Cap Space & Free Agents

[pdxbearsfan]

It's too bad there are not a lot of top tier guys coming out as FA's this year.
Bears have 100 -125MM available and could easily get 25MM more by cutting
Whitehair, Patrick,Muhammed and Siemion without missing anything.
Sure wish there were more guys that have shown they can produce, are younger
and without a lot of injury history. We could reload in a hurry.

 

[dennehy]

It's too bad there are not a lot of top tier guys coming out as FA's this year.
Bears have 100 -125MM available and could easily get 25MM more by cutting
Whitehair, Patrick,Muhammed and Siemion without missing anything.
Sure wish there were more guys that have shown they can produce, are younger
and without a lot of injury history. We could reload in a hurry.

Great idea, this really needed a thread. Makes Jack Handy look like Einstein.

 

[Aesopian]

Cutting Whitehair doesn't save enough money for the hole you leave.

 

[pdxbearsfan]

Great idea, this really needed a thread. Makes Jack Handy look like Einstein.

That's the beauty of free speech, you can comment or ignore, I could care less.

 

[dennehy]

That's the beauty of free speech, you can comment or ignore, I could care less.

The phrase is 'couldn't care less,' dumbass, because if you could care less, that means you care.

That is also obvious by the fact that comment at all.

There are tons of threads on this topic already, but you feel like you need to give this 3rd grade assessment and put it in its own thread?

Free speech only applies to government regulating your speech, and I have free speech too, to call you an idiot.

 

[rawdawg]

Cutting Whitehair doesn't save enough money for the hole you leave.

And paying him 14.1Mil of the cap isn't a good use of money either. It's not only about saving money, it's also about not overpaying players.

 

[rawdawg]

See the thing about free agency is, there are rarely elite free agents. Teams like good players, and tend to re-sign them before they hit free agency. A team shouldn't be counting on players that are on other teams to come in and save them, but the Bears have typically been in the position where they don't value draft picks enough and don't draft well enough to build through the draft effectively.

 

[dennehy]

And paying him 14.1Mil of the cap isn't a good use of money either. It's not only about saving money, it's also about not overpaying players.

But you're also paying him almost $9mil to not be on the team.

I think he's a guy you keep until the draft and then see what you have after and potentially cut him then.

 

[rawdawg]

But you're also paying him almost $9mil to not be on the team.

I think he's a guy you keep until the draft and then see what you have after and potentially cut him then.

I mean, they're paying Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn combined over 40Mil to not be on the team. Granted, they got draft picks for them but I don't think dead cap is a big factor to a team with tons of money and a brief history of valuing building the team in their own footprint over keeping around veterans with no future on this team.

Hell, they're paying Nick Foles 7.66Mil to not be on the team.

 

[modo]

 

[dennehy]

I mean, they're paying Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn combined over 40Mil to not be on the team. Granted, they got draft picks for them but I don't think dead cap is a big factor to a team with tons of money and a brief history of valuing building the team in their own footprint over keeping around veterans with no future on this team.

Hell, they're paying Nick Foles 7.66Mil to not be on the team.

But you're only saving $5mil cutting him. That's his actual value when deciding whether to keep him or not. Is he worth $5mil, to me that's the question? I'd say he is until you find someone whose definitely better in FA or draft.

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

And paying him 14.1Mil of the cap isn't a good use of money either. It's not only about saving money, it's also about not overpaying players.

You’re paying him 8+ whether you want to or not.

And creating yet another hole if he goes

 

[Spitta Andretti]

The "cut Whitehair" thing is strange. Whitehair isn't a bad player and the Bears have enough cap space

 

[dentfan]

The "cut Whitehair" thing is strange. Whitehair isn't a bad player and the Bears have enough cap space

I seriously don’t get it. OL don’t grow on trees. For what he’s being paid, he’s adequate. Let’s find a C and see what we have in Leatherwood at RT. Why drop Whitehair? I just don’t fucking get it.

 

[Aesopian]

And paying him 14.1Mil of the cap isn't a good use of money either. It's not only about saving money, it's also about not overpaying players.

You still have to pay him for next season anyway but I'm all for overpaying for offensive line in the short term.

 

[rawdawg]

I know you guys like to think inside the box. You see, "Center play is bad, get new center". But that's a lot easier said than done. How many C's are likely to be better than Patrick in 2023? Pocic? Yeah, probably. McGovern? Yeah, he's solid. He's also on IR with a knee injury. Bozeman? He's mediocre at best. If better than a healthy Patrick, it will be marginal. That's pretty much it in the C FA class unless you're going for Rodney Hudson at 33 or Jason Kelce at 35. Kelce won't leave the Eagles if he plays at all. What's to say Pocic, McGovern or Bozeman will either?

You look to upgrade C, your options are NFL centers. You aren't going to draft a guy better as there are 0 1st round C prospects in this draft. I know people have suggested Elgton Jenkins at C or moving Whitehair back there, but those are bad suggestions. If Whitehair was capable of moving back, he would have moved when the only other option was Mustipher the last 2 years. And Jenkins has been a probowl LG, hasn't played C in 4 years, you aren't signing him to a big FA contract to put him at his 3rd or 4th best position, and the least valuable.

You upgrade LG, your options include NFL LGs, NFL RGs, NFL tackles that have flexibility and earlier draft picks.

And you gotta upgrade multiple spots. We should all agree that Jenkins should be a lock at RG. Some might not agree, but it's stupid to think Jones won't be starting on this OL, and likely staying at LT. We all do agree that they will upgrade RT in some capacity, either FA or early in the draft. So that leaves only C and LG as the other positions to upgrade. Whitehair doesn't have a future with this franchise. He's going to be cut in 2023 or he's going to be cut in 2024. Patrick may not have a future either, but he was brought in to play C and has had 10 snaps at the position. I think the team will treat this as a lost year for him and remember the reasons they signed him as the 1st FA of the offseason.

And while you argue that the Bears have the cap space to absorb paying Whitehair 14.1M, they also have the cap space to absorb his dead cap. At the heart of cap management is value. "Is this player worth what he is being paid". Sometimes you don't have a choice when that player is under contract and you have lose money by cutting him. But Whitehair has an out where you save money.

So if you keep Whitehair, and you don't get 1 of the 3 viable options to choose your 1 team over 31 others....what do you have? The guy playing C this year isn't even the guy you want there. So Patrick represents a potential in-house upgrade. You risk not being better at C, just being different. And just being different at C, while being the same at LG, LT, and RG (admittedly, LT and RG could improve w/ experience) means you're not good enough. There are simply more options available to upgrade Whitehair and ensure you have 2 spots on the OL that are upgraded.

 

[rawdawg]

I seriously don’t get it. OL don’t grow on trees. For what he’s being paid, he’s adequate. Let’s find a C and see what we have in Leatherwood at RT. Why drop Whitehair? I just don’t fucking get it.

For what he's scheduled to get paid next year, he's the 5th highest paid OG in the league. 100K less than Joel Bitonio, who has an elite 87.8 PFF grade. Paying him more than Zach Martin. You need a lot more than adequate for that much money.

 

[dennehy]

But it's not like they are going to need his $5m right off the bat. They can wait until they have a replacement.

Also the heart of cap management is not just about what a player is worth, it's his value vs. the dead cap. Is he worth $5mil? That's really the only question because that is all the cap he frees up.

I think they should look to replace him, sure, but there's no guarantee you're going to get better value in FA. And if you wind up drafting a G in the midrounds, you have a replacement who can be brought along slowly.

 

[The Hawk]

The "cut Whitehair" thing is strange. Whitehair isn't a bad player and the Bears have enough cap space

I agree. He does his job as far as I am concerned and can play multiple positions pretty well. He's a keeper as far as I am concerned. They need to find a good center in free agency or the draft, another tackle, and a guard.

 

[rawdawg]

But it's not like they are going to need his $5m right off the bat. They can wait until they have a replacement.

Also the heart of cap management is not just about what a player is worth, it's his value vs. the dead cap. Is he worth $5mil? That's really the only question because that is all the cap he frees up.

I think they should look to replace him, sure, but there's no guarantee you're going to get better value in FA. And if you wind up drafting a G in the midrounds, you have a replacement who can be brought along slowly.

I didn't say cut him today or the day the season ends. Obviously, you can wait til you get someone better. You can June 1 him anyway, so no rush to cut.