Seahawks Can Learn from McNair Trade

The Steve McNair trade is just the latest deal that provides Seattle with a valuable lesson about the way personnel changes are going to take place while the league adjusts to the higher salary caps. With all of the cap room out there, nobody is getting cut, at least not right now. If the salary cap were still in play, we would see a lot more veterans cut that would find themselves on the market, looking to sign contracts for less than they would have made under their previously terminated contracts. The only players that are getting cut right now are injury risk players – no one wants to pay someone and get a cap charge if they are going to end up on IR all year (that has not changed). McNair had a lengthy injury history, making him unique, but in general, quarterbacks are not much of a risk to get hurt during training camp. In the past, players were cut before camp (the infamous June 1) in order to sign rookies and still be cap compliant. That is not really a concern this year. One of the few quarterbacks to be cut was Kerry Collins, and that is because Oakland is one of the few teams with salary cap concerns (Oakland is projected to be about $200,000 OVER the cap if you include their rookies).

Teams can now keep extra players around pretty comfortably. Tim Rattay is a great example. In previous seasons, he would likely have already been cut for cap reasons. Reports out of Tampa are that Luke McCown has a firm grip on the second spot on the depth chart behind starter Chris Simms. That leaves Rattay in a battle with sixth round draft choice Bruce Gradkowski for the #3 QB position. Tim Rattay is slated to make $1.25 million this year. The only other backup QBs that would earn more this year are Joey Harrington and whoever ends up being the backup in Detroit (Jon Kitna or Josh McCown). Tim Rattay’s salary is ridiculous for a #3 QB that most likely will never see the field. However, Tampa Bay can hold on to Rattay all the way until September when they need to cut down the roster to 53 players without fear of cap compliance. This creates the type of situation that will become increasingly the norm in the near future. Seattle cannot wait for Rattay to be cut if they want to acquire him because it will be too late in the offseason to grab a QB and expect him to learn our system, as Holmgren said in a recent press conference. Seattle would have to make a trade with Tampa Bay to get him if we want him when our camp opens.

Looking at the Steve McNair deal as well as the Joey Harrington situation, you can figure out how such a deal works out. The team realizes they cannot or do not want to keep the player or their salary. However, they have cap room and do not have to cut them, giving the team more leverage. The team grants the player the right to negotiate deals with other teams. Once a deal is in place with another team, the two teams try to make a trade and quibble over the terms. Daunte Culpepper was worth a 2nd round pick, Steve McNair was worth a 4th round pick, and Joey Harrington was worth a 6th round pick. Rattay was traded to Tampa Bay a year ago for a 6th round pick, so he would likely be worth a 6th or 7th rounder. Coincidentally, Luke McCown was picked up in a trade with Cleveland for a 6th round pick. Of course, if we want to pursue Rattay, we would need to talk to Tampa Bay and get permission to talk with Rattay. A trade would be worthless if we could not get a longer deal in place with a lower salary (Rattay will be a free agent next season). The one thing in our favor is that Ruston Webster was part of the personnel team that brought Rattay to Tampa Bay as well as drafted Bruce Gradkowski. Webster is also likely to know Tampa Bay’s personnel needs very well and we could make an offer including something other than draft picks. The idea is that we would be trading players that we both would likely cut in September. In the past, these players might have been cut much earlier, but I would think a 6th round pick would be the most likely deal.

With all of the cap room, teams are going to need to start making deals like this if they want to make personnel adjustments because no one will be getting cut.

It is important to note that the Seahawks are likely to receive a couple of compensatory draft picks next season. "Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula." Basically, a team is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks if it is determined that they lost more or better players than they were able to acquire during the previous year's free agency period. The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents (maximum of four). Julian Peterson is likely the only incoming unrestricted free agent that will start for us, while Steve Hutchinson, Joe Jurevicius and Marquand Manuel all figure to start for their new teams.