Chiefs forced to spend $20 million to meet new salary floor?

[FloridaMan88]

So it appears from most reports that the agreed upon 2011 salary cap will be $120 million with the salary floor constituting AT LEAST (and this could be increased) 90% of the salary cap (about $108 million)

Most reports had the Chiefs payroll last season near $90 million.

This means that the Chiefs will be forced to spend about $20 million just to meet the salary floor.

Clark's Chiefs will be FORCED to pursue an aggressive approach in free agency.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Chief Roundup

Did you read the OP? It says 120. If you want to say 123 ok. Do a little math and you will find that you are left with 111 mil. So there might be 1 mil difference.

There have been too many numbers flying around to be sure. The 123 million was associated with the last cap in '09, it's also been said it was 128mil. Read so many articles and twitter feeds now with conflicting info that I don't know anymore without looking things up over and over.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I'm definitely going to push back on the slot receiver part. I think this team is best built to win by a power running game and a dominating defense, and a passing game good enough to not lose games. Until Cassel proves otherwise, that's my feeling. If that's the case, I don't agree with loading the field with options our QB has no idea what to do with. Breaston would still be #4 behind Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki, and often times even Charles. I don't see Cassel throwing for more than 3,500 yards in any given season. You'd expect Bowe, Baldwin, and Moeaki to account for about 2,500 of those. The RBs to account for probably 500. How much is there really leftover for a slot?

I'd be fine with a guy like Breaston if we had a Brees type QB who can put up over 4,000 yards. But given that Cassel + our love of running the ball is probably going to limit Cassel to about 200 yards a game, I think overspending on a slot is a waste.

Anybody can throw for 3500 plus in this league. If Haley gets a bug up his ass, he'll hit it easily. It's all about efficiency though. Hell, that POS Orton was on pace for about 5 grand at one point. Mostly "empty" yards though, so...

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I just don't see it. I think the Chiefs rely on a totally different kind of attack. They want to control the ball and keep the defense off the field. That's why you have a lot of big boys like Bowe and Baldwin who are threats to go deep, but much bigger threats in a possession type attack. The Chiefs don't mind dinking and dunking and running time off the clock. Different from the Pats, who didn't mind at all chucking the ball downfield.

As the Chiefs get better on defense, the Chiefs are going to run teh ball even more. That's not a knock on Cassel. Big Ben has had a lot of sub 3500 yard seasons too.

I disagree. When Cassel put up those numbers with the Patriots, he almost never connected downfield. A LOT of those yards came after the catch. Which, if you ask me, is what the Chiefs are trying to build their passing game to be. They already have 4 guys who can run after the catch, in Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki and Charles. A good slot excels at racking up RAC yards.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I disagree. When Cassel put up those numbers with the Patriots, he almost never connected downfield. A LOT of those yards came after the catch. Which, if you ask me, is what the Chiefs are trying to build their passing game to be. They already have 4 guys who can run after the catch, in Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki and Charles. A good slot excels at racking up RAC yards.

They still threw downfield a lot more than the Chiefs do, because they have threats like Moss and Welker who are dangerous more than 20 yards down the field. But more importantly, it wasn't the same kind of ball control offense you see the Chiefs run. They not only run the ball a whole ton, they also try to take a lot of time between snaps to run out of clock.

And while Bowe and Baldwin are good YAC guys, they're not nearly the kind of threat Moss and Welker are.

I think the Chiefs' offense today is a lot more similar to the Steelers' offense was in Big Ben's earlier years than it is the Patriots'. Big and physical vs. fast and shifty.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by PGM

Anybody can throw for 3500 plus in this league. If Haley gets a bug up his ass, he'll hit it easily. It's all about efficiency though. Hell, that POS Orton was on pace for about 5 grand at one point. Mostly "empty" yards though, so...

Good point. Our biggest weakness as an offense last year was, that when we needed to move the chains on third down, there was nobody to throw the ball to. Bowe was doubled and Moeaki got bumped at the line and taken care of in coverage. Charles can't always make long runs for the first, and Jones was done before last year started.

Hell, Cassel threw for over 3,100yds. last year with Bowe being shutdown in one full game and relegated to 1 catch in two more. Not to mention Moeaki missing a full game and being held to 1 catch in 3 more.

[BossChief]

No way teams even think of defending us the same way if we have Breaston and Baldwin in the huddle.

Nobody would dare putting 8 in the box against that lineup.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by BossChief

No way teams even think of defending us the same way if we have Breaston and Baldwin in the huddle.

Nobody would dare putting 8 in the box against that lineup.

I'm sure Haley put in a call to Breaston a week ago.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Like I said, you can use that argument for anyone. The fact is, you're not going to put world beaters on your team at every single position. And as milkman has pointed out, and it's true, we're going to have a TON of people we have to re-sign in the next few years. If that's the case, you have to prioritize who you want to spend your money on. A slot receiver is a role playing position. David Harris, on the other hand, is a shutdown run-stopper. Even if we struggle at Nose Tackle, he's going to plug up the interior run. And he's a good blitzing LB. How many times last season did our interior run defense completely disappear?

Here's the way I see it. As a running offense, we are already awesome. As an overall defense, we have potential to be great. If we get good play from a NT and LOLB, we can be every bit as good as the Steelers on D. Our pass offense? No matter how much we stack the deck, we still have a QB who could limit the Chiefs from being great.

If we bring in Breaston, we are essentially asking Cassel to be the guy who wins games for us. If we bring in Harris, we're on our way to becoming a scary overall defense. Add that to a terrific running game and now all of a sudden, you only ask Cassel to manage games to victory.

If the Chiefs had Drew Brees, no question you go after Breaston. But with Cassel, I'd rather choose to be great and whenever possible, not ask him to put up over 20 points a game.

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Our trailer is hitched to Cassel. Which is why I'd rather the Chiefs use a formula similar to the Jets. The Jets are so dominant a running team and a defense that they don't ask Sanchez to do much.

The Chiefs CAN be dominant on defense. And they CAN be and already are terrific on run offense. The pass offense is always going to be limited by Cassel. So yeah... I'd rather spend toward being awesome on defense and passable on pass offense, then to be solid but not dominant on defense and good not great on pass offense.

The problem is, this is a QB league.

I don't care how good our run game is, at some point the game will be put on Cassel's shoulders, and when that happens, I want him to have options.

The best way for him to succeed is to provide him enough weapons.
If you do that, and he fails, then you know with absolute certainty that he isn't the guy, and I want to know that as soon as possible.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by milkman

The problem is, this is a QB league.

I don't care how good our run game is, at some point the game will be put on Cassel's shoulders, and when that happens, I want him to have options.

The best way for him to succeed is to provide him enough weapons.
If you do that, and he fails, then you know with absolute certainty that he isn't the guy, and I want to know that as soon as possible.

I've got a theory on that...

[Pasta Little Brioni]

This theory? Your own words ....


He's stepping it up, and I was wrong about him

Regardless of who and when we bring another QB prospect in, if he's a rook, he will have a phenomenal mentor to learn from in terms of preparation and the work side of things.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by PGM

This theory? Your own words ....


He's stepping it up, and I was wrong about him

Regardless of who and when we bring another QB prospect in, if he's a rook, he will have a phenomenal mentor to learn from in terms of preparation and the work side of things.

Mother****er.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by DarthCarlSatan

Mother****er.

Haha

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by BossChief

No way teams even think of defending us the same way if we have Breaston and Baldwin in the huddle.

Nobody would dare putting 8 in the box against that lineup.

Same would be true if you put Baldwin in and any slot receiver who is better than horrible.

You can upgrade to an average slot receiver at a fraction of the cost and tremendously upgrade your pass offense. Still, while it's nice to give Cassel another weapon, the fact is that the greatest weapon we can give to Cassel is to avoid asking him to consistently make big plays.

I know Breaston makes this team better. I'm saying that David Harris makes this team very close to terrific.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

The problem is, this is a QB league.

I don't care how good our run game is, at some point the game will be put on Cassel's shoulders, and when that happens, I want him to have options.

The best way for him to succeed is to provide him enough weapons.
If you do that, and he fails, then you know with absolute certainty that he isn't the guy, and I want to know that as soon as possible.

I think if you're a QB and you have two receivers who could be excellent, an excellent receiving tight end, and 1 or 2 backs out of the backfield who are very effective with screens, and you still claim you need an all-world receiver, you've got problems.

If the Chiefs field a top 5 defense, a top 5 running game, and the QB can't win games (even with 3 very good receivers), then we're doomed no matter what. I agree that without good QB play, we're fighting an uphill battle. The problem is, with your scenario, we're putting all our eggs in Cassel's basket. At least with my scenario, you can protect a bad or young QB (see Sanchez) if you choose to develop one, and you may even be able to protect an average QB into the Super Bowl. In my scenario, even if you lose Cassel, the Chiefs have a chance to quickly turn things around.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Same would be true if you put Baldwin in and any slot receiver who is better than horrible.

You can upgrade to an average slot receiver at a fraction of the cost and tremendously upgrade your pass offense. Still, while it's nice to give Cassel another weapon, the fact is that the greatest weapon we can give to Cassel is to avoid asking him to consistently make big plays.

I know Breaston makes this team better. I'm saying that David Harris makes this team very close to terrific.

So you want to give up draft picks and a huge contract to sign an inside backer?