Eric DeCosta Thread

[rossihunter2]

and the reason I posted the article was to show the example of the contracts we are structuring and why we are doing it. You're absolutely right he got it wrong in many ways. I've always liked the flatter contracts due to the player costing less based on a cap percentage of the entire cap down the line. I don't mind the first year being a little less due to the amount of cap space the team has, like the Earl Thomas deal.

can you send the link regarding mcfarland saying we have been trying to solve this since prior to the BWill deal?

Combination of these few tweets (might need to read what he was responding to as well):

https://twitter.com/ravenssalarycap/status/1108062835337248768?s=21

https://twitter.com/ravenssalarycap/status/1108191005961015301?s=21

 

[cdp]

Matt Paradis' and Suggs' contracts are constructed in a very creative way. The Cardinals and the Panthers introduced void years to spread the signing bonus over additional(fictional) years. Suggs signed a 1-year deal and Paradis a 3-year deal, but accounting-wise it's a 2 year and 5 year deal, respectively. Suggs, Paradis
This lowers the cap hit for each year. The Panthers have to take a dead cap hit after those 3 year's, but the Cardinals don't. They put together an even better contract, so they don't have to absorb dead cap for the 2nd year
I hope DeCosta and Moritary pick this up.

 

[rossihunter2]

Matt Paradis' and Suggs' contracts are constructed in a very creative way. The Cardinals and the Panthers introduced void years to spread the signing bonus over additional(fictional) years. Suggs signed a 1-year deal and Paradis a 3-year deal, but accounting-wise it's a 2 year and 5 year deal, respectively. Suggs, Paradis
This lowers the cap hit for each year. The Panthers have to take a dead cap hit after those 3 year's, but the Cardinals don't. They put together an even better contract, so they don't have to absorb dead cap for the 2nd year
I hope DeCosta and Moritary pick this up.

I just looked - the cards do take on dead cap in 2020 for Suggs - I think it’s a whole 2m they’ve pushed to 2020

Honestly I hope we don’t do contracts like this because this is how you create future cap problems with profuse dead money - I suppose the paradis one is just a more honest version of a normal 5 year deal where the last 2 years of base salary are non-guaranteed but in this case the panthers don’t have the option of keeping him without extending - they might as well have ponied up the extra few mill in base in those last 2 years knowing they wouldn’t have to pay it if paradis didn’t peform

I don’t really see the use for these contract structures unless you have a very specific project or need for extra cap space immediately

 

[Oldfaithful]

I have a massive fear that we take DK Metcalf at 22 and Whiteside in the third and ignore oline the entire draft.

I'd actually be really happy with Metcalf. But this isn't the draft to focus on the WR corps. Getting a guy would be a good move, and Metcalf at 22 would be worth it, but damn I am worried about the oline. We don't come out of this draft with a new LG or C we are ultra fucked

 

[rossihunter2]

I have a massive fear that we take DK Metcalf at 22 and Whiteside in the third and ignore oline the entire draft.

I'd actually be really happy with Metcalf. But this isn't the draft to focus on the WR corps. Getting a guy would be a good move, and Metcalf at 22 would be worth it, but damn I am worried about the oline. We don't come out of this draft with a new LG or C we are ultra fucked

Not sure I’d love metcalf at 22 (albeit he’s definitely going that high or higher) - but philosophically I’m pretty opposite - OL is a need but WR is a much bigger need and where we’re picking is probably more likely to be BPA than OL so I’ve got no problem with double-dipping at wr early - in fact I’d welcome it and even encourage it

 

[Oldfaithful]

Not sure I’d love metcalf at 22 (albeit he’s definitely going that high or higher) - but philosophically I’m pretty opposite - OL is a need but WR is a much bigger need and where we’re picking is probably more likely to be BPA than OL so I’ve got no problem with double-dipping at wr early - in fact I’d welcome it and even encourage it

I would love Metcalf at 22 tbh. He's got some traits that are elite and sure, he runs only four routes well, but so did Megatron. So did Demaryius Thomas. Those four routes do not depend heavily on the three cone, and you could probably improve it if you just added some body fat and not lose any of his legit 4.3 speed. He's, at the very worst, going to be an imposing deep threat for the team based off of his speed alone.

Here's why I'm the opposite. This draft is good for interior oline, next draft is good with WR. We need to take things one step at a time withe Jackson, and taking multiple WRs and ignoring oline and the depth in favor of a mediocre WR class.. Not a good idea. We need to focus on the strengths of the draft here.

I'm okay with taking a WR early. But we need to build up the trenches for the rookie QB. Far more important than WRs.

 

[redrum52]

I would love Metcalf at 22 tbh. He's got some traits that are elite and sure, he runs only four routes well, but so did Megatron. So did Demaryius Thomas. Those four routes do not depend heavily on the three cone, and you could probably improve it if you just added some body fat and not lose any of his legit 4.3 speed. He's, at the very worst, going to be an imposing deep threat for the team based off of his speed alone.

Here's why I'm the opposite. This draft is good for interior oline, next draft is good with WR. We need to take things one step at a time withe Jackson, and taking multiple WRs and ignoring oline and the depth in favor of a mediocre WR class.. Not a good idea. We need to focus on the strengths of the draft here.

I'm okay with taking a WR early. But we need to build up the trenches for the rookie QB. Far more important than WRs.

Agree with everything except Metcalf.

 

[Oldfaithful]

Agree with everything except Metcalf.

If we still had Marty I wouldn't want Metcalf either. The problem is that Marty likes fitting square pegs into round holes. Breshad Perriman is a perfect example of this. A deep threat... How often did we send him deep despite having a QB with a cannon for an arm? Never? Sure, he had issues with his hands(so does Metcalf but it's not nearly as bad as Perriman's were), but Perriman's speed still would've commanded safety attention.

Roman knew how to effectively utilize Crabtree, Watkins, Vernon Davis, etc. I think he'd know how to use Metcalf. Good red zone weapon who can run go's, posts, curls, screens, slants, and get contested grabs. A team that knows what their doing should not draft him in mind to go become Antonio Brown, that's not his game. But they should try to maximize the gifts he does have. It's why I was infuriated last year when we ran those goaline fades and screens to Boyle, when we have two TEs on the roster that we really good after the catch in college and both in which flashed that potential here.

If Marty was here and we drafted Metcalf, I'd be worried. With Roman I'm more confident..


Though Deebo is still higher on my personal board.

 

[RavensMania]

Not sure I’d love metcalf at 22 (albeit he’s definitely going that high or higher) - but philosophically I’m pretty opposite - OL is a need but WR is a much bigger need and where we’re picking is probably more likely to be BPA than OL so I’ve got no problem with double-dipping at wr early - in fact I’d welcome it and even encourage it

I understand you are looking for that speed guy that runs really nice routes, but lets focus on what Metcalf can do and use him at his strengths. We need to use him to run nines, posts, slants and curls and he even showed at the combine that he can run digs, but the Ole Miss offense never called digs.

I would love Metcalf at 22 tbh. He's got some traits that are elite and sure, he runs only four routes well, but so did Megatron. So did Demaryius Thomas. Those four routes do not depend heavily on the three cone, and you could probably improve it if you just added some body fat and not lose any of his legit 4.3 speed. He's, at the very worst, going to be an imposing deep threat for the team based off of his speed alone.

Here's why I'm the opposite. This draft is good for interior oline, next draft is good with WR. We need to take things one step at a time withe Jackson, and taking multiple WRs and ignoring oline and the depth in favor of a mediocre WR class.. Not a good idea. We need to focus on the strengths of the draft here.

I'm okay with taking a WR early. But we need to build up the trenches for the rookie QB. Far more important than WRs.

 

[rossihunter2]

I understand you are looking for that speed guy that runs really nice routes, but lets focus on what Metcalf can do and use him at his strengths. We need to use him to run nines, posts, slants and curls and he even showed at the combine that he can run digs, but the Ole Miss offense never called digs.

I am focusing on what they can do but I worry about metcalf’s transition - you can get by without wiggle but there’s not a huge amount on tape that suggests to me he can consistently find space inside the numbers which is where Lamar is most effective - the limited route tree isn’t inherently a problem but the combination of that, a lack of wiggle and also the lack of evidence is annoying - I’m not saying he wouldn’t be a pick I just would be hesitant about him at 22 - I’d worry until/if he succeeded

 

[Grim]

I’m also worried about Metcalf. He’s got legit measurables but he could easily bust. Then again I guess nobody is impervious to that label. He just concerns me more than most.

 

[Oldfaithful]

I think there's too many instances of Metcalf on tape where when he was allowed to run some slants and routes he actually could run, he looked really good. He's also a really good run blocker and if you make him eat a couple of pizzas, he probably becomes more fluid and still stays as fast as he plays at now. Good jump ball guy too.

My main worry is his hands. He has a legit concentration drops issue. For me, the worst case scenario with taking DK Metcalf is a guy who is going to be a good team player due to run blocking and deep threat.

I also think that even if we take DK in the first this year, or any other WR for that matter, we need to pounce on one early next year too. Preferably one that compliments whoever we draft this year.

 

[Grim]

I think there's too many instances of Metcalf on tape where when he was allowed to run some slants and routes he actually could run, he looked really good. He's also a really good run blocker and if you make him eat a couple of pizzas, he probably becomes more fluid and still stays as fast as he plays at now. Good jump ball guy too.

My main worry is his hands. He has a legit concentration drops issue. For me, the worst case scenario with taking DK Metcalf is a guy who is going to be a good team player due to run blocking and deep threat.

I also think that even if we take DK in the first this year, or any other WR for that matter, we need to pounce on one early next year too. Preferably one that compliments whoever we draft this year.

The hands and measurables combined with the routes gives me Perriman PTSD.

 

[allblackraven]

The hands and measurables combined with the routes gives me Perriman PTSD.

Hairline is superior though

 

[Grim]

Hairline is superior though

Hard to compete—maybe only Lebron can compete with what Perriman had

 

[RavensMania]

I just looked - the cards do take on dead cap in 2020 for Suggs - I think it’s a whole 2m they’ve pushed to 2020

Honestly I hope we don’t do contracts like this because this is how you create future cap problems with profuse dead money - I suppose the paradis one is just a more honest version of a normal 5 year deal where the last 2 years of base salary are non-guaranteed but in this case the panthers don’t have the option of keeping him without extending - they might as well have ponied up the extra few mill in base in those last 2 years knowing they wouldn’t have to pay it if paradis didn’t peform

I don’t really see the use for these contract structures unless you have a very specific project or need for extra cap space immediately

Bruce Allen and Eric Schaeffer, the skins cap guru have been using voidable years on contracts for atleast 10 years. I remember the DeSean Jackson contract was set up like this as a 3 year deal with the 4th being a voidable year to spread out the cap. It's definitely creative to fit players under the cap in the current year but definitely can cause problems if it is done too often. A level contracts with MUCH less restructuring than what we have been doing is the best way to fix the issue.

 

[Oldfaithful]

The hands and measurables combined with the routes gives me Perriman PTSD.

And I understand that but Metcalf has too much potential to pass on and I think Metcalf’s hands are still better. I think if he gets his body fat percentage up he will have way more wiggle room and could become dominant. We screwed Perriman hard. If you want a good example of just how fucking terrible Marty was, there it is. He goes to the Browns and what do you know it, he’s being used.... AS A DEEP THREAT. ZOMG. It’s like that’s what he would’ve been good at from the get go.

I’m not objected to WR in the first and frankly now that Marty is gone I’d be okay with Metcalf. I think he’d lock down the starting WR spot ASAP and help out the run game a lot. I’d be just as good with Deebo at 22 or Campbell if we traded back.

But none of it is as important as this. FIX THE DAMN LINE. I’m not asking for the best line in football. Get me a line where we don’t have a shit interior that we have to run a gimmick around because of how bad they are! Yanda isn’t getting younger. Quit asking him to do fucking everything.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

If we still had Marty I wouldn't want Metcalf either. The problem is that Marty likes fitting square pegs into round holes. Breshad Perriman is a perfect example of this. A deep threat... How often did we send him deep despite having a QB with a cannon for an arm? Never? Sure, he had issues with his hands(so does Metcalf but it's not nearly as bad as Perriman's were), but Perriman's speed still would've commanded safety attention.

Roman knew how to effectively utilize Crabtree, Watkins, Vernon Davis, etc. I think he'd know how to use Metcalf. Good red zone weapon who can run go's, posts, curls, screens, slants, and get contested grabs. A team that knows what their doing should not draft him in mind to go become Antonio Brown, that's not his game. But they should try to maximize the gifts he does have. It's why I was infuriated last year when we ran those goaline fades and screens to Boyle, when we have two TEs on the roster that we really good after the catch in college and both in which flashed that potential here.

If Marty was here and we drafted Metcalf, I'd be worried. With Roman I'm more confident..


Though Deebo is still higher on my personal board.

I’m taking butler over metcalf for all the things you just said. Metcalf has got to be the most overhyped receiver I’ve ever seen. Every negative of his, I saw on tape, and then the combine nailed that coffin shut, he’s stiff as a board, and he’s totally musclebound leaving him injury prone as history has proven, and he’s got zero refinement to his game and very little college production to back up all of this hype. Sure, he had poor qb play, he was sharing targets, he had injuries, all that, but the lack of production wasn’t coincidental, the injuries are a real issue and the lack of production had many factors but the most concerning one to me is that he is capable of one thing, verticals, and doesn’t have the natural skill set to just suddenly improve everywhere else.

Hakeem butler on the other hand, does everything metcalf does, but isn’t musclebound to the point of stiffness and injuries, he is fluid with his change of direction, still explosive, arguably a better deep threat, comparable as a YAC weapon, a sneaky good route runner, and has production, film, and measurables to back up all these claims.

Metcalf is going on potential and combine hype, butler is already a legit weapon.

 

[Oldfaithful]

I’m taking butler over metcalf for all the things you just said. Metcalf has got to be the most overhyped receiver I’ve ever seen. Every negative of his, I saw on tape, and then the combine nailed that coffin shut, he’s stiff as a board, and he’s totally musclebound leaving him injury prone as history has proven, and he’s got zero refinement to his game and very little college production to back up all of this hype. Sure, he had poor qb play, he was sharing targets, he had injuries, all that, but the lack of production wasn’t coincidental, the injuries are a real issue and the lack of production had many factors but the most concerning one to me is that he is capable of one thing, verticals, and doesn’t have the natural skill set to just suddenly improve everywhere else.

Hakeem butler on the other hand, does everything metcalf does, but isn’t musclebound to the point of stiffness and injuries, he is fluid with his change of direction, still explosive, arguably a better deep threat, comparable as a YAC weapon, a sneaky good route runner, and has production, film, and measurables to back up all these claims.

Metcalf is going on potential and combine hype, butler is already a legit weapon.

Butler took this statement and dropped it.

No thanks at all.

Watch the Kollman video on Metcalf. I'm just glad he released it because I agree with almost everything he's said there.

 

[Oldfaithful]

I’m taking butler over metcalf for all the things you just said. Metcalf has got to be the most overhyped receiver I’ve ever seen. Every negative of his, I saw on tape, and then the combine nailed that coffin shut, he’s stiff as a board, and he’s totally musclebound leaving him injury prone as history has proven, and he’s got zero refinement to his game and very little college production to back up all of this hype. Sure, he had poor qb play, he was sharing targets, he had injuries, all that, but the lack of production wasn’t coincidental, the injuries are a real issue and the lack of production had many factors but the most concerning one to me is that he is capable of one thing, verticals, and doesn’t have the natural skill set to just suddenly improve everywhere else.

Hakeem butler on the other hand, does everything metcalf does, but isn’t musclebound to the point of stiffness and injuries, he is fluid with his change of direction, still explosive, arguably a better deep threat, comparable as a YAC weapon, a sneaky good route runner, and has production, film, and measurables to back up all these claims.

Metcalf is going on potential and combine hype, butler is already a legit weapon.

Also, if you had taken the time to read any of what I said, Metcalf does way more than "just go deep". Just tells me all I needed to know, you didn't watch him. Metcalf doesn't run a complete tree like an Antonio Brown but if you draft him to do that, congrats, you've failed. Metcalf, when given the opportunity(which was more than anything his biggest issue in college. That scheme was bad and misutilized him). He's good at posts, slants, curls, go's, and screens, and is a good run blocker and is good at contested grabs. There have been several all pro WRs over the past decade with a limited route tree with a similar skill set. And even then, there were several opportunities where Metcalf was open over the middle, and ran the right route. Hell, Megatron, easily the most dominant WR(and arguably offensive player) of the decade only ran 4 routes most of the time. Those exact same four. And he actually plays as fast as he ran. I'd argue that he's actually better than good, he's damn near elite on the field with some of his traits

If he goes to the wrong team, he's going to bust hard. But if he goes to a team that will maximize the gifts he does have, he could be a monster.

Hakeem Butler is an inconsistent route runner that has arguably the worst hands in the entire draft, who doesn't play nearly as fast as his 40 time would indicate, is a more-than-occasional body catcher. You want your combine warrior, there he is. I've seen this movie too many times. At least Metcalf when given the chance actually made plays on the fucking ball more often then not.