Sando: A Look at Jake Long's Contract (03/25/13)

[Boffo97]

An older article reposted since Long's 2014 salary has become fully guaranteed by him still being on the roster today (since tomorrow the new league year begins). I have to think that if we pick Robinson or Matthews, Long's going to be cut next year regardless of performance.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/95265/a-look-at-jake-longs-contract-with-rams

The numbers for Jake Long's new contract with the St. Louis Rams are on file with the NFL and NFL Players Association, allowing for verification of particulars.

A few things to know:

• General terms: This is a four-year, $34 million deal with an $8.5 million average.
• Guaranteed money: Long gets up to $16 million guaranteed. Wait, if it's guaranteed, why are the words "up to" necessary? Because some guarantees are conditional. In this case, it's pretty safe to say $16 million is guaranteed. Long gets a $5 million signing bonus. That is fully guaranteed. His $3 million base salary for 2013 is also fully guaranteed. The Rams guaranteed $8 million in base salary for 2014 as well. The full 2014 base salary is guaranteed if Long is healthy. Half of the $8 million is guaranteed if Long is injured. The remaining $4 million is guaranteed regardless if Long is on the Rams' roster on the final day of the 2013 league year.
• Incentives: Long can earn another $375,000 per year in incentives based on playing time and playoff appearances or Pro Bowl honors.
• Cap charges: Long's deal counts only $4.25 million against the cap this year. The cap charges rise to $9.25 million (2014), $10.5 million (2015) and $10 million (2016).
• Flexibility: The Rams could get out of this deal comfortably after the second season. The team of course hopes Long plays all four seasons at a high level. However, the relatively small signing bonus gives the Rams flexibility down the line. Long's deal would count $2.4 million against the cap in 2015 if the team released him after two seasons. That would be an insignificant amount of dead money for a starting left tackle with a Pro Bowl pedigree.
• The verdict: This looks like a good deal from the Rams' perspective. They stayed disciplined in negotiating the contract. They even let Long leave their facility after three days of meetings in St. Louis. That was risky because they could have lost a player they wanted, but they still got their man, and they did it with what amounts to a two-year bet. If Long were to suffer a catastrophic injury this season, the Rams would be on the hook for $7.6 million in cap charges beyond 2013, but they're on the hook for $3.6 million of that in the form of bonus proration, anyway. That seems like a risk the Rams can afford to take because they will have so many young players under rookie contracts as the seasons progress.

 

[bluecollarram]

An older article reposted since Long's 2014 salary has become fully guaranteed by him still being on the roster today (since tomorrow the new league year begins). I have to think that if we pick Robinson or Matthews, Long's going to be cut next year regardless of performance.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/95265/a-look-at-jake-longs-contract-with-rams

The numbers for Jake Long's new contract with the St. Louis Rams are on file with the NFL and NFL Players Association, allowing for verification of particulars.

A few things to know:

• General terms: This is a four-year, $34 million deal with an $8.5 million average.
• Guaranteed money: Long gets up to $16 million guaranteed. Wait, if it's guaranteed, why are the words "up to" necessary? Because some guarantees are conditional. In this case, it's pretty safe to say $16 million is guaranteed. Long gets a $5 million signing bonus. That is fully guaranteed. His $3 million base salary for 2013 is also fully guaranteed. The Rams guaranteed $8 million in base salary for 2014 as well. The full 2014 base salary is guaranteed if Long is healthy. Half of the $8 million is guaranteed if Long is injured. The remaining $4 million is guaranteed regardless if Long is on the Rams' roster on the final day of the 2013 league year.
• Incentives: Long can earn another $375,000 per year in incentives based on playing time and playoff appearances or Pro Bowl honors.
• Cap charges: Long's deal counts only $4.25 million against the cap this year. The cap charges rise to $9.25 million (2014), $10.5 million (2015) and $10 million (2016).
• Flexibility: The Rams could get out of this deal comfortably after the second season. The team of course hopes Long plays all four seasons at a high level. However, the relatively small signing bonus gives the Rams flexibility down the line. Long's deal would count $2.4 million against the cap in 2015 if the team released him after two seasons. That would be an insignificant amount of dead money for a starting left tackle with a Pro Bowl pedigree.
• The verdict: This looks like a good deal from the Rams' perspective. They stayed disciplined in negotiating the contract. They even let Long leave their facility after three days of meetings in St. Louis. That was risky because they could have lost a player they wanted, but they still got their man, and they did it with what amounts to a two-year bet. If Long were to suffer a catastrophic injury this season, the Rams would be on the hook for $7.6 million in cap charges beyond 2013, but they're on the hook for $3.6 million of that in the form of bonus proration, anyway. That seems like a risk the Rams can afford to take because they will have so many young players under rookie contracts as the seasons progress.

I prefer Watkins with the Rams first pick, but looking at this in addition to Barksdale having one more year I would favor OT with that pick now.

 

[RamFan503]

I think this just demonstrates yet again how much we need to solidify the O-line positions through the draft. A Blue Chipper or two here means we are in a very strong position come 2015. And inserting a first rounder at LG will pay dividends immediately with an eye to the future.

 

[Boffo97]

I think this just demonstrates yet again how much we need to solidify the O-line positions through the draft. A Blue Chipper or two here means we are in a very strong position come 2015. And inserting a first rounder at LG will pay dividends immediately with an eye to the future.

I tell you though, if this was the plan, I really wish we wouldn't have signed Long and just rolled with Saffold at LT.

An extra 4.25 million last year and 9.25 million this year could have come in REAL handy.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I tell you though, if this was the plan, I really wish we wouldn't have signed Long and just rolled with Saffold at LT.

An extra 4.25 million last year and 9.25 million this year could have come in REAL handy.

I don't know. Long was pretty good last year. Despite some bruises, he held up as well... For 15 games anyway.

I like the idea of him covering SAMs backside.

 

[RamFan503]

I tell you though, if this was the plan, I really wish we wouldn't have signed Long and just rolled with Saffold at LT.

An extra 4.25 million last year and 9.25 million this year could have come in REAL handy.

I don't agree at all. Who would be playing LT when Saffold went down? How much quicker does Saffold go down if he's playing LT? And who would have been the player to take Saffold's place when he WAS playing? I think what you will find is that money we are paying Long will not really affect who we go after. I am just going to guess that we are not - and wouldn't be - going after any Wallace type deals for a big named receiver. And I think Long, though ending the season with an injury, was well worth his paycheck.

 

[Boffo97]

I don't agree at all. Who would be playing LT when Saffold went down? How much quicker does Saffold go down if he's playing LT? And who would have been the player to take Saffold's place when he WAS playing? I think what you will find is that money we are paying Long will not really affect who we go after. I am just going to guess that we are not - and wouldn't be - going after any Wallace type deals for a big named receiver. And I think Long, though ending the season with an injury, was well worth his paycheck.

Last season, sure, I can admit he was good.

This year... we could be in a position of paying $9.25 million to someone who knows he's a lame duck no matter what (if we draft Matthews/Robinson). I just don't think that's good cap management.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Yeah,Long was well worth the cashola last season. He played at a very high level.

Him going down to injury after 15 gm's was lightened by the blow of missing the playoffs for a ninth straight season.

But seriously,the question is obviously...Is that all we're gonna get from him moving forward? We HAVE to go OLine in this draft. Saffold is as good as gone(hopefully) and the rest of our guys are either JAGS or injury prone aging vets.

 

[RamFan503]

Last season, sure, I can admit he was good.

This year... we could be in a position of paying $9.25 million to someone who knows he's a lame duck no matter what (if we draft Matthews/Robinson). I just don't think that's good cap management.

Actually, you would think he would be playing as if every year was a contract year with the way we have set up his contract. I think it's GREAT cap management. If he proves his worth EVERYONE is happy. If he doesn't, you move on after 2014. But if you didn't do the deal, you are banking on Washington tanking instead of reaping the benefit that they did. If we end up with our #13 as our top pick in the first round, we don't have the position to take the best O-lineman. IMO without that pick and without Long, we are 4th in the division again come 2014.

There is no reason why we can't be grooming a future LT that will play very well for us at Guard for a couple years. Long was a tremendous pick up for us and his contract is not putting us in cap hell.

 

[Boffo97]

Actually, you would think he would be playing as if every year was a contract year with the way we have set up his contract. I think it's GREAT cap management. If he proves his worth EVERYONE is happy. If he doesn't, you move on after 2014. But if you didn't do the deal, you are banking on Washington tanking instead of reaping the benefit that they did. If we end up with our #13 as our top pick in the first round, we don't have the position to take the best O-lineman. IMO without that pick and without Long, we are 4th in the division again come 2014.

There is no reason why we can't be grooming a future LT that will play very well for us at Guard for a couple years. Long was a tremendous pick up for us and his contract is not putting us in cap hell.

If Long plays well, you have a good offensive line (presuming that your high drafted OT plays guard well), but MAN, did you spend a lot on it.

Other than that, I disagree with the implied premise here that one has to get their LT early, especially with Boudreau being as good as everyone says. Maybe I'm just some loon that you're glad isn't running the team (in fact, that's quite possible ). We'll see what they do. I'm well aware that most professionals aren't agreeing with me... but, man would I love a scary WR corps AND a good OL. And I think both are do-able if you don't over-invest in one.

In my mocks on first-pick, I've been trading down to the low 10s, then just taking who's left between Robinson, Matthews and Watkins. That might not be a bad plan for the real Rams. Barring bust potential (which exists in everyone so it cancels out), there's no loser in that group.