As I mentioned a few days ago, the NFL’s unexpected interpretation of the RFA rules (that a non-tendered RFA can be freely signed by a final 8 team) had cast doubt upon whether Lito Sheppard could be treated as a UFA loss if the Jets renounced their rights to him, as we had previously been told.
Jason from nyjetscap.com e-mailed us to say that he has finally got to the bottom of this:
I have it confirmed that Lito will NOT count as a UFA. The Jets refusal to not pick up the option does not void the contract as originally thought. His option is simply tied into the last year of his contract and that is it.
Unfortunately, this means that the Jets cannot sign a UFA to replace him, which is a shame because his cap number is likely to be higher than any of the UFAs the Jets have. (Remember, the cap number in the first year for anyone you sign cannot exceed that of the outgoing UFA).
We should therefore revisit my previous article about whether the Jets could sign a free agent in Dunta Robinson’s price range. As you may recall, it was Lito that I used in my example, with an estimated 2010 cap number of $3m. It does seem unlikely that any of the Jets current UFAs will command a first year cap charge that high. However, I am not prepared to tap out yet.
With teams likely to front load any short term deals in order to make most of the money fall into the uncapped year, a team could sign a $5.25m, three year contract with a $3m cap number in 2010 and still comply with the 30% and 50% rules. With Jay Feely having received $1.5m last year and apparently holding out for more than that (coupled with the fact that Sebastian Janakowski just signed a $4m per year deal), I don’t think it’s impossible that he signs a deal like this. Unfortunately, you cannot combine the cap numbers of more than one UFA loss to sign one replacement and the other potential losses (Douglas, Izzo, Dearth, etc) and less likely to sign a deal that big.
The Dunta article still serves as a good example of how a UFA they might get could be more expensive than the outgoing UFAs, who are mostly minimum salary-level guys. Do I think it’s likely they’ll get a free agent in Dunta’s price range? No. Impossible though? Not yet. I should also mention the slim possibility that the Jets could find a way to avoid the 30% rules (and increase the value of a contract with a big bonus payment), as some teams were able to do this season.
We shall continue to try to keep on top of these issues for you…
***Slams head into desk repeatedly***
What about Jones? Do we get to sign a UFA?
No. Jones was cut, so doesn’t fall under the UFA rules which only apply to players whose contract expire at the end of the 2009 season.
Damn! Looks like no UFA’s are going to be wearing green and white next year. That puts even more pressure on Tanny having a good draft. We can’t really afford to miss out on our first 2 picks.
When will there be clarity on the “final four” rules. I feel like that’s the last major clause that’s still debated about.
Agreed, Brendan. Maybe you could try asking them at NFLlabor.com to answer that – I think there is a facility for that on their site. (I have to go out, otherwise I’d do that myself).
Dylan – They might sign one or two smaller UFAs, but there are still plenty of options in terms of guys who were cut, RFAs who were non-tendered and so on.
Yeah I just submitted the question, they have a “final eight” section, but nothing about the final four signing each other’s players (either confirming or denying the belief that they can).
Haden just ran a 4.6 40! Any way he drops to us?
This is why cutting Jones makes no sense – it doesn’t get us anything, and instead creates the need to spend precious few resources (UFA and draft) on another RB. Sounds like we may have to look at a lot of FA’s from other Final 4 teams?
I still think our 2 biggest needs are a pass rusher an OL depth. While we were unlucky that Jenx and Leon got hurt last year, we have been EXTREMELY lucky that no OL has gotten hurt. We can’t expect that to continue forever, and if it does and we have no backup plan, it serves us right.
Not good…. I was counting on the Lito money being available.
Kind of sucks
Here’s the bright side to this: If Lito does not count as a UFA , it also means that any other player with a similar situation doesn’t count as a UFA either and may be picked up freely by the Jets without restriction. The list of players who actually count as UFAs is a lot shorter than we thought, and therefore the restrictions are not as bad. Aside from Peppers and Dunta, who on that ever-shrinking list would the Jets think of pursuing?
mole,
That is what a few of us have been saying for weeks. People saying we’re screwed by the restrictions obviously don’t get that there’s very few UFA’s this year.
mole57:
“The list of players who actually count as UFAs is a lot shorter than we thought, and therefore the restrictions are not as bad’”.
.
Maybe there will be less UFA’s to fill our needs?
Talk about the provebial glass being “half full”…..Geezz
Hank – You miss Mole’s point. Under the uncapped year rules, the Jets are limited in signing UFA’s but it turns out that hardly anyone is treated as a UFA for these purposes, so the pool from which the Jets can sign players with no restrictions whatsoever is dramatically bigger than first reported.
Guys who have been cut, RFAs (irresepctive of whether they were tendered and possibly players from other final four teams are all freely available to the Jets and the pool of UFAs that these rules apply to (not freely available) is very small indeed.
GOD DANG IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really loved what Dunta brought to the table, thought Lito was a UFA…
Jets just have to really do their homework and find someone who fits because Lowery and Strickland are not going to get it done against top competition
Dylan,
Unless you want to see the Jets have a three player draft this year, I doubt Haden falls to New York.