2014 NFL off-season thread

What an ass this guy is.

Isn't that exactly what Kaepernick said he will do? He will play out his contract and renegotiate after next year. Why WOULD he accept a below-market contract after taking a team to the Super Bowl and NFC title game in his first two years? He might not deserve 18 mil, but he'll get it. Especially if he bounces back next year. And please stop with the Sanchez stuff ... Kaepernick is head and shoulders above what Sanchez was ever thought to be.

 

Mama K not happy:

http://fansided.com/2014/03/06/colin-kaepernicks-mom-fires-back-journalist-wanted-slap/#!yMEFY

Teresa Kaepernick @mommakaep

When one has an inability to articulate their thoughts intelligently, they often resort to namecalling. Isn't that right @lowellcohn ?

 

I would be shocked if the 49ers get into numbers that start with a 2 for any year, at least as of now. There's no need. They have another year of bargain-basement prices and then a year of franchising him if need be. And they have, to put it mildly, other fish to fry before him. In addition to Harbaugh, their talent base has two years before they start blowing it up because of age and contracts.

I think a lot of it depends on Harbaugh's future, so the attitude on Kaepernick will be wait-and-see. If Harbaugh stays, the 49ers have to be pretty confident that he can win with anyone -- OK not just anyone, but he can certainly find someone to get it done at a lower rate. But if there's no Harbaugh, maybe they will feel like they need to lock in that spot.

If he goes for the long-term security and takes an average of $12-15M for five or six years, I think they get a deal done. But I don't see that happening. I see this playing out like Flacco with the Ravens.

 

Joe Flacco got $29 million in guaranteed money and an average salary per year of $20 million in his contract. It's hard for me to see Kaepernick or Russell Wilson accepting less in guarantees or an average salary per year.

The real trick is to make sure the contract is front-loaded in terms of the dead-money hit that goes against the cap. That way, you ensure you only pay the QB in his prime years and, once he enters his decline years, you can release him without much of a cap penalty.

I'd have to look up the specifics on Flacco's deal, but I believe in the final two or three years, th Ravens could release him if his play is declining and not take that much of a cap hit.

 

Wilson's contract can't be reopened this year, right?

Regarding Kaepernick vs. Flacco, there was vastly more information on Flacco by then AND he was hitting free agency. He had started five years and 90-plus games by the time he got that contract. There is no way Kaepernick is getting close to those numbers at this point.

His agents might want it to be so, though. And that's why I think they don't do a deal and he plays this year for $1M.

 

Kinda helped Flacco that the team had just won the Super Bowl, too.

 

You are correct about Wilson. I brought him up mainly because he'll be the next QB who will be due for a large raise, even if he's not a hands-down elite QB.

As for Kaep, he doesn't have leverage at this point but he'll ultimately want to get paid well if the Niners keep making the playoffs, and especially if they get to a Super Bowl again.

Heck, Jay Cutler's latest contract averages $18.1 million per year. It is a cap-friendly deal, but Cutler has more years experience than Flacco, one trip to the NFC title game and no other playoff trips.

Kaep may play out the final year of his rookie contract, but there's no way his agents will accept less than $18 million per year in an extension if the Niners return to the playoffs this year.

 

Cohn the jackass is on local TV now and saying he shouldn't get the money because "he's not won anything." Uh, he went to a Super Bowl and barely missed another. So if it's about not winning a Super Bowl, OK, but then holding out Romo and Cutler as two guys whose pay he shouldn't exceed does not make a whole lot of sense.

He also looked into the camera and addressed Kaepernick's mom.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Romo and Cutler are barely above-average by most measures. Kaepernick has done much more already.

 

Jeff George thinks this is the right approach to criticism.

 

So Cohn is Exmediahack?

 

I think Kaepernick will be worth the money once his red-zone efficiency improves and he can, consistently, hit his second read (in other words, once Crabtree is covered).

He brings a dimension that no one else brings as a QB. Long strides when he runs. Not afraid to pick up extra yardage.

This year will be a critical year for him to pick up his leadership of the team. He was never anointed as "The Choice" with a top 10 draft pick. He came in, mid-season, in 2012 and had plenty of success. I just wonder if he still wants to be "one of the guys" or if he, truly, wants to be the franchise QB and all of the responsibility that goes with it.

Now with a full year as a starter on his resume, does he take full control of the team this summer? If he wants the $20 million, he'd better.