Thoughts on picking him up ONLY if he came at a decent price? He's a really good MLB but will command the cash as a 9 year vet. He'd be an upgrade over Holmes, but he does have 9 years in the league. That would be a lot of money to spend on a guy for a couple years and a quick upgrade.

Not too bad. He'd cost 4.75 mil this year.

The problem is that the Lions don't have many options on saving money this year. Many are saying drop Hakim or drop Marion.

Hakim would generate about 250,000 in cap space if we dropped him. Next year is the time to drop Hakim.

If we dropped Marion we'd lose money. Marion will be on the roster thru 2006 or we lose money on him and cap space.

If we dropped Holmes that would generate about 1.2 mil, not enough.

Wilkinson and Backus would generate cap space, but the options are not plentiful for getting more cap space.

are you sure about the Hakim figures? if thats the case I doubt we will surrender him. What about next year though, do we take a hit dropping him next year?
Either way I suppose the lions only have about 5 million in space right now. They will have to spend wisely so I cant see them spending it on a LB.

I thought Hakim would free up $2.5M. His '05 salary is $2,350,000 and his SB is $1,050,000.

You have to look at his 2006 SB allocation too. He's slated for $2,100,000 in SB for the remainder of his contract. This year he is slated to make $2,350,000 in base salary. So the cap savings is $250,000 on the nose.

Next year...

Base = $4,625,000
SB = $1,050,000

So if we drop him next year we would save $3,575,000 in cap room.

But if we drop Hakim this year we open up the whole 4.625 million for next year, save the $250,000 this year and have room on the roster for someone who can catch the ball more effectively.

I think the Lions would look more at Chirs Draft (ILB), just released by the Falcons, than Sharper at this point.

That's a good point, but ytou also have to look at Cap Space. Do you want to take away 2.1 mil in cap space this year or take away just 1.05 mil in cap space next year?

I say drop him if the Lions have a replacement that is better, even then why not keep him just in case of injury?

Good find, looks like Hakim will stay. Any replacement would cost more than 250k...
Where'd you guys find those numbers?

http://www.obc.net/greg/lionscap2005.html

and the base salary is confirmed here...

http://www.nflpa.org/Members/playerProfile.asp?ID=26015

Why would Sharper cost us so much against the cap? If he is an unrestricted Free Agent. Wouldn't it be the Texans that take the big hit? Is there a required salary that he would have to be paid? I'm lost, help me understand this please

He's a 9 year vet...and a good MLB. His salary for this next year is around $6M. The Texans couldn't afford him and had to cut him. He would be commanding a big salary anywhere he went. But ya never know, there have been some huge contracts signed in FA (Jonas Jennings), so I'm guessing he'll find a healthy salary wherever he goes.

Sharper overall is a decent ILB...He's good enough to not embarass you but he's never going to a Pro Bowl...The Texans could have easily afforded to pay him for this upcoming season, but chose not to becuase he was basically standing in the way of progress...According to KFFL.Com, he's in contract negotiations with the Bengals...

Who?