Your current grade for the Lions 2015 off season is...

[Dr. Evil-er]

Which is one reason I can't understand the debate going on here?

The ones screaming Mayhew is a idiot( he is) and the Lions are a laughing stock(they are) they always suck(they don't) ...Blah blah blah how the fuck was keeping Suh on a tag, even if they did it right(no restructures) mean they would win? Some loathe every move made(drafts/FAmoves) ,but are insane thinking Suh meant a SB if they were able to keep him one more year. how does one guy cover up a complete horrific staff in their minds.

This is predicated on my opinion he was never re-signing in Detroit.

Nothing guarantees you would win, but we were certainly a better team with him than without. So our chances were certainly better.

If things had been done correctly it would almost certainly not have been only one more year.

They could have handled tagging him for two years but more importantly he would very likely have signed a long term deal, at what the final offer the Lions made him. He would never have been able to test the FA market, thus never finding that there was an insane team out there who would offer him a ridiculous contract.

Knowing he could see back to back tags puts all the leverage to the Lions. That's specifically why ownership held firm on keeping the franchise tag during the last CBA. Players like Suh are not supposed to hit FA and rarely do. He only did because of the incompetence of our front office.

To the argument that those restructures were needed to sign the other players I say bullshit. There have been much better options to free space from for years. Peterman and Raiola come to mind as options. Very mediocre players both being paid well and not that hard to replace. Shaun Hill is another in recent years and there are numerous others that played under contracts well in excess of not just their contribution but who were a double negative when you figure only a small drop off in value (if any) would exist in replacing them with a much lower cost player. That's what keeps you in cap prison and then kicks that damn can down the road until the inevitable time to pay comes, and that now is in the form of watching Suh play for the damn Dolphins

 

[gandydancer]

That second tag would have been very huge, correct?

You can not guarentee he would have signed long term no more than I say he was not going too.

Totally agree with certain players are replaceable for cheaper. I am never the guy wanting to hold on to certain players. In Petermans case no doubt there had to be several UDFA that may have given better production. On a C not neccasarily true. Being able to give correct calls is hard to find. Blocking better than Dom, sure I can see it.

Meow you have good ideas to get around the cap. Just does not mean they should have been used. Figuring how to juggle a couple spots for some money is one thing. Knowing how to juggle 51 and scouting the right talent is another. Otherwise NFL GM jobs would constantly have turnover for the next best guy.

 

[TBBishop]

No its $15,866,667



No, $15.87m is more than $15m, correct?



You start negotiations at $15.9m and when getting a deal done is your self admitted #1 priority you don't wait until the 11th hour to offer the deal he clearly wasn't budging off of since the first time you were told what he wanted. There was no question he was going to get more than Watt, everybody knew that.


What other team is butchering contract mgmt? Maybe we can go get their very best players.

$98 mil over 7 years is almost $16 mil? Are the numbers that I'm finding online wrong because every calculator that I use come sup $14 mil.

 

[TBBishop]

I find it be the opposite. Mayhew's strongest supporters are often oblivious to the rest of the NFL. Some posters here don't even know who Cameron Wake is.

One of the 3 good players on the Dolphins.

 

[TBBishop]

Oh, and with the Mathis signing I'm up to a C for the offseason.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

$98 mil over 7 years is almost $16 mil? Are the numbers that I'm finding online wrong because every calculator that I use come sup $14 mil.

Gerald McCoy Contract, Salary Cap Details & Breakdowns | Spotrac

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Figuring how to juggle a couple spots for some money is one thing. Knowing how to juggle 51 and scouting the right talent is another. Otherwise NFL GM jobs would constantly have turnover for the next best guy.

Then I should fit right in at the Allen Park headquarters cause Millenhew can't scout the right talent and LewanDUI can't balance a checkbook.

And I've never said I could do Millenhew's job. I have no scouting background to determine talent. LewanDUI is another story altogether. There is no subjective part to his job, the numbers are the numbers, you can't coach them up or develop them. Either you know how to work with them or you don't, and he simply doesn't. It's only now when we've lost our best player that people are starting to take notice of that.

 

[lionstop1]

Best player? Megatron still plays for the Lions.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Best player? Megatron still plays for the Lions.

If Suh was still on the team he would be my #1 and Megatron #2.

Many fans may have a different order. That is just my opinion on the matter.

 

[Chef]

Suh got an extra $2m on his guarantee, would you leave your job for a extra 3-4%?

 

[TBBishop]

Gerald McCoy Contract, Salary Cap Details & Breakdowns | Spotrac

Tell me what you're showing me here, Doc. I look at this breakdown and see that his biggest year of the new deal is 2015 where he will make about $14.6. Every year of this extension he makes between $12.5 and $14.6. How the hell do they get to $15,866,667? Are funds from 2014 and 2015 factored in? I still won't have a problem with the negotiations starting at $15 mil but I'd like to know how they get to almost $16 mil from what you're showing me.

 

[RobBase]

Best player? Megatron still plays for the Lions.

Sometimes.

 

[Coach_Ed_LPW]

I guess I must have missed that memo...

Unless you're one of those slappies that thinks we can't win without Suh?

No, I didn't say that. But at this point currently we aren't better our we? Ngata is not better than Suh, and the other guy is probably not better than Fairley. The good news is we re-signed Mathis, and kept Tulloch. Tulloch should be a notch up on Whitehead. I think our defense will still be solid, and Gnata was a pretty good replacement, but you must admit Tpaul, that losing Suh does not make the defense better...therefore we are worse on defense(at least somewhat).
Now are we better on offense? Well we lost Bush, and despite him being oft injured, he had speed. We currently have the slowest running backs in the NFL. We haven't added any starters (yet) and we are currently lacking a starting guard and are shaky at right tackle.
So again, we aren't better therefore we are worse.

According to spotrac, we currently have 4.2 million in cap space, the exact amount we are projected to need to sign our picks. Leaving us with just over 100 grand.
Detroit Lions 2015 Salary Cap Table | Spotrac
So we need (IMO) so we basically need our 1st and 2nd rounders to be home runs and our 3rd rounder too basically.
We desperately need(IMO):
A guard.
A defensive tackle.
A running back with some speed.

All that being said TP, I don't see us being better. Im not a pessimist, I hope Im wrong. Those home run drafts will help(Mayhew's history doesn't make me confident in that.) On the optimistic side, I could see the offense revving up in year 2. Ebron leveling up to his draft status could happen. Fuller is a talent. It could happen, not out of the question.

 

[Coach_Ed_LPW]

Ndamukong Suh is the NFL's highest paid defensive player after agreeing to sign with the Dolphins | NJ.com

This article says the Lions aoffered him 17 mill per, which wouldve made him the highes paid in the league.
I think Detroit never really had a chance. The money Suh saved in taxes by playing in Florida was huge. They wouldve had to outbid by at least that amount. I think when Suh said his agent was picking his team, the writing was on the wall.

 

[tpaulus_2]

I'm really not concerned with adding overpriced free agents so we can be perceived to be "better" than when the season ended...

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Tell me what you're showing me here, Doc. I look at this breakdown and see that his biggest year of the new deal is 2015 where he will make about $14.6. Every year of this extension he makes between $12.5 and $14.6. How the hell do they get to $15,866,667? Are funds from 2014 and 2015 factored in? I still won't have a problem with the negotiations starting at $15 mil but I'd like to know how they get to almost $16 mil from what you're showing me.

You are looking at a perfect example of layering and structuring. Like with Watt the extension was signed and the player got a portion of the up front $ added to the final year of their original contracts.

Because neither team was in cap prison they had room to do that. It let's them essentially spread out the average of the deal, for McCoy that $15.87m, over more than just the 6 years it was signed for. That's why you are seeing cap hits that don't make sense. Very savvy financial mgmt.

Teams that manage their caps well do these type of things. We don't and haven't because LewanDUI has kept us backed up against the wall forever. Instead he kicks the can further down the road which keeps us against that wall. He blows at what he does, it really is that simple.

 

[gandydancer]

You are looking at a perfect example of layering and structuring. Like with Watt the extension was signed and the player got a portion of the up front $ added to the final year of their original contracts.

Because neither team was in cap prison they had room to do that. It let's them essentially spread out the average of the deal, for McCoy that $15.87m, over more than just the 6 years it was signed for. That's why you are seeing cap hits that don't make sense. Very savvy financial mgmt.

Teams that manage their caps well do these type of things. We don't and haven't because LewanDUI has kept us backed up against the wall forever. Instead he kicks the can further down the road which keeps us against that wall. He blows at what he does, it really is that simple.

I know you do not trust Lewand whatsoever. Is there a chance the Lions are biting the bullet this season full knowing next year there are in a sense two cap raises for them?
Secondly I ask, are you saying even if that is indeed what they are doing, there is no chance in hell he will even know what the frick to do with said money?

My big holdback right now with your so called clown show is not working out a extension with Ngata to free up more space by dropping his 8.5 hit this season. I question if the gave up two picks for a one year rental, as Ngata had no intentions of taking a pay cut with the Ravens. So I do not see him signing a friendly back loaded contract for the Lions. My issue I spoke of actually answers one of my questions to you. They have no clue at times.

 

[gandydancer]

Another question for Meow or whoever. When was the last time the Lions were not cap strapped? I have only been paying attention since my early CBS days. Took a few years to even start to understand it. So has Lewand really ever had a chance to work out deals in these savvy ways?

 

[tpaulus_2]

Heat Indexes: Ranking the Riskiest NFL Offseasons | Bleacher Report

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Is there a chance the Lions are biting the bullet this season full knowing next year there are in a sense two cap raises for them?

They hadn't better be. And there is no reason for that. The same way the Bucs and Texans took advantage of the space they had remaining in the current year to place some of that contract $ the Lions could have signed deals with lower year 1 cap hits followed by much larger hits in year 2.

Secondly I ask, are you saying even if that is indeed what they are doing, there is no chance in hell he will even know what the frick to do with said money?

Yes. The man had no practical business experience and ZERO experience with money mgmt. Not one tiny bit. He has developed bad habits and those stick to a person, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the way they manage $. I have seen absolutely nothing that shows he has even the slightest bit of understanding of the way a good manager manipulates the cap.

When was the last time the Lions were not cap strapped? I have only been paying attention since my early CBS days. Took a few years to even start to understand it. So has Lewand really ever had a chance to work out deals in these savvy ways?

As long as I can remember, and he's been at the helm the entire time. Everyone says that our problems are the result of the old CBA. So what was the viable solution that a prudent money manager with even the slightest bit of vision presents to the GM? I've waited for years to see if even one person might offer it up while I've bashed on this incompetent drunken fool.

That solution was always to trade the damn pick. Only the first few picks carried the insane contract amounts. And yes, there absolutely were opportunities for that. The Bucs offered two 1sts for CJ and there certainly would have been takers on Suh. It's that simple. Even if you had to take lesser value to make the deal happen that doesn't mean its a losing proposition if you have vision that extends beyond the upcoming season. If you aren't buried under the cap you can add talent via FA. So maybe you don't add Suh or CJ, did you know they were going to be the players they are now when they were drafted? Of course you didn't. So would the team have been better with different players but having added more in FA or with the ability to do less in FA but have those players?? Not a question you can answer but that was the proper solution from a business standpoint. It could have been done and it should have been done.

Even if you make the argument that they tried to trade out and failed the numerous restructures still show a lack of vision. He only sees whats immediately in front of him, and nothing beyond that. I have no faith that even with space next year he will know how to do anything with it that wont put us back in trouble again soon.