Cap room + need = crazy deals for 'crap' players
In the world of NFL personnel men, the talk is usually polite and nice when they're on the record, rarely taking shots at players.
Privately, it's a different story.
So when one NFC personnel director was asked for his take on the looming free-agency period, he asked that his name not be used if he were to give his honest assessment. I agreed, and here's what he said.
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| Kris Dielman is said to have a $12M signing bonus lined up. (Getty Images) |
That's what happens when there is a perfect storm for those free agents on the market. One part of the storm has teams flush with cap room. The other has teams desperate to fill needs. Combine the two together and you get outrageous sums of money being thrown around to players who shouldn't be getting it.
The free-agency market opens Friday, and there's already word of crazy, funny-money deals being made. It's against the rules to tamper with another team's free agent before the period officially begins, but that's a lot like speeding. We all do it, but the dumb ones are the ones who get caught.
And how can one team report another when it's doing the exact same thing?
Unless there's a blatant violation -- like in the late 1990s when teams complained about the Jacksonville Jaguars approaching free agents at the Pro Bowl -- nothing is usually said -- or done.
With a couple days before the start of free-agency, word is trickling in about some of the deals that may have already been worked out.
There's talk San Diego Chargers guard Kris Dielman already has a deal with a team that will pay him a $12 million signing bonus. Same for Bengals guard Eric Steinbach.
We've heard that Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas is seeking a signing bonus in the $17 million to $18 million range.
Did every owner suddenly morph into that little free-spending dude in Washington who asks all to call him Mr. Snyder?
Funny money, indeed.
