http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/03/grossi_free_agent_breakdown.htmlStrange new free-agent world complicates opportunities for the Cleveland Browns
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Fans expecting the Browns' new management tandem of President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert to make a big splash in free agency, which begins at 12:01 Friday morning, might be disappointed.
Like everyone else, Holmgren and Heckert are grappling with new league rules that take effect when the league enters an uncapped year for the first time since 1993.
"Free agency is going to be completely different this year," Heckert said. "Especially because we don't know what the future holds. It's going to be a little bit of a wait-and-see approach for everybody."
Free agency without a salary cap sounds like nirvana for players with expired contracts and owners with deep pockets. But with the lifting of the cap comes several built-in measures that may clamp the lid on unlimited spending by teams.
• Players need six years in the league to qualify for unrestricted free agency instead of four.
• Players with four or five years experience become restricted free agents. Signing them comes at the additional price of draft pick compensation. It could be as high as first- and third-round picks and as low as the player's original round drafted.
• Teams that played in the conference championship games -- New Orleans, Minnesota, Indianapolis and the Jets -- can only sign the same number of unrestricted free agents as they lose.
• Teams that lost in the divisional playoff round -- Arizona, Dallas, San Diego and Baltimore -- can sign one unrestricted free agent for $5.5 million or more in the first year of his contract, plus others for less than $3.7 million in the first year of their contracts.
• Free agents can not receive base salaries more than 30 percent higher than their 2009 salaries. Signing bonuses and other contract incentives don't apply.
• There is also no salary floor, no minimum at which every team must spend on team salaries.
• There are no cap "penalties" for terminating a player with multiple, high-priced salaries left on his contract. Thus, there are expected to be more high-profile names dumped by their teams to escape future contract commitments.
Are you confused? Or are you getting the picture that the owners are using the rules to curb spending and teach players a lesson?
When the salary cap was first instituted in 1994 -- after decades of labor disputes and three player strikes -- it was set at $34.6 million per team. Last year it was $123 million. That unrestrained growth in salaries is one reason owners opted out of the current labor agreement last fall.
Clouding the picture, as Heckert alluded to, is the fact that nobody knows how the rules will change again in 2011. Will a salary cap return? Will owners stage a lockout in 2011 to tear down the whole system and start from scratch?
Nobody knows. Hence, teams are being conservative with their own free agents, too. Heckert said the Browns will not sign any of their own 14 potential free agents to long-term contracts. He said the team would tender most of their eight restricted free agents, which include linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, running back Jerome Harrison, linebacker Matt Roth, and fullback Lawrence Vickers.
It's a turning point in the evolution of the NFL. And other leagues are watching, too, because the labor agreements of Major League Baseball and the NBA also expire after 2010.
So how does this all affect the Browns?
Some teams might decide to make a run at the Super Bowl in 2010 and spend big. The Browns, who have a few laps to go to catch the contenders, will not do that.
"I don't think we're going to sign 12 guys," Heckert said, apparently pulling a number out of air. "But if there's players out there we think can help us, we'll go after them."
Under the direction of coach Eric Mangini last year, the Browns signed eight unrestricted free agents -- and five other "street" free agents, meaning players without teams -- and re-signed one of their own. Mangini also orchestrated four trades -- three coming on draft day -- that helped to stock the team with four additional picks in the 2010 draft.
Those extra draft picks are in the third, fifth (two) and sixth rounds. They might make it a little more palatable for Heckert to swim the murky waters of restricted free agency.
Restricted free agents require giving up a draft pick in compensation if the old team doesn't match the offer. Heckert isn't a big fan of that, but the fact is most of the best free agents this year are restricted because they fall into that fourth- and fifth-year category.
"Everybody's thinking, 'Our first five picks are going to be Pro Bowl players,'" Hecker said. "No one wants to give up draft picks. That's just the way the NFL works. You're so excited about the draft guys coming out that you're saying, instead of giving up a second-, third- or fourth-round pick, you think you can get a better guy in the draft.
"And obviously there's a financial difference in what you're paying second- or third-round guys and you're probably going to have to go after restricted guys just to get 'em. I would think there would be a little more movement [in restricted free agency] just because the number is less, but people just don't want to give up draft picks."
What the Browns do in the draft April 22-24 will depend on what needs they fill in free agency. They have needs everywhere on offense -- quarterback, running back, receiver, and offensive line. On defense, cornerback and safety are obvious concerns, and the search for a blue-chip pass rusher is never ending.
Addressing team needs in general -- via free agency, trades and the draft -- Heckert said, "I believe, and Mike believes, and I think Eric believes you build an offensive and defensive line. That's how you win over the long period.
"We played well at those positions, but you can always do better. Those are positions we're definitely going to look at, especially when you're talking about rushing the passer and protecting the quarterback. If you can't do it, you can't win. Those are always going to be top priorities."
