Ecco un post interessante - da una discussione su Behind the Steel Curtain - sulle scelte compensative:
Steelers lost three UFAs: Faneca, Haggans and Brian St. Pierre. They signed two UFAs: Moore and Fox. If we had lost only Faneca, and not signed any UFAs, then we would be getting a third-round compensatory pick and probably among the first few allocated for that round. However, the financial and performance disparity between the two UFAs we signed, and the two we lost, might result in us getting less than a third-rounder. Moore got about $2 million in the first year of a three-year contract, while Fox got about $650,000 in a one-year deal. Haggans and St. Pierre both signed one-year deals at around $1 million. We paid only $300,000 more for 2008 but also have Moore under contract for two more years. There was a much wider discrepancy in their performances. St. Pierre did not play a game (perhaps a crucial point) and Haggans played only 11 games before he was injured. Moore filled in as a starter and was generally outstanding as a back-up, third-down back, as was Fox as one of the leaders of special teams and getting some defensive snaps. Based on what we know of the compensatory rules, it seems likely we will get less than a third-rounder. But the NFL never publicly explains how their formula works and they may place more of an emphasis on the dollar difference than the performance difference. Faneca’s huge salary is well above the threshhold that would normally determine a third-rounder so … who knows. In terms of playing time, free agency was a sawoff. But we technically did lose an extra player and the financial difference between players gained and lost in 2008 was about $7.5 million dollars. On that basis alone we should get a third-rounder. However my opinion is that the pick will be lower, most likely a fourth-rounder. We will find out for sure in about three weeks.
Come si diceva non conta solo il tipo di contratto, ma anche le prestazioni...MeMo e Fox hanno giocato decisamente di più e meglio di Haggans e St. Pierre (toh altri due Steelers passati ai Cards); quindi la 3b, nonostante Big Red, potrebbe non essere così scontata.