wow...i just saw this NFL video of Nick Wright of sports radio 610 ripping Arian Foster on National TV... http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-am/0ap2000000241867/Foster-in-need-of-an-attitude-adjustment Nick sounds like a total tool...
A very important info about signing bonuses in one of your links: [rquoter]For example, if a player signs a four-year deal with a $1 million signing bonus, $250,000 of that bonus will count toward team salary for each contract year ($1 million divided evenly over the four-year contract is $250,000 per year). If a team releases a player, the unamoratized bonus money (the remaining prorated bonus money) counts immediately against the cap. In our example above, if the player is released after Year 1, the remaining $750,000 (the prorated signing bonus money for years 2-4) counts against the cap in Year 2 -- even though the player is no longer on the team's roster.[/rquoter] Arian's remaining signing bonus minus this year and last year is still a huge chunk of change for the Texans to absorb in one salary cap year. (I believe 8 mill if cut by the date you posted).
I said nothing of critiquing the guy. But there were posts advocating cutting him should he only put up 1400+ yards and 15 or so td's. Yes, he had his lowers ypc last season...on a league leading 351 carries. Did I forget to mention the lack of a truly competent back up last season? I wonder if that went into opposing teams game planning? Nah. After 1 game, no one is on pace to do anything. If after 4 games he only has ~200 yds rushing, tell me about his pace. Not after game 1 in which he's coming off of injuries that kept him out of the preseason and having a healthy Ben Tate back who was playing well. It kind of looked like San Diego wasn't quite prepared for Tate, but they were ready for Foster. Hmmmmmmmmm.
It looked like Foster wasn't prepared for the game and Tate was. The way San Diego played/handled each player was virtually identical. Foster was his typical 2 yards and fall down routine, while Tate ran strong.
Everyone on this board really needs to calm down. Arian Foster is a special back, who really just had a bad game, and Kubiak didnt feel it with him, and he was right. That gif of him getting mad in the 4th quarter is overblown and really a product of being a starter. When you are the starter on the team, you dont wanna be on the bench to no one...especially with someone as talented as Ben Tate. That being said, Arian Foster is gonna bounce back from this. My next point is that most folks on this board, have to understand that we played one of the top run defenses from last season(ranked#5, just behind SF in yds per attempt...) it wasnt easy to run on the Chargers, so the yds that Foster got was just what it was...Last night was an example of Ben Tate being more prepared and in better game shape, hence why he was able to exploit the same looks Foster got. Finally, the video-audio of Sports radio 610 host Nick Wright going on NFL.com and ripping Arian Foster for needing an attitude adjustment? Wow...harsh words from such a cruddy Houston sports radio station. Say all we want, but since having Foster in our starting lineup, the Texans have been a very good football team. Foster is much more important to this team that so many folks on this board are giving him credit for...When the eventual fumble/ or injury bug of Ben Tate strikes at an inopportune time, you will see that Foster bails us out. He wanted to last night, but he really didnt need to. It was on Schaub to lead us last night. Not Foster.
Yeah, I read that. But if you continue you'll see the following: After June 1, the team can stretch their salary cap liability over the next 2 seasons. Let's look at our example above, where a player signs a big contract for 4 years, including a $1 million signing bonus. If the player is cut after the first year of the contract, the remaining $750,000 of the "un-amoratized" signing bonus hits the cap immediately (accelerates). However, if he is cut after June 1, the team can spread that money over Year 2 and 3 of the contract instead of taking the full brunt of the cap hit in Year 2. Doing this will save $500,000 against the cap hit for Year 2. Which is why I mentioned the option (hypothetical) of releasing Foster after June 1, 2014.
100% spot on. Nicely done. No pro bowl RB wants to be benched when the game is on the line. His competitive nature is what drove him to stardom as an undrafted rookie in the first place. My only concern is the news of him leaving post-game without talking to reporters. Doesn't come off well in light of the tremendous comeback W on the road (especially to his teammates). When Arian changed his diet just prior to last season, I questioned the move. It may or may not have affected his performance (I'm no dietitian, so I won't speculate). He was still very productive but Kubiak rode him like a horse behind a weaker O-line and FB. I'm pretty sure that accounted for his decreased YPC in 2012, and increased wear & tear. The idea now is to extend his career by limiting the abuse he receives on the field -- otherwise, Rick Smith would never have given him that 5-year deal (~$20MM guaranteed)-- and we'd have no need for a stud like Tate to share the load. That's why I believe Kubes will continue to split the carries and go with the hot hand (so to speak) when closing out games (ala Sam Cassell & Kenny circa '95 postseason). Once Foster rounds back into game shape, I predict a 70/30 split. To be honest, I'm more concerned with losing a top-notch backup RB like Tate to free agency. But this is the NFL and he deserves to be a featured back sooner or later.
It just one game, its too early to tell, I dont know why, but week 1 sucked for RBs (except Shady McCoy) look at this numbers: Doug Martin: 65 yards on 24 carries Arian Foster: 57 yards on 18 carries Matt Forte: 50 yards on 19 carries Trent Richardson: 47 yards on 13 carries Maurice Jones-Drew: 45 yards on 15 carries Frank Gore: 44 yards on 21 carries Marshawn Lynch: 43 yards on 17 carries Alfred Morris: 45 yards in 12 carries even Adrian Peterson after taking his first carry for a 78-yard touchdown, he had just 15 yards on 17 rushes the rest of the game, including minus-8 yards the rest of the first half. also think is the first game for foster after 8 months, RGIII didnt play any preseason games, and looked rusty too.
What happened to his hands? He was a great receiver out of the backfield two years ago. He used to make a lot of his big plays on screens and dumps. Now he looks like he has hooves for hands, except for that spectacular one yard, one handed catch.
In your hypothetical, I think the remaining bonus can be only spread over 2 years instead of 3, thereby making the cap hit larger than 4.15.
I know he dropped 2 passed, but did you miss the one handed grab? That was amazing, despite only gaining a yard or two.
I more concerned with Arian's dropped passes than his YPC. The OLine struggled creating holes. I bet we will see improvement in the OLine next week and better performances from Foster and Tate to go with it.
Thank you...besides Peterson and McCoy almost every top RB had similar production to Foster...I don't see any reason for the type of concern.
The Texans were not consistent running the ball last season. It is more than just on Foster. Offensive line needs to perform better. Tate needs to be 2011 Tate.
One spectacular catch does not make up for consistent dropping of balls (see Jones, Jacoby). IIRC he had some drop issues last year too.
He'll be fine. Having two quality RB's is a good thing (for this team, especially). Look at the NY Giants who don't even have ONE good RB they can trust... or the host of other teams out there who are one injury away from being in the same position.