Dez Bryant released/Signed by Saints

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Can Dez back up Whit/Hav?

 

[CGI_Ram]

Sounds like Dez would like a chance for some payback to the Boys based on how they handled his release. Would be very interesting to see him go to NFC East Team.

Yeah, sounds like he wants the NFCE if possible.

I think he’s lost a step, but I’d prefer he not land with the Eagles.

 

[Farr Be It]

Dez lost a step. But unlike savvy players like Largent or Rice that worked hard and learned how to run precise routes to keep getting open, Dez became just a guy. Ordinary.

Maybe he works hard to resurrect his career. But I doubt it.

Curious @lockdnram21 why the different opinion to this? I didn’t see a response. Do you believe Dez HASN’T lost a step? Or that he wasn’t JAG last year? Curious.

 

[lockdnram21]

Curious @lockdnram21 why the different opinion to this? I didn’t see a response. Do you believe Dez HASN’T lost a step? Or that he wasn’t JAG last year? Curious.

I think it's more that Daks the problem and with a better Qb he will have better numbers... He might have lost a step tho

 

[Farr Be It]

I think it's more that Daks the problem and with a better Qb he will have better numbers... He might have lost a step tho

Got it. You may be right. I don’t think Dak has a confident arm for tight windows.

 

[Akrasian]

Well, it could also mean that all the teams that really would want to bid on him have spent their cap money already. The Rams might have gotten him, for instance, but they got Cooks instead. Or a team might bid frantically on a one year contract, because they have cap room left this year and nowhere to spend it.

 

[OldSchool]

Got it. You may be right. I don’t think Dak has a confident arm for tight windows.

I think you're absolutely right, Dak hasn't shown much of a passer ability that would give anybody confidence in his ability to throw tight throws. I think he'll end up continuing to show us he a lesser Alex Smith.

 

[sjm1582002]

No longer a #1 wr but still a top notch drama queen.

 

[LARams_1963]

I see the Whiners...Raiders...and Pats targeting him....

 

[jrry32]

Okay. Bye Dez.

 

[RamsSince1969]

Maybe Dez, Greg Robinson and Jason Smith can get together and have coffee, and share their feelings on what it feels like not living up to your potential. I think they might have a break-through moment, cry a little, and then laugh all the way to the bank like they always have.

 

[Akrasian]

Yes, you can push cap hits into future years by renegotiating - but that pushes the cap hit into future years, and may lock the team into players they would rather cut, because the cap hit would be too large.

There may also be a limited number of players on a team that it makes sense to renegotiate.

For instance, if a player has one year left on their contract, is needed for next year, but is old enough the team doesn't want to commit to a year or more beyond that, renegotiation does not make sense. Or maybe the player is already expensive, and renegotiating to save cap money this year means that he will be very expensive next year, with a big dead cap hit if he's cut thanks to the renegotiation. GMs have to factor in what a signing will do to every year affected.

The biggest cap hit at the moment is Andrew Whitworth. His cap hit for 2018 could be reduced by $3.5 million by converting $7 million of his 2018 salary to a signing bonus. Of course, that means that in 2019 at age 38 he will have a cap hit well north of $15 million, with over $5 million of dead cap, either of which would put the Rams into a bad cap situation. Money could also be saved on Barron - but again, that would make his cap hit bigger in future years and the dead cap correspondingly more painful, while the Rams would be trying to pay for AD, Gurley, Goff, Cooks, etc.

In theory the cap can be adjusted to save money for year one - but at a cost that actual GMs quite often are unwilling to pay, since they are paid to think about more than year one. These are Ram examples, but every team has something similar.

 

[shovelpass]

Maybe Dez, Greg Robinson and Jason Smith can get together and have coffee, and share their feelings on what it feels like not living up to your potential. I think they might have a break-through moment, cry a little, and then laugh all the way to the bank like they always have.

What? Dez may have declined and is an asshat but he definitely has met his potential and is far better than Smith and Robinson. Bryant has 3 pro bowls, 1 all pro, and is 37th all time in receiving TDs(1 TD behind Holt). Smith and Robinson struggled to make it 4 years in the league.

 

[dieterbrock]

Maybe Dez, Greg Robinson and Jason Smith can get together and have coffee, and share their feelings on what it feels like not living up to your potential. I think they might have a break-through moment, cry a little, and then laugh all the way to the bank like they always have.

Greg Robinson and Jason Smith could only dream that their best season was even close to as good as Dez worst season.

 

[Akrasian]

In your example, 6-7% of the 2019 cap would be dead money from one player. Yes, teams can do that - but it kills them for that season - unless they end up pushing it forward even more, IF they have the contracts that allow that.

The way teams generally have handled having large cap hits pushed forward is to have a season where their team is crippled by having no depth. Usually teams try to do that when their stars are getting old anyway - but the Rams will have a bunch of young stars - crippling the team for a season in Gurley and Donald's and Goff's and Cooks' prime is not a decision that a GM in the real world will make, just so they can sign one more player. Unlike internet posters, actual NFL executives have to be responsible for more than one season. They may sometimes push cap hits into future seasons - but they also have to live with the real world costs, and have to try to balance everything.

And yes, teams do worry about dead cap - in the real world, GMs get fired for crap like that, for managing the cap so poorly. Unless the team wins the Super Bowl, if they have 20% of their cap going to players no longer there, then Snead or any other GM would likely be gone, for messing up a chance to keep winning with foolish spending in years past.

I

 

[Mojo Ram]

Put him on a taco diet and line him up at TE.