2018 Free Agent Bids

Realism and repercussions down the road? Really? That's just not the way I looked at this at all. Hell, I've got like 14 guys coming in on one year contracts. lol! Regardless of how "realistic" GM's try to be, it all resets next year anyway, right? Where's the repercussions? My mind set from the very beginning was to maximize everything I can. I figured I got one season to try and make the Chargers SB contenders, and I'm trying everything possible to load this roster with as much talent as I can, to achieve this goal....That's been my approach. Identify the team weaknesses, and aggressively address them. I'm not thinking about how it all looks in two years. I'm trying to win the Super Bowl right now. We start all over next year anyway...

In real life, didn't the Eagles spend like over $195m last year to win it all...I won't spend that much, but I'm going all in and trying to spend everything I got to put a squad together that can beat them...

 

LAOJoe responded, "Yes"

I'm not too proud to ask . . . But, why ?

 

I believe he approves...

One thing I've noticed, high end signings don't draw good reviews. Signing mediocrity to inexpensive deals is what impresses in this exercise.

Sashi Brown's real life Cleveland Browns would get the greatest reviews ever. The way they saved money and loaded up draft picks. Great stuff.

 

TD, I know what the response "yes" means.

Rather, the point of my question was why would bids of $915,000 and $790,000 only count as $630,000 against the cap?

I'm not bitching . . . just trying to learn something here.

 

I'll turn off the sarcasm...and the stupidity. Truth be told, I misread the intention of Joe's response anyway... My apologies...The realism thing just got to me. I can never do these things with that mind set. Nothing can ever carry over, so I'm always in "all in" mode for that season, regardless of what team I have...and I know that differs from the approach of other GM's.

 

I actually only used 2 restructures. I have a third in my back pocket in case I need or want to use it but I felt weird about just throwing all three on the wall and trying to overpay someone as a result. Sure I could have done another restructure and over bid on Nigel Bradham, he would be a huge upgrade in my shiny new 3-4 defense. But he is already getting far too much money in this exercise...

I didn't restructure the most valuable guys I restructured guys who have performed well and I expect to stay on the roster. JPP would make me the most money at this point but I simply won't restructure that deal. The Giants can move on from him next year if he continues to under perform in the new scheme. I am not taking that option away even in a fake exercise because that contract is such an obvious albatross that everyone other than the previous GM saw coming...

 

I know my approach puts me at a cash disadvantage for the season we are playing in, but I also like to use this exercise as a "what could happen" or what I think should happen from a GM perspective. Too many mock everything and projected "go sign this guy" are done in a bubble and are just completely unrealistic because the writers are not competing against anyone for anything.

Take Norwell for example. Everyone and their mother that follows the Giants are saying they should be all in on him. He was my number one target and I was willing to pay him the most a guard has ever received. If there is anything this exercise shows it's that it doesn't matter how much you want a player -- someone else with more cap space is going to be willing to overpay them. $20 million for a guard? $20 million? It made me realize that even though I can't depend on Pugh to play a full season, well ever, him coming back is far more realistic than I would have thought.

I find as the GM of a team with normal cap space I often have to settle way more then I would like. And it helps put the real teams off season moves into a better perspective. I could have Cut Eli and restructured JPP and basically signed anyone I wanted but that simply isn't going to happen so it's hard for me to justify...

 

I understand what you are saying...But in a one season exercise, who could blame ya for maximizing your resources? You won't feel the effects next year. You gotta beat the Eagles...

 

The New York Giants announce their own Filenes Basement signings:

Keenan Robinson
$790,000 (Vet Minimum)

Kerry Wynn
$790,000 (Vet Minimum)

Geno Smith
$790,000 (Vet Minimum)

Korey Toomer
$1,500,000

 

Agreed...There were some contracts that got out of control. $20m for a Guard is extreme, even if he is a Buckeye.

As much activity as I've been involved with in free agency, I feel I've only considerably overpaid for one target. And that was my #1 target, Dontari Poe ($13.5)....Maybe a little high on Pryor at ($8m), but other than that I really like the talent pool I've brought to LA, and I feel it's mostly come under the projected money...

 

I guess everyone is free to interpret the exercise as they will, but that's not how I interpreted it at all. The goal of the exercise, to me, is to make good decisions that help your team both this year and in the future. To set your team up for both short and long term success. Not just to maximize 2018 super bowl odds. The fact that it resets next year is irrelevant.

 

Yeah I think both of those guys are probably worth what you paid for them though. It's the way the NFL has been heading for a few years though. All the increasing cap space dollars seem to be getting concentrated into the hands of the top free agents every year. The mid and low tier guys contracts are generally reasonable. But with so much cap space floating around a few teams and 1 and 2 year turnarounds happening all the time the cost of a premier guy who can be an immediate difference maker shoots through the roof. Especially along the O-line where players just are not getting drafted properly prepared and ready to go very often anymore.

 

I think most agree with you...

It's just not the way I'm wired, I guess...I feel this is the last real shot to get Phillip Rivers into the Super Bowl, and see the Chargers finally hoist a Lombardi. That's where I'm trying to get...

 

See that's totally different though. If a GM thinks that the right move for their specific team is to go all in, thats fine. If I were in charge of such a team I probably would do the same. I was just saying that it's not the overarching goal of the entire exercise, that every team is abiding by.

 

FWIW, I took like $40k less to restructure Keenan Allen rather than go to my superstar QB with such a request...lol!

 

There is no "wrong" way in this exercise. Everyone does it the way they want to. When I evaluate what I did at the end. I take into account future repercussions when grading my own work. That includes draft picks and any other money. It's just like the Jarvis Landry deal I signed, in my mind it really isn't a $17M per year deal...that's what it is costing me in 2018, but the structure would be front loaded in order to be able to make a better offer than another team. IRL, he was franchise tagged anyway...so, as far as realism, this exercise isn't about mirroring what will happen, just what we would do as GMs.

Now, if you decide you are going to maximize your assets for a "one year run" that's your prerogative for sure. If we have 25 people doing this exercise, it will be interpreted 25 different ways, there is only one that matters, and that's yours. Everything done in this exercise if for the the sole purpose of each individuals satisfaction. We may get some on here that "grade" each team, but again, if there are 3 people grading, you will get 3 TOTALLY different grades on every team.

I wasn't calling anyone out, I was stating what I do this exercise for.

 

I tried to take conversation over to GM discussion thread...and I agree with all that^^^

 

I had asked once and was told that we weren't doing this cap loophole until later.

The loophole is a funky veteran minimum benefit deal where real NFL teams can offer veteran players a one year contract at league minimum with only a very small token bonus of any kind allowed and no more of it guaranteed than the min salary of a player with 2 years of tenure. If the contract fits those requirements, the player's cap figure is that of a player with 2 years of tenure.

The intent of the rule is to give old geezers (old in NFL terms - not as old as us in real life) a chance to stick around and play a little longer. If the Saints wanted to bring, say, Archie Manning out of retirement as a backup QB on a minimal contract, his cap figure would only be $630k instead of $1M.

I think there used to be other eligibility requirements (where the vet player had to have something like 10 years in the league), but I haven't found a good source that completely and accurately spells out the details. (Beach - is it spelled out in the CBA? I missed it if it is.)



Are we really doing these vet min benefit contracts already? I asked earlier and was told that we probably wouldn't be doing those until after the draft.

 

Cowboys bid
James Hanna
$790,000 (min)

 

I'm curious, how much do you think Norwell is going to get on the open market.