Stafford re-signs 3 year deal through 2017

[tpaulus_2]

And how many of them are playoff teams?

I'd say Baltimore did pretty well last season. They were in perhaps the worst cap shape of anyone this offseason...

 

[tpaulus_2]

I thought dead money only occurred when a player was cut or released.

Dead money disasters | National Football Post

I don't get into the money thing too much. I remember when the Redskins had less than 100k in cap money but somehow managed to still sign Albert Haynesworth to a 100 million dollar contract. So who knows.

The issue is when people look at the salary cap as a hard, inflexible wall. Teams always find money to sign who they need to sign.

Remember the fierce debate prior to free agency that we wouldn't have the money to sign the guys we needed/wanted?

I think Reggie Bush, Jason Jones, Glover Quin, Louis Delmas and Chris Houston all speak to the fact that the cap is pretty flexible if you're willing to get creative...

 

[tpaulus_2]

Well, you actually said both. You initially said:

And then went on to say:

So maybe TP only read your initial sentence and decided to "skim over the post" like he hates being done to him so much? Anywho....back to the debate......

I read it all, jerkoff.

I think the issue is that Meow is an expert in handling real money and everyone knows NFL teams operate using billionaire playboy's monopoly money.

Our supposed cap hell sure didn't seem to hurt us this offseason, did it?

 

[RobBase]

The issue is when people look at the salary cap as a hard, inflexible wall. Teams always find money to sign who they need to sign.

Remember the fierce debate prior to free agency that we wouldn't have the money to sign the guys we needed/wanted?

I think Reggie Bush, Jason Jones, Glover Quin, Louis Delmas and Chris Houston all speak to the fact that the cap is pretty flexible if you're willing to get creative...

Pretty much sums up how I feel about it all. Plus NFL contracts aren't guaranteed.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Exactly.

Meow is right that Mayhew/Lewand screwed the pooch by pushing all that $$ back though...

Their hands were tied, to an extent, but I wish they had found other ways to get cap space (not giving Avril the franchise tag, for example).

I'm 100% confidant that he'd (Meow) do a better job with the cap than Lewand (or however you spell his name) would.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

I'm 100% confidant that he'd (Meow) do a better job with the cap than Lewand (or however you spell his name) would.

Was that written in the sarcasm font??

I was not intending to enter into or start another big salary cap discussion. The Stafford deal is IMO a very good one for the Lions. I am however diabolically opposed to the way the Lions brass regularly look to free up cap space. Eventually all those deferred dollars have to be accounted for and when that happens its not going to be pretty.

For the record, since I don't sleep much I study NFL contracts on spotrac to see what other teams are doing and if there is a discernible pattern of how contracts are put together and trust me there isn't. These things are all over the place. The bizarre swings in cap hits up and down from year to year are baffling. I think many GM's are making their own jobs harder by not smoothing the amounts via incremental increases over the contract length.

I will say this though since it might spark a good debate.....If I couldn't trade them I would release Hill, Scheffler, and Best and at the same time rework Suh's deal. Here is why........that would free up more than $7m in cap space from the cut/trades and you could easily add $3m (or more) to that from Suh's new deal. We have $5m in space now and that would take us to $15m. With that $ I would then do the following........absolutely nothing. I would carry that over into next year, which is perfectly allowable. That means if the cap stayed right at $123m again next year we could spend $138m and still be cap compliant. That is also how you can work yourself out of cap prison because then you can restructure deals to be front loaded and release all that pushed back dead money. How much do you value Hill and Scheffler? Is it enough that you would keep them rather than have that additional space in 2014? Both of them are UFA's after this season anyway and probably not back so I say pull the plug now and take advantage of cap benefit of the carryover.

 

[broncosmitty]

Hard to sleep much, when you have to get up nine times a night to pee. (Couldn't help myself)

 

[Thruthefog]

I wouldn't have trouble releasing Scheffler. I wouldn't want to release Best, but since they signed Bush, it would be a smart move. No way I want Hill gone. If the defense picks up as much as I think, the Lions can win with him too.

 

[broncosmitty]

I honestly liked our offense with Hill, way back when. And that was without Bush, who I think would work well with him. (Not that he wouldn't work well with most QBs). I get that he's expendable, to a point. But I think he could (Could....) be capable of getting this current team to the playoffs, if called upon. (I know most people think we wouldnt have a chance) I don't feel I'd have the same confidence in most backups.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Hard to sleep much, when you have to get up nine times a night to pee. (Couldn't help myself)

Once, that's all.

I wouldn't want to release Best

He's done in this league. He may not ever even get cleared to participate in a pillow fight. We are just wasting $ keeping him. He does have some dead $ that will go away after this season so they may be thinking that if they dont need those dollars to sign players that their interests are better served releasing him before next season when there would be no penalty to do so.

No way I want Hill gone. If the defense picks up as much as I think, the Lions can win with him too

I think our running game improvement would be the difference of whether or not we can win with Hill in there, and I dont see us making that significant of an improvement. A more mobile backup like that guy from Cleveland would be a better option if Stafford goes down IMO and the benefit of carrying over his overpaid contract tips the scale towards cutting him for me.

I honestly liked our offense with Hill

That's because you are stupid and prone to make bad Jim Leyland infused fits of rage decisions
You also need to get laid regularly and smoke more.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Was that written in the sarcasm font??

Nope, given the cap pinch we're in, I completely meant that. Sarcasm free.

I remember that you we all about letting Avril walk instead of franchising him, and think of how far that extra $10 million would have went this offseason? We could have signed 2 impact players with that $$ in this ultra-cheap free agent period...

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Nope, given the cap pinch we're in, I completely meant that. Sarcasm free.

Well its about time you recognized my genius

Now if I could only get you to buy into my thinking on releasing Hill and Scheffler I will be able to stop calling you an idiot

For the record, the "cap pinch" will be interesting to see how they handle that next year. They did great in signing some really important players but the cap hits of the players under contract for 2014 escalate about $40m but we only have about half of that falling off. In that $40m though is Suh, Burleson, Best, and the Delmas contracts which could (should) result in a reduction to that number. That's why I want us to have a nice big carryover amount.

 

[broncosmitty]

I was smoking plenty when Hill ran the offense, thank you very much. Still wasn't getting laid though. I'm like the AC Green of Lions fans.

 

[gvsulaker82]

deal.

 

[gvsulaker82]

Weird, that was supposed to say glad to see him signed longer hes the real deal.

 

[gandydancer]

Weird, that was supposed to say glad to see him signed longer hes the real deal.

Slap my gram momma on the ass!! gvsu just made a positive post. The edges of hell are freezing over and the Lions will win the Superbowl!!

 

[jdwills126]

Funny Donavan McNabb weighed in...yes fat pun intended...on Stafford not worth the cash.

For all the games you won you and Stafford have one thing in common...no superbowl rings! Yet Stafford can remedy that!

And as homers we tend to view things with a honolulu blue and silver tint. But considering how long Detroit went without a franchise QB he is most definitely worth the cash. The toughest position on the field is locked up.

The hardest thing going forward will be the creative ways Detroit will need to work contracts! It is more important than ever before for Mayhew to hit with the 3-7 round draft picks.

 

[gvsulaker82]

I would have been impressed if you had used the post where I just typed the word deal and ran with that gandydancer.

 

[broncosmitty]

Weird, that was supposed to say glad to see him signed longer hes the real deal.

He is real, ....... and he's spectacular.

 

[BearClaw55]