Thread: I'm guessing this means he wants a lot of money....

Originally Posted by GermansbombedPH

I like Melton but he wants and will get paid as Top 5 at his position. Not sure if it would be wise to spend that much money on him. Izzy could play DT too. We can overcome that loss if need be. Can find a DT

Oh come on man. Izzy is 32 years old, in his last few years as a player and a spot pass rusher at DT. He's primarily a DE and he wouldn't hold up as an every down DT even in a rotation. That's crazy. Even resigning Izzy won't offset the loss of a 26 year old Pro Bowl DT like Melton. Not even close.

And you cannot just go out and find a 3t DT as good as Melton. We haven't had one as good since Tommie Harris in his prime and that was 6 or 7 years ago or more and few other teams have one as good as he is either. That alone will make him a very desirable FA find if we were to let him go. He's worth $7-$8 mil per year and in all likelihood he'll get it. The budget for that has already been set aside just like it was for Forte.

That UT spot is a key position in the type of 4-3 we play because we need inside pressure on the pass rush and a gap shooting DT who can make plays in the backfield against the run and blow them up. That's what Melton does and he does it well. That position is just as important to the DLine as a good LT is to the OLine so when you have one you don't let him get away.

If we had anyone else who was better why did we let Okoye go in FA and cut Brian Price before the season? They're both capable of playing 3t DT. Those guys don't even come close to being as good now let alone have the upside of Melton. He could be a perennial Pro Bowler just like Briggs and Pep have been. Sorry but you don't let a defensive star like that walk. You pay the man.

Originally Posted by motownbear

worst case scenario you don't lose a talent like that for free. If we don't believe we can keep him long term you tag and trade him which Dallas never has a problem doing for a flash move like they did with Roy Williams. I would rather keep him but there are other options then just us losing him

Good thought mo but you can't trade him while he's under the tag. It would have to be a sign and trade deal and I don't know that I've ever seen that done because of the way the cap rules are structured.

The signing team has to eat any unamortized signing bonus when a guy is cut or traded so you'd have to structure any new deal without one and that might be a cap killer for the other team and a deal killer too.

We just need to sign him period and if we need to tag him first in order to protect ourselves then unless Emery has found a rookie prospect just as good to replace him in April. If not then he needs to keep him around.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

not sure what Dallas cap space is, but I heard everyone is pretty much hurting. Also not sure that DL is where their issues lie. They have OL issues also, and they need a rb to backup Murray. Not sure about anything else.

**Sidenote, it's going to be an interesting FA period b/c from what I heard only Cleveland has a ton of cap space, everyone else is pretty tight or in the red.

Yes, according to ESPN's John Clayton, there are currently ten teams that are already under the salary cap for 2013. That means a number of players will probably be released after the Super Bowl. The Bears have got $13.3 million salary cap space left to work with. Not a ton of money, but clearly better than a number of other teams. According to a league source, the Bears are among the top 10 teams in terms of cap space. Emery can greatly increase the team's cap space by inking Cutler, Tillman, Marshall and Peppers to contract extensions.

2013 Cap Space

Team	Carryover	Total space
Arizona	$3.6M	-$723,000
Atlanta	$307,000	$4.9M
Baltimore	$1.2M	$15.7M
Buffalo	$9.8M	$20.6M
Carolina	$3.6M	-$11.8M
Chicago	$3.2M	$13.3M
Cincinnati	$8.5M	$55.1M
Cleveland	$14.3M	$48.9M
Dallas	$2.3M	-$18.2M
Denver	$11.5M	$18.5M
Detroit	$486,000	-$1.1M
Green Bay	$7M	$7.1M
Houston	$2.4M	$12.9M
Indianapolis	$3.5M	$46M
Jacksonville	$19.5M	$22.1M
Kansas City	$14M	$16.1M
Miami	$5.3M	$35.8M
Minnesota	$8M	$16.1M
New England	$5.6M	$18.6M
New Orleans	$2.7M	-$14.7M
NY Giants	$1M	-$4.7M
NY Jets	$3.4M	-$19.4M
Oakland	$4.5M	-$4.5M
Philadelphia	$23M	$5.2M
Pittsburgh	$758,000	-$10.8M
San Diego	$995,000	$8.7M
San Fran	$859,000	$3.9M
Seattle	$13.2M	$18.6M
St. Louis	$247,000	$1.8M
Tampa Bay	$8.5M	$31.3M
Tennessee	$12.8M	$19.4M
Washington	$4.2M	-$4M

Originally Posted by little bear

Yes, according to ESPN's John Clayton, there are currently ten teams that are already under the salary cap for 2013. That means a number of players will probably be released after the Super Bowl. The Bears have got $13.3 million salary cap space left to work with. Not a ton of money, but clearly better than a number of other teams. According to a league source, the Bears are among the top 10 teams in terms of cap space. Emery can greatly increase the team's cap space by inking Cutler, Tillman, Marshall and Peppers to contract extensions.

In case it would be helpful, I thought I'd post that article here.

LINK to the article

Carryover rules impact cap strategy

By John Clayton

On the eve of the regular-season finale, teams couldn't afford to think exclusively about the game.

They had to think about next season. Under the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, teams had to designate how much money they wanted to carry over to the 2013 salary cap. The carryover provisions are new and important.

With the cap growing at only $300,000 a year, teams have to budget their cap over a multi-year basis. Last year's cap was $120.6 million, so general managers have to be smart about their spending.

The "haves'' are in good shape. The "have nots'' have to be creative. Thanks to the carryover, there is $350.7 million of cap room in 2013, but $200.3 million of carryover is part of that.

Eight teams, though, account for 79 percent million of total room. The Cincinnati Bengals saved $8.5 million of cap room in 2012 and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year. They have $55.1 million of room. The Cleveland Browns saved $14.3 million of room in 2012 and now have $48.9 million. After being tight against the cap in 2012, the Indianapolis Colts now have $46 million of room.

The Miami Dolphins have $35.8 million, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers $31.3 million, the Jacksonville Jaguars $22.1 million, the Buffalo Bills $20.6 million and the Tennessee Titans $19.4 million.

On the negative side, the New York Jets are $19.4 million over the cap. The Dallas Cowboys are $18.2 million over, the New Orleans Saints $14.7 million over and the Carolina Panthers $11.8 million over.

And here is that same cap space chart sorted from "most cap" to least:

2013 Cap Space
Team	Total space (Millions)
Cincinnati	55.100
Cleveland	48.900
Indianapolis	46.000
Miami	35.800
Tampa Bay	31.300
Jacksonville	22.100
Buffalo	20.600
Tennessee	19.400
New England	18.600
Seattle	18.600
Denver	18.500
Kansas City	16.100
Minnesota	16.100
Baltimore	15.700
Chicago	13.300
Houston	12.900
San Diego	8.700
Green Bay	7.100
Philadelphia	5.200
Atlanta	4.900
San Fran	3.900
St. Louis	1.800
Arizona	0.723
Detroit	-1.100
Washington	-4.000
Oakland	-4.500
NY Giants	-4.700
Pittsburgh	-10.800
Carolina	-11.800
New Orleans	-14.700
Dallas	-18.200
NY Jets	-19.400

Originally Posted by motownbear

Is that a new rule cause I remember when Corey Simon was tagged by Philly then traded to Indy for a second rounder. Also when we tagged Briggs a deal was almost done where we would trade him and our first for redskin first which was atop ten pick the only reason it didn't happen is they wouldn't add rocky mckintosh

Mo I'm not sure but I know when it came up last year after we tagged Forte there was an article about it and I looked it up and that's what it said. The CBA doesn't allow a team to tag a player in anticipation of trading him. I suppose a team could lift the tag provided the player agreed to the trade but other than that I don't know how you'd get around it.

Well I just thought of another possibility. A nuance I may have overlooked. Unless the player signs the franchise tender he's not officially under contract so he can't be traded. He's still a UFA and at that time Forte had not signed his tender. So that may have been it. But once he signs it he is under contract and then I guess the team could trade him and the new guys would probably do a new deal for him. You can't trade a player who's not yours to trade.

I don't recall anymore what the rule was back when those deals took place but that may have been it. Either the tenders had been signed or the players agreed to sign their tender pursuant to that particular trade. But even if Dallas were to offer their 1st round pick for him I still wouldn't trade Melton

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

In case it would be helpful, I thought I'd post that article here.



And here is that same cap space chart sorted from "most cap" to least:

2013 Cap Space
Team	Total space (Millions)
Cincinnati	55.100
Cleveland	48.900
Indianapolis	46.000
Miami	35.800
Tampa Bay	31.300
Jacksonville	22.100
Buffalo	20.600
Tennessee	19.400
New England	18.600
Seattle	18.600
Denver	18.500
Kansas City	16.100
Minnesota	16.100
Baltimore	15.700
Chicago	13.300
Houston	12.900
San Diego	8.700
Green Bay	7.100
Philadelphia	5.200
Atlanta	4.900
San Fran	3.900
St. Louis	1.800
Arizona	0.723
Detroit	-1.100
Washington	-4.000
Oakland	-4.500
NY Giants	-4.700
Pittsburgh	-10.800
Carolina	-11.800
New Orleans	-14.700
Dallas	-18.200
NY Jets	-19.400

Helpful, very helpful and Clayton is usually pretty trustworthy when it comes to this stuff. He may look like Wally Cox and be an unlikely football guru as nerdy as he appears but he follows the game pretty closely and his info is usually very accurate unlike others who write first and research afterward.

One other factor that may gain us a little extra $$$ is that any unearned bonus money that was charged against the 2012 cap will be credited back to the 2013 cap and I don't believe that takes place until the new league year begins in March. It may be very little or it may be a few million I don't really know yet.

I think as lb pointed out doing some extensions for the players listed would help clear some additional cap room and I don't think there's one player on that list that isn't worth keeping. Cutler and Marshall along with Forte who's already locked up are the core of our offense and still in their prime productive years so it just makes sense to do it as soon as it can be done. Pep and Peanut have got some miles on them but both had their best years as Bears last year and show no signs of declining play so I'd say those two are a given as well. We're a little tight on excess cap space this year but much better off in 2014 so moving some of those dollars forward makes sense and I'm sure Cliff Stein can figure out how best to do that.

So what can we learn from this versus our needs and our targets for FA? Of the top LT candidates it looks like Miami, KC and Denver are in a position to keep Long, Albert and Clady if they choose. But NY may have a tougher decision to make with Beatty and NO may have a real problem keeping Bushrod. I'd say that info along with Kromer coming to Chicago makes him a best guess target if Kromer wants to take a shot at the guy.

I didn't look the interior lineman over that well because I hate to overpay for an OG or OC we can get in the draft for much less than a top FA but one name that came up is LeVitre and from looking at Buffalo's cap situation they shouldn't have any problem re-signing him either. Oakland has it's problems again which may mean a TE like Myers can be had if he's a guy Emery and Trestman like. Other than that and given the need to re-sign so many of our own I don't see us making more than one or two major plays and LT and TE along with LB would seem to be the most likely. If we could cover two of the three pretty well in FA we should be good.

The situation in Dallas tells me that even if the desire is there can they really be a player for a guy like Melton anyway. I just don't see anyone offering more than what the tag is on average and I believe we can afford a deal for him that will pay him an average of $7.5-$8.0 mil per year. After another couple of seasons guy like Pep, Briggs, and Tillman are probably at the end of their careers and those dollars will fade off the cap.

We're so close to a championship run now that we just have to be smart and manipulate things well in order to keep our core guys and add a few to fill some holes. The with Emery here now it's rebuild on the fly with some much sharper drafting and the acquisition of some younger UFAs who may have better potential playing for the Bears than elsewhere. That's why we hired the guy as GM.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

NY Jets

-19.400

The Jets are so screwed.

Originally Posted by little bear

The Jets are so screwed.

Bring back Chad Pennington!!!

Thought I'd post that before Henry did.