Saints' salary-cap squeeze has started

[chammond]

I must admit I thought that the Saints would have another season or two before their team began to fall apart from salary-cap pressure, but it looks like it's started already.

The huge contract payments being made to Gehrig and Hamill mean that the futures of Thompson and Peckett are clouded at best, and demands from Ball and Riewoldt for pay increases will make it very difficult for Heath Black to negotiate a new contract.

Suddenly, the prospect of Luke Ball being up for trade is much more than just idle gossip?

http://realfooty.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/21/1095651327402.html

I wonder, when does Lenny Hayes contract come up for renewal?

[liz]

Re: Saints' salary-cap squeeze has started

Originally posted by chammond

The huge contract payments being made to Gehrig and Hamill

The Hamill one has me baffled. Why would you sign any player - particularly one who's very good but not elite - to a five year term on very good money? Especially when you have a team chock-a-cloc of young quality whose market value over the next few years is difficult to predict.

Can see another Mark Mercuri / Nick Daffy situation arising.

[NMWBloods]

Hamill was considered elite when he was signed, and the Saints had only just started building their young team and thought they needed a leader.

[bandwagon]

Maybe the spin-the-bottle captaincy thing is a ploy to make it more difficult for talented young players to leave? I recall that Leigh Colbert copped some flak for leaving Geelong when he was, or recently was captain.

[chammond]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Hamill was considered elite when he was signed, and the Saints had only just started building their young team and thought they needed a leader.

Plus, if you remember, Hamill was coming to the Swans originally.

The Saints just kept throwing cash on the table until he said yes to them.

[Barry Schneider]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Hamill was considered elite when he was signed, and the Saints had only just started building their young team and thought they needed a leader.

True but that was his first contract in 2001.He has a new contract worth a motza over 5 years which many people thought would cost them a good young player or two.