Franchising Long?!?!

[jMaL305]

Although I don't want Long back at the franchise # or a long term deal like Joe Thomas, we can't just let him walk. There is a line of teams 20 deep that would kill to get him (bears, cards, etc). I think we need to franchise him and then trade him to a team who will sign him to a long term deal.

Are there prohibitve cap implications if we do that (assuming we trade him--I understand if we are stuck with him at the franshise # what that means for our cap). Dolphanmark do you know (or anyone else)?

Bottom line is we can get a high pick for Long, at worst, and letting him go for nothing would be totally dumb. I can't think of a case where a top, young LT was just allowed to walk (where he is still "top" is debatable, but what matters is a bunch of teams really would want him). Although nothing would suprise me with this FO

[UCF Nation]

Hell no.

Especially if Martin turns out legit at LT. I'd rather just let him walk and draft another RT.

[uk_Duper85]

Texans let Mario Williams walk, hasn't done them any harm. He went on IR twice as well.

[BC26]

We won't get nothing for him. We may have to wait till 2014 for a compensatory pick, but we won't get nothing.

$15MM would strap this team for the future...and that's what we're all here to see improve.

[Andyman]

We won't get nothing for him. We may have to wait till 2014 for a compensatory pick, but we won't get nothing.

$15MM would strap this team for the future...and that's what we're all here to see improve.

Hmmm, I'm not sure that's necessarily true. I wouldn't agree that the $15 million would strap this team for the future if it's on a one year deal. Miami has a lot of cap room after the season. If you believe they will spend all that money, or have the ability to do so on other quality players, then perhaps it does 'strap' them in the sense that the $15 million towards Long could go to someone else. However, if there aren't other options that were going to fill that $15 million, then tagging him might be the right move. It really depends on whether the tag is a true 'opportunity cost' to signing another player or not. Now from a business standpoint, the $15 million is another question (i.e. is he at all worth it) but hey, it's not my money.
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I guess what it boils down to for me is would I rather see Miami go into next season with $15 million of unused cap space and no Jake Long, or have them tag him if necessary? I guess that also depends on whether you can carry unused cap to 2014 but I'm not aware of the present rules on that.

[Scotty P]

Have you watched any games this entire season??!! He has been causing penalties, sacks hurries and knockdowns left and right. He is not worth 15mm or even 10mm next season. We could sign a top 5 WR and still have space to sign a top RT for that money.

It would be like paying 40k for a Honda Accord.

[roy_miami]

Not that I care what we do going forward but why did it make sense to pay him $12 Million this season instead of trading him for at least a second and save the $12 million which we could have used to sign a good wr.

[Zounds]

Not that I care what we do going forward but why did it make sense to pay him $12 Million this season instead of trading him for at least a second and save the $12 million which we could have used to sign a good wr.

Because trading Jake Long wouldn't have saved us $12 million dollars. Take a look at the Brandon Marshall trade - we traded him and we still paid him $5.5 million this season. Jake Long was the same in that we gave him a bunch of guaranteed money in a signing bonus, and that's not a liability for a team he's traded to. And lets just say we could "save" $12 million by getting rid of Long, you would have still had to sign a free agent LT who would have cost plenty. Out of all the free agent OTs in 2012, there might have been 1 or 2 that was even worthy of starting long term. Finding a decent OT isnt easy and I am not sure why everyone on this board thinks it is.

[Gonzo]

Because trading Jake Long wouldn't have saved us $12 million dollars. Take a look at the Brandon Marshall trade - we traded him and we still paid him $5.5 million this season. Jake Long was the same in that we gave him a bunch of guaranteed money in a signing bonus, and that's not a liability for a team he's traded to. And lets just say we could "save" $12 million by getting rid of Long, you would have still had to sign a free agent LT who would have cost plenty. Out of all the free agent OTs in 2012, there might have been 1 or 2 that was even worthy of starting long term. Finding a decent OT isnt easy and I am not sure why everyone on this board thinks it is.

Finding a decent player in any position in the NFL is difficult. It's not limited to OT. Doesn't mean you need to overpay injury-prone underperformers, unless you're a lazy, poor GM. Resigning Long is the easy way, but it doesn't make it the best way to address the position. And considering his obvious health issues, even if we do keep him (for average OT money of course), we still need to start planning for his replacement, because I would be shocked if he ever plays a complete season again.

[gofins60]

Since the team is rebuilding, if Martin can handle the job then let Long go. Or, pay him a lot less to play RT.