Thread: Let me pose this question about LT

Originally Posted by dabears

Soul, what do you think if they try to sign Melton to a nice 5 year 38-40 million $ contract but with it backloaded so we absorb the larger CAP hits starting in 2014. We structure so the bonus money is counted as dead money (say 10 million in bonus money) and on the books as 1 million 2013, 2 million 2014, 2.5 million 2015-17. And he gets another 12 million in salary with 4 this year guaranteed. Is this do-able? It would only count as 5 guaranteed. I am also starting to wonder if cutting Peppers next year will also be a good way to save additional CAP. A lot of moeny is going to be tied up.

Anything we do in terms of a long term deal will soften the cap blow this year just as it did when we signed Forte but as soon as we tag him it counts $8.3 mil against the cap until we get a deal done. I think we're looking at around $35 mil for a 4 year deal and $40-$45 for a 5 year deal.

A signing bonus is pro-rated equally over the life of the contract. So a 5 year deal with a $10 mil signing bonus will count $2 mil each year. It can't be altered like you suggest. Still if you take your assumption and give him $10 mil upfront and a $1 mil salary for 2013 he takes in $11 mil but the cap hit for 2013 is only $ 3 mil.

The Bears don't like to back end deals very much and it's not wise with a young player just entering his prime like Melton. Maybe the smart thing to do is to put a 2014 guarantee into the deal since we're supposed to have more cap excess next year. That way you get most of his guaranteed money off the table in the first couple of years and it protects you later on if he's injured.

We did some of that with Pep but he still has quite a bit of his guaranteed money left to be paid so he's not going anywhere soon. Besides that he's still very productive. Now if that foot problem starts to cut into his playing time or effectiveness and a kid like McClellin starts making noise playing some snaps in his place maybe in another year there's room for some renegotiation but all we can do now to reduce his cap hit is extend his deal another year and stretch out some of that money.

Originally Posted by little bear

More bad news from NFL.com:

Franchise-tag primer: Predictions for all 32 NFL teams - NFL.com

We expect these players to also get tagged, but they aren't slam dunks.



Looks like another potential LT to scratch off the list. *sigh*

You know none of this is a shock. Good young LTs don't hit FA very often which is why I've been saying for the last week or two that there's a 50/50 chance we can't come up with a vet replacement for Webb.

Emery has given some indications of that too and he did so last year as well. It's great to theorize about possible replacements but the reality is that finding a better solution is tougher in reality than it is on paper.

There are 31 other teams that would like a shot at Melton because really great young DTs who are as good as he is are rare too and they don't hit FA very often either. NY would probably be as foolish to let Beatty hit FA unprotected as we would be with Melton.

Originally Posted by GermansbombedPH

Carimi was a JA pick. Not sure what Emery thinks about him.

Vollmer is a Top5 RT and chances are good that he makes it to Free Agency. Pats have to chose between Vollmer and Welker. Doubt they go with the RT. They've shown that they can change players on their OLine and still be good there. Not really with WRs.

I'd give up on Carimi when I could get Vollmer. Carimi would still be with us. Great depth option.


Carimi is a questionmark and Scott a UFA. If we can get Vollmer, we shouldn't say no to him. He's proven and way better than what we have. That's all I'm saying.

I like Carimi and defended him in the past and will defend him in the future, but he is a bigger questionmark than Webb...

And what makes you think that once he's back in top shape again and with Kromer coaching him Carimi isn't gonna be just as good or better than Vollmer?

We have Carimi under contract and most of his money is guaranteed so if we sign Vollmer we're adding even more money to the RT position that may not be necessary. A year from now if Carimi hasn't improved significantly I might agree with you but now I just can't see it.

Any top tier FA we sign and any top draft pick we make needs to have a pretty damn good chance of starting in a position we need some serious help at. Maybe Kromer and Trestman see it differently but I can't see a huge need at RT that would allow us to spend big money on another RT.

We have two young OTs just entering their prime neither of whom have gotten great coaching or have played anywhere near as well as they may be able to. I think we have to find out where the wall is for those two. Have they hit it or do they still have a long way to go before that happens?

I'd rather see us sign a LG like Levitre and open up more options for ourselves in the draft.

From beginning to end Webb did improve this past year and it's not unreasonable to expect some additional improvement coming both from Kromer's coaching and a shift to a more WCO oriented passing game. The Packers are making it work with a LT who's no better than Webb and doesn't have Webb's upside if he ever gets there.

We actually had far more problems with Carimi's pass blocking and the committee playing at LG last year than we did with Webb. I believe once he's 100% recovered from his knee injury and back in football shape Carimi will snap back. Despite his problems pass blocking his run blocking was pretty good and that always has been his strong point.

I think RT is fixable but it's gonna be pretty damn hard to fix LG unless we either sign or draft somebody to play there and play there well. Not only do we plug the pass rush leak there but there's a good chance that Webb also benefits from that too. I'd love it if we could get a vet LT to take over and move Webb back to RT or keep him as a swing OT and keep working on him but it's not looking all that good right now as far as that's concerned.

So if that's the way it falls let's see just how good our coaches are at elevating his play and designing the offense in a way that takes some of the pressure off the OL as far as pass blocking is concerned. Any improvement looks like it's gonna need to come from a combination of things not just one.

Originally Posted by soulman

And what makes you think that once he's back in top shape again and with Kromer coaching him Carimi isn't gonna be just as good or better than Vollmer?

We have Carimi under contract and most of his money is guaranteed so if we sign Vollmer we're adding even more money to the RT position that may not be necessary. A year from now if Carimi hasn't improved significantly I might agree with you but now I just can't see it.

Any top tier FA we sign and any top draft pick we make needs to have a pretty damn good chance of starting in a position we need some serious help at. Maybe Kromer and Trestman see it differently but I can't see a huge need at RT that would allow us to spend big money on another RT.

We have two young OTs just entering their prime neither of whom have gotten great coaching or have played anywhere near as well as they may be able to. I think we have to find out where the wall is for those two. Have they hit it or do they still have a long way to go before that happens?

I'd rather see us sign a LG like Levitre and open up more options for ourselves in the draft.

some has to do with my bias towards the german player ;)

When a Top5 RT makes it to Free Agency, you should think about it. With Vollmer, we know what we get. With Carimi, we hope we get a starting RT. You see the difference. I'm not saying get rid of Carimi. All I'm saying is bring in the best players possible. Hell, I'd even try Vollmer or Carimi as LT if Webb can't improve again.

John Mara: Giants will 'probably not' use franchise tag - NFL.com

John Mara: Giants will 'probably not' use franchise tag

The New York Giants have never been big on the franchise tag. That might remain the case in 2013.
Giants owner John Mara told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport that the team will "probably not" administer the franchise tag to any player.

The Giants had several players who would qualify as legitimate possibilities for the tag, including offensive tackle Will Beatty, tight end Martellus Bennett and safety Kenny Phillips. In our franchise tag primer, Gregg Rosenthal speculated that Beatty would get tagged, though Rosenthal believes a long-term deal is more likely.

Along those lines, Mara's comment can be read as more of a goal rather than a definitive statement. If the two sides don't get a deal done by March 4, they still have the tag as a fallback option as they continue talks. A one-year tender for Beatty is projected to cost the team $9.66 million.
The Giants have used the franchise tag just three times, though they did use the tag last year on punter Steve Weatherford as the two sides worked toward a long-term deal.

Hey, the Jets just cut loose Jason Smith for CAP relief, lets grab him.

I kid.


For all the talk we give about Webb, at least we didn't waste the second overall on a bust like Smith. That hurts.