Saints want to sign Bartell? They are 1M OVER the cap!

[RamsInfiniti]

And this was before signing Jonathan Vilma today. So how in the blue heck are they going to add Bartell when they are WAY over the cap?

John Clayton reports that Bartell wants $7M per year ....

[Bald_81]

The Redskins signed Haynesworth and Hall for a total of $154 mil despite being only $8 mil under the cap. So yeah, figure that one out..

[39thebeast]

The Saints aren't the only ones looking at Bartell, but depending on the Owner the Cap may not matter. The gap has closed we are offering 6 mil a year while Bartell wants 7 mil, I am confident Devaney and Demoff will have him joining the new rams Brown and Butler.

[Who Dat]

Saints fan here. I'm basically just coming in to lurk and see y'all's opinion of Bartell. From the Rams games I've seen he's always looked like a solid corner. Reading here, he seems like he has the potential to be much more than that.

Anyways, that cap number is incorrect. Us Saints fans have had trouble getting a handle on the true number, but I'm certain that we're not one million over the cap. A couple weeks ago we were looking like we were $5 million over, but we made a couple of key cuts, and the salary cap jumped up $4 million. So as of last night, I believe it was Adam Schefter who posted a list of the 5 teams with the most cap room and the 5 teams with the least cap room and the Saints were to be found on neither. The Redskins were 5th with about $8 million under, so we have at least as much as them. This was, of course, before we re-signed Vilma.

Regardless, I highly doubt we would have flown Bartell to New Orleans if we didn't have the cap room to sign him. The last few years under GM Mickey Loomis we have been very aggressive to start Free Agency. We identify who we want and we go after them hard. I don't see the salary cap holding us back from signing Bartell if the Front Office's heart is set on it. The only issue I can see is that we're trying to target Gerald Sensabaugh to take the FS spot and from what I understand our Front Office is very high on him. If Bartell wants more than 7 mil per year, I could see us letting him walk to save room for Sensabaugh and any of the large number of veteran CB's on the market.

[evil disco man]

Just FYI - if a team goes over the cap limit, they are given a certain timeframe (can't remember how long) to clear up cap space before any penalties are incurred. So if they sign Bartell and go over the cap limit, they have a few days to clear up space by cutting some players or re-structuring contracts.

[rammiser]

Seven million is reasonable for Bartell but not 9 or 10 per. Wonder why if that number is true they didnt get it worked out? I'm not completely sold on the guy but a lot of you seem to love this kid. I realize he was our best corner but that isnt saying much when you look at our corners. His size is important considering Boldin and Fitgerald but I don't want to break the team for him. If we can get him for around 7 mil per I think that is ok considering some of the rediculous contracts being thrown around already.

[RamsInfiniti]

Seven million is reasonable for Bartell but not 9 or 10 per. Wonder why if that number is true they didnt get it worked out? I'm not completely sold on the guy but a lot of you seem to love this kid. I realize he was our best corner but that isnt saying much when you look at our corners. His size is important considering Boldin and Fitgerald but I don't want to break the team for him. If we can get him for around 7 mil per I think that is ok considering some of the rediculous contracts being thrown around already.

Last I heard, the Rams were throwing around 6M and he wanted 7M ...

Why can't we agree on 6.5M?

[IzzyHigh1212]

Let's go with 6.9M ;]

[majorram]

Last I heard, the Rams were throwing around 6M and he wanted 7M ...

Why can't we agree on 6.5M?

great point mate that was exactly what i was thinking, and another thing does that extra 1 mill really matter REALLY between 6 mill and 7 mill, these guys are millionares anyway, it pisses me off when they start arguing over this amount, when we have hard times like this......

steve

[nolafan33]

Where did you get your info? The Saints are now nearly 8 under the cap.

[SJacks039]

I'm with Izzy, lets go to 6.9 mil. perfect #

[waazup]

Looks like its a 2 team fight right now, between us and you guys. Bartell is still in town, but i think its 50-50 now whether he signs with the Saints or Rams.

[Nick]

Last I heard, the Rams were throwing around 6M and he wanted 7M ...

Why can't we agree on 6.5M?

If he can get more from someone else, he has no reason to compromise with us.