H
HardRightEdge
Guest
My bad.
On the other hand, your assumption that Rodgers' exclusive tag in 2014 would be $23 million is unfounded. Nobody knows right now...it could be that high or it could be much lower. It depends on the elite player deals signed in the interim, how they are structured, the age of the deals at the time, and who retires. If in Rodgers FA year the elite QBs are in the early years of "cap friendly" deals, the number will be much lower.
Further, as noted in your link, this year's final number could go down substantially from the current estimate if the cap numbers used in the calculation are washed out in re-negotiations this year to new "cap friendly" deals, which is rumored to be the case with some of those guys.
Using one-year cap numbers in the calculation results in artificially inflated exclusive franchise numbers in some years caused by old "cap friendly" deals with back loaded cap dollars hitting the average; other years it could be artificially low if a bunch of elite players happen to sign new "cap friendly" deals that year. It is a poorly designed and arbitrary provision, which can vary wildly from year to year, which a player or team might exploit depending on the circumstances.
In the case of Flaco, if the very high exclusive tag number sticks this year (which it probably won't) and he walks into the room demanding a gimmick-free $20 mil/per year deal, Ravens management will know he's using the arbitrarily high 2013 exclusive number as leverage (read: blackmail) for that deal, exploiting a fluky and defective CBA provision.
I'd offer him a fair deal, but if he was not willing to come down I'd hit him with the non-exclusive tag, collect my 2 picks if somebody else wants to overpay, acquire Alex Smith or Flynn, and mount a PR campaign explaining how Joe Flaco's gambit would have squeezed the cap and damaged long-term competitiveness.
If nobody is foolish enough to pay what he wants while surrendering the picks, he'll stay non-exclusive tagged for 2013 until his demands come down.
