Players, owners reach agreement on economics of deal

**chicagoravensfan** · 07-15-2011, 09:44 PM

Looks like teams will still have 72 hours to sign their own free agents. Hopefully Yanda is locked up in hour 1!

**B-more Ravor** · 07-15-2011, 11:00 PM

Originally Posted by chicagoravensfan

Looks like teams will still have 72 hours to sign their own free agents. Hopefully Yanda is locked up in hour 1!

Tampering is bad in most normal years, but with such a "consolidated" offseason, that 72 hours is going to mean very little IMO. Plenty of players and agents are going to "know" what other interest (and amounts) is out there.

Unfortunately, with free agency that close, I don't think many players are going to re-sign. Or, at least, the bigger names will be more likely to test the market since they will have a pretty good idea what is awaiting them.

**DkBlue** · 07-15-2011, 11:04 PM

Originally Posted by B-more Ravor

Tampering is bad in most normal years, but with such a "consolidated" offseason, that 72 hours is going to mean very little IMO. Plenty of players and agents are going to "know" what other interest (and amounts) is out there.

Unfortunately, with free agency that close, I don't think many players are going to re-sign. Or, at least, the bigger names will be more likely to test the market since they will have a pretty good idea what is awaiting them.

I suspect you're right about that. Many will want to test the market. I don't expect many rookie holdouts as that would be suicide this year.

If they get this together and are able to provide top level NFL football this fall it will be a real accomplishment.

**HoustonRaven** · 07-16-2011, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by B-more Ravor

Tampering is bad in most normal years, but with such a "consolidated" offseason, that 72 hours is going to mean very little IMO. Plenty of players and agents are going to "know" what other interest (and amounts) is out there.

Unfortunately, with free agency that close, I don't think many players are going to re-sign. Or, at least, the bigger names will be more likely to test the market since they will have a pretty good idea what is awaiting them.

I disagree.

The inventory of FA players is close to an all time high. Combine that with the short time frame and there are going to be players left with no option but to sign back to their original teams.

**psuraven** · 07-16-2011, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

I disagree.

The inventory of FA players is close to an all time high. Combine that with the short time frame and there are going to be players left with no option but to sign back to their original teams.

I disagree. A lot of these teams have no cap room and others have about $50 million to spend. With the new salary floor rules, these teams must spend the money or they might as well flush it down the toilet because if they don't spend the money, then the difference is distributed to the players on their roster. There will be a lot of player movement this year. Not to mention there is going to be another big group of players hitting the market from teams cutting players to get under the cap. The good news for the Ravens is, there should be some good bargain shopping. I hope Ozzie and the boys are caught up on their sleep. They've had plenty of time to rest up since the draft at the end of April so there should be no excuses. The next month is going to be wild and crazy.

**HoustonRaven** · 07-16-2011, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by psuraven

I disagree. A lot of these teams have no cap room and others have about $50 million to spend. With the new salary floor rules, these teams must spend the money or they might as well flush it down the toilet because if they don't spend the money, then the difference is distributed to the players on their roster. There will be a lot of player movement this year. Not to mention there is going to be another big group of players hitting the market from teams cutting players to get under the cap. The good news for the Ravens is, there should be some good bargain shopping. I hope Ozzie and the boys are caught up on their sleep. They've had plenty of time to rest up since the draft at the end of April so there should be no excuses. The next month is going to be wild and crazy.

Yeah. Exactly.

High volume of FA players + many teams with little cap room = not a lot of room to sign the high volume of FA players available.

Yes, the floor will mean they have to spend the money but, as you stated, not many teams have that money to spend.

But yes, it's definitely going to VERY interesting FA period for sure.

**bmorebirds_24** · 07-16-2011, 11:32 AM

Any idea what teams have the most money to spend?

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**B-more Ravor** · 07-16-2011, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

I disagree.

The inventory of FA players is close to an all time high. Combine that with the short time frame and there are going to be players left with no option but to sign back to their original teams.

For the lesser players, I would agree. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough, my comments were more aimed at FA re-signing during that 72 hour window, especially the bigger FAs. Those guys are still going to get their big paydays and I don't expect this 72 hours of "exclusivity" to really amount to much. Tampering is going to be going on - at crazy amounts, IMO - and I believe that will keep many players from re-signing during that 72 hour period. Why re-sign, especially if you know there's going to be a bidding war, without letting the competition possible drive the price up?

After that initial burst and the big names are signed, I agree, the market may well dictate that a lot of guys may have to take one-year, "prove it" deals because the cash is simply going to run out. That will lead to many re-signing with their current teams.

**The Excellector** · 07-16-2011, 01:41 PM

Thank goodness we have Ozzie as our GM. They'll be sending front office personnel to the madhouse in drones, by the time this is all said and done.

**houstonravensfan** · 07-16-2011, 03:49 PM

I have faith that our FO is, at worst, above average. In terms of FAs, Yanda has to be number one priority, then one of the CBs. I hope we have a Plan B in case we lose Yanda -- it could happen. It's going to be crazy.

With our rep for turning UDFAs into starters, I should think we'll also have a good chance to pick up an Hynoski or two.

The poster previously known as donskar

**Navy Raven** · 07-16-2011, 04:12 PM

About time!

**The Excellector** · 07-16-2011, 04:20 PM

It would be crazy.

GM: Don't worry, I've got a plan. We are going to retain all five of our major free agents.

Free Agency hits like a storm:

GM calls agent of first major free agent. Line is busy.

GM gets nervous.

GM calls agent of second major free agent. Agent is out to lunch.

GM starts to sweat.

GM calls agent of third major free agent. He's busy. AMC is playing all three Godfather movies.

GM panics.

Team fails to sign all five major free agents.

GM is sent to the madhouse.