Tag: cap space

Early extension saved Saints a ton of money against the 2025 salary cap

An early extension with Alvin Kamara saved the Saints a ton of money against the 2025 salary cap. Next year’s cap gymnastics just got easier:

Now that’s some crafty accounting, but we’ve come to expect it from the New Orleans Saints. Alvin Kamara reached an agreement on a two-year extension with the Saints this week, and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the move is saving the team some money when it comes to the 2025 salary cap. Kamara’s early extension opened up about $18 million in savings on next year’s spending limit.

So how did the Saints manage to pay Kamara more money while spending less against the cap? We’ll know more when further details are shared about his deal’s structure, but NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill shares that it includes a $15.5 million signing bonus and $22.23 million in guarantees.

Kamara was initially on the books for 2025 at a staggering cap hit north of $29 million, with $25 million of it non-guaranteed, which made him a possible salary cap casualty. Instead, the Saints guaranteed a big portion of it but spread it out as a signing bonus (likely with their signature automatically-voiding “ghost years” tacked on).

The end result? Kamara’s 2025 cap hit should now fall at around $11 million, which is very manageable. And the Saints should now have somewhere close to $324 million in cap liabilities. Depending on where you look the 2025 salary cap is projected to rise to as high as $273 million, though more conservative models put it at just $260 million. The Saints still need to clear  at least $64 million before they can turn to signing new players, but that’s a problem for another day.

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Seahawks create $9.5m in cap space by restructuring DK Metcalf’s contract

Seahawks create $9.5m in cap space by restructuring DK Metcalf’s deal

The Seattle Seahawks enjoy having one of the best front offices in football, and are always remaining active in improving the team’s situation. On Tuesday morning, the 12th Man awoke to news of another brilliant move by the organization.

Seattle has created roughly $9.5 million more in cap space by restructing wdie receiver DK Metcalf’s contract. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates.

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1833487256381751712

In 2022, DK Metcalf signed a three-year deal worth $72 million. According to Spotrac, the restructured contract converts $11.875 million of salary into a signing bonus, while adding three extra voided years to the contract. For those unfamiliar with void years, they are added years without salary commitment but allows the team to spread money out over those years to help alleviate cap stress.

The move gives Seattle extra dry powder to fire in case they decide they need to make a big splash at the trade deadline, or sign a free agent off the streets. The Seahawks’ offensive line was a disaster in Week 1, it would not be surprising if the team made another move to bolster their protection up front. Perhaps even finding a way to create some extensions for players on the team before the season ends.

As for Metcalf, his current deal is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

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Have the San Antonio Spurs been a cheap ball club when it comes to their recent payroll?

The details of what one means when we say cheap matter quite a bit with San Antonio.

Have the San Antonio Spurs been a cheap ball club when it comes to their recent payroll? The details of what one means when we say cheap matter quite a bit with San Antonio. As a team that has been rebuilding for a few seasons now, there has been little reason to invest in expensive players who do not mesh with the timeline of an organization in the midst of a reset.

So if we mean “cheap” as in “doesn’t cost a lot,” that’s a fair assessment. But if we mean the sort of franchise that habitually under-invests in their roster when they could be a contending team, history before the rebuild suggests that isn’t entirely fair of a frame for the Spurs.

And Bleacher Report cap expert Eric Pincus agrees, as he wrote in a full-league analysis on the state of spending in the NBA recently. “The rebuild hasn’t been pretty, but it yielded Victor Wembanyama,” he notes. “It may take some time for San Antonio to flesh out an expensive roster around him capable of winning at the highest level.”

“Maybe (San Antonio is) the best argument for context on the list, as the Spurs haven’t had a reason to spend lavishly in recent years,” Pincus adds.

“San Antonio paid tax twice during the 2011 CBA, but that’s outside of the current scope (spoiler: many current non-payers were also non-payers for those six additional years).”

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Trey Lance will cost 49ers more than Brock Purdy in 2024

Lol Trey Lance is going to cost the #49ers about the same against the cap this year as their entire QB room combined.

Everything about the Trey Lance era in San Francisco is strange. From the discourse and reporting around which quarterback the team was targeting in the 2021 draft, to his tenure with the team, to his eventual trade just ahead of the 2023 season – Lance’s third with the team. All the while Lance had to battle a veteran quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) who was on his way out the door for both of Lance’s first two seasons, only for Lance to have his spot taken by the final pick in the 2022 draft. It turns out we’re not quite done with the Lance oddities just yet.

Because of the nature of rookie contracts, when the 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick during the 2023 preseason, they had to eat some of the money left on his deal.

The 49ers will carry a $5,540,956 dead cap hit from Lance, which means the 2021 No. 3 overall pick and current backup QB for the Dallas Cowboys, will cost San Francisco more against the cap than their starting quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy in the third year of his four-year rookie contract will count for $1,004,253 against the cap. That makes Lance $4,536,703 more expensive for San Francisco than their starting quarterback for this season.

If we want to go a step further, Lance’s $5,540,956 cap hit for the 49ers will cost the team about as much as their entire QB room. Purdy, Brandon Allen, Joshua Dobbs and Tanner Mordecai are slated to cost $5,597,586 against the cap – just $56,630 more than Lance.

Ultimately that $4.5ish million is a drop in the bucket that hasn’t had any real impact on the 49ers’ offseason. And once Purdy is getting paid at or near the top of the market by the time he signs an extension, presumably next offseason, the Lance deal will be entirely off the books for San Francisco.

Alas, the Lance era was odd and this is one last small reminder of his tenure before the page turns for good.

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Christian McCaffrey extension creates $7.4 million in cap space for 49ers

Christian McCaffrey’s extension created more cap space for the 49ers, who now have the 7th most cap space in the NFL for 2024.

The 49ers and running back Christian McCaffrey agreed to a two-year contract extension that, while making the RB a touch more expensive, actually created cap space for the 2024 season.

According to Spotrac, the McCaffrey deal actually freed up $7.4 million in cap space for San Francisco and put them a touch more than $32 million under the cap this year.

There are a handful of ways the team can use some of that room this year with either signings or trades, but the more likely practical use comes in the rollover it provides next year since San Francisco will now be more than $41 million over the projected $260 million cap number on Over the Cap.

This type of cap gymnastics is why the club can actually generate more space when if they extend wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. He’s rocking a $14.1 million cap hit this year. That can be decreased significantly by extending him the same way the 49ers chopped $7.4 million off of McCaffrey’s own $14.1 million cap hit this year.

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How much salary cap space do the Commanders have post-June 1?

Despite being busy in free agency, the Commanders remain in excellent shape with the salary cap.

The Washington Commanders led the NFL in salary cap space heading into free agency in March. Washington, with plenty of holes to fill, was busy, signing over 20 external free agents and retaining some of its own.

Remarkably, the Commanders exited March’s busy free-agency period with over $40 million remaining in cap space.

Now we’ve entered the next phase of the offseason: Post-June 1 cuts, which many teams use to save money on the salary cap over two years. If teams cut players before June 1 and do not use the post-June 1 designation, all the salary cap hit counts on the current year.

Several teams used the post-June 1 designation this year. Washington, which released longtime veterans Charles Leno Jr. and Logan Thomas, did not. The Commanders have used the designation in the past to cut bad contracts, such as Landon Collins most recently.

We now have an updated look at what each team has remaining in cap space, according to Over the Cap. Washington is in excellent shape, with $43.4 million remaining in cap space for 2024 — second only to the New England Patriots ($46.4 million).

If a team cuts a good player for salary cap reasons, the Commanders would be in a prime position to add that player. However, it doesn’t appear that there are any significant cuts on the horizon. Washington could use some of that space to sign players to contract extensions, such as guard Sam Cosmi, or allow it to roll over into 2025.

Regardless of their decision, the Commanders have an extremely healthy salary cap situation for the foreseeable future.

New Orleans Saints salary cap update after signing most of their draft picks

The New Orleans Saints signed most of their draft picks, so where do they stand against the salary cap? And what could change in the weeks ahead?

The New Orleans Saints signed most of their draft picks after rookie minicamp earlier in May, so where do they stand against the salary cap? And what could change in the weeks ahead? How much can they spend to improve the team over the summer? Those are a couple of different questions, so let’s work on answering them one at a time.

Right now, Kool-Aid McKinstry is the Saints’ only unsigned draft pick. That isn’t unusual for second round picks (we’ve discussed this before; it’s a side effect of the new collective bargaining agreement), and he’ll likely sign before training camp at a minimal impact to the cap. Don’t sweat that.

As for the Saints’ salary cap outlook? Right now, the experts at Over The Cap have them under it by a little over $5.94 million. Spotrac, another public outlet, has New Orleans in the clear by $5.11 million. The NFL Players Association says $8.85 million, but they’re normally slow to update. OTC is the most accurate and up-to-date source, so that’s the number we’ll be working with.

Expect that number to change in just a few weeks. Becuase the Saints designated both Jameis Winston and Michael Thomas as post-June 1 cuts back in March, they’ll receive some small cap credits on June 2 — a total of about $2.42 million. It’s not much, but that money can go towards covering the costs of McKinstry’s signing once that becomes official later this summer.

June 2 is an important date on the calendar. All moves after that defer part of guaranteed money charges to the next year’s salary cap, which makes it the start of the window to viably trade Marshon Lattimore (a move that would save the Saints at least $3.96 million this year). Other players could be traded more realistically, too, like Taysom Hill (saving $10 million) or Alvin Kamara ($11.68 million in savings). But whether or not the team would trade them, or even find interested trade partners, is a whole other discussion.

So if the Saints don’t make any more moves between now and the start of training camp, they should have about $8.36 million to work with before signing McKinstry. And because the NFL only counts the top 51 contracts against the cap during the offseason, the net cost of signing him will be in the range of $600,000. Expect them to go into training camp with roughly $7.75 million.

Which brings us to the last point: What to do with it? Should the Saints go ahead and burn that money on more players? Or should they sit on it and have a buffer for in-season transactions, or possible moves at the NFL trade deadline? They could also roll over any unspent money to 2025, which might be wise given their salary cap situation.

There are still some areas of need remaining after the draft and free agency. The Saints don’t have a clear starter at left guard. Their depth at offensive tackle is concerning. You’d like someone with real production in the receiving corps, or big-play ability at running back. Another defensive tackle wouldn’t hurt either. But finding the right fits at the right price this late in the offseason will be challenging.

All told, the Saints are in a decent salary cap situation. Their starting lineup is largely intact and they’ve filled out the 90-man offseason roster. OTC has them ranking 26th in cap space. But here’s the catch. Of the six teams with less unspent cap space than New Orleans, all but two made the playoffs last season. Only the Seattle Seahawks ($1.34 million) and New York Giants ($1.12 million) have less cap space to work with than the Saints while also failing to reach the postseason. That’s not the kind of company they’ll want to be in this time next year.

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49ers create cap space, restructure Fred Warner’s contract

The 49ers are now more than $10 million under the salary cap after restructuring Fred Warner’s contract.

The 49ers quest to create cap space will include a restructuring of linebacker Fred Warner’s contract according to Matt Barrows of the Athletic.

Warner’s base salary has been dropped to just $1.125 million according to Over the Cap, and his cap hit has been reduced to $13,837,750 for this season. The 49ers added one void year to his deal which allows them to spread his cap hit out over the next few years.

In 2025 his cap hit is scheduled to clear $30 million before dropping to $27 million in 2026. He’ll be a free agent after that season.

Warner was one of the bigger contracts the 49ers didn’t restructure last offseason. Doing so now puts them at $10,345,969 in cap space per OTC.

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Falcons have $37 million in cap space going into free agency

The Falcons have over $37 million in cap space available with free agency set to begin

NFL free agency doesn’t start until Wednesday afternoon, but the legal tampering period officially kicks off Monday at noon. Many are waiting to see what the Atlanta Falcons will do at quarterback. Kirk Cousins still doesn’t have a deal and the Falcons are believed to be in play.

According to Over The Cap’s projections, Atlanta has roughly $37.2 million in cap space going into free agency. This total could go up with some restructures and a few cap casualties. For now, though, the team is staying relatively quiet.

Here’s a refresher on the NFL’s free agency rules, per ESPN’s Field Yates:

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Updated Saints salary cap space after extending Tyrann Mathieu

How did extending Tyrann Mathieu and tendering Rashid Shaheed impact the Saints’ salary cap? Here’s an update on how much more space New Orleans must clear:

It isn’t really accurate to say we’re updating the New Orleans Saints’ salary cap space situation — the team doesn’t have any space under the cap right now because they’re still over the cap by about $10.7 million. But a couple of recent moves have changed the situation, so let’s take stock of where things currently stand.

Per Over The Cap’s experts, the Saints are currently in the red by an estimated $10,602,3364. Now that only reflects the information and roster moves which have been made publicly available. It’s very possible that the Saints have already checked all their boxes and reached cap compliance without leaking anything to the media. It’s not like they’re frantically working to beat the deadline (next Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT).

And two recent moves changed that projection. The Saints signed starting safety Tyrann Mathieu to a new two-year contract valued at $13.5 million, with a salary cap hit of just $5,567,000 for 2024. That pushed them down to a nearly-level $10.5 million level over the spending limit.

But another shoe dropped when the Saints tendered Pro Bowl returns specialist Rashid Shaheed, an exclusive rights free agent. That costs $985,000 against the cap. Because only the top 51 cap hits count on the books at this time of the year, Shaheed pushed a lesser-valued contract of $795,000 (there’s six different players all carrying that number) beneath the threshold. So the true cost to the cap was only $190,000, meaning the Saints are in the red by $10,792,634.

At least at the time of writing. More moves are on the way. Obvious dominoes yet to fall include cap hits for right tackle Ryan Ramczyk ($27 million), running back Alvin Kamara ($18.7 million), linebacker Demario Davis ($18.1 million) and do-it-all weapon Taysom Hill ($15.7 million). There are other levers the Saints can pull if they really want to max out their cap resources, but those are the big ones to watch.

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