Reality of the NFL and 1st Round and Draft Picks

[Whatever]

(09-08-2017, 02:29 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: The teams that sign free agents typically fall apart because of salary cap issues thing is a myth too. The salary cap is exploding. It increases by about $10 million a year.

Teams like the Steelers that everyone thinks is entering cap hell...just signed Joe Haden. They just traded for a TE. They clearly have cap room. There hasn't been a mass exodus from their roster.

We however have lost Whitworth, Zeitler, Nelson, Hall, Jones, Sanu, and Peko over the past 2 seasons. Clearly teams have to try to make a run while their window is open.

Now...we're partially rebuilding.

You still see plenty of poorly run teams overpaying in FA, then having bottom out years when they have to cut bait bait with the overpaid guys.  

The salary cap is based on revenue.  The NFL's top revenue source is tv rights, and tv ratings dropped 8% last year.  Ratings for the 2017 opener are also down from the 2016 opener.  Spending foolishly and blindly hoping the salary cap will have massive bump after massive bump is not a plan, especially when the cap for the league year isn't set until March.

The Steelers have lost plenty of key players over the past 2 years.  Heath Miller, their starting TE, retired in 2016.  They lost their starting LT, Kelvin Beachum, and their starting NT, Steve McClendon, and one of their starting CB's, Antwon Blake, to FA.  Fast forward to this year and they lost starting WR Markus Wheaton and starting ILB Lawrence Timmons in FA, as well as Jarvis Jones, who started 24 games at OLB the previous two seasons, and traded #3 WR Sammie Coates.  For the Steelers, going for broke makes complete sense.  Their franchise QB has said he is retiring after this year or next and their stud RB seems bound and determined to leave for the highest bidder as soon as he hits the open market.