OK, So Who Do You Cut?
 

Ok, so I've seen all your rants about how we have to sign Drew now. Salary cap being what it is, and only $2.3million under, assuming Brees signs the Tag, let's play Mickey Loomis for a day.

Who do you let go to make room?

Remember,
-You have to leave some cap space to fill injury voids.
-You can cut some people, but their salaries may be, at least partially, applied to the cap.
-Vilma's salary space is not a given, as his appeal may be successful, then you're screwed. - Cutting him would trigger salary against the cap.
-You have to have 53 players (CBA)

• POS First Second Third Other
• QB Drew Brees Chase Daniel
• FB Jed Collins Korey Hall
• RB Pierre Thomas Darren Sproles Mark Ingram
• WR1 Marques Colston Lance Moore Adrian Arrington
• WR1 Devery Henderson Courtney Roby
• TE Jimmy Graham David Thomas
• LT Jermon Bushrod Charles Brown
• LG Brian de la Puente
• C Brian de la Puente Matt Tennant
• RG Jahri Evans Brian de la Puente
• RT Zach Strief Charles Brown
• LDE Turk McBride Cameron Jordan
• NT Aubrayo Franklin Shaun Rogers
• DT Sedrick Ellis Tom Johnson
• RDE Will Smith Jeff Charleston
• SLB Will Herring Martez Wilson
• MLB Jonathan Vilma Jo-Lonn Dunbar Ramon Humber
• WLB Scott Shanle Jonathan Casillas
• LCB Jabari Greer
• SS Roman Harper Jonathon Amaya
• FS Malcolm Jenkins Isa Abdul-Quddus
• RCB Patrick Robinson Johnny Patrick
• K John Kasay
• P Thomas Morstead
• LS Justin Drescher
• H Chase Daniel Thomas Morstead
• PR Darren Sproles Lance Moore
• KR Darren Sproles Courtney Roby
• KO Thomas Morstead

Good luck.

Love ya Xan, but this roster doesn't look accurate. Start with JV if need be.

If Brees hits pay dirt I see a big revolving door of releasing and re-signing players every week. That is going to be one daunting task. If they create W's with whatever formula they use it's going to be an amazing story.

Loomis

Abacus

Contract

Harmony will ensue



Damn, was that a haiku???







.

Justin Drescher.......Drew can long snap.

No brainer.. #58 first and foremost :)

Cut Drew and our cap woes are over.

Better yet lets cut everyone and fill the roster with UDFA's. the highest paid player will earn 500k per year and then someone will still yell how he is crippling the team.

Scott Shanle and sedrick Ellis can go first, that would free up some space, possibly JV after a while

D. Thomas, Herring, Shanle, Roby, and W. Smith.

Essentially from what I have heard and understand that $2.3m worth of space is where any team wants to start the season with to have room for injuries as Xan pointed out.

So we are starting with 0 cap space theoretically.

I would cut (with justification):

Vilma - Frees up 4.7m, he is presently injured; productive decline for two seasons; still very questionable if he will not be suspended; we already have his replacement.

Shanle: Frees up 1.5m, has lingering shoulder problems, production is damned near zero. His stats have been on a decline since 2008

Ellis - Frees up 5.86m only 10 tackles last year and 0.5 sacks... Dude gots to go!

With 10 LB's on the roster according to the player roster on neworleanssaints.com we can afford to make room there. Vilma and Shanle have 8 and 9 years respectively and are becoming injury prone.

Ellis and Shanle are free agents next year, Vilma is a free agent in 2014.

The argument could be made to keep Vilma for his leadership and to show loyalty, plus he still has contract life after this season... getting rid of Ellis and Shanle frees up 7.36m and neither one of them has done squat in a season or two.

Well, you're going to have to cut everyone if you're gonna pay Drew Bree's.

The above depth chart was lifted from the Saints' team site, and I modified it for known (at least to me) inaccuracies.

Johnathan Vilma will count $2.8 million in cap hit out of his $5.7 million salary, with a $2.7 million savings should he not play.

For those hoping to justify a new Brees salary in the $21+million range by cutting Vilma, you're still missing some dough. So far you're failing the Mickey Loomis test.

Ok Xan you are going to have to explain that 2.6m to me (one mil was signing bonus)...
Vilma for 2012: $1.6 million (+ $600,000 roster bonus)... I didnt think bonuses hit the salary cap... even then its 1.6 mil

I see a lot of conflicting reports:
Jonathan Vilma - New Orleans Saints - 2012 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com
New Orleans Saints should gain about $2 million in salary-cap space from Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith suspensions - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com
Vilma suspension could lead to Brees deal - NFC South Blog - ESPN
Vilma Suspended For One Season Among Player Bounty Gate Punishments


I was wrong about the 4.7 that is in 2013
2013: $4.8 million (+ $1.1 million roster bonus),

Bonuses hit the cap, and depending on what kind of bonus, they can or cannot be amortized over the life of the contract. Because his is a two year deal, the signing bonus is spread over that period, and bonuses count the year awarded. His situation is compounded by the fact that the roster bonus may be awarded before his eligibility is determined. You, as GM would have to include the bonus in your estimates. His salary for 2012 is only $1.6million, which is what would be saved against the cap by "releasing," if that wouldn't set up another lawsuit in itself....

I guess I have to call myself out on not getting the numbers right in the first place. Sentence: a year watching FoxNews.

Loomis gave you a D+ and you have to spend this season watching Saints football with Pat Yaskanis.:hallucinate:

Um our 3 new lb's aren't on there, and I thought we didn't resign rogers or franklin?

I said start with

If you mentioned Shanle, or #58, you got a "LIKE". Enjoy!

LOL

Alaska

Those are all very likely, except for Thomas...

Until we see what we have in training camp...

This is not even close to the roster we have so the point is nul and void

I love Thomas as a player. His health is what concerns me. I thought Higgins did well at the end of the season. Great hands. With a full offseason he could improve greatly.