What the uncapped year is telling us

T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Mike Clayton, Derik Ward, Matt Leinart, Dre Bly, Nathan Vasher......
Many of these guys were household names for their home team fan base and a few were nationally recognized for their past performances. Most of these guys were significant trades or in the case of Leinart, top draft picks. So why are teams parting with the guaranteed money and taking losses? The uncapped year has allowed teams to cut big fat of without having to sacrifice depth or youth by keeping them because of the cap hit. There isn't one here that can be disputed based on recent performance, but the bigger observation is how with a capped year none of this may have happened. Everyone knows what a big free agent signing does to the overall financial health of a team, but when that player doesn't pan out it can have not only a negative on the money but the play as well. How many times does a guy keep getting starts because of contract over a young rookie or second year guy who shows flashes of brilliance if only he could get the chance? After a few years of sitting behind the big contract player, the young players own contract is up and because he was not given the opportunity, he opts to go somewhere he can contribute immediately. Meanwhile, you're stuck supporting a bust, thus making the re-building process that much more arduous. The problem is that for once, we see our teams making the right decisions on players, but it may only be this once. The Union wants these contracts to continue but the teams want caps in place for their bottom line. Given the current state of rookie salaries which affect teams just as much as big free agent contracts, this is one point I actually support ownership on in their contract talks. God knows the owners make obscene amounts of money, but ironically, by helping them we might actually be helping our team to be competitive and grow.