So, how bad is it?

I believe you thought signing both guys was foolish. Well, by that i mean they were both overpaid ala Delhomme. While that may be true, and with a new CBA its hard to predict what the market will offer I find it hard to believe that had they made the decision early, that Spoon had the brightest future (which even layman could see due to Morgans injury history) that he would have been the one here, not Morgan.

Now maybe STL approached Spoon early and he new his payday was coming.

 

Witherspoon was a free agent for a little while, I believe. St. Louis didn't sign him hours into FA.

 

If we had to sign one, yeah I would have favored WW, but I preferred passing on both. I like Witherspoon, I just don't think he's a playmaking linebacker either. I hoped Thomas Davis would be, and there's still time for that to develop. In any case, I think LB is a place where you can find young guys who have the potential to break out, moreso at least than CB, where I'm more inclined to pay for someone proven.

 

why pass on both? you know what you have in witherspoon and, consequently what you have in morgan. while both were defensive standouts, injury prone versus a more durable and yearly improving guy like witherspoon seems an easy call. if saving money was the issue, i wonder if the organization feels they made a wise financial and performance decision now.

 

Bonus wise, Morgan has $6M last year, $4M this year and the remains of his rookie signing bonus. If he was cut or retires prior to next season's $2M roster bonus we'd have $7,280,250 in dead money sitting out there after this season. I'll leave others to figure out how we'd get rid of it.

 

except I already figured it out, albeit correctly. The $4 million was a roster bonus.

 

Think of rookie contracts as trial subscriptions to magazines. You get to evaluate the product at less than full market price, and at the end of the term you have to decide whether it's worth what they're asking. In my opinion, neither Morgan or WW were worth what they wanted, although I personally advocated extending Witherspoon two years ago when he probably would have signed for a lot less. In any case, you don't overspend for one guy just because another guy is worth even less. I think we can not only get by without them, but maybe even do better. But of the possible scenarios, sure, we chose probably the dumbest one.

 

Well of course it was a roster bonus; not sure I follow you point on this. Does the new player's agreement treat signing and roster as different?

 

Yeah. Roster bonuses count entirely on that year's cap, while signing bonuses are pro-rated.

 

Okay thanks, I just read that section in the CBA as well. I had that point wrong; thanks for the info.