2016 FA in review...

[Jave]

So...I was a dick last year regarding people overspending in FA. Lets just review some of my posts:

Basicallly...he's smoking crack. If anyone gives that to him I will just laugh.

I always think I am offering a fair, decent offer at like, 8 mil a year...and someone comes behind me and offer a 68 million, 4 year deal that I can't even touch. I am rarely active in FA, I'm just to cheap to compete it seems......

I'm just stunned. U don't try to trade for Hamilton, yet spend 52 million on a QB who couldn't hold Hamilton's jock? Has he lost his mind?

I'm not buying it...I would get Hamilton every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Not only that, Hamilton isn't going to cost you 26 million a year. I can't believe he did that.

Now, I'm not being a dick, I'm just showing, while I sound like a dickhead just bitching because they didn't sign with me(I didn't put an offer in on Cavazos), I just don't get the huge, crazy contracts.

My other example was:

WOW...Reno offering...what is that...12 million a year for Maggard? If your that desperate to keep him why didn't u just resign him last year? If your willing to spend that kind of dough on him I'm sure he woulda resigned.....just saying....

71 tackles, 26 assists and 3.5 sacks is now worth 20 million a year? ROFL..OOKKKKK

So we have the two BIG WINNERS in FA last year, Cavazos and Maggard. 46 MILLION dollars got ya all 12TD passes, 21 int's, 82tackles and 1 sack.

My point is not to rag the owners, I seriously have MAD respect for both of ya all, my point is the bigger picture for EVERY owner in this league. RELAX! Overpaying for players in FA has got to stop. It won't, I realize this, but at least look at the player and decide if he is really worth what your paying him. I just want what's best for this league and for my fellow owners.....I don't get the MONSTER contracts for average, old players, I really don't.

[Matt]

I think the dynamic will totally changed. I've played around in SP a few mths ago when the new patch was released and the the financials are fixed. Teams like Tulsa are soon going to have to make some tough decisions. I'd hate to see what Caro wants to re-negotiate. All these things lead to better FA crops. THose "middle tier" (for lack of a better word), will not get huge contracts......or shouldn't. Cavazos was the league MVP before he hit FA. He cashed in. Maggard was decent, but clearly the best defensive player available.

At the end of the day, if you want someone go and get him. Or you'll spend the rest of the time thinking, what if?

[JesterBlaze]

At the end of the day, if you want someone go and get him. Or you'll spend the rest of the time thinking, what if?

If I could replay last year's FA I'd have gone over Vito's $4M/season (?) for Lawrence Wiggins.

[Kobeck]

I expect Maggard to renegotiate real soon.


And try and remember Fresno's first pick was 3.28 last year.

[r00k]

r00k, in an uncharacteristic move, held a press conference this afternoon and had this to say:

"You guys and gals all know me. I try to keep a pretty low profile and I hold a lot of what I feel, or want to say, close to the vest. It is not my policy or style to get in a public debate about front office tactics, but today, before we kick off the new season, I felt the need to defend our actions last year in acquiring Mr. Cavazos. I admit that the purpose of doing this is to put this squarely behind us so that we can focus on the historic fifteenth season of the IFL, to lighten the load on Jon himself and to make a promise to the Norfolk fans.

I admit that acquiring Jon as we did last year was a bit of a reach ... especially after looking in the rear view mirror. Both he and I agree that his performance was a disappointment last year.

But with that said, here is the silver lining underneath that huge rain cloud that many are describing and also my rationale for approving this deal last year.

My rationale last year ...
1. Cavazos was coming off a MVP season. The commish has already made this observation.
2. The front office thought that Cavazos was the closest thing that resembled a Lozier type of QB ... not flashy but the bars were in the same places ... thus I thought Jon had high probability to fit into the Viper offense and jump start into a Lozier replacement. He also came from a team that plays similar to the Norfolk offense.
3. The Viper organization have attempted for multiple years (starting when Lozier was still active) to draft Lozier's replacement who would complement and not rewrite the Norfolk offense. This has not been as effective and efficient as we hoped.
4. There is a football tradition in Norfolk. The Vipers have missed the playoffs only four years of the fourteen year history of the league.
5. The fan base have been appreciative of this and they show it in attendance. The Norfolk community has led the league in attendance for the last 9 years (since 2007). The lowest % attendance in that 9 year span was 97.6%, with the last two years being sell-outs.
6. Norfolk fans now have the minimal expectation of being a playoff contender every year (unreasonable perhaps, but that is the lay of the land here in Norfolk and the philosophy of the home office embraces that challenge.) So bottom line, when Jon Cavazos became an unexpected FA last year, acquisition was a requirement and the price was not an issue.

What I did not anticipate...
1. The impact of the new release would not necessarily produce a true-to-form Lozier type QB. Perhaps Finger himself may have found a few difficult years if he played under these conditions.
2. Coupled with this, the teams' passing chemistry took a much bigger hit than expected. These two factors, combined, proved insurmountable for Jon's first year as a Viper.

In the end, I look at the glass half-full and not half-empty.
1. The core of a 9-7 team which just missed the playoffs is still solidly in place (despite the lowest ratings for a starting QB in the league).
2. There is a year of chemistry that should work in Cavazos' favor and if Jon just improves a notch by not throwing all those picks, that should make us strong contenders to improve that 9-7 record from last year. When he steps it up another notch, well watch out IFL.
3. Granted the team is stuck with Jon's $13 mil signing bonus this year, but I anticipate that we can renegotiate the salary portion a bit and net a total compensation package in the teens rather than in the twenties. Jon has already agreed to this salary relief in principle as he feels a needs to give something back to the team after what he said in his own words, "taking my public dump in the middle of the field every Sunday got to be embarrassing." [grin]

Now for my message to the Norfolk fans ... if the Vipers do not make the playoffs this year, I will freely admit that this FA acquisition was an act of foolish folly. But IMO, the jury is still out and I look forward to the verdict. So, I would do it all again. Hell yes!"

[Jave]

LOL, who knew to just question Rook's decision making would get him talking, I woulda pissed him off LONG AGO!:shoot:

This isn't a "rip" on you or your decision making Rook. Everyone here knows I can't hold your jock when it comes to drafting, gameplanning, winning or just about anything in this game. I was STUNNED that you, of all people would spend nearly 30mil on ONE guy but it's not you or your decision to place the bid, I guess it's the entire philosophy of teams spending 2 or 3 times what a player is worth to acquire him that, in my mind, degrades the game. I guess I'm a bid of a purist and want to keep the integrity of the game intact and this overbidding, then just resigning him the following year to a more reasonable contract just borders on cheating and the entire idea bothers me, not any specific team or player, just the practice is bothersome to me.

But at least I got ya talking this year! :haha:

[r00k]

LOL, who knew to just question Rook's decision making would get him talking, I woulda pissed him off LONG AGO!:shoot:

But at least I got ya talking this year! :haha:

Good game plan! Luv ya, just the same ...

Jave, in theory I agree with your position more than you think. However, in practicality, I will always play within the structure defined.

Hypothetically, consider these two scenarios:

Scenario 1: the NFL has no rule that prohibits a team to smash mouth QB's without abandon or penalty
Scenario 2: that rule is changed the next year to "if you look at a QB the wrong way, it will be a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty."

Those two situations are clearly polar opposites of respecting (or disrespecting) the QB position. The defensively minded purists would enthusiastically support the first year's philosophy; whereas the offensively minded purists would argue that QBs should be able to wear their red practice jerseys not only during practice but also on game days and that if you touched the QB, there is not a large enough penalty that could be assessed.

Too entirely different positions ... with illegality or legality defined by the then standing rule.

By the way, I prefer smash mouthing QBs, but again, current rule structure will define how that can be accomplished without the yellow flag.

[Suicane]

Hey man, money makes a good bed, but it makes a better boat. In other words, if you got em, smoke em.

[Kobeck]

Maggard signed his renegotiation

Basically got
2016 20.0m
2017 13.4m
2018 6.2m
2019 7.0m
2020 7.8m

for a total of 5y 54.5m 29.1m bonus - Ouch Lawrence cashed in, and with the new patch teams are more chained to these situations. There should not be as much CAP cushion to just release a guy if he gets hurt or something.