And now Antoine Winfield is Gone!

[JP Z]

I guess they asked him to take a pay cut and he chose not to. It's a bummer but he was turning 36 before the season started this year. Hopefully they are willing to replace him with some talent.

[chanfish]

Loved twon but we gotta get younger! He was part of the tice era..Will be interesting to see if k williams is next...one of the vikings best free agent signings ever...when they brought him and fat pat over from the bills we started to turn the d around...so yes you can get better via free agency...

[zepman]

Williams will restructure his deal or he's next...it's that simple.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

I dont blame winfield for not restructuring his deal. i wouldnt either if i were him. He earned that money by his play on the field and he still brings it every game. And hes STILL the best tackler on the team. I would say F U to the vikes if i were him too.

[mrklean]

i gotta say i wish baseball was run like this gotta watch the cap, im sure the angels will be wishing they can dump a 40 year old Pujols when hes set to make 25 million

[zepman]

I dont blame winfield for not restructuring his deal. i wouldnt either if i were him. He earned that money by his play on the field and he still brings it every game. And hes STILL the best tackler on the team. I would say F U to the vikes if i were him too.

Not a starter anymore...he, along with everyone else knew this was coming.

[PurpleFloyd]

Time to put him out to pasture and get fresher, stronger, faster, younger legs.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Time to put him out to pasture and get fresher, stronger, faster, younger legs.

Or put him to pasture and leave another gaping hole in our secondary.

[FISHINGURU]

Winfield was awesome playing the run, not so much playing the pass. He's a good player I wish they could of worked it out but that didn't happen so he has to go.

It is to bad that the NFL has their salaries backwards. The rookies should be the ones making small salaries until they earn it then get paid, the old vets that put in work and were really good should make some good money their last couple years. Instead some of these hot shot wannabe's make big money without even taking a NFL snap while the old proven vets get dumped or have to re-sign for cheap.

[fishersofmen]

That sucks I really enjoyed watching him play....he's even admitted that he has lost alot of his ability though.

[nofishfisherman]

It is to bad that the NFL has their salaries backwards. The rookies should be the ones making small salaries until they earn it then get paid, the old vets that put in work and were really good should make some good money their last couple years. Instead some of these hot shot wannabe's make big money without even taking a NFL snap while the old proven vets get dumped or have to re-sign for cheap.

The old vets usually have to resign for cheap because by the time they get toward the end of their contracts their production starts to fall off and injuries start taking their toll. A 35 year old Winfield is not worth the same amount of money as a 28-29-30 year old Winfield. If more players would sign a deal where the yearly salary tapers off more toward the end of their career you'd likely see less of them cut or asked to restructure. Instead they sign deals where the pay toward the end of the contract is almost always too much to justify given their age and diminishing skills. Most guys probably sign the contract knowing they will get released or asked to restructure before they get to the final year or two of the deal.

[JeffB]

Lots of teams struggling with sallary cap. Ravens just released 28 year old safety Bernard Pollard, and he only counted 3 million towards their cap. He seemed like a hard hitting quality player. So hopefully there will some bargains for us to pick up out there.

[Scott K]

Or, just make set a base pay for each position, then give a bonus for production. Make the players earn their contracts, rather then paying them big dollars, then having them get lazy after the big payday.

[FISHINGURU]

The old vets usually have to resign for cheap because by the time they get toward the end of their contracts their production starts to fall off and injuries start taking their toll. A 35 year old Winfield is not worth the same amount of money as a 28-29-30 year old Winfield. If more players would sign a deal where the yearly salary tapers off more toward the end of their career you'd likely see less of them cut or asked to restructure. Instead they sign deals where the pay toward the end of the contract is almost always too much to justify given their age and diminishing skills. Most guys probably sign the contract knowing they will get released or asked to restructure before they get to the final year or two of the deal.

Yeah I know why they do it, but it's still backwards. A 30 some year old Winfield is worth more then a rookie who has never taken an NFL snap. Most of the time you get rid of the Winfields to pay some kid that doesn't pan out.

Teams won't make deals that are Front end loaded because then they'd actually have to pay the guy, instead they promise all the money at the end when they know they will dump him before then anyway. Not like the player says naw that's ok just give me a few million my first few years then give me my 10 million when i turn 35 in the 6th year of my contract.

Base salaries with incentives would be the best way for everyone. Then you wouldn't be paying a guy for his name or paying a kid for what you hope he will be.

[Musky Buck]

I'm with the Guru, he didn't seem to be playing at too low a level, Champ Bailey still looks ok in Denver. Gonzalez looked ok in Atlanta, some, not many but some actually can defy their age athletically some. We lost a veteran presence and I agree is that worth it at 7. something mill ? I think the thinking is we really have 0 shot at the superbowl anyway so we must get younger so the team peaks at the right time and our payroll is in order. I don't think we're too solid of a lock to go back to the playoffs so I think it's a timing issue, we need to peak together during the right season because the Rodgers, Brady, Mannings, Brees' aren't going anywhere, those teams will be teams to recon with and I didn't mention SF and Seattle and Baltimore and Atlanta and lol.

[Scott K]

I honestly think they plan on going young here. We have several early picks, and filling WR, CB, and LB in the first 3 rounds, and hopefully shoring up those positions for years to come.

[Musky Buck]

We have to go young or we'll always be muddling around the middle of the pack in the league year after year. 1st we have to figure out how to get a step ahead in our own division. Do we flip flop with the Lions this year or where are we compared to GB and the Bears. Really is Winfield going to change our dynamics in our own division, for me it's kinda like when Joe Nathan went to Texas, love the guy, but understand the reasoning.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

You cant just have an entire team of baby faces because they are "young" and "fast" and "strong". You still have to have the right mix of veteran players and youth to win.

[Musky Buck]

That is our issue and primarily why we made the playoffs, veterans and rookies and some in between. In a sense a lot of teams are that way so often it's QB play in the end that is the kicker.