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dzrams
Yeah, but who do we have on our team that is worth big bucks now?
Quinn? Nope. Hasn't produced in 2 years.
Austin? Overpaid.
Goff? Maybe in a few years...
Tru? Overpaid
Brockers? He's one of the 8-10 players and already has a contract.
Ogletree? He'll probably be resigned and be one of the 8-10 highly paid players.
Joyner? Maybe. How will he do at FS and is FS a position that warrants a high salary?
Whitworth? He's one of the 8-10 players but that's definitely a short term thing
Barwin? Same as Whitworth...
Go down the list on our team. We don't have many players right now that are truly worth paying high salaries. So finding the balance should be easy.
Well, let's think in terms of '18 contracts and beyond, dz.
Quinn is a maybe thing depending on how he plays this year. Could go either way but if he returns to Pro Bowl status then his contract is justified and he becomes one of the eight.
Austin? We're stuck with his contract, but I grant you it's only for a year unless McVay works some kind of a miracle.
Brockers is one of the eight and justifies his contract.
Whit has to be one of the eight for '18, obviously.
Barwin could be one of the eight in '18 and beyond if he stars in this Wade D this year. He is still in his prime, imo.
We have a bunch of other quality starters whose contracts are up after this season. They might or might not qualify as a top eight, but collectively their contracts will take significant slices out of our cap dollar pie.
Joyner
Ogletree
Alexander
Easley (I think)
TruJo
Gurley will require an option year decision
Several others are on short term contracts, too.
Webster
Coleman
Then there's the Goff option coming up in just 2 years.
I'm probably forgetting others, but I'm too lazy to do the necessary research.
The above constitute 6 quality starters (not counting AD) that won't come cheap, plus 2 more starters that may or may not be considered "quality", although Wade certainly thought highly of them.
Goff, if he lights it up, will also cost an arm and a leg very soon. If not, a FA such as Cousins will. Having a quality QB is crucial. And they are costly one way or another.
I guess my point is that that approx $40 million cap space for '18 looks big now, but it will go mighty fast when they start writing those checks to the players above.
AD will be well paid, if extended, as he should be. But let's don't get completely carried away while we're at it. We must take care of the greater good, don't you think?
