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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A look at the franchise/transition tag values

Remember last year when people were up in arms when the Steelers placed the transition tag on offensive tackle Max Starks, guaranteeing him nearly $7 million?
Here are the tag values for this year. It's interesting to note that the transition tag on offensive tackles would now cost $7.74 million and that the Steelers have just two players - safety Troy Polamalu and defensive tackle Casey Hampton - among the top five-paid players at their position in 2009.
That is how you stay out of cap hell.

Quarterbacks

Player Total
P. Manning $18,704,320
T. Brady $14,620,000
C. Palmer $13,980,001
A. Rodgers $13,952,500
E. Manning $11,416,666
Franchise: 14.65 million
Transition: 12.44 million

Running backs

Player Total
L. Tomlinson $7,816,666
E. James $6,750,000
J. Lewis $6,400,000
R. Brown $6,106,800
C. Portis $6,031,083
Franchise: 6.62 million
Transition: 5.92 million

Wide receivers

Player Total
M. Harrison $12,000,000
L. Evans $10,374,585
B. Berrian $9,438,333
T. Holt $9,104,714
A. Johnson $8,504,848
Franchise: 9.88 million
Transition: 8.39 million

Tight ends

Player Total
T. Gonzalez $5,031,375
L.J. Smith $4,522,000
K. Winslow $4,449,584
A. Gates $4,200,000
J. Witten $4,105,000
Franchise: 4.46 million
Transition: 4.07 million

Offensive linemen

Player Total
E. Steinbach $9,166,666
J. Thomas $8,860,000
W. Jones $8,600,000
O. Pace $8,175,000
J. Gross $7,455,000
Franchise: 8.45 million
Transition: 7.74 million

Kickers/punters

Player Total
S. Janikowski $3,010,000
R. Gould $2,520,000
A. Vinatieri $2,350,000
J. Kasay $2,300,000
B. Moorman $2,236,428
Franchise: 2.48 million
Transition: 2.26 million

Defensive ends

Player Total
J. Peppers $13,902,500
J. Abraham $8,500,000
A. Schobel $8,066,666
J. Taylor $7,500,000
L. Castillo $6,983,500
Franchise: 8.99 million
Transition: 7.78 million

Defensive tackles

Player Total
A. Haynesworth $7,250,003
C. Griffin $6,166,333
T. Harris $6,030,662
M. Stroud $5,666,666
C. Hampton $5,177,083
Franchise: 6.06 million
Transition: 5.45 million

Linebackers

Player Total
R. Lewis $9,428,574
T. Suggs $8,475,000
K. Dansby $8,065,000
K. Bullock $7,858,668
K. Brooking $7,692,226
Franchise: 8.30 million
Transition: 7.48 million

Cornerbacks

Player Total
C. Bailey $12,190,050
C. McAlister $10,907,082
N. Asomugha $9,765000
A. Samuel $8,645,000
P. Surtain $8,280,000
Franchise: 9.96 million
Transition: 8.37 million

Safties

Player Total
B. Sanders $8,209,999
T. Polamalu $6,820,000
R.L. Williams $6,667,385
M. Williams $5,271,666
A. Wilson $4,739,499
Franchise: 6.34 million
Transition: 5.13 million

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy, are there some overpaid players on those lists.

Just out of curiosity, does McAllister still count since was released by Balt given NFL contracts are not guaranteed?

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'd like to have Aaron Rodger's agent. How the hell did he end up making that kind of money?

Anonymous said...

Seriously, how did Rodgers get paid that much? How is he getting paid more than Eli?

Dale Lolley said...

If I remember correctly, Rodgers negotiated that deal midway through last season.

Again, that's how teams end up in cap hell, overpaying for guys. A lot of the guys on that list are so-so players.

How'd you like to be paying Patrick Surtain $8 million?

The Raiders are paying Janikowski more than $3 million.

The Browns have more than $17 million tied up in Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas.

The list goes on and on.

Patrick said...

Aren't these numbers year to year cap #'s though? For example, Rodgers next year could be half that because his base could go down? I don't doubt that AR is overpaid, but I think his contract is a little bit front loaded. Deljcz will know the answer to this.

Also, I know no one is arguing it, but to me, Casey Hampton is worth every penny. A 3-4 NT is not easy to find, they aren't just fats guys, and he is arguably the best.

Same for Polamula, he is a game changer - worth the cap space.

Dale Lolley said...

Yeah. Last year, Roethlisberger was the highest-paid QB because of his new deal. Salaries change all the time. They don't average out the contract numbers.

Anonymous said...

Dale,

Again, why would McAllister be counted since he's been released by Balt and NFL contracts are not guaranteed?

Dale Lolley said...

That was the list before he was released. I'm not a capologist, so I'm not sure how that work.