Tag: cap space

Report: Redskins unlikely to add free agents Jason Peters or Logan Ryan

The Redskins have a lot of cap space to work with this offseason, but reports show they are unlikely to use it on Jason Peters or Logan Ryan.

The Washington Redskins still have a lot of money to spend in free agency, and there are a few holes on their roster that could be addressed, mainly at the left tackle and cornerback position.

Many thought that they would use the NFL Draft to add some depth, not much was done outside of the addition of Saahdiq Charles, an LT from LSU. Still, there are a few players left on the free-agent market that could be brought in to Washington on a one-year deal and help fill some holes instantly. A couple of the biggest stop-gaps left on the market are LT Jason Peters and CB Logan Ryan. However, according to ESPN’s John Keim, these are a couple of unlikely additions to the Redskins roster.

“Unless the thinking changes, I don’t see them in on guys like Logan Ryan or Jason Peters,” Keim said on The John Keim Report podcast. 

It’s understandable that Washington might shy away from Peters, seeing as he is represented by Vincent Taylor, the same guy who represents Trent Williams. A slightly contentious relationship there could keep those two sides apart, but adding a player like Ryan could instantly add depth to the defense where it needs it.

As the summer mons start to come, a couple of free agents might end up being signed by the Redskins, but it’s hard to tell who just yet. With over $35 million in cap space to spend, though, it would be shocking to see Washington roll all of that over into next year.

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D.J. Fluker reveals he has been released by the Seahawks

After drafting guard Damien Lewis, the Seattle Seahawks released veteran D.J. Fluker on Sunday, according to a tweet from Fluker himself.

The Seattle Seahawks already began the process of trimming down the roster on Sunday.

After selecting Damien Lewis on the second day of the 2020 NFL draft, giving them a whopping 19 offensive linemen on the roster, the Seahawks are releasing veteran right guard D.J. Fluker, according to a tweet from Fluker himself.

Releasing Fluker saves the Seahawks $4.2 million in cap space, money that could be used to sign a star defensive end – like Jadeveon Clowney or Everson Griffen.

As soon as the team drafted Lewis, a hulking right guard from LSU, with a third round pick, Fluker’s time with the Seahawks appeared in jeopardy.

“He won’t take a back seat to anybody,” coach Pete Carroll said about Lewis after the draft. “He’s going to come in here and battle for it. We feel really good. That’s really part of the reason why we took him. We want him to come in here and battle to play. All of that competition will make us better.”

Lewis only played right guard in college, and it looks like he is now the front-runner to start at right guard in Fluker’s absence.

The team also has B.J. Finney, Ethan Pocic, Jamarco Jones, Phil Haynes, Jordan Simmons and a handful of other guards on hand to compete for depth roles, more than enough bodies to replace Fluker on the field.

Off the field, Fluker’s dynamic personality in the locker room and goofiness on social media was a bright spot for this Seattle team over the past two years, and he will be sorely missed by this team and the fans.

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Seahawks face competition for Jadeveon Clowney from Tennessee

The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to re-sign defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, but face a bit of competition from the Tennessee Titans.

ESPN’s Dianna Russini has reported that free agent defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has reduced his asking price of $20 million per year on the contract he awaits to sign by $2-3 million.

However, the Seahawks find themselves competing for Clowney’s services for the 2020 season. The Titans have spoken to Clowney’s representatives and seem to be pursuing him as well.

“We have touched base with Clowney’s representation, and we’re kind of seeing and navigate where that one might be,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson told ESPN.

The Seahawks face a threat with Tennessee holding the fifth-most salary cap space in the NFL with around $32.5 million, while the former has No. 27-most in the league with $11.3 million and must clear additional space quickly.

The Seahawks could end up re-signing Clowney, but it could take a series of moves to do so, and they must before Tennessee has a chance to entice the prized free agent.

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Seattle Seahawks release veteran tight end Ed Dickson

The Seattle Seahawks cleared $5.3 million in cap space with the release of both tight end Ed Dickson and free safety Tedric Thompson.

The Seattle Seahawks continued their quest to clear cap space on Tuesday, reportedly releasing veteran tight end Ed Dickson, according to a tweet from NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.

The move comes shortly after a report indicated the team plans to cut safety Tedric Thompson, and the two moves combined would save the Seahawks $5.3 million dollars in cap space – potentially alluding to another signing or the return of Jadeveon Clowney.

Dickson, 32, spent all of 2019 on the injured reserve, save for a few days where he was activated and subsequently placed back on IR without making an appearance in a game.

Dickson also missed the first half of the 2018 season with injuries as well, returning to catch three touchdowns and 12 total receptions in 10 games down the stretch.

Dickson’s release was all but guaranteed after the team signed free agent Greg Olsen and reportedly came to terms with both Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister, giving them three tight ends alongside presumed starter Will Dissly.

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Report: Seahawks plan to release safety Tedric Thompson

The Seattle Seahawks will save $2.3 million in cap space if they release safety Tedric Thompson, who lost his starting job last season.

The Seattle Seahawks apparently were unable to find a trade partner for safety Tedric Thompson, and now plan to release the veteran, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.

The 25-year-old earned the opportunity to replace Earl Thomas as Seattle’s high-safety, but he struggled out of the gate in 2019 – eventually getting replaced by midseason trade acquisition Quandre Diggs and going on the injured reserve to end his campaign.

This year, Thompson was going to have to compete with Diggs, Bradley McDougald, Marquise Blair and Lano Hill for playing time at the safety spots and on the special teams. Seattle quickly gave him permission to seek a trade at the start of free agency, but after nearly two weeks it appears the team has decided to part ways.

Releasing Thompson clears $2.3 million dollars in cap space, a relatively small amount but potentially enough to bring Jadeveon Clowney back without having to make any other roster moves – depending on his current contract demands.

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What should the Chiefs do with their $177.00 in salary cap space?

The Kansas City Chiefs have just $177 in salary cap space as of Monday morning.

The Kansas City Chiefs are milking the 2020 salary cap for all it is worth.

ESPN’s Field Yates confirmed the latest salary cap numbers from the NFL’s internal report and the Chiefs are about as close as you can get without possibly going over.

Right now, the Chiefs have exactly $177.00 in cap space.

So what exactly can you do with $177 in salary cap space? To give you an idea of how little cap space this is, Chiefs tickets had an average price of just under $200 last season. The front office couldn’t even use the salary cap space they have left to buy a single ticket to watch their own football team play a game.

The cap space situation obviously won’t stay this way because the Chiefs need around $5 million in order to pay their draft picks in the upcoming 2020 NFL draft.  However, it’s interesting to see how Brandt Tilis and Chris Shea (the guys who handle the salary cap for the Chiefs) have been able to really stretch the cap space in Kansas City to the limit. I mean if they weren’t careful here they could have easily gone over the salary cap.

The Chiefs haven’t been the most active in free agency, but they’ve been far from inactive. They’ve retained plenty of their own players and brought in some free agents like Antonio Hamilton, Mike Remmers and Jordan Ta’amu. So where do they go from here? It isn’t like they’re without options to create cap space. They could do any of the following to create cap space immediately:

  • Extend QB Patrick Mahomes
  • Extend/restructure TE Travis Kelce’s contract
  • Restructure Tyrann Mathieu’s contract
  • Restructure Anthony Hitchens’ contract
  • Restructure Eric Fishers’ contract
  • Sign DT Chris Jones to a contract extension, eliminating his franchise tag number of $16.1 million.
  • Trade/release WR Sammy Watkins, freeing up $14 million in cap space.
  • Trade/release OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif with a post-June 1 designation, saving $6.9 million in cap space.
  • Trade/release SS Daniel Sorensen, creating $3.75 million in cap space.

Some sort of move is coming in the future and it’ll help the Chiefs get some salary-cap relief.

At the end of the day, they could always take that $177 and place a bet on themselves to repeat as Super Bowl champions. If they win Super Bowl LV, at +600 odds, that $177 will win $1,062. Personally, I’d use it to buy ship myself some BBQ from Joe’s Kansas City. What do you think the Chiefs should do with $177 in salary cap space? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.

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Saints, Janoris Jenkins agree to renegotiated contract

The New Orleans Saints and cornerback Janoris Jenkins agreed to a renegotiated contract on Monday, creating much-needed salary cap space.

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The New Orleans Saints agreed to a renegotiated contract with veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins on Monday, as first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates. The terms of the restructured deal are unknown just yet, but it figures to have lowered the $11.25 million committed to Jenkins against the 2020 salary cap by lowering his base salary of $10.25 million.

We’re just speculating here, but past renegotiations by the Saints front office have involved adding “ghost years” onto existing contracts for accounting purposes. These are yearly payments (usually through a signing bonus) that void automatically at the end of the season, accelerating into a dead money hit when the player’s contract expires.

For example, and we’re just speculating here, but let’s say that the Saints added two “ghost years” onto Jenkins’ contract and converted $9 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. Jenkins would, for now, count for $5.25 million against the 2020 salary cap; he’d also be on the books for $3 million in 2021 and 2022. But these voided years would allow him to test the free agent market in 2021 (when a huge increase in the salary cap is expected) while leaving the Saints on the hook for $6 million towards a player no longer on their roster.

It’s not the neatest, nicest way of doing business, but it does benefit the Saints in the short term. The savings created by a move like this would allow the Saints to continue filling out their offseason 90-man roster and give them the flexibility to make a few other significant moves. But we won’t know the exact details until they’re reported, so stay tuned for follow-up reports.

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Packers rank among bottom 10 teams in available salary cap space

The Packers have the sixth least salary cap space currently, which might explain why GM Brian Gutekunst has gone quiet in free agency.

The Green Bay Packers re-signed kicker Mason Crosby, made two moves before the start of the new league year and brought back a pair of role players, but GM Brian Gutekunst has mostly sat out free agency.

The financials of the situation help show why.

According to Albert Breer of SI.com, only five teams currently have less cap space than the Packers, who – per the NFL’s books – have only $14.8 million in available space as of Monday.

Only the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons have less total cap space.

The NFL’s numbers align with the numbers kept by Ken Ingalls, a CPA who tracks the Packers cap. He has the Packers at roughly $12.4 million, but his accounting includes the re-signing of tight end Marcedes Lewis, which hasn’t been officially announced.

Over the Cap has the Packers with about $12.8 million in cap space. By their up-to-date accounting, the Packers rank 10th in the NFL in available cap room.

The money doesn’t go far. The Packers still need to pay for an incoming draft class and next year’s practice squad, and teams generally reserve a chunk of money for necessary in-season additions. Per Ingalls, the Packers are essentially tapped out in terms of actual spending money, although GM Brian Gutekunst and cap manager Russ Ball could pull a few strings and create extra room.

The Packers went bargaining shopping early, signing linebacker Christian Kirksey and right tackle Rick Wagner at a combined cap hit of under $9 million in 2020.

Might the Packers be done? Or close to done? It’s certainly possible. Space is limited, and big decisions are coming up fast.

Gutekunst and Ball must consider looming mega extensions for left tackle David Bakhtiari and defensive lineman Kenny Clark, and even potential new deals for running back Aaron Jones, cornerback Kevin King and center Corey Linsley. All five will be free agents following the 2020 season.

According to Bill Huber of SI, the Packers didn’t go after a top inside linebacker in free agency because Gutekunst was reluctant to add another big contract on that side of the ball. Last year, the Packers signed three new starters with big deals.

Teams have ways of working the cap, including converting roster bonuses into signing bonuses and extending players for more years to lower than present year cap hit. The Packers employed that tactic early in the offseason with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. For now, the spending power has mostly dried up in Green Bay.

Report: Chiefs currently have least cap space among NFL teams

At this rate, the Kansas City Chiefs need to free up cap space to be able to sign a draft class.

The Kansas City Chiefs are currently dead last in the NFL in terms of cap space according to a new report.

Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer shared the NFL’s internal salary cap report from the morning of Monday, March 23. According to that report, the Chiefs have the least cap space in the NFL with $555K. That’s over $2.3 million less than the next closest team, the New England Patriots.

It’s not surprising that the Chiefs are lower on cap space than they were at the onset of free agency. They have club options and ERFA tenders that now count against the salary cap. We’ve recently seen contract details emerge for new CB Antonio Hamilton and re-signed QB Chad Henne. We’re still waiting for contract details for OT Mike Remmers, who also has recently signed with the team.

What is interesting is that Kansas City has only made one move to clear cap space, which is restructuring the contract of DE Frank Clark.

Keep in mind that salary cap reporting is fluid, and without knowing which contracts count against this report, it’s hard to know where the Chiefs truly stand. What we do know is that Brett Veach can create more cap space quickly and in a variety of different ways. Here’s just a few of those potential moves at his disposal:

  • Extend TE Travis Kelce and lower his cap hit for the 2020 NFL season.
  • Sign DT Chris Jones to a contract extension, eliminating his franchise tag number of $16.1 million.
  • Trade/release WR Sammy Watkins, freeing up $14 million in cap space.
  • Trade/release OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif with a post-June 1 designation, saving $6.9 million in cap space.
  • Trade/release SS Daniel Sorensen, creating $3.75 million in cap space.

These are just a few of the options that Kansas City will weigh over the next several weeks. This isn’t just about having flexibility in free agency either. At the very least, a month from now, they need to have just over $5 million in cap space to sign their rookie draft class.

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Jadeveon Clowney may take 1-year deal to reestablish value

The Seattle Seahawks could pounce on a one-year deal with Jadeveon Clowney if he chooses to go that route and reestablish his value.

The first week of free agency has not gone according to plan for free agent defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

The market for a defensive end with three sacks last year, and some concerning injury issues, has not reached the $20 million per year threshold he was hoping for.

Now, a report from Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle indicates Clowney may be willing to take a one-year deal to reestablish his value, and his health, in order to reenter the market in 2021 when the salary cap is expected to increase by a hefty margin.

This could be bad news for the Seahawks. Although the team currently has roughly $18 million in cap space, they have a handful of players they could cut or restructure contracts for in order to clear space.

However, signing Clowney to a long-term deal would allow the team to spread some of his money out over a handful of seasons, which could afford them more flexibility in the short term.

Clowney may still ultimately land a lucrative multi-year deal, and it could still come from the Seahawks, but the slow to develop market makes it more likely he’ll take a one-year deal.

Seattle could have an advantage in that Clowney may want to return somewhere he is familiar if it is just for one season, but it will create a tricky salary cap situation – but one that could be worked around if it nets them a bigtime player like Clowney.

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