Lewis extended

per Observer. Guaranteed the $2.5 million roster bonus to signing bonus, spreading it. They added four years, to 2014. Cut salary from $3.17 million to $2 million and from $4.05 mil in 2010 to $755k. The $1.17 mil savings from salary cut adds to the $2.5 million savings, minus the $410,000 it prorates. That's a total savings of $3.253 million, give or take.



Also the cap went up $4 million so by my numbers we're under the cap by about $8.5 million and will use $4.5 million of it on RFA.

We'll probably do something with Lucas when we next need money (for a free agent, for instance). I think it's interesting they're holding onto Lucas as if he might get traded, as in they may use him with Peppers in trade if it comes to that. It'd certainly be more honorable than cutting him, just don't know if there's much market.

As I've said before, it looks more and more likely that bigger contracts will be renegotiated this year where in years past they'd be cuts. I hope they don't need to touch big contracts like Kemoeatu's, but it's hard to say what they might do with Jake Delhomme's.

 

Please don't let this prevent us from adding talent at DT.

 

I am glad we are keeping Lewis. I think it helps us to have him. If we get a better DT to start and push Lewis back to a rotational player that would be fine but he is still valuable in that role.

 

returning x# of 22 starters

 

That has a better ring when you just went 12-4....

 

not when your defense was spiraling downhill

 

shouldn't keep us from adding talent, no. He took a $1 mil direct paycut now, a bigger one next year, and moved most of it into a contract he'd be 34-36 years old in. He's doing us a deal here, though he's getting $4.5 million this year anyway to do it.

At any rate, this looks more like the contract of a rush specialist and/or guy who would fight for a job rather than just have one. This is a good thing.

Of course, I'd have also been fine with just cutting him. Plenty of people have said "oh no, we'd be thin if we lost him" as if we have absolutely no ability to change or add talent. I expect we come up with something and this may be our one early move.

Having Lewis at roughly the same price it would cost to cut him (nice move creatively working it in that way) keeps everyone happy, and gives us flexibility. Fixing DT and fixing corner go a long way to fixing our D.

 

Trade Pep for a low 1st, use that to draft B.J. Raji out of BC; sign that free agent DE out of Ariz.

 

Raji will probably be gone middle of first or higher

 

Isn't a low first later in the draft?