And maybe Rogers will decide he wants to take a $10m/year contract with the Bills to bring a championship to Buffalo!
And maybe Suh will go to Seattle. I saw a blurb on ESPN last night about some action going on in Buff. A trade or loss? What's happenin'?
Might have been the Richie Incognito acquisition. They picked him up on a 1 year, "prove yourself" contract - his locker room presence is a big question mark but Buffalo is really suffering on the O-line, so I can see why they did it.
He kind of proved himself to be a giant douchebag didn't he? If Seattle gets Suh....God help us all. Considering he's from the Northwest, has family and friends there, it sure seems like it's a possibility. Either way, the shit he pulls only takes away from his talent which is a shame.
Pretty much, but he spent all of last season out of football so I guess we'll see if that instilled any humility in him. It won't happen. They can't afford him. They're going to have to pay Wilson the big bucks, they've already acknowledged they offered Lynch a sizable contract, and Bobby Wagner needs to be signed. They might let Byron Maxwell go, but that's not going to be enough. Suh might be a tasty morsel but it's not an area of need for Seattle and they don't run a stupid franchise - they understand the value of depth, so they're not going to blow their wad on a huge free agent signing in an area where they already have a lot of talent. I think Kearse and Richardson are also both free agents this year, on an already barren wide receiver corps.
Seattle has the second most cap space in the NFC this offseason. Yes, even after the contract extensions given to most of their defense. GM John Schneider was on local radio today and intimated that Wilson was willing to sign a cap friendly contract because Wilson cares about winning and keeping the talent level high. I can't imagine a scenario where Seattle doesn't resign arguably one of the best middle linebackers in the game. Maxwell has probably priced his way out of town. I think Atlanta makes sense, based on Dan Quinn taking the job there. As far as Suh goes, unless he does an Avril/Bennett type prove it deal that they got when they signed as free agents last year, Suh seems like a luxury Seattle can't afford. Well, they could afford him, but at the cost of shitting themselves 2-3 years down the line when cap numbers get unmanageable. Still, a d-line of Bennett, Avril, Mebane (criminally underrated) and Suh would easily be the best in the league. It'll be interesting to see if Seattle is willing to bet on the salary cap going through the roof. Schneider also talked about Lynch a little bit. Mostly saying that the ball was in Lynch's court. Seattle isn't sure if Lynch will retire. If he doesn't, he's getting an extension. I am of the firm belief that Lynch doesn't let football define him and he only uses it to make a lot of money. I am also of the belief that he will be paid like the top 3 RB that he is. Richardson was a second rounder last year, so he's still on his rookie contract. Kearse will be a free agent, but I'm not sure what kind of market he'll find for himself. Kearse is the type of guy that can make historically ridiculous catches in huge games, yet be partly to wholly responsible for 4 interceptions.
Sure, Seattle definitely has some room. I'm just saying that Suh would take up most of that room - Sportrac is projecting him at a whopping $17m per year. Wilson might play on a team friendly contract but I don't think he's going to play for free. Even if they signed Wilson and Wagner to contracts that had small cap hits in the first year, they'll just put themselves in cap hell down the road, and I think the organization is too smart to do that.
I read an article positing what a Suh addition would mean for not only Seattle but for Suh himself. He's from Portland and actually wants to play for Seattle. Thanks to the broken rookie system of the past, it isn't as if he doesn't have a ton of money already. When you consider that you're 28 and the only decent teams with more cap space than Seattle are Indianapolis and Cincinnati, you might consider taking a few million less if it meant playing for a historic defense that will still be in its prime for 2-4 years. Adding Suh would essentially make Seattle draft offense, which honestly, could use more speed to keep defenses honest. The thing I love about Seattle's front office is that they've shown a willingness to get players that they want. They know that they can afford to be aggressive because the other 31 teams are full of people that are afraid of losing their jobs. Ultimately, all of this hinges on the contract that Wilson signs. Regardless, I think Seattle's real test comes when the most expensive player on their team is the QB. Anybody can exploit free agency when your cap hit for a franchise QB is under a million. I personally can't wait to see how different the team will look like in August.
You realize Seattle is not leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the NFL in terms of management right? They aren't radical visionaries by any means. Lets see how they're able to adapt when they aren't paying their franchise QB third round draft money.
Not talking about Suh particularly, but I wonder how much endorsement deals help offset costs for remaining players and attracting others that might get a bigger pay day elsewhere. Especially for the defensive side of the ball where players tend to be much less noticed when they aren't on great teams. I'd be happy to take a pay cut in salary if I got to play for a much better team and had the potential to more than offset it by doing ads and taking on sponsors.
I think the only way Suh goes to Seattle is if they end up offering only a couple million less than the next highest bidder. I don't care if he's from Portland and has already made a shit ton of money. If someone like Indianapolis or Oakland offers Suh 20 million more than Seattle, Suh is going to take the 20 million. I also don't see Seattle offering Suh anything close to what the max offer will be, even if they have a lot of cap space I don't think they are dumb enough to sacrifice the ability to re-sign their current stable of players.
No I did, I'm more harping on the "31 other teams are full of people that are afraid of losing their jobs" aspect of your post. As if the Belichick's, Ted Thompson's, Trent Baalke's, are terrified to be aggressive and go after a player that they like, only Seattle's front office has the audacity to take a flyer on a Michael Bennet type player.
I can't imagine any of those GM's taking a flyer on Percy Harvin, extending him, and then trading him to someone else the very next year. The past is littered with GMs that have stubbornly held on to headcase players due to their amazing talent or contract. Seattle did neither. I know I drink the Carroll koolaid, but I honestly can't believe either Schneider or Carroll haven't won or at least been in the discussion for Executive or Coach of the Year. As for your last sentence, I specifically said:
How is it bullshit? Both teams are in essentially the oldest smallest stadiums in the NFL. The Stadium would be privately financed so the taxpayers are not on the hook. It would be a shame for San Diego and Oakland but whatever. The only thing I would be concerned with is to make sure the teams are paying their 1% property tax on that 1.6 billion dollar stadium each year. Per my calculation, that comes out to $16,000,000 a year in property tax.
Well the new Stadium will be privately financed, but they're trying to hold the teams hostage in having the current cities put in for new stadiums. That's how it always goes with these things.