New Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian had the chance to have lunch with Matt Ryan this week, his first opportunity to really connect with the MVP.
What did Sarkisian take from the conversation? He compared it to another chat he had years ago with a top-caliber quarterback.
“I went to coach quarterbacks for the Oakland Raiders in 2004 — I was 29 years old — and I inherited Rich Gannon, who was two years removed from the Super Bowl and his MVP season,” Sarkisian explained, “and Rich was really focused. He was very driven. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he liked.
“I heard a lot of similar things coming from Matt at lunch: a guy who has had some success throughout his career, has been part of really good offenses, and then really saw it all come together this year. And then ultimately really saw it come together as a team getting to the Super Bowl. So I think the guy I saw and what I felt from him was he’s still very hungry and he wants to keep going and he wants to see this thing through, and he’s willing to put in the time and effort, whatever he needs to do to make that happen.”
Sarkisian said he didn’t get a chance to dig too deep with Ryan just yet. They’ll have plenty of time to connect during the offseason.
“As we get into specifics of the offense moving forward — this was somewhat of an introductory meeting of just things we believed in or liked and styles, and coaching styles — but more importantly, my takeaway was that this guy has a real fire in his eyes right now that he can’t wait to get back to work,” Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian has been a quarterbacks coach throughout his career but envisions the Falcons hiring someone else in that role to assist. Regardless, he plans to have a hands-on approach with Ryan as he becomes accustomed to the offense former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan implemented, an offense Ryan mastered this past season.
“There’s no question my relationship with the starting quarterback — in this case, Matt — is one that is critical to our success,” Sarkisian said. “And it will be a point of emphasis here all offseason and then into the season.”
Ryan didn’t necessarily connect with Shanahan in Year 1 of the offense, which led to a rocky season. But the two improved their relationship and communication going into this past season, which led to Ryan having the best season of his career. Now he’ll look to maintain the momentum while working with Sarkisian.
Madrid- Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane hopes to have Gareth Bale back before the second leg of his side’s Champions League last-16 clash with Napoli.
The postponement of Madrid’s visit to Celta Vigo last weekend due to storm damage caused to Celta’s Balaidos stadium has allowed Zidane to recover a fully-fit squad bar Bale, who is still working his way back from ankle ligament damage.
The Welshman hasn’t featured since late November and whilst Wednesday’s first leg against the Italians is likely to come too early, Zidane is confident of having Bale back well before the return in Naples on March 7.
“The return isn’t till March 7 so hopefully he is with us before then,” Zidane said on Friday.
“He is back on the field and the only step he has left is to train with the rest of the team.
“He is working very hard and I can see the desire he has.”
The suspended Toni Kroos is Madrid’s only other absentee for Saturday’s visit to rock bottom Osasuna.
Marcelo, Luka Modric and Dani Carvajal are among those to return from injury
However, Madrid has only won one of its past six league meetings away at Osasuna and Zidane is not expecting an easy ride despite the fact the Navarrans are yet to win at home in La Liga this season.
“We have had time to work, physically we are good and ready to play,” added Zidane.
“It is a very difficult place to go and we know that it is top against bottom, which I don’t like at all.
“It has always been difficult for us at El Sadar and that isn’t going to change.”
FRISCO, Texas – The dire reports happen every year: The Dallas Cowboys are in salary-cap hell and won’t be able to do anything in free agency.
Yet somehow they get under the cap and sign a free agent or three.
It’s not necessarily “fake news,” but it is “incomplete news.”
The Cowboys are anywhere from $11 million to $13 million over the projected 2017 salary cap. Gulp.
The Cowboys easily could save about $10 million in cap space by restructuring center Travis Frederick’s deal. Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire
With an email that will take quicker to read than this sentence, the Cowboys will go from over the cap to under the cap.
Through the magical world of contract restructuring and a release or two, the Cowboys can go from being well over the cap to more than $40 million under the cap, and that does not include doing anything with Tony Romo.
Before you let yourself get carried away about the highest of high-end free agents, you should know the Cowboys won’t create that much room. The Cowboys do not believe free agency is an effective way to build a roster. Over the last few years, they have used it as a supplemental tool, getting players at their prices while others pay big – too big, in the mind of the Cowboys – to get better.
A cynic will say the Cowboys operate this way because they always have to restructure contracts and have done a poor job planning. Maybe, but having cap room doesn’t solve all of the problems.
Let’s not digress.
The point of this column is to point out how easily (and likely) the Cowboys can get under the cap and create room to sign players.
The first two moves are the easiest: Restructure the deals of Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick.
Frederick’s deal, which was signed in August, was designed in a way to be restructured. He has a cap figure of $14.871 million. A simple restructuring can gain the Cowboys a little more than $10 million in room. With Smith, the Cowboys can create roughly $7 million in room.
That puts the Cowboys under the cap with $17 million in savings.
(And just to clear this up: The Cowboys rarely create the maximum available to them on restructured deals.)
Is there a worry about pushing out larger cap figures on Smith and Frederick? Sure, but Smith doesn’t turn 27 until December; Frederick turns 26 in March. Age matters.
Sean Lee hit on his escalator by playing in more than 80 percent of the snaps in 2016, which will take his base salary from $7 million to $9 million. As a result his cap figure stands at $12.45 million. A simple restructure with Lee would save the Cowboys a little more than $5 million.
Name
Age
Cap figure
Tony Romo
36
$24.7M
Dez Bryant
28
$17M
Tyron Smith
26
$15.8M
Travis Frederick
25
$14.871M
Sean Lee
30
$12.45M
Jason Witten
34
$12.262M
Tyrone Crawford
27
$10.35M
Doug Free
33
$7.5M
Ezekiel Elliott
21
$5.671M
Orlando Scandrick
30
$5.281M
What about age? Lee turns 31 in July. In the salary-cap world there is no such thing as black and white. It’s always shades of gray.
Now let’s talk about Romo’s deal and how that could affect what the Cowboys do with the contracts of Tyrone Crawford and Dez Bryant.
If the Cowboys release or trade Romo, he will count $19.6 million against the cap in 2017, saving them $5.1 million.
(We’re now over $30 million in savings.)
If the Cowboys designate Romo a June 1 release, they will save $14 million against the cap in 2017. Instead of counting $19.6 million, Romo will count $10.7 million against the 2017 cap and $8.9 million against the 2018 cap. The one caveat is the Cowboys don’t get the cap credit until June 2, so that won’t help them land free agents in March. It would, however, give them room to sign their draft picks and enough room to deal with in-season issues (injuries or signings) as well as carry over money to the 2018 cap.
Is it better to have Romo’s dead money count against the cap in 2017 and ’18 or restructure the contracts of Crawford and Bryant and add to their salary-cap figures on the back end of their deals? My argument would be to spread the Romo hit over two years and don’t touch the contracts of Crawford and Bryant unless absolutely necessary. Crawford is coming off a second straight offseason in which he needed surgery, and Bryant has missed games the last two years with leg injuries.
If they want to redo Crawford and Bryant, while designating Romo a June 1 release, then you’re looking at $26 million more in savings. Instead of $40 million, you’re talking more than $50 million in savings, albeit with $14 million coming to them in June.
(We’re up to $56 million in savings with the June caveat.)
Lost in all of this talk of releases, however, is you would like to have a replacement ready to go before you make those moves. The Cowboys don’t have a ready-made replacement for Free at right tackle. Chaz Green hasn’t shown he can stay healthy. With Darren McFadden and Lance Dunbar set to be free agents, they don’t have a veteran option behind Ezekiel Elliott.
The salary cap is a shell game.
The Cowboys know how to manage it.
The “cap hell” myth won’t be the reason why they don’t sign your favorite free agent.
Madrid – Paris Saint-Germain should have no fear of another Champions League clash with Barcelona despite a poor record against the Spanish champions ahead of its last-16 meeting Tuesday, insists winger Angel Di Maria.
Barca has held the upper hand in six previous meetings over the past five seasons, losing just once and progressing to the semi-finals from its two quarterfinal clashes in 2013 and 2015.
However, ahead of Barca’s latest trip to the French capital, Di Maria, who experienced plenty of El Clasico highs and lows against the Catalans in four seasons with Real Madrid, believes PSG now has the quality to compete with the Spanish giants for a first ever European crown.
“PSG have players of enormous quality. People like Marco Verratti, who is wanted by Real Madrid and Barcelona, give the team something extra,” Di Maria told Madrid sports daily Marca on Friday.
“When he isn’t there, the team feels (his absence). I think that PSG can easily compete with Madrid or Barcelona.”
However, to make the last eight, PSG faces the daunting task of restricting Barca’s fearsome ‘MSN’ front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Suarez and Neymar did the damage in the last tie between the sides, scoring all five of Barca’s goals in a 5-1 aggregate rout, but it is his Argentine international teammate Di Maria fears most.
“Barca have great players. The MSN is the best attack right now,” he added.
“Leo is different from the rest.
“I think to stop him it requires the whole team because when he doesn’t do something magical he leaves a teammate free.”
