The NFL is considering delaying the making of its 2004 schedule by a month and announcing it in early May rather than early April. After more free-agent signings, that would allow the league to slate better dates for television. Teams already know their opponents, but prime-time games haven’t been assigned.
Already, the Bears-Redskins game provides a classic study in conflicting ways to build a team.
Last year, Washington, was host to the lavish Thursday night NFL opening gala featuring Britney Spears and others on the National Mall before the Redskins played the New York Jets. The interest in the game stemmed from the Redskins’ raiding the Jets for four key players during the off-season.
This year, Chicago is given a “50-50 chance” to follow Washington and New York City as site of the Thursday night festivities, according to Bears President Ted Phillips and NFL officials. Although it is doubtful the Redskins would open the season twice in a row, no other NFL team makes a bigger annual off-season splash.
The Redskins and Bears are old-time rivals and the contrast between their ways of doing business would make a good thesis as well as interesting TV.
The Redskins rehired their three-time Super Bowl-winning coach, Joe Gibbs. The Bears hired Lovie Smith to his first head-coaching job. Rehiring Mike Ditka wasn’t even in the uttermost recesses of their minds.
Gibbs then assembled a veteran coaching staff that includes former NFL head coaches Joe Bugel on offense and Gregg Williams on defense. He hired Bears’ defensive coordinator Greg Blache as defensive coordinator/line coach. As usual, owner Daniel Snyder paid all the coaches more than they ever made in their lives.
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Smith assembled a coaching staff with only 38 combined years of NFL experience, led by his own modest eight years. The Bears will be the only team in the league with a head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coach filling those jobs for the first time on this level.
Gibbs inherited a first-round draft choice at quarterback, Patrick Ramsey, who had two years of experience under predecessor Steve Spurrier. No way, said Gibbs, who traded for veteran Mark Brunell of Jacksonville to be his starter, offering a seven-year, $43 million contract with a signing bonus of $8.6 million. Gibbs won his three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks, but none of them were young.
Smith inherited a first-round draft choice at quarterback, Rex Grossman, who has three starts and two finishes under his belt. No problem, said Smith and offensive coordinator Terry Shea, who signed Jonathan Quinn from Kansas City as a backup on a two-year, $1.6 million contract. Quinn spent four years backing up Brunell in Jacksonville before spending the last two years backing up Trent Green.
The Redskins needed a rushing boost, so they traded their second-best player on defense, All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey, to Denver for Clinton Portis, the most dynamic young back in the league this side of LaDainian Tomlinson. Portis has two 1,500-yard seasons, a 5.5-yard average and 29 rushing touchdowns in his two years in the league. They had to pay Portis a $17 million signing bonus to get him.
The Bears needed a boost in their running game, so they signed free agent Thomas Jones, an underachiever who has rushed for 1,891 yards, a 3.8-yard average, and 12 rushing touchdowns in his four years in the league. They gave Jones a $3.5 million signing bonus.
A reminder–although each NFL team is restricted by an $80 million salary cap this season, signing bonuses are pro-rated against the cap over the duration of a contract. Portis signed for eight years, so his $17 million bonus counts $2.125 against the cap each year. Jones signed for four years and his $3.5 million bonus will count $875,000 against the cap each year. In addition, each man’s annual base salary will count against the cap.
Because base salaries usually aren’t guaranteed in the NFL, signing bonuses are key in free agency. As long as a team can justify or rationalize the pro-ration and afford the cash, there is no limit to how much an owner can pay.
The Colts, for example, were able actually to reduce quarterback Peyton Manning’s annual cost against the cap from $18.3 million to $8.3 million, but to do it they had to pay him an NFL-record $34.5 million signing bonus as part of a seven-year contract.
There are big risks for big spenders. If Portis doesn’t last eight years and the Redskins dump him, the remainder of the pro-rated bonus accelerates against the cap, which is why big bonuses and long contracts often come back to haunt big spenders, leaving them no choice but to dismantle their rosters. Snyder, of course, is gambling he either will win a championship or sell his team before he has to pay the piper.
In the meantime, the Redskins know second-round pick Portis is better than first-round pick Trung Canidate, the player he will replace. The Bears hope first-round pick Jones becomes better than second-round pick Anthony Thomas.
To get into the Portis sweepstakes, the Bears would have had to offer ammunition similar to Bailey, which they don’t have. Brian Urlacher might have been a start, especially if they would have thrown in Charles Tillman. After all, the Redskins also gave up a second-round draft pick to Denver.
Both the Redskins and Bears want to bolster their defensive lines and both missed out on Tennessee pass rusher Jevon Kearse, who signed with Philadelphia. But the Redskins really outdid the Bears and themselves when they signed Bear castoff Phillip Daniels, obviously a favorite of Blache. They also signed disappointing Giants defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, paying Daniels a $3 million bonus and Griffin a reported $8 million.
The Bears wouldn’t mind improving their cornerback position by dipping into the deep free-agent pool at the position. The Redskins had to replace Bailey, so they paid Seattle’s Shawn Springs a whopping $10 million bonus, an astonishing price for a risky player that never has fulfilled his promise.
Smith had coached Springs at Ohio State for a year and might have had an edge in persuading him to come here. But $10 million represents more sweet talk than even a coach named Lovie can manage.
The McCaskey family cannot match Snyder’s deep pockets for signing bonuses, but that’s neither the question nor the excuse here. With increased revenue from Soldier Field, the Bears can compete with most teams on the open market in terms of bonus cash; Snyder makes it a crazy market.
The Bears beat the Redskins 27-24 in December and finished 7-9. The Redskins were 5-11. Since Snyder began his mad spending in 1999, his team is 38-42 while the Bears are 35-45.
Two old, proud franchises are trying to find their way back to glory on paths that go in the opposite direction.