If we don't win the Super Bowl this year, it's going to be long for another shot

[NinerSickness]

Well, the Packers' problems have more to do with Bryan Bulaga not being all that good & injuries on the OL. The Broncos are only in the 2nd year of having a super-expensive QB; it'll catch up to 'em eventually, but I'm sure they're fine with that. I'm sure it caught up to 'em in a little this offseason with their inability to sign Dumervil when he became an URFA.

 

[David_son]

Well, the Packers' problems have more to do with Bryan Bulaga not being all that good & injuries on the OL. The Broncos are only in the 2nd year of having a super-expensive QB; it'll catch up to 'em eventually, but I'm sure they're fine with that. I'm sure it caught up to 'em in a little this offseason with their inability to sign Dumervil when he became an URFA.

Well that was a fax issue or he would still be on Denver

 

[NinerSickness]

Well that was a fax issue or he would still be on Denver

True, but the fact that they couldn't sign him long-term when he became a FA is telling of their long-term salary cap availability. Why would they let a 10+ sack guy leave in a year when they're Super Bowl contenders? They could have gotten him for what the Ravens did. The answer is that they couldn't afford him, and Peyton's a big reason for that.

But that's not to say they shouldn't have brought Peyton in or that he's not worth the money. But even good QBs are extremely hard to acquire, and they're obscenely expensive in today's offense-only NFL. Flacco was worth what he got paid.

 

[David_son]

True, but the fact that they couldn't sign him long-term when he became a FA is telling of their long-term salary cap availability. Why would they let a 10+ sack guy leave in a year when they're Super Bowl contenders? They could have gotten him for what the Ravens did. The answer is that they couldn't afford him, and Peyton's a big reason for that.

But that's not to say they shouldn't have brought Peyton in or that he's not worth the money. But even good QBs are extremely hard to acquire, and they're obscenely expensive in today's offense-only NFL. Flacco was worth what he got paid.

I agree and what Flacco haters fail to answer is what would they have done. You ask and they ignore the question. Ohh Flacco is avg he doesnt deserve the contract have fun being mediocre for the next 6 years, but they would have been the first ones knocking the Ravens for letting him walk or trading him away.

 

[imac_21]

I do believe teams with high paid QBs have to skimp somewhere. Patriots have a bunch of no-name receivers. Packers have horrible tackles and they let Jennings walk because they have 3 cheaper option WRs. New Orleans has cheap WRs and RBBC. Teams with the $20M QB have to skimp out somewhere.

Broncos are probably the best example of having a $20M QB and not looking too skimpy anywhere.
Pretty good O-line, pretty good D, awesome WRs (thanks to good drafting: Thomas x2 + Decker).

If we're talking about the Packers, they have problems at OT because Bulaga tore his ACL. How does our OT situation look if Staley tears his ACL? That's with Kaep on a rookie/2nd round pick contract. We don't know what Boone offers at LT (or Davis), and we don't know what Kilgore or Looney offer at OG. We know what Snyder offers though.

They let Jennings go because they have AT LEAST two better options at WR with Nelson and Cobb, and if Jones can repeat what he did last year they could have 3. They didn't let him go because they couldn't afford him. They let him go because they could afford to have someone else. It's the same reason we traded Haralson and Smith. We could afford to not have them.

New England isn't weak at WR because they can't afford WRs. They're weak at WR because they built their passing attack around their two elite TEs, one keels needing surgery, the other went out and got himself arrested. After the draft and FA. They figured on having Gronk and Hernandez. That's why they felt it was safe to left Welker walk.

But let's assume that those other issues don't exist. Would those teams have been better off "skimping" at QB and letting Rodgers/Brady go?

BTW, current information estimates the Packers to have $10,510,542 in cap room right now and the Patriots to have $9,669,360 on one site. Another lists GB at over $14M and NE at over $11M.

It isn't as if they could afford to sign, or re-sign in the case of Jennings, players.

 

[Kinzu]

Breaking down Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's $120.6 million contract - baltimoresun.com

So looking at this his contract is not that bad as long as they trade, release or restructure his deal before the 2016 season.

He only counts against their cap this year for 6.8 million. Even I will admit that Flacco is a steal for that figure. That will jump to to 14.8m, 14.55m, 28.55m, 20.6m, and 24.75. I would say just under 15m is a good spot for his salary if not slightly low, but if he doesn't continue to improve between now and the 2016 season there is no way he is worth 28.55m and the 20m+ for the two seasons after.

 

[RhojiF]

I highly doubt that any of these young QBs are going to be in the position to demand Rodgers/Manning money for at least 4-5 years. We will most likely see Kap and Wilson receive extensions that will pay them 10 mil or so if they keep up good play after 2-3 years, but they're not going to give them 20-25 mil until that early. Unless of course they put the pressure on the front office because they're absolutely dominating and removing all doubt, then anything is possible. But in that case, who cares about paying that much for a very young elite QB?

I'd love this. This is a great scenario.

If Kap leads us to win a Super Bowl this year, then he should be getting paid similar to Aaron Rodgers' second contract (9-10/mil year). He hasn't done enough prove he's worth more than that.

 

[RhojiF]

That was going to be my response.

Peyton has proven he's worth it. He proved it a while ago. Kap at the end of this season will not.

 

[RhojiF]

Gotta keep having good drafts. Good teams let good players walk. If you can fill those holes with younger players you'll do fine. I feel pretty comfortable with our FO's ability to manage this. They've shown quite a bit of savviness over the past few years.

If we can let go of pro-bowl alternate talent in Parys Haralson go for a 7th rounder, I'm sure we'll be ok at OLB. Aldon Smith is a freak athlete, and a great player but I certainly think Harbaalke can always find OLB's. They may not be as great as Aldon, but our defense will be ok.

 

[RhojiF]

Yes there is
It's called cap constraints. When you tie up a lot of your salary cap into 1 player they better be worth the 2 to 4 good players you could have signed with that money. You're sacrificing talent across the board because you believe this one player is good enough to carry you through it. When you over pay for a player that is not good enough you end up mediocre at best. It's not like letting Flacco walk and tanking this season would have been a horrible idea. Their are some good young QB's in next years draft, and the Ravens are probably not making the playoffs even with Flacco this year.

I don't know, they locked up their QB for the next several years, but it might take a few seasons for them to rebuild the talent they just lost. Is it better to be a middle of the pack team fighting for a wild card spot every year or tank a few season to stock up on talent for a Super Bowl run?

This is my take. I know Kap is good, but he hasn't proven enough to let go of Iupati, Boone, Miller, Crabtree, etc.

 

[deep9er]

This is my take. I know Kap is good, but he hasn't proven enough to let go of Iupati, Boone, Miller, Crabtree, etc.

We get all season to evaluate ALL these guys, especially Kaep.

 

[imac_21]

Peyton has proven he's worth it. He proved it a while ago. Kap at the end of this season will not.

So is the money Peyton gets worth less?

oh wait, Peyton costs roughly 2.5 times what Flacco (under 7M) doesn't against the cap.

Own your mistake Rhoji.

 

[RhojiF]

Although Peyton was worth the money, I just proved how it's essential to keep the good players on our team.

Kap is not one of them, and he's not worth $20mil/year--or even half of that.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

The fact of the matter is if you want to be in the mix year in and year out you need an elite franchise QB.

The key to keeping that window open is you need a GM that drafts successfully and plays with the numbers well when it comes to contracts. The players mainly care about the guaranteed money so there are ways to front load and back load contracts to give yourself cap flexibility when you need it to be able to retain players. Obviously you can't retain them all but you should be able to keep quite a few if you play your cards right.

Amen to that….