[Lotus]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Probably isnt the proper thread for this, as it wasnt from the Shanahan presser, but later on that day, Both Allen and Shanahan did interviews on the John Thompson show. The most interesting thing from both was with Allen. Thompson was talking about how many other talented coaches have come here to try and fix things and they hadnt successed. Thompson asked Allen what the difference was between Allen and Shanahan and everyone else. Allen said started with some generic BS... "well its a different time, different situation..." and then he said that 2010 was an "unprecedented year in that it WILL BE UNCAPPED." Unfortunately, Thompson cut him off there to go on a tangent about somethign else, so Allen couldnt elaborate. My thoughts:

- The owners are deliberately going to ensure a new CBA is not reached before the deadline because they WANT an uncapped year. really, the uncapped year only benefits teams as it will allow them to get rid of players with bloated contracts, keep young players an extra year on the cheap, and have an extra tag to prevent players who are free agents from leaving if they so chose. There is ZERO motivation for owners to get a new deal done right now. One will not get done. 2010 will be uncapped.

- The skins are going to take advantage of the uncapped year to the full. Not only will we release and trade players with bloated contracts, but we will be the kings of free agency, signing both expected free agents and those "surprise cuts" who are released by other teams who are doing the same thing as us (releasing guys they dont want anymore).

- As a result, our roster will be old. very very old. We will have assemble a veteran team that has 2, maybe 3 years to reach the superbowl. However, since the year is uncapped, we can structure contracts of these players to be front-heavy, so when a cap is re-established for 2011, we won't have the problems we currently have with guys like Portis, Samuels and Thomas, who's contracts far outweigh their actual value.

1) It is possible that the owners are dragging their feet intentionally. But it is also true that everyone, owners and players, are waiting to see how the American Needle case shakes out. There's no point in designing a new CBA until that case is resolved.

2) The salary cap system is unlikely to return in a new CBA.