Creating and using Cap Space is tied to “Opportunity”

Den-

After reading a post about J Williams actual value in comparison to his cap hit, I got to thinking….

Interestingly enough we are going through this with multiple Detroit Franchise rebuilds at the same time, and as fans it’s easy to forget that there are 30 plus other franchises fighting to overpay for the same small list of guys….

It seems like it was just 10 minutes ago that the Nets were all in to land 3-4 key pieces and build their own SUPER TEAM- and it’s already crumbled back to the foundation.

Many in here, and on Pistons forum thought we should have done more with our cap space…. Adding a few 2nd rounders, Jalen Duren, Noel, Burks and Kemba (had we wanted him) didn’t seem like enough in addition to landing Ivey???

However- what if Weaver/Casey want to give Stewart 30 minutes a game as a stretch 4? Say what you want but his defense is excellent, and his career 3pt % is north of 30% and improving.

IE-

PG- Cade, Hayes
SG- Ivey, Burks
SF- Bey, Livers
PF- Stewart, Olynyk
C- Bagley, Duren

If the team loves Livers as a 3 and D, and believes in Stewart while wanting to keep minutes for Bagley- Duren… then who should they have overpaid for? The key is next year we will know which of the above listed do and do not start hitting potential. Then they will have the means to sign a max players where we may have a hole….

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Deebo, D Watson, D Adams, Russ, Ty Hill etc are just a few examples of marquee players who are desperate or adamant about getting away from their current/former teams…. HELL LOOK AT STAFFORD!!

I see the Lions in the same light…. Goff has played at a pro bowl level and made playoff runs while surrounded by talent. If he holds us back this year, the. We could trade 3 first rounders for a shit at a top 5 overall pick at QB…

That said- I have no interest in shaving off a few bucks from Goff, J Will, Big V, Okwara etc as I don’t see better replacements readily available.

Right now Okudah and Brockers represent 2 dead spots on our depth chart and salary cap. Okudah is mainly due to injuries, but by end of this year we will be nearly 30M paid and so far zero production. We need a 70PFF grade type year out of him at least.

Brockers played like a DT 4-5 low end rotational guy and was paid like a top 5 DT last year. We need meaningful snaps and 3-5 sacks this year.

FREE AGENCY- Watch L Jax, Brown, DK, Brady, McLaurin, D James, J Bates, and R Smith either get ragged, re-signed, or retire.

Who is left? Minkah, D Payne, E Jenkins, S Barkley, B Chubb?

If AO starts strong, then I’d extend him 4-5 years. I’d also sign Hock now while the WRs are cheap.

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Spending big on free agents always sounds appealing but more often than not it doesn’t work out. The best teams are mostly home grown talent with a few free agents as the final pieces. How many years did the Yankees break the bank trying to buy a World Series? Even the rams last season had the majority of their roster filled with players they drafted. Plus a handful of great trades. I want to see Holmes take the same approach. Building a winning roster and then fill it with free agents if you need to. You’re always going to have bad contracts on your roster or players fans think are overpaid. The key is to limit those. That’s something the lions have been terrible at over the years.

2 Likes

Agree

J Will, Anzalone, Charles Harris, E Brown, K Raymond, and J Reynolds are all great contracts in my opinion.

You are talking 6 guys near their prime ages that bring experience, versatility and COMBINE for 16M in cap hits this year.

The confidence our offense gains by having Reynolds Raymond as potential #5-6 WRs on the depth chart in a perfect world, but #3-4 in a pinch is easily worth the 4M cap hit…. Having vets with versatile skill sets, comfort in the scheme, and 60 plus PFF ability as backups is huge in a league of injuries!!!

Having Anzalone as a practice stud and leader is okay by me at 2M. I expect Board, Davis, Barnes and Rodriguez to provide at least one really good starter. So either Anazalone is a functional weakest link (unlike Tavaii) or purely depth. He’s the kind of depth that won’t make the DC nervous if he has to start.

Having E Brown get all those snaps last year was great for us long term. We have a plug and play center or OG if we need for a few games or more.

Lastly J Will is a gamer. A leader and a positive influence out there. He loves his teammates and the game. He’s solid as can be in short yardage. Is 4.5M a tad expensive? Sure, but if we needed the money they would have already extended and restructured him and others.

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My point is we don’t need the space and keeping it flexible from year to year is exactly what I’d like to see.

Right now AO and Hock represent the next places we could spent future cap space if they will take a small discount to ensure long term security now.

Allen Robinson has almost the same cap hit between this year and next than Chark, ASB, Cephus,Reynolds, Raymond and Jamo combined. Literally A Rob is 23M over the next 2 years, and then factor the league minimum of nearly 1M to cover 4 more roster spots…

Our group of 6 guys will cost 32M total over the next 2 years and only Chark is on a 1 year

So Allen Robinson nearing 30 and 5 league minimum free agents would cost the same as our entire WR room! Maybe a hair more!

1 Like

With you all the way on this stuff
For years FA provided some candy for the fans — and that candy proved to be mostly empty calories.
MUCH prefer the current approach

Last year-

WR1
WR2
WR3
RG
RT
DT
NT
Edge2
OLB
CB2
SS

These positions were all HUGE areas of need with limited picks and no money…. I said edge 2 because in March of 2022 we likely felt we had an Edge1 based on what we paid Romeo.

That’s 11 spots!!! ELEVEN

We’ve rejuvenated Big V, and drafted Jamo, ASB, Sewell, McNeil, Levi O, Barnes, Hutch, Iffy and Joseph…

It’s entirely possible we have 3-4 holes going into next year.

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