cut Pouha---Saves $3,833,332

7. Carry Over $5,000,000 of cap relief from the 2012 cap

8. Re-work Harris' contract---Extend Harris 1 year and turn $6 million of his 2013 base salary into a signing bonus which gets spread out over the remaining 3 years of his contract. Saves $4,000,000 in 2013. It would still make him cuttable in 2014 if he has a bad year again.

9. Re-work Mangold' Contract---Turn his 2013 $3 million roster bonus into a signing bonus and that would spread it out over the remaining 5 years of his contract. Saves $2,400,000 in 2013.

10. Cut Sanchez after June 1st. Saves $0 but well worth it.

11. How to deal with Cromartie and Revis



All of these moves could save the Jets $47,475,207 on next years cap and I don't think that any of them are unreasonable. Those savings would give the Jets $27,885,825 of cap room in 2013. You have to figure $6 million of that would go to signing draft picks which leaves $21,885,825 for free agents.

$21,885,825 is a lot of money available to spend on free agents especially if you structure the contracts correctly. So we are not in bad shape at all. And there are many more aggressive maneuvers the GM could make to drop the cap even more. Don't believe the hype.

I like the plan for the most part. The one thing I'd change is the extension of Cro. It doesn't make sense to tie up all that money in two corners. Cro's trade value will never be higher. I'd trade him for a 2nd rounder if possible. If the FO is actually trying to win in 2013 I would parlay that trade into a trade for Flynn. The two players are of equal value IMO and Flynn makes less than Cro. We save some cap room and get what could be the highest upside player of the veteran QB class.

[crayc]

move wilson to fs. allen or bush to ss. there we don't need to worry about safeties. lol

[patman]

Choon, very well detailed and very reasonable moves. However the jets will only
have about 1/2 of that 5 mill carryover due to Landry's incentives and the in season roster moves.

The Harris move I question, If a new coach comes in next year and wants to implement a 4-3, Harris is not a good fit and will only be able to play on running downs which are getting fewer and fewer. i don't think the 4mill in savings are worth the chance that you will have a 11mill 2 down backer on the team.

I think both the Cro and Revis deals are reasonable, and in light of Revis's injury to get that much money up front will "force" him to sign.

And remember, if you cut Sanchez you still have to replace him on the roster. your cutting two qbs they have to be replaced . The worse vet qb is going to cost you 1mill

[patman]

Originally Posted by crayc

move wilson to fs. allen or bush to ss. there we don't need to worry about safeties. lol

Wilson is a man on guy, not zone i don't think you would like the results.

[DDNYjets]

Wilson is too small to play FS. We need a Kerry Rhodes (pre-vag).

Wilson is what he is. A slot defender who is the weakest link in the Jets secondary unless Eric Smith is out there with him.

[sec.101row23]

Originally Posted by patman

Choon, very well detailed and very reasonable moves. However the jets will only
have about 1/2 of that 5 mill carryover due to Landry's incentives and the in season roster moves.

The Harris move I question, If a new coach comes in next year and wants to implement a 4-3, Harris is not a good fit and will only be able to play on running downs which are getting fewer and fewer. i don't think the 4mill in savings are worth the chance that you will have a 11mill 2 down backer on the team.

I think both the Cro and Revis deals are reasonable, and in light of Revis's injury to get that much money up front will "force" him to sign.

And remember, if you cut Sanchez you still have to replace him on the roster. your cutting two qbs they have to be replaced . The worse vet qb is going to cost you 1mill

I agree about not restructuring Harris' deal. He is very cuttable next year 2014,(5 million in savings and 2 million in dead money) and if you want to keep him in 2014 he finally has a manageable 7 million dollar cap number. No way I would extend him to save 4 million this year. Just absorb the big hits this year and make 2014 a year you can have some options.

[crasherino]

Originally Posted by patman

Choon, very well detailed and very reasonable moves. However the jets will only
have about 1/2 of that 5 mill carryover due to Landry's incentives and the in season roster moves.

The Harris move I question, If a new coach comes in next year and wants to implement a 4-3, Harris is not a good fit and will only be able to play on running downs which are getting fewer and fewer. i don't think the 4mill in savings are worth the chance that you will have a 11mill 2 down backer on the team.

I think both the Cro and Revis deals are reasonable, and in light of Revis's injury to get that much money up front will "force" him to sign.

And remember, if you cut Sanchez you still have to replace him on the roster. your cutting two qbs they have to be replaced . The worse vet qb is going to cost you 1mill

Assuming Revis checks out OK, health-wise (and I'm cautiously optimistic he should), I would be OK with that deal. I would be very cautious, however, about extending Cro.

Cro's technique developed nicely this year. He stopped his grabbing/holding/hand checking to a large extent and got in much better position. But, his game still relies heavily on his speed - once its starts declining, his game will precipitously drop. I'm not sure that I am willing to cement him on this roster just yet for 5 years+, even if it means $5m in cap space this coming year.

I'd like to see how he and Revis play together in 13'.

[124]

Originally Posted by sec.101row23

I agree about not restructuring Harris' deal. He is very cuttable next year 2014,(5 million in savings and 2 million in dead money) and if you want to keep him in 2014 he finally has a manageable 7 million dollar cap number. No way I would extend him to save 4 million this year. Just absorb the big hits this year and make 2014 a year you can have some options.

Agreed.

2013 needs to be sacrificed in order for success in 2014 and future years. Hopefully the new General Manager realizes this. And hey, if Rex isn't able to lead the group to a playoff berth, he can be canned the and G.M. can bring in his own guy.

Everybody wins.

[patman]

Originally Posted by crasherino

Assuming Revis checks out OK, health-wise (and I'm cautiously optimistic he should), I would be OK with that deal. I would be very cautious, however, about extending Cro.

Cro's technique developed nicely this year. He stopped his grabbing/holding/hand checking to a large extent and got in much better position. But, his game still relies heavily on his speed - once its starts declining, his game will precipitously drop. I'm not sure that I am willing to cement him on this roster just yet for 5 years+, even if it means $5m in cap space this coming year.

I'd like to see how he and Revis play together in 13'.

If your hesitant about extending Cro, you could still save 4 mill by converting his 2.5 roster bonus and 6 mill of his salary to a SB. that 8.5 mill will be divided up between this year and next. saving 4.25 on the cap this year.

[sec.101row23]

Originally Posted by patman

If your hesitant about extending Cro, you could still save 4 mill by converting his 2.5 roster bonus and 6 mill of his salary to a SB. that 8.5 mill will be divided up between this year and next. saving 4.25 on the cap this year.

Cro's cap number is 10.7 million right now in 2014, he has a 5 million dollar roster bonus due in 2014. Pushing more money down the road on top of that would be foolish to save 4 million this season. If after 2013 season you want to keep him, it would make more sense to get creative for 2014.

[crasherino]

Originally Posted by patman

If your hesitant about extending Cro, you could still save 4 mill by converting his 2.5 roster bonus and 6 mill of his salary to a SB. that 8.5 mill will be divided up between this year and next. saving 4.25 on the cap this year.

And make his cap number around $14m in 14'? Eh, they could do some/all of that and it could make sense as you still have the opportunity to extend him after this upcoming season if the team thinks its worthwhile. At that point, he'll be 30 going into the 14' season - if his play shows that its likely to stay at a high level for another 2 seasons, I'd consider tacking on a few years. But, I'm still somewhat hesistant. And he'd probably want more than that.

My guess is that Cro's salary will be left alone until the season approaches. If they decide they need the space this year, they'll shift the money forward. D'Brick and Mangold will probably be restructured before him.

[rmeyer52]

Maybe the Jets' Cap Situation Isn't Hopeless

Before the Jets' new head of football operations tries to rebuild this 6-10 team, he must first dig it out of a roughly $25 million salary-cap hole. That helps explain why the Jets' top football job remains unfilled more than two weeks after the firing of general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

But a closer examination of the Jets' 2013 obligations reveals that an act of Congress won't be needed to rescue this team. At least that much cap room can be found by simply cutting some disappointing, highly paid veterans.

According to NYJetsCap.com, the Jets will be about $21 million over the estimated 2013 salary cap when the new league season begins in March. Additionally, the team needs to clear about $4 million more to sign its 2013 draft class.

The biggest savings, $12 million, can be had by cutting tackle Jason Smith, a backup whom ProFootballFocus.com ranked just 35th at his position based on his performance on every snap. Linebacker Calvin Pace ranked 69th of 72 linebackers and saves the Jets another $8.6 million if cut.

Fellow starting linebacker Bart Scott graded much better (23rd of 112), but returns the Jets another $7.2 million if released. Defensive tackle Sione Pouha, safety Eric Smith and quarterback Tim Tebow all graded poorly, too, and can be let go for a combined salary cap windfall of about $7.4 million. That adds up to $35.2 million—$10.2 million more than needed even before renegotiating other contracts for additional savings.

Due to arcane NFL salary-cap accounting, other players actually result in a cap charge if cut. For example, jettisoning quarterback Mark Sanchez in 2013 would force the team to first find another $4.3 million cap room.

—Michael Salfino
This Can Work

Here are the dispensable players whom the Jets can save the most 2013 salary-cap room by cutting, along with their 2012 ranking at their position.

player position cap value cap savings
if cut 2012 positional rank
Jason Smith T $12M $12M 35th of 122
Calvin Pace LB $11.57M $8.56M 69th of 72
Bart Scott LB $8.65M $7.15M 23rd of 112
Sione Pouha DT $6.17M $3.83M 51st of 85
Eric SmithS $3M $3M 125th of 170
Tim Tebow QB $2.59M $1.53M 34th of 71
Santonio Holmes WR $12.5M $1.25M 100th of 206
Antonio Cromartie CB $10.75M $1.25M 15th of 217
Sources: NYJetsCap.com, ProFootballFocus.com

Journal, with the headline: Maybe the Jets' Cap Situation Isn't Hopeless.

[DDNYjets]

Welcome to yesterday.

http://www.jetsinsider.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=253187

[patman]

Originally Posted by sec.101row23

Cro's cap number is 10.7 million right now in 2014, he has a 5 million dollar roster bonus due in 2014. Pushing more money down the road on top of that would be foolish to save 4 million this season. If after 2013 season you want to keep him, it would make more sense to get creative for 2014.

Well it was Croon's idea, If it was the pats in this situation I would be for blowing it up and positioning myself the bet I can for 2014 and beyond.

I would do the "agreed" cuts. Pace,Scott etc and Pouha plus Tebow.

I would cut Holmes, not only for the cap savings, but for turning the page.

I would trade down as often as I could to get value and rebuild the oline and the LB positon. I think St Louis would trade Washinton's 1st and thier 2nd to move up to 9 for a OT.