Lanschaften » The "Alex Smith Rule"

"The current CBA has only two years left to run before fans Cheap Bryce Love Jersey , players and owners could be faced once again with embittered labor negotiations and work stoppages (which means lost games).I wrote a title on an article shell about a month ago; that title read: What should the NFLPA be fighting for in the next CBA?As I often do, I typed a few notes into the body of the story so I could remember what inspired me to want to write it, and I left the shell of the article to sit until I had time to write it.There was no hurry; it could be published anytime in the next year and a half, and, as a university teacher, I have a ton of time available in May, June and July.Well, this weekend offers me a 5-day holiday as Thailand enjoys its traditional 3-day New Year celebration, called Songkran.I sat down to flesh out the article, but realized that some things had changed since I first sketched my notes for it.Chief among the changes is that two of the authors at OverTheCap have published a series of articles on this very topic — well-researched and well-written articles that don’t encompass all of the ideas I had sketched in my notes, but which dive much deeper than I had intended in the ideas they do cover.Of course, they also touch on some ideas that I hadn’t considered at all.One of the thoughts that they put to paper that I hadn’t put into my notes is that of a “Salary Cap Amnesty”.I’ll let the OTC writers explain the concept:I had seen a “cap amnesty” idea floated in the comments section of Hogs Haven just days before I read this article, so OTC doesn’t have a monopoly on the concept, but I felt like Jason Fitzgerald and Vijay Natarajan did a good job of fleshing out the concept with enough detail to make it the sort of recommendation that could be meaningfully negotiated, written into a contract, and enforced with practical effect.To recap the key elements of their proposal:The amnesty would be triggered by a catastrophic injury, similar to the one suffered by Alex Smith (OTC also suggests that crimes committed by players be included).The team would trigger the amnesty themselves, but to avoid its use as a “get out of jail free” card on a bad contract, there would be some limitations:(i) an independent doctor has to examine the player and identify that his injury qualifies. This has a bit of the flavor of the independent neurologist that makes the call under the current concussion protocol.(I might expand this protection to 2 doctors Jimmy Moreland Washington Redskins Jersey , or perhaps a league panel of doctors to guard against roster & cap manipulation).(ii) a team is limited to using the amnesty a maximum of once per 4-year period (or possibly once per decade).This has the feel of coaches having a limited number of red-flags to be thrown for replay challenges, or the maximum of 2 players allowed to return from IR in a season.OTC recommends that the cap relief take the form of no accelerated dead cap charge.We’re lucky here that OTC used Alex Smith as the example, so no calculation is necessary.The article tells us that, under their proposed amnesty rule, the Redskins would have eaten the $5.4 charge for pro-rated bonus in 2018, but that the $52.6m dead cap hit that the Redskins have to deal with if they release Alex Smith now under the current CBA would disappear like a puff of smoke.Note: The OTC article doesn’t discuss the impact of the well-publicized insurance policy that the Redskins have to protect against Alex Smith catastrophic injury.That wrinkle is beyond the scope of this article as well, so I will simply ignore it, as if it didn’t exist.This is a detail that can be dealt with in the collective bargaining process.If this proposed amnesty had been in place under the current CBA, then, when the full extent of Alex Smith’s injury was realized and confirmed by independent doctor(s), then the Redskins front office could have “thrown a red flag” to initiate the amnesty.Smith would have counted $18.4m against the Redskins 2018 salary cap but Washington would have incurred no further cap charges from the contract.The Redskins would have cut him, paid him his guaranteed $71m (including the money paid prior to the injury), and walked away with Dan Snyder a bit cash poorer, but the team’s salary cap situation largely unimpacted.The team, under the OTC proposal, at least, would have been unable to utilize the Amnesty provision again until 2023 or later. What a week for Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman.There was a benching during a 24-point loss. Criticism from a former teammate. Biting Twitter barbs from an opposing receiver.What better way to cap it all off than a matchup for his Redskins (2-2) on Sunday against Cam Newton and the visiting Carolina Panthers (3-1), the club that abruptly parted with Norman about 2陆 years ago.“Old friends. They’re coming to town, and I get to see them and go at each other. They know how I am. Trust me. I know how they are. So it’s going to be quite an exciting time Jimmy Moreland Washington Redskins Jersey ,” Norman said. “I’m looking forward to them. I know (Newton’s) got something special cooked up for us.”Norman was coming off an All-Pro season and a Super Bowl appearance when the Panthers put the franchise tag on him in March 2016, a move many figured was a precursor to a long-term deal. Fast-forward six weeks, though, and Carolina rescinded the tag offer, allowing Norman to become an unrestricted free agent.Within a couple of days, he signed a $75 million, five-year contract with Washington. For whatever the reason 鈥?and there are various theories out there 鈥?things have not gone all that well for Norman, who turns 31 in December and is currently up to 19 games in a row without an interception.The downswing culminated in Washington coach Jay Gruden’s decision to play a rookie instead of Norman coming out of halftime during a 43-19 loss at New Orleans on Monday night.Then came all sorts of theories about what might be wrong with Norman, from his age (courtesy of Saints receiver Michael Thomas) to his interest in becoming a celebrity (brought up by ex-Redskins defensive back DeAngelo Hall) to the shift from Carolina’s zone coverage to Washington’s man-to-man principles (referenced by Panthers coach Ron Rivera).Newton, a friend who participates in Norman’s charity volleyball tournament, maintains that QBs still need to be wary of the guy.“He’s not a person who hesitates to take chances, and that’s his gift and his curse,” Newton said. “I still go into each and every game pointing out who the impact players are on every defense, and he’s definitely one of those players.”Here are some things to know about the Panthers and Redskins:COUNT ON CAMA Redskins defense that had zero answers against Drew Brees now goes up against Newton, who is having a so-so season thus far but always comes up big against Washington. The 2015 NFL MVP is 4-0 against the Redskins, with nine TDs and zero INTs, a passer of rating of 115.4 and two rushing scores. “Cam is a beast, man. He can do it all. He can pass. He can run it. He’s an extra running back when he’s back there,” Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger said. “They’ve got a long list of good playmakers Jimmy Moreland Jersey 2019 , man. So we’ve got our hands full.”ROLL TIDEDefensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne played together at Alabama, were first-round draft picks the past two years, and account for nearly half of Washington’s sacks this season. “They are two guys that I never have to worry about: ‘Hey, hustle. Hey, run to the ball.’ These guys are always playing hard, playing fast, playing physical,” Gruden said, “and you can build around those two cats for a long time.”BAND IS BACKThe Panthers are hoping to get back three-time Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen; he broke his right foot in Week 1. “The band is back,” Newton said with a big smile. The QB’s favorite target for quite some time, Olsen strung together a trio of 1,000-yard seasons before initially injuring his foot in 2017 and missing nine games. If some wonder whether Olsen might be rushing back, he said: “I wouldn’t put myself out there if I couldn’t help the team.”DAVIS RETURNS, TOOCarolina is counting on linebacker Thomas Davis, who returns from a four-game suspension under the league’s policy on performance enhancers to give a big lift to a defense that struggled to pressure the quarterback last week. Davis is the team’s all-time leading tackler and joins Luke Kuechly to provide what Gruden called “the best linebacking duo in pro football, in my opinion.”___AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report.___