Strange move Belichick!

[Patrick76777]

Now that it’s over, I have to say that cutting Milloy was a very strange move.

Maybe I’m missing something, can someone please help me.

Lawyer was under contract

The Pats were under the cap

The season is about to start

Why not let the guy play the year and then cut him?

Is it still a post-June 1st thing?

That’s the only thing I can think of.

[Pride]

too expensive to sit on the bench?

[lordofgun]

The way I hear it, the rule of 51 no longer applies once the season starts, which means all 53 players count against the cap.

That would have pushed them over.

I read that somewhere. :D

[Patrick76777]

Are you serious Log?

They're that close?

[Throne Logic]

If they waited until next year, the cap hit would have been all toward the 2004 season. By cutting him now, they get to split it between the two seasons. They must be looking at some serious troubles next season.

Or, perhaps his replacement looks just as good as Milloy did this camp & preseason. Drop the higher cost player . . .

I'm not convinced that Milloy is worth the nearly $4 Million per year we will be paying him. I hope I'm wrong.

[Patrick76777]

$2 M base salary this year. That's not so bad.

[lordofgun]

TL, I read that even with the release, he counts over 6 mil on next year's cap for the Pats. Ouch.

[XNOUGHT]

Harris is faster, but he is not Milloy's leadership equal.

However, guys like Colvin, Ted, Seymour, Harrison, and Brusci will have to step up.

[Patrick76777]

3 days before a season with a stacked team and some fans are worrying about the Cap next season.


Scary!

[Earthquake Enyart]

Yeah, I don't get it either. :huh:

They must have thought that they could back him into a corner to renegotiate, but it backfired. :hitself:

[Ickybaluky]

The timing was wrong, but the move wasn't unusual. Philadelphia let Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas go, and aren't going to re-sign Bobby Taylor or Troy Vincent. Emmitt Smith is in Arizona. It happens all the time in the NFL.

The Pats were up against the cap, but could have cleared room in other ways. The real reason was Milloy had become too expensive. The Pats wanted him to take a paycut. My moving to the 3-4 as a base defense, the Pats won't rely on their safeties for run support as much. They re-allocated money to the LB position by signing Colvin, so they were spending too much on Milloy. Rodney Harrison can move up into the box if needed, so Milloy was making too much money for what they were asking him to do, so they sought a paycut. Milloy refused and left, which happens all the time.

People try to make it personal, and Milloy feels slighted just like Larry Centers did when the Bills cut him. However, in reality is is the harsh nature of business in the NFL.

That said, the unusual part of the move is the timing, and criticism of that is well deserved.

[Patrick76777]

Originally posted by NE39
The timing was wrong, but the move wasn't unusual. Philadelphia let Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas go, and aren't going to re-sign Bobby Taylor or Troy Vincent. Emmitt Smith is in Arizona. It happens all the time in the NFL.

The Pats were up against the cap, but could have cleared room in other ways. The real reason was Milloy had become too expensive. The Pats wanted him to take a paycut. My moving to the 3-4 as a base defense, the Pats won't rely on their safeties for run support as much. They re-allocated money to the LB position by signing Colvin, so they were spending too much on Milloy. Rodney Harrison can move up into the box if needed, so Milloy was making too much money for what they were asking him to do, so they sought a paycut. Milloy refused and left, which happens all the time.

People try to make it personal, and Milloy feels slighted just like Larry Centers did when the Bills cut him. However, in reality is is the harsh nature of business in the NFL.

That said, the unusual part of the move is the timing, and criticism of that is well deserved.


That's what I was thinking.

on NFL Live they were saying it was a good move because the pats have 2 ones and 2 seconds in the draft next year. But that's next year.

You guys have a solid team. Why not let the year play out and then cut him. It'll suck if Drew hits 2 or 3 deep down the middle this week in a win and you guys miss the playoffs by one game.

[Throne Logic]

Originally posted by lordofgun
TL, I read that even with the release, he counts over 6 mil on next year's cap for the Pats. Ouch.

Heh. that's great!

Regardless of monitary reasons, it sure did screw with the team morale.

Ty Law :pound: Rodney Harrison

. Bill B.

[Ickybaluky]

Actually, the move will result in about $4,053,624 in dead money in 2004. For 2003, he is $1,4M in dead money, but frees up a lot of space due to his $4.4M base salary.

The Pats are in pretty good cap position for the long-term.

[Ickybaluky]

The timing of the thing was a risk the Pats took. I think they felt if they backed him into a corner, he would take the paycut. In the end, he didn't and was able to get a good deal from Buffalo.

Life goes on.

[StanMarino13]

Well basically the fact is he was getting too much money. I'm not goin to start talking about the decline in his numbers or anything to try to rain on ur guys parade. But there is no way Milloy or any other safety is worth 4.9 million dollars a year that he was to make this year with the Pats. With him being almost purely a tackler last season(not creating any turnovers) he was expendable. They plug in one of their scrubs who doesnt get any turnovers either and pay him alot less. Otherwise they probably would have had to cut two starters to get under the cap. Of course they lose a vet on their defense, but how many vets on a defense do they need. Specially with Milloys cap number of 4.9 million??I dont think it will hurt the pats as much as u guys think it will. Great move for u guys picking him up, and it might even help this Sunday, but thats yet to be seen. Safety depth in Buffalo??? Its kinda hard to believe.

[Pride]

they should have traded him... at least gotten a draft pick or something for him.

who is the GM up there anyway?

[lordofgun]

A trade would have accelerated the cap hit. The entire hit would have been on this year's cap. They couldn't afford that.

[WG]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
Now that it’s over, I have to say that cutting Milloy was a very strange move.

Maybe I’m missing something, can someone please help me.

Lawyer was under contract

The Pats were under the cap

The season is about to start

Why not let the guy play the year and then cut him?

Is it still a post-June 1st thing?

That’s the only thing I can think of.

It's not really that strange. Milloy is good, but he's simply not worth $5M/yr.

We're all going gung ho b/c of some uncertainty at our S spots and b/c he's a Patriot and b/c he's got a stellar history.

He became somewhat expendable this season, perhaps not entirely, but at least in part, and there was some sort of cap issue. This pickup could also bite us in the haunches too if his play doesn't pick up from the 0 INT/0 FF/0 Sack performance that he had last year either.

He's entering a time period where soon his level of play will likely begin to diminish. We gave him a bonus that essentially makes him "uncuttable" for two seasons and costly in the third to release. At a contract of ~ $4M/yr., which I'm sure grades upwards, we may find ourselves w/ only an above average S at top bucks soon.

We'll see, am I am pumped at having him for this season. But based on last year's level of play, I'm also not foolish enough to assume he's gonna match his season best numbers either. He may, which would be good for us. And for sure we can use him in a year where there's no reason why we can't reach the SB.

I also see us as now having unquestionably the hardest hitting secondary in the league. Should be very, very interesting.

Anyway, just trying to address your question. Look at it this way, we're in a similar situation w/ Winfield. He's very good, but he's not a lockdown CB who is seeking LCB money apparently. At what point do you say "we can't afford that, not for what we're getting."?

[Patrick76777]

I understand all of that wys, but the guy was under contract and the Pats were under the cap. they still have a huge hit next year anyway, so why not just keep the player for the next 17 weeks and then cut him. Now, you're paying on the SC for nothing.

[Ickybaluky]

LOG,

Actually, trading Milloy would have freed up about $400K. They would have eaten his $4M in future amortization, but it would have been offset by his $4.4M base salary.

Granted, they wouldn't have much cap room, but they could have done something else to free up some more room.

As for a trade, the Pats reportedly offered Milloy up for trade to New Orleans instead of Tebucky Jones, and then again around the league during the draft. They found no takers. Most teams were scared off by Milloy's contract, which would have had them inheriting a $4.4M base salary for 2003, and they they would have had to make decision on picking up a 3-Yr/$20M option with a $2M bonus for the years 2004-2006. That contract made him difficult to deal.

[Patrick76777]

So Wys, Is it going to be love or hate with Milloy?

Will you need a few weeks to decide?

[Demon]

All i have to say is the man has large balls. Not many people would do that of the week when you are opening the season, esspicially against your divison rival.

I will assume, if Patriots lose on Sunday, the Boston media will kill Belichick all next week in the press.

[Judge]

Originally posted by NE39
The timing was wrong, but the move wasn't unusual. ... People try to make it personal, and Milloy feels slighted just like Larry Centers did when the Bills cut him. However, in reality is is the harsh nature of business in the NFL.

That said, the unusual part of the move is the timing, and criticism of that is well deserved.

Any possibility that Bill Bellickick thought he needed to kick his team in the collective @$$ with a MAJOR wakeup call to tell them to shape up or else?

What better way to do that than to dump 1 of the "untouchables"? In the NHL, trading a captain does that kind of thing. Maybe Bill was afraid of losing his team and showed them who's boss by getting rid of a leader who no longer saw eye-to-eye with him?

Just a theory!

[Earthquake Enyart]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
You guys have a solid team. Why not let the year play out and then cut him. It'll suck if Drew hits 2 or 3 deep down the middle this week in a win and you guys miss the playoffs by one game.

No it won't.


Originally posted by Patrick76777
So Wys, Is it going to be love or hate with Milloy?

Will you need a few weeks to decide?

I was thinking the exact same thing. :rofl: