Dead Money List

[biggunsbob]

Monday breakdown: Dead money puts Lions in tough spot

Josh Katzenstein, The Detroit News
As everyone continues to assign blame for this Lions season, don?t forget president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew.

Because decisions they made years ago handicapped the team beyond measure this season, and as bad as the execution and coaching have been, the men at the top deserve the most criticism.

The dead money on the Lions? salary cap was a popular topic in March during the pursuit of Ndamukong Suh in free agency. Seven games into the season, it?s clear the Lions needed that money to spend on players who could contribute to the team this year, particularly along the offensive line.

Back in March, the Lions were atop the NFL with dead money. Currently, with about $19 million according to Spotrac.com, they have the eighth most, and the teams ahead of them are struggling, too.

The Saints (3-4) lead the league by a wide margin with $32.2 million in dead money. Behind them are the Bears (2-4), Dolphins (3-3), 49ers (2-5), Buccaneers (2-4), Ravens (1-5) and Chiefs (2-5).

However, none of those seven teams entered the season with a player costing them more in dead cap space than Suh with the Lions. Suh is on the hook for $9.7 million in dead money as he tries to help the Dolphins turn around their season.

While there are plenty of examples of players costing their teams cap space, the Lions? handling of Suh?s deal represents the systemic failure of the front office. The decision to repeatedly restructure his contract cost the Lions both a chance to keep Suh at a somewhat reasonable rate ? if he was open to signing ? and a chance to field their best possible team in 2015.

Running back Ray Rice is costing the Ravens $9.5 million in cap space this year, which helps explain their fall from grace. Baltimore is also losing $7.5 million in cap space with defensive tackle Haloti Ngata playing for the Lions.

After trading him on Sept. 28, the Bears now have $11.7 million in dead cap space taken up by defensive end Jared Allen. The Saints traded tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seahawks in the offseason, which is taking away $9 million of their cap space.

But, those situations are much different than the Lions? calculated ? supposedly ? risk related to Suh?s contract.

Just imagine if half of that nearly $10 million allotted for Suh to spend on free agents last spring. With some good accounting, the team could?ve signed a solid offensive tackle and immediately upgraded its offensive line, or the Lions could?ve signed a really good guard ? the Bengals re-signed Clint Boling for five years and $26 million in March ? instead of relying on the combination of rookie Laken Tomlinson and Manny Ramirez.

As much as people want to blame coach Jim Caldwell or former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi for the problems this season, it?s clear that the roster isn?t talented enough to be a playoff team.

Sure, if linebacker DeAndre Levy was healthy, the defense would probably be better than 27th in the NFL. But if Mayhew and Lewand put their faith in a player who is ? based on his recent contract extension ? worth less than $9 million a year, then they?re practicing gross negligence with the roster.

Lions players and coaches have said losing one player, even as good as Levy, doesn?t explain the poor performance this season. Yet, people often make jokes about how bad the team would be without quarterback Matthew Stafford, and while that?s probably true, the poor cap management has forced the Lions to go cheap at backup quarterback the past couple years.

To their credit, Lewand and Mayhew have done well planning for the future beyond 2015. Currently, the Lions have less than $400,000 in dead money on the books for 2016. Plus, they should receive a few compensatory picks in next year?s draft.

Unfortunately for the men leading the Lions, it?s becoming increasingly unclear whether they?ll be here for 2016 to see how their ability to fix the financial issues paid off.

Around the NFC North

■ The Vikings (4-2) had the good fortune of playing the Lions on Sunday, so they remain in second place in the division. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had his most productive game of the year with 316 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 71.4 percent of his passes.

■ The Packers (6-0) were idle, but have a matchup with the Broncos (6-0) on Sunday night.

■ The Bears (2-4) had a bye, too, and play the Vikings on Sunday.

Around the NFL

■ People demanding the Lions fire coach Jim Caldwell received more fuel for their fire as the Dolphins dominated a second straight game under new coach Dan Campbell. In a 44-26 win over the Texans on Sunday, the Dolphins led 41-0 at halftime as 3-3 Miami is already out of the 1-3 hole from previous coach Joe Philbin.

■ It won?t be long before Raiders rookie Amari Cooper establishes himself as one of the NFL?s top wide receivers. After having five catches for 133 yards in a win Sunday over San Diego, he now ranks 17th in receiving yards and has three 100-yard performances in his first six games.

■Todd Gurley, meanwhile, might already be among the league?s best running backs. The Rams rookie has played four games and already has three with at least 128 rushing yards. With 442 yards, he?s 12th in the league, and he?s third with a 6-yard-per-carry average.

 

[Mitchrapp]

"It’s clear that the roster isn’t talented enough to be a playoff team." - this right here.

 

[cheeno]

"It?s clear that the roster isn?t talented enough to be a playoff team." - this right here.

"Holeless" - that right there

 

[zyxt9]

I disagree on the talent level. The team went 11-5 last year so there is a degree of solid talent.

Look at how Hoke fucked up all that talent on the Wolverines and what Jim H has done with basically that same talent, even arguably worse talent at QB. Coaches make a HUGE difference in maximizing talent and strengths while improving/minimizing weaknesses.

Caldwell is so Hoke-ish it is ridiculous.

 

[dubbsco]

2014 is a huge function of the cake-walk schedule they had. Now they actually have to play a lot more competitive teams, and they've sucked.

 

[zyxt9]

yep, 11-5 when loaded with non-playoff caliber competition. inability to beat playoff caliber teams sure smells like a super bowl contending team to me!

 

[Mitchrapp]

I disagree on the talent level. The team went 11-5 last year so there is a degree of solid talent.

Look at how Hoke fucked up all that talent on the Wolverines and what Jim H has done with basically that same talent, even arguably worse talent at QB. Coaches make a HUGE difference in maximizing talent and strengths while improving/minimizing weaknesses.

Caldwell is so Hoke-ish it is ridiculous.

You do realize we lost a bunch of guys? Not just one of our best players, Suh, but others on the DL. Plus we have a new guy at C, can't believe I wish we had Crayola back.

The difference you seem to be confused about is talent vs talented. Yes, they have talent. Talented team, nope. I actually believe this is a 1-6 team.

 

[LKP]

yep, 11-5 when loaded with non-playoff caliber competition. inability to beat playoff caliber teams sure smells like a super bowl contending team to me!

Different and more important injuries in 2015. But if you like cake walks, NFC East and AFC South next year, Bears twice and probably at Bucs and home vs San Fran.

Lions are better than all of those teams. Beat GB and Min at home next time. Lions should be 14-2 based on talent in 2016.

If GB had our injuries in 2015:
Clay Matthews out all year, Daniels 2.5 games and Raji 12 games, Rollins 8 games, Randall 1 game, Sitton 3.5 games, Bulaga 2.5 games (and slow), Lacy super slow after 3 offseason surgeries, Peppers super slow after surgery.

Vikings would lose Barr all year, Floyd 2.5 games and Joseph 12 games, Fusco 3.5 games, Loadholdt 2.5 games, Peterson super slow after 3 offseason surgeries, Kendricks super slow after surgery

Both those teams would be toast too.

 

[dubbsco]

 

[LKP]

And the Suh restructures got the Lions Levy and Glove Quin. Too bad Levy is hurt. I'll take the dead money to have those players.

It wasn't bad cap management. It was great cap management considering the old CBA contracts. You would never have to restructure if the old rookie contracts weren't so stupid.

 

[Mitchrapp]

And the Suh restructures got the Lions Levy and Glove Quin. Too bad Levy is hurt. I'll take the dead money to have those players.

It wasn't bad cap management. It was great cap management considering the old CBA contracts. You would never have to restructure if the old rookie contracts weren't so stupid.

But they were and other teams manage. Nonetheless, when you get into a situation where a possible franchise tag would cost 27 million then it's bad cap management. Suh should be here this season.

 

[LKP]

But they were and other teams manage. Nonetheless, when you get into a situation where a possible franchise tag would cost 27 million then it's bad cap management. Suh should be here this season.

No it's not. The restructures had to be made. Other teams didn't have 3 picks in the top 2 at the tail end of the rookie deals.

We wanted to add players in 2011, retain players in 2012 and add players in 2013. Restructures had to be made.

The regular franchise tag without the restructures of Suh was still 17 million. That's about 9 million more than what Ngata is costing. We would have had to restructure Calvin or Stafford this year (maybe both) to tag Suh on the normal franchise tag.

 

[LKP]

The league should have stepped in and counted Suh and Stafford under what a new rookie would cost in 2011 and beyond if they truly wanted to make a top 2 pick beneficial for a club.

Mayhew and Lewand did a great job with the cap considering the circumstances. The Stafford extension was brilliant and they had a shot for Suh long term. He chose 19 per over 17 per.

 

[tomdalton22]

Here is a good analysis that I found in an article.



While I often hear about how the old CBA tied the hands of the Detroit Lions, it is important to understand that the old CBA did not dictate performing annual restructures that would cripple a team’s salary cap in the late stages of the contract. Ndamokong Suh’s contract is an indictment on a front office that has had a difficult time making difficult decisions on their roster to maintain salary cap compliance.

One of the worst things about the old CBA was the rookie pay system. The contract value for the players selected at the top of the draft were so high that you had to consider positional values when you made the selection. Suh did not play a premier position which meant immediately upon drafting he would be the highest priced defensive tackle in the NFL. This is a very different situation than Matt Stafford who received a larger contract but would only hit the tail end of the top 10 because his position is a premier position.

When you begin having salary cap problems and you make the decision to restructure deals for cap relief rather than releasing players or minimizing efforts in free agency, you have to take these positional values into account. The Lions reworking of Stafford’s contract was bad, but it still somewhat in the parameters of the position. Reworking Suh’s contract was something that should never have even been considered.

Due to the reworking of the contract the Lions have been left with a $22.4 million cap charge in 2014, the final year in which Suh is under contract to the team. That alone blocks the threat of a franchise tag next season since the tag would be equal to 120% of Suh’s cap charge in 2014. Suh already had a voidable 2015 season in his contract so the Lions are also on the hook for dead money if an extension can’t be reached. That number is significant- $9.737 million. To put that in perspective, that number is higher than the dead money currently being carried by 17 teams in the NFL. Simply put the Lions have zero leverage to negotiate a contract with a player who plays a position that has one veteran contract earning over $10 million a season (Geno Atkins at $10.66M a season with $15 million fully guaranteed).

The best comparison one can make in handling of the contracts is with the Buccaneers treatment of Gerald McCoy. McCoy was selected one spot behind Suh and should have a similar style contract. McCoy’s cap charge this season is about $7 million less than Suh’s and his dead money this season about $14 million less. His contract also voids and would leave the Bucs with just $2.6 million in dead charges, $7 million less than Suh will leave the Lions with.

It was managerial decisions that turned the Suh contract into this noose around the neck of the Lions. Now they are really stuck and may have a difficult time negotiating a deal with realistic terms. Their best option now may be to let him clog up the teams cap at the $22 million figure and let him explore free agency and then hope they can re-sign him in March at a reasonable salary rate. That is about the only way they can get any fair starting point in negotiations.

 

[LKP]

That is a terrible article

The old CBA caused the restructures to be necessary. If Calvin, Stafford and Suh had the proper lower numbers they wouldn't have had to restructure them in the first place. Lions needed to add players in 2011-2013 in free agency. And they had to make restructures to do so. Tulloch, Houston, Levy, Quin, Bush, Avril (franchised), Backus deal. These were NECESSARY to just build the team up. 2011 and 2014 playoffs because of these moves. And Levy and Quin are good players. Tulloch is not the same after injury but still good against the run. We needed those guys. Still need 3 of them this year and 2 of them next year.

Also Suh was taken before McCoy so had a bigger contract. Second Suh's franchise number still would have been 17 million if they never restructured him. Something that the Lions couldn't handle this year anyway or if they did (they would have had made restructures). Restructure in 2011-2013 or restructure in 2015 (Calvin/Stafford) (which affects 2016 too)

Finally the Lions are the only team with 3 guys in the top 3 at the tail end of the old CBA. No team had to deal with three (3) inflated contracts. We got good players but it didn't help the team overall because it hampered us cap wise. The league should have stepped in and and given the Lions 10 million more room than other teams.

IT WAS 100 PERCENT THE OLD CBA'S FAULT. 2011, 2012, 2013 wasn't the time to be cutting players and rebuilding. Especilaly after we made the playoffs in 2011. That means 2012 you have to spend to keep the team together. Which Mayhew did. 2012 failed so then 2013 you need to spend to add talent (which Mayhew did with Quin, Bush and Levy).

 

[tomdalton22]

That is a terrible article

The old CBA caused the restructures to be necessary. If Calvin, Stafford and Suh had the proper lower numbers they wouldn't have had to restructure them in the first place. Lions needed to add players in 2011-2013 in free agency. And they had to make restructures to do so. Tulloch, Houston, Levy, Quin, Bush, Avril (franchised), Backus deal. These were NECESSARY to just build the team up. 2011 and 2014 playoffs because of these moves. And Levy and Quin are good players. Tulloch is not the same after injury but still good against the run. We needed those guys. Still need 3 of them this year and 2 of them next year.

Also Suh was taken before McCoy so had a bigger contract. Second Suh's franchise number still would have been 17 million if they never restructured him. Something that the Lions couldn't handle this year anyway or if they did (they would have had made restructures). Restructure in 2011-2013 or restructure in 2015 (Calvin/Stafford) (which affects 2016 too)

Finally the Lions are the only team with 3 guys in the top 3 at the tail end of the old CBA. No team had to deal with three (3) inflated contracts. We got good players but it didn't help the team overall because it hampered us cap wise. The league should have stepped in and and given the Lions 10 million more room than other teams.

IT WAS 100 PERCENT THE OLD CBA'S FAULT. 2011, 2012, 2013 wasn't the time to be cutting players and rebuilding. Especilaly after we made the playoffs in 2011. That means 2012 you have to spend to keep the team together. Which Mayhew did. 2012 failed so then 2013 you need to spend to add talent (which Mayhew did with Quin, Bush and Levy).

the article made sense...you just didn't like it.

LOL...the league should have given the Lions an extra $10M in cap space...moron!

 

[LKP]

No it didn't make sense. It didn't take everything into context especially the cost of a Suh franchise tag even without the restructures.

 

[cheeno]

No it didn't make sense. It didn't take everything into context especially the cost of a Suh franchise tag even without the restructures.

What explains the second contract? Stafford and Megatron a $50 million a year cap hit? Geez did Brady and Moss make half that?

 

[LKP]

What explains the second contract? Stafford and Megatron a $50 million a year cap hit? Geez did Brady and Moss make half that?

The second contract for Calvin doesn't need explaining. Incredible WR. Blessing and a curse though. Calvin was low the first 3 years of the deal too. Smart to wait for the cap to rise to get his number higher.

Stafford second contract is the new starting QB price and he is on the cheaper end of all the new deals.

Moss was traded for. He was only worth a 4th because he was a lazy malcontent for the Raiders. He got 9 per in 2008 at the age of 31. Calvin was much much younger and wasn't a malcontent bitch like Moss was for the Raiders and end of Vikings.

Brady got 14 per at the age of 36 in 2013. Age is always a factor. Brady had other big deals so could take a discount.

 

[cheeno]

Levy better be the second coming of Derrick Brooks. When is Ziggy's contract up? Did congress raise the debt ceiling?