NFl Network says we are over the cap??

[The Emperor]

What the hell they said we are like 8 mill over.  What the fuck???

[DCSteelers]

seems odd.. I'd hope that number was for the cap as of today... 07' season still.

 

[Finnegans Wake]

If that's what they said, then I believe they fucked up.

[aj_law]

Here's pretty much what I posted on ESPN about this:

OK.  After looking at everything again, the only conceivable way to get to the numbers that the NFL Network is throwing around is if you assume the absolute worst.  The likelihood of all of this happening is infinitesmal.

If you take the approximately 15 and a half million under number that Pittsburgh had and:

(These are rough estimates)

*Assume that Starks counts a full 6.8 million against the '08 number.

(15.5 million) - 6.8 million = (8.7 million)

*Assume that Kemo and Washington count 1.417 million each for a third level tender (R2 pick comp if another team signs them).

(8.7 million) - 2.834 million = (5.866 million)

*Assume that Warren and Essex count 927K each for a min level tender (same round drafted as comp if another team signs them).

(5.866 million) - 1.854 million = (4 million)

*Assume that Ben gets his 3 million roster bonus next week.

(4 million) - 2.975 million = (1.025 million)

*Assume one to two million in LTBEs (about what I was figuring when I mentioned them in my earlier post; I'll go with the midpoint of 1.5 million).

(1.025 million) - 1.5 million = 475K over

Now here's the big problem with most of these assumptions.  They're not going to occur.  Period.

Starks will NOT count 6.8 million against the '08 cap.  He'll either get a long term deal with a much lower cap hit or he'll sign elsewhere.

Ben will NOT get his roster bonus because he'll get a new deal before he gets it.  In all likelihood, it'll get factored into his new deal somehow, but it'll be prorated out among the 5, 6 or 7 year deal he gets.

Finally, the tenders that the four players received are not BINDING deals.  They're just tenders to protect Pittsburgh's interest in them.  Any of those guys could end up getting signed away to another team and even if they're not, they probably sign a long term deal that minimizes their cap hit.

About the only additional costs that are guaranteed to hit the '08 cap are the performance incentives for various players.  There's no getting around those.

So, again, the NFL Network is way off because they're trying to pass off static cap numbers as concrete, etched in stone type of numbers.  When it's all said and done, Pittsburgh is fine, cap-wise.  They're not in the same boat as San Diego or Jacksonville that are around 30 million under, but then again, most of the league isn't.
 

[DCSteelers]

Is it just me who is now wondering how we are so butt up against the cap and have quite a few problems to address on this team?

I guess its the black and gold perfectionist glasses I'm wearing, but something seems a little off here.

[Finnegans Wake]

We're returning all our starters save Faneca and Haggans.  Most other teams can't say that.  We're also coming to the end of a cap cycle: a lot of guys (Marvel, Farrior) may be playing their last year here, with higher end of contract numbers.  We can't cut them, and it makes things tight.  If you look at players under contract and cap space in future years, there's a LOT of movement after '08 and especially '09, depending on who gets extended this year and next.  

In other words, there's still a lot of continuity to the XL team, but in a couple years a lot of that will disappear.  Sort of like, the upswing to XL really began in 2001, but not a lot of carryover was there in 2005 from the earlier roster.  We could be highly competitive this year and next, but we're really in the process of thinking What is this team going to be in 2010?, IMO.  The goal would be to win some Super Bowls, have a quick re-tool, and carry forward with the framework we're establishing now (Polamalu, Roethlisberger, and, uhhh, Simmons?).

The big FA deals always have a downside.  Teams cut so many players to open cap space, but do so at the risk of continuity.  Giants, Colts, Steelers, Pats... all the recent SB winners were relatively roster-stable for several years.  Minor tweaks.  Danny Snyder may be learning something after all: he's dead quiet this year, after proving the poster boy for free agency reticence.  

[LambertsFrontTeeth]

I still can't believe that San Diego is that far under the cap...