Category: NFL Free Agency

49ers salary cap space in good spot entering 2025 offseason

The 49ers salary cap management is pretty good.

The San Francisco 49ers find themselves in an advantageous spot with the salary cap entering the 2025 offseason.

While Brock Purdy’s pending extension will undoubtedly force the club to make some adjustments to their spending long-term, it isn’t likely to have a substantial impact this offseason. Thanks to some contract maneuvering last season, the 49ers will enter 2025 more than $47 million under the projected $272.5 million salary cap according to Over the Cap.

Thanks to an NFL-high $50,096,964 in carryover space from the 2024 season, the 49ers will have the 12th-most cap space entering the offseason.

Here’s what each team’s salary cap space is according to OTC:

1. New England Patriots: $122,067,139
2. Las Vegas Raiders: $107,308,173
3. Washington Commanders: $96,028,698
4. Arizona Cardinals: $81,576,219
5. Chicago Bears: $80,486,337
6. Los Angeles Chargers: $74,428,749
7. Minnesota Vikings: $71,330,620
8. Green Bay Packers: $61,381,852
9. Detroit Lions: $59,127,286
10. Cincinnati Bengals: $57,138,434
11. Los Angeles Rams: $56,570,193
12. San Francisco 49ers: $56,564,041
13. Pittsburgh Steelers: $54,303,012
14. Denver Broncos: $53,471,089
15. New York Giants: $53,435,270
16. Tennessee Titans: $49,842,691
17. Jacksonville Jaguars: $35,765,938
18. Indianapolis Colts: $32,703,628
19. Carolina Panthers: $29,083,104
20. New York Jets: $27,854,725
21. Philadelphia Eagles: $25,662,494
22. Baltimore Ravens: $23,455,824
23. Kansas City Chiefs: $19,945,685
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $19,935,539
25. Dallas Cowboys: $14,998,777
26. Houston Texans: $6,909,720
27. Atlanta Falcons: $4,039,709
28. Buffalo Bills: $2,012,780
29. Miami Dolphins: -$2,827,083
30. Seattle Seahawks: -$16,465,244
31. Cleveland Browns: -$23,390,523
32. New Orleans Saints: -$51,390,583

For the 49ers their cap space will need to be carefully managed since they will have some dead money on their books over the next couple of seasons, and in the near future Purdy’s cap number will skyrocket and make things a little trickier in terms of keeping or signing high-priced talent.

With plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball, how the 49ers manage the advantageous place they’re in from a cap standpoint entering the offseason will play a key role in determining how quickly they bounce back and how wide they can open a new Super Bowl window.

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Eagles sign former Vikings first round pick ahead of wild card game vs. Packers

Philadelphia Eagles sign former Vikings first round pick Lewis Cine off the Bills practice squad ahead of wild card game vs. the Green Bay Packers

The Eagles are adding depth to the secondary ahead of Wild Card weekend, signing Lewis Cine to the active roster. The former Vikings first-round pick and Byron Young were added to the roster, and his practice window was opened.

Cine was selected by Minnesota 32nd overall in the 2022 draft and joined the Bills practice squad after being released by the Vikings last summer. He broke his leg during his rookie season and was limited to playing 10 defensive snaps in 10 games over his two years in Minnesota.

The 24-year-old from Haiti is listed at 6-foot-2 and 199 pounds and is a low-risk signing after a decorated college career at Georgia. Cine earned defensive MVP honors in Georgia’s 33-18 win over Alabama in the national championship game in the 2021 season.

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Eagles waive QB Ian Book ahead of wild card matchup vs. Packers

The Philadelphia Eagles are waiving QB Ian Book ahead of wild card matchup vs. the Green Bay Packers

The Eagles have been quiet about quarterback Jalen Hurts’s availability, but the most significant indicator of his readiness could be the departure of a recent signee. With preparation for the NFC Wild Card game against the Packers looming, Philadelphia waived signal-caller Ian Book.

The Eagles waived Book at the 53-man roster deadline last summer, naming rookie Tanner McKee as the third quarterback.

Following the injuries to Jalen Hurts (concussion) and Kenny Pickett (ribs), the Eagles signed Book to the practice squad on December 26, and then to the active roster two days later. He did not appear on the active roster in the final two regular-season games.

Raiders 2025 free agents includes most of team’s defensive starters

The Raiders have some work to do between now and March if they hope to not see their defense gutted in free agency.

Last offseason, the talk was about how many of their defensive starters were coming back because they were still under contract. Well, those chickens have come home to roost, and now they are facing an offseason in which the vast majority of their defensive starters’ contracts are coming up in March.

In total, there are nine Raiders players headed for free agency who were either starters headed into last season or ended up starting the majority of the games this season:

DT Adam Butler (16 starts)
DT John Jenkins (17 starts)
DE Malcolm Koonce (Projected starter, IR)
DE K’Lavon Chaisson (4 starts)
LB Robert Spillane (17 starts)
LB Divine Deablo (14 starts)
CB Nate Hobbs (7 starts)
CB Darnay Holmes (1 start)
S Tre’von Moehrig (17 starts)
S Marcus Epps (3 starts, IR)
S Isaiah Pola-Mao (RFA, 14 starts)

There are far fewer on the offensive side of the ball:

RB Alexander Mattison
RB Ameer Abdullah
WR Terrace Marshall
TE Harrison Bryant
T Andrus Peat
G Cody Whitehair

The Raiders are projected to have the second most cap space in the league this offseason behind only the Patriots. And they will need to use a good portion of that to make sure their defense doesn’t get gutted in free agency.

All 32 Dolphins set to become free agents in March 2025

The Dolphins have a long list of players set to become free agents in a couple months.

The Miami Dolphins loaded up on players with one-year contracts in the 2024 offseason and that means the team has a ton of players set to hit free agency in March.

Without much cap space to work with, the Dolphins may not be able to keep many of those players. Here’s the full list of Miami players with expiring contracts:

  • QB Tyler Huntley (unrestricted)
  • RB Jeff Wilson Jr. (unrestricted)
  • WR Braxton Berrios (unrestricted)
  • WR River Cracraft (unrestricted)
  • WR Dee Eskridge (unrestricted)
  • WR Anthony Schwartz (restricted)
  • WR Grant DuBose (exclusive rights)
  • TE Jack Stoll (unrestricted)
  • OL Isaiah Wynn (unrestricted)
  • OL Robert Jones (unrestricted)
  • OL Liam Eichenberg (unrestricted)
  • OL Kendall Lamm (unrestricted)
  • OL Jackson Carman (unrestricted)
  • OL Kion Smith (exclusive rights)
  • DL Calais Campbell (unrestricted)
  • DL Benito Jones (unrestricted)
  • DL Matt Dickerson (unrestricted)
  • DL Da’Shawn Hand (unrestricted)
  • OLB Emmanuel Ogbah (unrestricted)
  • OLB Tyus Bowser (unrestricted)
  • OLB Quinton Bell (restricted)
  • OLB Cameron Goode (exclusive rights)
  • LB Anthony Walker Jr. (unrestricted)
  • LB Tyrel Dodson (unrestricted)
  • LB Duke Riley (unrestricted)
  • LB Cam Brown (unrestricted)
  • CB Siran Neal (unrestricted)
  • CB Kader Kohou (restricted)
  • S Jevón Holland (unrestricted)
  • S Jordan Poyer (unrestricted)
  • S Elijah Campbell (unrestricted)
  • LS Jack McQuaide (unrestricted)

Teams have until March 4 to use the franchise or transition tags to keep players. The only candidate who makes any sense for the Dolphins is Holland, although the price tag — which is projected to be around $20 million for safeties — could scare Miami away.

After that, the legal tampering period will begin March 10 with free agency officially starting on March 12.

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Shaq Barrett had interest in joining Eagles before signing with Buccaneers

Shaq Barrett confirmed he was interested in signing with Detroit or Philadelphia before Tampa came to the table.

Last week, the Dolphins waived former Pro Bowl pass rusher Shaq Barrett, allowing the unretired pass rusher to join the playoff team of his choice.

Barrett cleared waivers and re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team he last played for, for which he achieved Super Bowl glory. While discussing his return with the local media, Barrett confirmed he was interested in signing with Detroit or Philadelphia before Tampa came to the table.

Barrett last played in the 2023 season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He signed with the Dolphins as a free agent in March, then retired in July before applying for reinstatement in November.

Barrett’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told Schefter that the edge rusher “is in great shape and would be ready to play immediately” for another team.

Barrett, 32, spent the first five years of his career with the Denver Broncos, winning Super Bowl 50. He later spent five years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a second Super Bowl, where he played 70 games for the Buccaneers and racked up 45.0 sacks, 249 tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 15 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Despite his relatively short tenure with the team, he ranks fifth in team history in sacks.

The veteran pass rusher has 59.0 career sacks and would have helped an Eagles team looking to make a deep playoff run.

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49ers sign former Eagles sixth round pick ahead of game vs. Cardinals in Week 18

San Francisco 49ers sign former Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Tarron Jackson to the Practice Squad

The 49ers announced they have signed edge rusher Tarron Jackson to the team’s practice squad ahead of Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Jackson (6-2, 254) was initially drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round (191st overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft.  Jackson has appeared in 24 games and registered 17 tackles, 1.0 sacks, and one forced fumble. In 2024, Jackson appeared in three games with the Panthers before being waived from the team on October 15. Jackson signed to the Eagles practice squad on November 7 and was released by the team on December 31.

Jackson attended Coastal Carolina University (2016-20), where he appeared in 48 games and registered 195 tackles, 26.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, three passes defensed, and one fumble recovery. He earned AP First-Team All-America honors as a senior in 2020.

Ezekiel Elliott could land with playoff team after being waived by Cowboys

Ezekiel Elliott could land with contender after being released by Cowboys

The Ezekiel Elliott era has ended for a second time in Dallas after the Cowboys waived the running back ahead of Week 18.

Per NFL insider Josina Anderson, the Cowboys are releasing Elliot ahead of their final game of the 2024 campaign. According to Anderson, Elliot requested to be released from the Cowboys.

Elliott had 74 carries for 226 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games this season with the team that drafted him fourth overall in the 2016 NFL draft.

If Elliott clears waivers, he can join a playoff team for the postseason run.

Raiders DT Adam Butler proved he is every-down player, will his contract goals follow?

Adam Butler had two goals this season — proving he was an every-down player and getting a better contract. He accomplished one… so far.

This past offseason, the Raiders made a big splash at defensive tackle, adding Pro Bowler Christian Wilkins. Shortly thereafter, they made another move that flew more under the radar, but ultimately even more impactful — they brought back Adam Butler.

Butler had proven himself to be a valuable rotational, situational interior defensive lineman. Enough so that he thought he would garner better offers as a free agent in the offseason. But his contract goals never materialized, so ultimately he returned to the Raiders on a one-year, $1.9 million deal.

In my eyes, Butler had proven himself last season and the Raiders needed to be aggressive in getting him back. To their credit, they seemed to realize what the market would be for Butler and got him back on their original offer. For Butler, that meant he simply hadn’t done enough to raise his visibility around the league.

“I have a new attitude. I really do. I want to be seen,” Butler said during training camp. “I want to show up because I still feel like in this league I have something to prove. And I want to prove it to my teammates, I want to prove it to my coaches, and I want to let everyone know I’m here. I’m not going back to just being third down. I’m here, I’m here for the early downs, the whole thing.”

Butler was candid about his goals to get a better contract. And that proving he was an every-down player was the key to getting it.

He did that this season.

Over his first six NFL seasons Butler had compiled 13 total starts. This season, he has 14 starts already.

He has seen the majority of the snaps in every game this season, including surpassing 76% of the snaps 10 times — something he accomplished just once over his first six seasons in the NFL.

His sack (3.5), tackle for loss (seven), and QB hit (eight) numbers are at or near the same as they were last season. But his 57 combined tackles (32 solo) is already a career high by a wide margin. In fact, those numbers are approaching the levels of even his two best seasons combined (62).

Not to mention the things he does that don’t even show up on the stat sheet. Including his energy and locker room presence.

“With the loss of Christian [Wilkins], I think he’s really done a good job. . . handling his business,” Antonio Pierce said of Butler. “From batted balls, which I think we’re one of the top teams in, and he’s one of the best at doing it, from him reading screens. Going back to Baltimore and chasing down the screen play. His hustle, his effort, his energy, he does that little street fighter move, ‘Hadouken,’ all that good stuff. That gets everybody fired up. So, his energy and his brightness and his love for game is contagious.”

These are qualities his teammates, like Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins will no doubt go to bat for.

It’s safe to say Butler has achieved his goal of proving he is an every down player, with the ability to rush the passer and stop the run with equal proficiency. And he is a tremendous presence as a teammate as well. The Raiders have taken notice. If the rest of the NFL has noticed as well, the Raiders better make sure their contract offer to him reflects that.

Isaiah Pola-Mao a viable option to remain Raiders starting safety in 2025 and beyond

The former undrafted free agent has worked his way up from special teamer to Raiders replacement starter and could keep his job next season.

The second quarter of Sunday’s game in Las Vegas was a coming out party of sorts for Isaiah Pola-Mao. The third-year safety ended two Jaguars drives with forced fumbles.

The first punch-out gave the Raiders an extra possession. The second one took a score off the board as the Jaguars had driven into field goal range and sent the two teams to the half with the Raiders holding a 13-7 lead.

Pola-Mao has been starting at safety for the Raiders since Week four, after the loss of Marcus Epps for the season with an ACL injury.

While it hasn’t always been great play for Pola-Mao, the former undrafted free agent held his own in his first real NFL starting opportunity. One that was three years in the making.

“He’s been learning how to play in this league on special teams, correcting some of the stuff we saw from college that he needed to get corrected with his tackling,” Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham said of Pola-Mao. “He’s done a good job with that. And then when he gets his opportunity, he makes the most of it. Talking about guys you’re proud of in terms of his growth and development, he’s one of them.”

Pola-Mao has hung around these past three seasons, mostly on special teams. He had never started a game on defense and only once saw more than 35% of the snaps in a game.

But for a guy in his position, he became a hot topic in training camp for the plays he was making. He had earned the confidence of the coaching staff to be the next man up both at safety and big nickel. So, when it was his time to step into a starting role, he was ready.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, just throw him in.’ No, we were ready for him to play,” said head coach Antonio Pierce. “And all he’s done is taken every advantage of it. He’s vocal. He has a quiet . . . confidence about himself now. He has all the ability in the world; tall, long, can run, ball skills, physicality showed up [Sunday]. He’s really put himself in a good place. And it really started in the offseason when he was here every day after the Super Bowl.”

Marcus Epps is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. As is fellow starter Tre’von Moehrig. While Pola-Mao will be a restricted free agent the Raiders could easily retain with a tender.

Which means they could focus on re-signing Moehrig, allow Epps to hit free agency and have Pola-Mao and Moehrig as their projected starters next season while focusing on other position upgrades.