Dead Money Disasters

[paycheck71]

Not surprised to see the Cowboys and the Raiders in the top three. The Colts dumping all their dead money in their rebuilding year sounds like a good idea for them. They'll be a force to reckon with as soon as next year. Demeco counts as 10+MM this year in dead money. That's high, but should help with cap space starting next year.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...disasters.html

Indianapolis Colts ($38,790,072-Dead Money; $128,807,705-Adjusted Cap)

It is remarkable that the Colts are a playoff contender considering that 30.1% of their adjusted cap is devoted to dead money. In essence, they are operating with a $90 million salary cap because of the dead money. Most of the Colts’ dead money is related to releasing Peyton Manning instead of paying the $28 million option bonus in the five-year, $90 million contract he signed in 2011, which included a $20 million signing bonus. The remaining $16 million of Manning’s signing bonus proration accelerated into this year’s cap. However, the Colts are receiving a $5.6 million cap credit since Manning’s $28 million option bonus was also prorated over the five years of his contract. Manning, who had a $6.4 million 2011 base salary, made $26.4 million last year.

[badboy]

Jacoby Jones has $1m dead money 2012 & $2m in 2013. Winston is the one that should be twice that.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by badboy

Jacoby Jones has $1m dead money 2012 & $2m in 2013. Winston is the one that should be twice that.

Where do you get any dead money for JJ in 2013?

[badboy]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Where do you get any dead money for JJ in 2013?

Let me try to find that link.

[badboy]

Ok, here we go about half way down it mentions Texans dead money.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore.../jacoby-jones/

He was to get $900k signing and $1m misc 2013. Maybe I misunderstand it.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by badboy

Ok, here we go about half way down it mentions Texans dead money.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore.../jacoby-jones/

He was to get $900k signing and $1m misc 2013. Maybe I misunderstand it.

The one million we owed is reflected below and is done this year. We don't have any 2013 dead money for him.

[paycheck71]

Originally Posted by badboy

Ok, here we go about half way down it mentions Texans dead money.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore.../jacoby-jones/

He was to get $900k signing and $1m misc 2013. Maybe I misunderstand it.

So, this site only has the Cowboys with ~12MM of dead money with Roy Williams not even on the books. I wonder how accurate this is (same goes for the author of the original article I posted).

[welsh texan]

That the Texans have a good chunk of dead money this season makes me a whole lot more positive about our cap position going forward. Should give us options both resigning our own FAs and going after a role player or two should we see fit.

We won't be making a splash in FA for a while but I think those guys who the coaches see something in that haven't got much value to their current team, they will be sign-able with ~$10 million or so coming off the books, and our own highest priorities already resigned.

[Wolf6151]

So how much total dead money do the Texans have this year? This money should come in handy when trying to re-sign Barwin and Quin in this offseason.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by Wolf6151

So how much total dead money do the Texans have this year? This money should come in handy when trying to re-sign Barwin and Quin in this offseason.

Don't know the dead money total, but 25 million in capspace was the original estimate before signing Brown and extending Schaub. Also, Jjo restructured 4 million, which will push 1.33 million into next year's cap. No telling what kind of dead money we accrued from guys on IR or being cut. Shouldn't have much to play with next year, I'll be surprised if both Quin and Barwin are back.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

I'll be surprised if both Quin and Barwin are back.

Are either setup for big FA paydays? Barwin's sacks are down, and Quin has 4 career ints in 56 games. Solid players, but not the types that will break the bank.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Are either setup for big FA paydays? Barwin's sacks are down, and Quin has 4 career ints in 56 games. Solid players, but not the types that will break the bank.

Well, the key word there is "both", although I won't be surprised to see neither of them are on the team next year. 2013 is when the 90% salary cap floor kicks in and I believe it will begin to wreak havoc on the free agent market. Players that normally cost 3-4 million will cost double because small market teams with capspace want to get something out of that money. No sense in taking a penalty for not spending, so I think we will see guys like Quin and Barwin, who are mid-level free agents, get overpaid. They will get snapped up by teams like the Bills, Jags, Browns, Colts and Bucs, teams with low payroll now and lots of capspace to burn.

I don't think the Texans will have much capspace to use next year anyways. It was reported by ESPN's John Clayton in the summer that the Texans had 25 million in capspace upcoming in 2013. Since then we have seen the following signings for the following cap hits:

Schaub - 10.75 million
Brown - 5 million
JJo Resturcture - 1.33 million

That's 17.08 million in new money being added to the 2013 roster. So I think a fairly reasonable guess is that the Texans will have about 8 million to spend in free agency next year. That might enough to lock up one of Quin or Barwin, but probably not both. They also need to keep some money free for draft picks and injury replacements during the season.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Well, the key word there is "both", although I won't be surprised to see neither of them are on the team next year. 2013 is when the 90% salary cap floor kicks in and I believe it will begin to wreak havoc on the free agent market. Players that normally cost 3-4 million will cost double because small market teams with capspace want to get something out of that money. No sense in taking a penalty for not spending, so I think we will see guys like Quin and Barwin, who are mid-level free agents, get overpaid. They will get snapped up by teams like the Bills, Jags, Browns, Colts and Bucs, teams with low payroll now and lots of capspace to burn.

I don't think the Texans will have much capspace to use next year anyways. It was reported by ESPN's John Clayton in the summer that the Texans had 25 million in capspace upcoming in 2013. Since then we have seen the following signings for the following cap hits:

Schaub - 10.75 million
Brown - 5 million
JJo Resturcture - 1.33 million

That's 17.08 million in new money being added to the 2013 roster. So I think a fairly reasonable guess is that the Texans will have about 8 million to spend in free agency next year. That might enough to lock up one of Quin or Barwin, but probably not both. They also need to keep some money free for draft picks and injury replacements during the season.

DR, in your informed opinion how many years before the Texans are out of the "near cap hell" syndrome? Seems like it's been going on forever with no end in sight.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by drs23

DR, in your informed opinion how many years before the Texans are out of the "near cap hell" syndrome? Seems like it's been going on forever with no end in sight.

Ummm, I think we are out of "cap hell" for now. We took hits for guys like Jacoby, Demeco and Winston this year to give us room to re-sign our core guys like Schaub and Brown (16 million in dead money per Sportrac). Next year we should have about 8 million free, but Quin, Barwin, and a slew of other free agents may walk. I suppose you could call that cap hell because we are losing guys, but I don't think it's so bad. Good teams lose players, it's just how it goes sometimes. Barwin and Quin will possibly be big losses, but I'm not too concerned. We have a lot of draft picks coming up and I think we can fill those holes with good players. Truthfully, I'd like to see a new OLB other than Barwin at the position.

On the bright side, our projected free agents for 2013-14 are minimal. Brian Cushing, Wade Smith and Antonio Smith are the only major players, and Cushing will be retained with the franchise tag if necessary. The other two will be looking for final contracts and shouldn't cost much, but give a lot of caproom to re-sign Cushing. I imagine we will be drafting a DE and another OG next year, so we should be able to fill those holes if necessary.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Ummm, I think we are out of "cap hell" for now. We took hits for guys like Jacoby, Demeco and Winston this year to give us room to re-sign our core guys like Schaub and Brown (16 million in dead money per Sportrac). Next year we should have about 8 million free, but Quin, Barwin, and a slew of other free agents may walk. I suppose you could call that cap hell because we are losing guys, but I don't think it's so bad. Good teams lose players, it's just how it goes sometimes. Barwin and Quin will possibly be big losses, but I'm not too concerned. We have a lot of draft picks coming up and I think we can fill those holes with good players. Truthfully, I'd like to see a new OLB other than Barwin at the position.

On the bright side, our projected free agents for 2013-14 are minimal. Brian Cushing, Wade Smith and Antonio Smith are the only major players, and Cushing will be retained with the franchise tag if necessary. The other two will be looking for final contracts and shouldn't cost much, but give a lot of caproom to re-sign Cushing. I imagine we will be drafting a DE and another OG next year, so we should be able to fill those holes if necessary.

Thanks and I'm taking that to the bank.

There was talk earlier about letting Antonio walk. I think that would be a mistake. IMO, he's part of the glue that holds the line together, a REAL team player, like taking rooks under his arm and teaching them the ropes in the pros. I have no way of proving my point but I would think the FO sees things like that and will take it into consideration. Not to mention, behind JJ, he's a lights out player on the front in the trenches and I don't see a rookie just stepping in an fulfilling that role. Granted Crick is there and has upside but he's a long way from filling Antonio's cleats and D linemen are always quite the crap shoot. We know what we have in #94. If Barwin skips I trust Wade to snag another OLB for the 3rd year running plus I think when Merciles finally gets some game time we'll see an improvement and won't be surprised if it's actually an upgrade. That is of coarse pure speculation but from what little we've seen, he looks good and will only improve.

I'd hate to see Quin sky. The cat just makes plays and is very versatile. Then again Wade can find a guy he likes and mold him into what we need.

Long story shorter, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming draft with all of our comp picks I see good things on the horizon and I'm in the minority but I trust Rick Smith to find and sign the guys we need.

A DYNASTY in the making I tell ya. Hide-N-Watch!

Thanks again for your response.