Sensabaugh expressed interest in playing for the Texans

[chuck]

How the hell did this team end up with salary cap troubles when most of its few good players are on their first contract and haven't even been re-upped yet? Schaub and Andre, sure, Smith, another. Who the hell else is strapping the team? They have very little real talent and don't have the cap space to get any more? Insane.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by chuck

How the hell did this team end up with salary cap troubles when most of its few good players are on their first contract and haven't even been re-upped yet? Schaub and Andre, sure, Smith, another. Who the hell else is strapping the team? They have very little real talent and don't have the cap space to get any more? Insane.

My understanding is Mario, Schaub, AJ, Smith all have nice sized contracts, and guys like David Anderson and Eric Winston are being over paid cause they are nice guys.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by painekiller

My understanding is Mario, Schaub, AJ, Smith all have nice sized contracts, and guys like David Anderson and Eric Winston are being over paid cause they are nice guys.

Yeah, this is about right. This is old cap data, but rough 2011 cap figures I had were:

Mario - $20.3MM
Schaub - $9MM
Andre - $9.1MM
Antonio - $7.1MM
Winston - $5.5MM
Myers - $3.5MM
Dan O - $3.5MM
Cushing - $3MM
Amobi - $2.8MM

Toss in newer deals too for the likes of DeMeco, OD, Walter, and Rackers, and this adds up quick.

[Nconroe]

Maybe its good bye Dan O and hope Mario can redo his deal somehow.

Sounds like there is two 3 mil exceptions to get this years cap up to 126 mil

Looking forward to fa soon

[chuck]

How the F is Mario getting paid $20MM? This is from his rookie contract, right?

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by chuck

How the F is Mario getting paid $20MM? This is from his rookie contract, right?

Most top of the draft rookie deals are back loaded so the teams will be forced to sign an extension or cut the player if they are a bust. VY is due $13MM this season, so this is not too out of line.

It makes the agent look smart because they say I got XYZ a $50MM deal, when in reality the team is really on the hook for $20MM in guaranteed money. Most contract like this never play out completely.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by chuck

How the F is Mario getting paid $20MM? This is from his rookie contract, right?

Yeah. I don't have the contract summary handy, but this is his final year where he has a $13.6m base plus his signing and option bonus prorates.

This reported $120+MM cap is really low... based on the prior trajectory, I originally had the 2011 salary cap at close to $140 million a couple years ago.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Keith

This reported $120+MM cap is really low... based on the prior trajectory, I originally had the 2011 salary cap at close to $140 million a couple years ago.

My take is that it's better for the players to have all the teams spending 100% of a $120MM cap than having some teams like Tampa Bay at $65MM with a cap of $134MM.

So I get the lower cap, but it will make the FA period a lot of crazy with some teams like Dallas having to dump salaries and some teams like Tampa Bay having to overspend to get to the cap.

Also there is still some issues with the interpretation of things like how workout bonus count towards the cap. So this is still not complete.