NFLPA expects “significant” cap growth in 2014

[woodbuck27]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/25/report-nflpa-expects-significant-cap-growth-in-2014/

Report: NFLPA expects “significant” cap growth in 2014

Posted by Josh Alper on March 25, 2012, 10:20 AM EDT

[woodbuck27]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/25/foxworth-becomes-new-nflpa-president/

Foxworth becomes new NFLPA president

Posted by Mike Florio on March 25, 2012, 12:30 PM EDT

[sheepshead]

Ok Stop Already

[mission]

Please.
What happened to the mods?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Apparently not. I'm very happy that Ted Thompson is the GM. The big spike may, possibly likely, won't happen. So we need to pinch all of our pennies so we can resign the likes Rodgers, Matthews, Jennings, etc.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/40039/speaking-too-soon-on-2014-salary-cap-spike

A good portion of our offseason salary-cap discussions have centered around a commonly-held notion that the cap limit will increase dramatically when the NFL's new television contract starts in 2014. The assumption appears fundamentally flawed, and the strong sense here at the NFL owners meetings is that the cap won't increase much -- if any -- when the transition occurs.

In all, the NFL figures to have at least five seasons -- 2011-2015 -- of nearly flat cap limits. This year, the cap increased minimally, by about $225,000, to $120.6 million.

Assuming the league's internal projections are correct, that will come as bad news to players who have signed short-term deals in anticipation of cashing in on surplus cap space in a few years. It also means that teams like the Detroit Lions, whose cap crunch became well-known over the past few months, can't expect the commitments they've pushed forward to dissolve into an expected surplus.

Lions president Tom Lewand freely acknowledged that reality while speaking here at the Breakers Hotel a short time ago. Lewand said that "history has shown very few spikes in the cap even with new television deals" and explained the fallacy of waiting out a cap crunch until the new television contract kicks in.

Laughing, Lewand said: "I hope that the other three teams in the NFC North want to wait it out."

What does this mean for the Lions? In essence, they'll have to manage their cap annually much as they did this past year, extending the contracts of key players (Calvin Johnson) at premium rates to spread out their cap hits and occasionally allowing a starter (Eric Wright) to depart.