Breaking Down Fargas contract to find the hidden Raiders agenda and what it means for our cap situation going forward.
2008: According to Jason Jones, Fargas is due $6 million in 2008. According to Jerry McDonald and the NFLPA, his base is $605,000
This means he is going to be paid $5.395 million in bonus money in 2008. Talk about a nice payoff.
2009: This is where it gets interesting. His base in 2009 will be just $2.5 million.
2010: $1.5 in base.
I’ve confirmed Fargas base salaries with the NFLPA. Rotoworld reports all $6 million of the guarantees will be in the first year. I can’t confirm this anywhere else.
This is a clear cut sign that Fargas contract is a three year deal that could be reduced to one or two if need be.
$6 million guaranteed in the first year ($605K of it being base) +$2.5 + 1.5 = $10.605. Where are we getting $12 from? How can he make all his guarantees in the first year and have those base salaries? Likely to be earned incentives could bridge the gap to $12 and unlikely could get the total to $14 I suppose. We don’t know what years the incentives kick in, but you can only make them if you are on the field.
In conclusion, Fargas deal can be cut down to one year or two easily. This ought to be a victory for the Raider fans still hoping for McFadden. The deal also works if we were to want to make Fargas the backup because he wouldn’t likely earn the incentives and wouldn’t likely cost more than his base salaries.
Also could be a large indicator they think Michael Bush is special.
According to Jason Jones, Fargas’ deal is worth $12 million over three years with $6 million in guarantees. The contract could escalate to $14 with incentives. $6 million is also due to him in 2008.
What does this mean Raider Nation? I see this signing in one of two ways. First off, the length is on the shorter side, with many people expecting it to be three or four years. Also, the deal is only worth $4 million per year, which isn’t a huge number. $6 million in 2008 means just $3 (or $4 with incentives) due in 2009 and 2010. When I receive news of how the base and signing bonus is split I will let you know. It might mean a lot if we were to want to make him a backup in a year or two or cut him.
The front-loaded deal does mean a couple things. Jordan and his $6.9 million are 100% gone. Also Rhodes and his $3.5 ($5.5 with incentives) is also as good as gone.
This is where it will be subject to some debate. Does this mean for sure McFadden is not on our radar? I don’t think so. Al Davis surprises many, but more than that, most rookie deals are back-loaded (and Fargas’ deal is front-loaded). You see how this works? OR It could mean McFadden is not what we want and the Fargas deal is just front-loaded in case Bush turns into a stud.
At this point we wont know. My guess is the Raiders beat writers may be able to see which prospects the Raiders are eying at the combine (Like how they loved Vince Young a couple years back).
Sean Jones, a member of the Oakland Raiders’ personnel department, said:
“All I need to know about Vince Young is that he came up with one of the greatest performances ever in the Rose Bowl. In the fourth quarter, I saw (USC coach) Pete Carroll throw every kind of blitz at Vince. I saw Vince read the blitz and beat the blitz. I don’t care what his Wonderlic score is. The only score I care about is 41-38.”
I don’t think this ends the debate for McFadden supporters, but it sure doesn’t help.
Ouch. This hurts for McFadden supporters. The terms of the deal will be interesting. One would guess this makes McFadden a lot less of an option, but never rule anything out with Al Davis.
Bump up the likelihood the Raiders are going for a defensive lineman. Dorsey, Ellis, Long all now become tops on our list (or so it would appear).
McFadden’s receiving ability may still make him a darkhorse, especially if Dorsey and Chris Long are off the board.
If ever there was a year to move down, this would be it. My guess is we could move down to 8 and still get Ellis. That would mean a #22 pick or so if we are going down from #3 or a #50 pick if we are moving down from #4.
This will be the first of my posts analyzing the possible 1st and 2nd round draft selections and our positional needs. Please note that other RBs could come into play in the second round that aren’t covered here.
Before I go into McFadden, let’s look at our other options.
Justin Fargas (FA):
However, Fargas is not the long term answer. Fargas has only had one completely healthy season and he didn’t play that much. The more carries he gets, the more he seems to get hurt. I LOVED what he did for us this year. I like him. However, this is football team and our team needs to be smart about spending and what is really best. Also, keep this in mind. Despite Fargas success, he had just 4 TD. He also wasn’t that consistant, with only four 100 yard games in 11. There was still a reason Jordan started over Fargas at the beginning of the year whether we want to admit it or not. I just don’t understand spending the money on a 28 year-old RB with a long injury history. Also, Fargas is one dimensional in that he isn’t a good WR out of the back field.
Dominic Rhodes: ($5.5 Million for 2008)
I have nothing against Rhodes, but he is nothing special. He also is due to make a boat load in 2008. I just don’t see him sticking around at that cap hit, especially not after complaining about playing time last season. He could restructure or perhaps make the team, but we all know he is nothing special. Good showings against solid run stuffing teams is a plus, but both those teams were without their top DT (Marcus Stroud and Jamal Williams). I’d say Rhodes is about a 50-50 chance of being on the roster come 2009.
LaMont Jordan ($6.9 in 2008, $7.2 in 2009)
At those cap numbers, there is about a negative chance he is on the roster next season. $4.4 million is bonus money. The hit can be spread out over two years by using the new rule which allows two players to be cut pre June 1 and treating the cap hit as if it was a post June 1 cut.
Adimchinobe Echemandu ($605K)
Has a solid chance of being the #3 RB next season with the possible exodus of three veteran RBs.
Michael Bush ($500K, $585K, $675K next three seasons)
I really badly wish we could have gotten to see what he could do last year. Hopefully, with a full season of conditioning he will be the Bush from the Videos below. He is just so much of an unknown, that we can’t truly count on him. If he turns into a stud, and we draft another RB, then we have two studs, and Bush would come super cheap. Still, no way of knowing how well he will comeback. I’d like to think if we don’t draft or sign a FA RB that would mean they are putting it upon Bush, but I am not holding my breath.
Darren McFadden (Likely around $25 mil in Guarantees)
This guy is really a stud. Some disagree, but if he comes in at 215 or above, his speed and elusiveness will be a huge asset. His receiving ability will make him more versatile than a guy like Fargas and maybe hide some of our liability at the WR position. Some say McFadden can’t break tackles, I don’t see evidence for this, most the time, he cuts so hard and had such great burst that he didn’t have to break tackles. He does have a strong stiff arm that I have seen on many occasions. He is closer to Peterson than Reggie Bush. Our system being good will only make McFadden that much better. The zone blocking system is built for fast straight line runners, so EVEN IF he is what some people with little football knowledge claim (That is a one dimensional fast guy) it still wont matter. He will still be good. Durability is my only concern because he runs a little high, but he has been surprisingly healthy so far in his career. My sources indicate (my fiance helped with a pool workout of Arkansas and Texas draft potentials at the Michael Johnson Training Facility) that McFadden is mature enough to be in the NFL and his character isn’t as big of a concern as some people would like to make it out to be.