Join *Jaguars Inside Report *Senior Editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Jeff Tice from Jacksonville:
I heard once that if a team somehow manages to come in under the cap in a given year, that team receives a credit the next year. Is this true?
Vic:
No.
Tom Rusk from Malabar, FL:
What is the rationale for the NFL requiring teams to wait until June 1 before they can partially apply a player's bonus amortization to the next season's limit? The wait until June 1 seems to benefit neither the owners nor the players.
Vic:
June 1 is an arbitrary date that works in conjunction with the other dates on the free-agent calendar. If the "June 1" date was moved up to, say, May 1, it would result in the free agency market being flooded with players, resulting in lower values across the board and making it more difficult for lower-level free agents to sell their wares. June 1 is the date for old clubs to offer tenders to unsigned unrestricted free agents, so as to receive exclusive negotiating rights for the rest of the season, if the player is not signed by another club by July 22. June 1 is also the date for old clubs to offer tenders to unsigned restricted free agents or to extend a qualifying offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights. Once that process has been completed, teams may realize the amortization advantage by releasing a player on June 2 or after. All of this is part of the free agency process, which includes dates such as March 1 (the start of veteran free agency), April 15 (the end of the signing period for restricted free agents), April 19 (the deadline for old clubs to exercise their right of first refusal on restricted free agents), and July 22 (the end of the signing period for unrestricted free agents who received a June 1 tender). To dramatically move the June 1 date earlier into the process would be to crowd one of the levels of the process.
Bill Cavanaugh Jr. from Philadelphia, PA:
Being the "professional" you are, could you explain to the rest of us "high school" teenyboppers what it means to be a "professional" football fan? You know, maybe a little 101 lecture on not allowing yourself to get attached to any player on a particular team, no matter how fantastic and influential they may be, because, as you keep telling us, "professional" football is not about the great and sometimes awesome players of the game or how their play affects us during a game, it's about money and the almighty salary cap. There's simply no room for silly, childish "player-attachment" in the real world of "professional" football. And as soon as the rest of us "high school" kids get that through our thick skulls, we can "graduate" from being sentimental "fans" of the game and get back down to the "business" of "professional" football. I personally want to apologize for having allowed myself to get caught up in the "spirit" of the game.
Vic:
I respect your opinion.
Jessie Robinson from Orange Park, FL:
I see every year that the Tampa Bay Bucs pick up Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes in the draft and they are extremely successful. Not only do they play well, they are a good draw for the fans in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have drafted only three Gators, one Seminole and no Hurricanes in eight years, while the Bucs have selected six Noles, four Gators and two Canes. Can you explain why the Jaguars front office doesn't like players from the state of Florida?
Vic:
There is no prejudice against those schools. Sometimes it just works out that the player you want for the position you need isn't from one of those schools, or a player from one of those schools who you want isn't available. For example, I can tell you that in 1997 Florida State's Reinard Wilson would've been the Jaguars' first-round pick had he been available.
