2009 Cap

[NickO]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

I don't know Jason Brown, but if he isn't a ZBS kind of guy I don't see us going after him.

Just a couple points:
1) All teams have some sort of zone-blocking in their offenses, so the skill itself doesn't bother me as much as the coordination with other linemen.
2) No idea of his agility, but Brown's a big boy (6'3", 320lbs). Myers certainly had trouble holding the point of attack at times this season, and with Henderson/Haynesworth in the division (at least for now), it's something to think about.
3) Myers is cheap (4yrs, $11MM, $3MM bonus), durable, and has 16 games of experience with the same linemen.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by NickO

Just a couple points:
2) No idea of his agility, but Brown's a big boy (6'3", 320lbs). Myers certainly had trouble holding the point of attack at times this season, and with Henderson/Haynesworth in the division (at least for now), it's something to think about.

Brown could also play RG.

As for his agility...he was in the 2005 draft class. At the Combine his numbers were.....

1.85 - 10 yard split
4.52 - Shuttle
7.72 - Cone

If you compare those numbers to Chester Pitts' Combine of the following:

1.84 - 10 yard
4.81 - Shuttle
7.84 - Cone

then, you might think he could do a decent job along the Offensive line in a ZBS under Gibbs.

[Keith]

Just to show that the Texans' 2009 cap room is nothing special, here's a clip from Adam Schefter's blog on today's playoff teams:

Arizona — Projected to be at least $41 million under the salary cap, the money will go quickly. The Cardinals face two significant issues.
Quarterback Kurt Warner is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, as is linebacker Karlos Dansby. Plus, wide receiver Anquan Boldin, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and safety Adrian Wilson all want more money. Who doesn't?

Carolina — A mere $10 million under the 2009 salary cap, the Panthers could use another franchise tag. Both defensive end Julius Peppers and offensive tackle Jordan Gross are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, and either will land a bounty if he doesn't have the franchise tag.

Baltimore — At $25 million under the salary cap, the Ravens would seem to have plenty of flexibility. Problem is, each of their three starting linebackers — Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis and Bart Scott — are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents. Baltimore can franchise only one. Chances are, Scott is the most likely to leave.

Tennessee — The Titans have left themselves $30 million under the salary cap, but it will go quickly. Quarterback Kerry Collins and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth are scheduled to become free agents, and Tennessee is banned from using its franchise tag on Haynesworth.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/01/10/satu...hape-for-2009/

A couple names mentioned though that might be interesting if the Texans wanted to spend big this offseason.

[jcp]

Originally Posted by Keith

Just to show that the Texans' 2009 cap room is nothing special, here's a clip from Adam Schefter's blog on today's playoff teams:

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/01/10/satu...hape-for-2009/

A couple names mentioned though that might be interesting if the Texans wanted to spend big this offseason.

Yeah, here's to hoping that Carolina tags Gross over Peppers.

Imagine a line with Peppers and Mario...then pick up Mays or Moore in the draft and we might have ourselves a decent D

[gunn]

Originally Posted by jcp

Yeah, here's to hoping that Carolina tags Gross over Peppers.

Imagine a line with Peppers and Mario...then pick up Mays or Moore in the draft and we might have ourselves a decent D

According to Lombardi, Carolina is nowhere close to a contract with Peppers and will almost assuredly use the tag on him.

[Keith]

More info on the last capped year and the potential of an uncapped year for those interested. In addition to noting some key rule changes to keep in mind, I found this angle I sorta alluded to in an earlier article:

It still appears that Kansas City chose to not rollover over $20M of Cap room into this year, perhaps figuring it would have “too much room.” It will be interesting to see if that rationale is tolerable to two groups of constituents that would like them to do whatever it takes to fix their ills: their fans and the Players’ Association.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...ey-matters-20/

The idea that some teams (mostly smaller market teams) spent so closely to the cap floor is evidence of a severe crack in the uniformity of the ownership. Worse still, I fear if something doesn't change with the new CBA, the NFL will lose some more of what makes it special in terms of trying to keep the field level between large market and small market teams.

[Fonz the Boss]

Quick question... If there is indeed an uncapped year and several big market teams choose to go on spending sprees for superstar free agents, what will happen if the next year is capped and these teams are already tied up with mega contracts for a few more years?.... Wouldn't they have to think about that? I think that even if there is an uncapped year, big market teams will be reluctant to offer huge contracts. Therefore, I dont think it's going to be too much of a factor..... Not unless they offer most of the salary in that uncapped year with a monumental signing bonus. A signing bonus that surpasses Peyton Manning's 34 million in 2004. I dont think too many owners will want to risk that much money.

[Keith]

Shadowy capologist AdamJT13 posted at KFFL what teams used the Philly Loophole to increase their 2009 cap space and by how much. Take the link to read it in full detail (27 of the 32 teams took advantage of the loophole this year).

Pertinent to the Texans is this:

Houston -- $2,032,327
...
Houston -- Mike Brisiel $2,032,327

So, this is interesting for a couple reasons.
(1) The Texans finished the 2008 season somwhere shy of $3 million in available space (last credible figure I seem to remember having was around $2.41 million, yes the ItB.com page is a little out of date in that regard). The # above forwarded to 2009 shows a minimum of available space left in 2008.
(2) It obviously reflects some additional purchasing power in 2009, but it ranks around 21st if I counted down correctly, so please hold your cartwheels.
(3) In order to forward this sum, the Texans had to of renegotiated a contract with Brisiel... something which not surprisingly eluded our local media. Basically the team inserted a junk incentive very late in the season into Brisiel's contract; the extent to which the rest of his contract was altered is at this time unknown.

Brisiel had been scheduled to become a ERFA this offseason. The NFLPA currently shows him under contract for 2009 at a minimum base salary ($460k) for someone with his # of years. Other similarly situated players, like Earl Cochran, don't appear to have been tendered yet.

[Keith]

A few sites are trying to pull together cap data for all teams as they look ahead to the opening of the UFA signing window on 2/27. AsktheCommish is one such site, and like our cap page here, they acknowledge that the data is unofficial and compiled largely from NFLPA and "various media sources" (as I'm guessing USAToday and even ItB.com might qualify).

Anyhoo, the Texans rank 10th on this list with the most available cap room. I've seen another adjusted for the forwarded cap space from 2008 that ranks the team around 11th.

http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp

Most striking to me is that the Cardinals, defending NFC champs, are 2nd with roughly $41 million available. The Titans are 5th.

So while 11th puts the Texans closer to the middle of the pack than way out in front, it does represent the team's ability to re-sign all they players they choose. It also affords them an opportunity to take a hard look at other UFAs as well.

We are nearing the end of the calm here (if you discount the Outside the Lines thriller)... in another two weeks or so, we're going to be busting with some news.

[jppaul]

As long as we can afford to resign Dunta, Demeco, and Daniels, I am good.

[Keith]

I've updated the 2009 salary cap page to reflect some recent changes. I'm in a rush at the moment, but I'll probably write up something here later about key points, plus I plan to do one final clean-up of the 2008 cap page later tonight as well.

http://www.inthebullseye.com/cap2009.html

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Keith

Shadowy capologist AdamJT13 posted at KFFL what teams used the Philly Loophole to increase their 2009 cap space and by how much. Take the link to read it in full detail (27 of the 32 teams took advantage of the loophole this year).

Updating... AdamJT13 has posted the final adjusted cap amounts, and the Texans figure is $1,081,327. Since the team forwarded $2,032,327 via the LTBE loophole with Brisiel's extension, that means there were $951,000 in NLTBE incentives earned (the majority of which were for Mario, plus that lowered that forwarded amount.

So, bottom line is that with a $127.05 million cap in 2009, the Texans' actual starting cap space will be adjusted upward to $128,131,327.

[Keith]

PFT believes they have peeked at some cap room #s as of 4/22.

Houston Texans: $10.75 million.

The ItB.com cap page reflects about $14.4 million right now, and it hasn't been this far off in a long time (though 3% or so isn't too bad I guess). Not sure the source of the difference, but hopefully I'll get some cleaner info this summer.

[nero THE zero]

I don't understand how a team with ~$1M in cap room can function when it still has to sign its draft picks and inevitably sign street FA through the course of the season.

[Bigtinylittle]

Originally Posted by NickO

Just a couple points:
1) All teams have some sort of zone-blocking in their offenses, so the skill itself doesn't bother me as much as the coordination with other linemen.
2) No idea of his agility, but Brown's a big boy (6'3", 320lbs). Myers certainly had trouble holding the point of attack at times this season, and with Henderson/Haynesworth in the division (at least for now), it's something to think about.
3) Myers is cheap (4yrs, $11MM, $3MM bonus), durable, and has 16 games of experience with the same linemen.

Not to start an argument, but Gibbs is ZBS all the way. I know lots of teams use some ZBS but Gibbs has been quoted as saying going hybrid is a mistake. In other words, you MUST only go after linemen who are very quick and backs who are quick, have great vision, and don't like dancing around. If you look at the three players we added to the offense last year (Slaton, Brown, and Myers), they describe to a T what Gibbs is looking for, though Gibbs obviously would like a center with more core strength. If Jason Brown doesn't fit Gibbs' system, then he won't be here.