K2C Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Holy ****! For a back up? The trade that sent Matt Schaub from the Atlanta Falcons to the Houston Texans not only made the three-year veteran quarterback an instant starter, it made Schaub -- who has yet to win a regular-season start and who barely completed 50 percent of his pass attempts in three seasons with the Falcons -- a very rich man. Schaub League and team sources confirmed that Schaub has signed a six-year, $48 million contract with the Texans, a move that officially consummates the trade. As part of the deal, Schaub -- who played golf with Houston coach Gary Kubiak on Monday in a get-acquainted session, the Houston Chronicle reported -- will receive $7 million in guarantees. Schaub, 25, will earn roughly $20 million in the first three years of the contract. After the first three years, the Texans must pay Schaub a $10 million option bonus in March 2010 to trigger the final three seasons of the contract, or he becomes a free agent. This is the same Houston team, though, that paid the soon-to-be-discarded David Carr a "buy back" bonus of $8 million last spring to reinstate three years of his contract that had voided. On Wednesday night, agent Joby Branion termed the Schaub deal "a real contract" -- meaning it was a legitimate deal for a starting-caliber quarterback -- and he was accurate in that assessment. Certainly the economics of the deal all but mandate that Schaub will be the Texans' starter. And for Schaub, a third-round choice in the 2004 draft, it represents a financial windfall. As a rookie, Schaub signed a three-year, $1.365 million contract. It included a signing bonus of $445,000 and annual base salaries at the NFL minimum. Had he signed the one-year restricted free agent qualifying offer the Falcons made him early in the spring, Schaub would have had a base salary of $2.3 million for 2007. There was, his agents told ESPN.com more than a year ago, no way that Schaub would have considered a long-term deal that would have carried him past the 2007 season, since he would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency at that point. Whether Schaub would have been able to earn more by signing a one-year contract with the Falcons for 2007, and then going into the open market as an unrestricted free agent next spring, is now a moot point and a matter of speculation. Suffice it to say the contract that he signed to complete the Wednesday trade agreement is a healthy one. As for the Falcons, the trade allows the cap-strapped team to essentially recoup the $2.3 million qualifying offer it made to Schaub and invest that money elsewhere. And the haul the team received in the trade -- a swap of first-round choices in 2007 and second-round picks in the 2007 and 2008 drafts -- provides Atlanta with considerable flexibility. The Falcons now own three selections among the top 44 picks in this year's draft: the eighth choice in the first round and the seventh and 12th selections in the second stanza. Armed with that kind of ammunition, the Falcons could parlay those three choices to move up the draft board in the first round, perhaps to nab hometown hero Calvin Johnson, the former Georgia Tech wide receiver. Or the Falcons could combine the two second-round picks to acquire another choice near the middle of the first round. Most teams use a chart, principally developed by former Dallas and Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, that assigns a points value to every choice in the draft. The corresponding points for the eighth pick in the first round is 1,400. The two second-round choices owned by the Falcons are worth 510 points (the seventh choice in the round) and 460 points (the 12th). The total points value for the Falcons' three choices in the first two rounds is 2,370 points. On the points chart, the second overall choice in the entire draft, owned by Detroit -- which is rumored to be interested in trading back -- is worth 2,600 points. Atlanta would fall a little shy of that, but not by much, with its 2,370 points for the three choices in the first and second rounds. But the Falcons have more than enough points to trade up to the No. 3 overall pick (points value: 2,200) or the fourth choice (value: 1,800 points), if they desired. By combining the two picks in the second round, with a total value of 970 points, Atlanta could net the 17th overall selection (points value: 950) in the first round. The early read is that the Falcons, who definitely need to replenish their talent base and desperately require reinforcements at a number of key positions, will simply stand pat and exercise all three of their high-round choices. That should, in theory, net Atlanta three top-tier prospects who could play quickly for first-year coach Bobby Petrino. But in making the Schaub trade, the Falcons have provided themselves the potential for maneuvering up the draft board if they want, and for being active and creative in the early stages of the lottery. From ESPN... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green DNA Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 His agent is a genius. I smell Scott Mitchell, Part II Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.I.MikeBleedsGreen Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 His agent is a genius. I smell Scott Mitchell, Part IILOL, yeah but without the GUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 His agent is a genius. I smell Scott Mitchell, Part II Rob Johnson part II Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EM31 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Seven million guaranteed? That does not seem too over the top from the guys who is going to be your starter next year. If he bombs totally you have blown seven million. If not then both sides get to enjoy the fruits of being successful. He is your starter you have to pay him like you expect him to be a starting quality NFL quarterback I would think. This deal does not seem over the top. Both sides are taking risks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 We tied up more guaranteed money in Coleman/Kimo than they did with Schaub, so it's all relative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 His agent is a genius. I smell Scott Mitchell, Part II Remember that? Oh, I loved that one. Schaub got Pennington money. That's crazy. At least Chad won a game before. haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Schaub's maximum contract = $48M ($6M up front). 2007 NFL salary cap = $109.1M Chad's maximum contract = $64M ($18M up front). 2004 NFL salary cap = $80.6M With the salary cap at $109.1M, a 2007 "equivalent" contract to Chad's would be: $24M signing bonus $7M in roster bonuses from 2009-2010 $86.6M total contract value over 6 years ($14.4M average) Please do not remind me of this again. Ever. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aec4 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Schaub's maximum contract = $48M ($6M up front). 2007 NFL salary cap = $109.1M Chad's maximum contract = $64M ($18M up front). 2004 NFL salary cap = $80.6M With the salary cap at $109.1M, a 2007 "equivalent" contract to Chad's would be: $24M signing bonus $7M in roster bonuses from 2009-2010 $86.6M total contract value over 6 years ($14.4M average) Please do not remind me of this again. Ever. Thank you. Chad got more, I agree, but I don't think it's fair the comparison you made. Noone's salary is tied to the cap.... Maybe there is a little inflation involved, but not much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitonti Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Holy ****! For a back up? he's not a backup anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Chad got more, I agree, but I don't think it's fair the comparison you made. Noone's salary is tied to the cap.... Maybe there is a little inflation involved, but not much... Salary isn't because it's not guaranteed & are frequently so back-loaded that the players rarely see all of it. But the bonus money is. It's entirely reasonable to use the inflation of the cap to say this year it would be equivalent to $31M in bonus money. The only reason it seems like less now is that the cap grew so rapidly after Chad's contract (particularly after the new CBA made the cap jump like $15M in 1 season). You think we had cap issues last spring? Imagine if the cap stayed at $94.5M instead of jumping to $102M and then again to $109M this year (though our cap limit is lower this year...because of Chad). Next year it's supposed to go up another $7M. You, of all people, should know how awful that contract was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Note to Bill Belichick. After we wrap up the division for the fifth straight year next year by week 15. Have Tom take one for the team, (Jets' Fans feel free to use this last statement as a set-up for the weekly Tom is Gay joke) and sit out a game. We need to drive up his pass attempts and score a ridculous bounty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviot Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 His agent is a genius. Either that, or the Texans are really desparate. They're paying him starter money, so obviously they've officially given up on Carr wreck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Holy ****! For a back up? From ESPN... Won't be for long P2C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aec4 Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Salary isn't because it's not guaranteed & are frequently so back-loaded that the players rarely see all of it. But the bonus money is. It's entirely reasonable to use the inflation of the cap to say this year it would be equivalent to $31M in bonus money. The only reason it seems like less now is that the cap grew so rapidly after Chad's contract (particularly after the new CBA made the cap jump like $15M in 1 season). You think we had cap issues last spring? Imagine if the cap stayed at $94.5M instead of jumping to $102M and then again to $109M this year (though our cap limit is lower this year...because of Chad). Next year it's supposed to go up another $7M. You, of all people, should know how awful that contract was. I disagree. I don't think it's reasonable, especially considering the major cap jump that was made when the new CBA was negotiated... I agree, his contract wasn't good (not awful, just not good), but I'm not going to inflate it because of the new CBA and make it sound worse. That would be irresponsible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 I disagree. I don't think it's reasonable, especially considering the major cap jump that was made when the new CBA was negotiated... I agree, his contract wasn't good (not awful, just not good), but I'm not going to inflate it because of the new CBA and make it sound worse. That would be irresponsible. What was irresponsible was giving Chad that contract in the first place. I do think it's reasonable to compare his contract (particularly bonus $) to what the cap was at that time. If the cap is x-dollars and you give y-% of the available cap to one player, that leaves y-% of the cap less to spend on other players. It would be like the Chargers giving Rivers (or the Cowboys giving Romo) a new $80M contract before this season begins with $30M in bonus money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterNorth09 Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 What was irresponsible was giving Chad that contract in the first place. I do think it's reasonable to compare his contract (particularly bonus $) to what the cap was at that time. If the cap is x-dollars and you give y-% of the available cap to one player, that leaves y-% of the cap less to spend on other players. It would be like the Chargers giving Rivers (or the Cowboys giving Romo) a new $80M contract before this season begins with $30M in bonus money. At least Chad took the Jets to the playoffs and won a playoff game before getting that contract. Romo and Rivers have also proven themselves. What has this guy Schaub done? Start a couple games and posted a 69 QB rating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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