Tag: cap space

Saints, Andrus Peat agree to reworked deal to save over $9M against salary cap

Per multiple reports, the #Saints and guard Andrus Peat have agreed to a re-worked deal. Here’s what that means, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

Well, that answers one of the biggest remaining contract questions for the New Orleans Saints. Left guard Andrus Peat was expected to count for over $18 million in 2023, but now that number will be much love. Per Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, the Saints and Peat revised his deal, dropping his overall salary cap hit and saving the team around $9.5 million. The report was then confirmed by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

Peat’s name was consistently mentioned by analysts as a possible post-June 1 cut. However, that would have put the Saints in a couple of binds. The first of which is that they have no clear successor behind him at left guard unless they wanted to sacrifice the versatility of offensive lineman James Hurst. The second is that even though they would have saved over $11 million with that approach, the relief would not have come until June 2. The need for cap room is more urgent, with free agency underway and the NFL draft in six weeks.

We suggested recently that New Orleans could approach Peat for a pay cut and rework the deal that way. This does redistribute the money in such a way that New Orleans can plan around how they want to approach it following this year’s short-term cap savings. It’s saving the team more money than a typical restructure would have.

Now that his contract is set to void after 2023, per OverTheCap.com, the interesting play when it comes to Peat now will be next season. Do the Saints assume $13.6 million of dead cap? If not, they could work to extend him on a team-friendly deal or even approach him with a proposition appropriate to his position and role like quarterback Jameis Winston.

This could also mean that New Orleans expects to pick up right guard Cesar Ruiz’s fifth-year option. Otherwise, they would be entering 2023 with both starting guards in contract years. That seems like something a team would want to prevent, and New Orleans has an easy mechanism to avoid that being that Ruiz was a first-round draft pick. But that’s a decision for later. For now, the Saints get to enjoy some much-needed salary cap relief after their busy Wednesday.

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Chargers restructure contracts of Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack ahead of free agency

The Chargers continue to create salary cap space ahead of free agency.

Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack restructured their contracts on Saturday, creating a total of $25.99 million in cap space for the Chargers, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

Los Angeles converted $22.835 million of Bosa’s base salary to a bonus that nearly cut his cap number to $15.776 million, according to Over the Cap.

Mack’s $21.553 million base salary was converted to a bonus that will be prorated over two seasons and reduced his 2023 cap hit to $16.6 million.

Keenan Allen and Mike Williams had their contracts restructured earlier this week, which created $14.37 million in space.

While it’s ideal this year, the Chargers’ cap situation will be tricky next offseason. Mack’s cap hit for 2024 is $38.5 million, Bosa’s is $36.6 million, Allen’s is $34.7 million and Williams’ is $32.5 million.

L.A. entered the offseason $20.5 million over the salary cap.

Now that they’re cap compliant before the new league year begins this Wednesday, the Chargers’ priority will be re-signing their internal free agents, which is headlined by Drue Tranquill, Trey Pipkins and Morgan Fox.

Additionally, they will need to sign Justin Herbert to a long-term contract extension.

Chargers WRs Keenan Allen, Mike Williams restructure contracts

The Chargers restructured the contracts of receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, saving nearly $14.5 million in cap space.

The Chargers’ salary cap situation got a bit of relief on Thursday when the team restructured the contracts of receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams to save nearly $14.5 million heading into free agency.

Even with this move, the Chargers still have work to do to get under the cap threshold before the regular season. Their decision to convert Allen and Williams’ salaries to bonuses is a swisemove by Los Angeles’ front office, though the increased flexibility won’t come without some strings attached.

Allen and Williams are effectively un-cuttable in this arrangement, and the team is fully committed to keeping both receivers on the roster through the end of the 2023 season. Should they need to part ways with either player, they would absorb the entirety of the bonus money against their salary cap, causing massive dead-money numbers that would not be able to be recouped.

While this risk certainly seems worth the reward at this juncture, the Chargers will need to do everything in their power to ensure that this move doesn’t come back to bite them throughout the 2023 season. Having their top two wideouts on the roster is undoubtedly an advantage for Los Angeles. Still, situations and circumstances will need to play into their favor to ensure that their decisions in March don’t affect their ability to contend in December and January.

49ers have 3rd-highest adjusted salary cap number

The #49ers have the third-highest adjusted salary cap number in the NFL.

The NFL on Monday released the adjusted salary cap numbers each team will work with in 2023, and the 49ers came in near the top of the league.

Adjusted cap numbers are the base salary cap, plus rollover space, plus adjustments up or down for incentives and other roster bonuses given out the previous year.

The league set its base salary cap at $224,800,000. The 49ers’ number came in at $237,520,268. That means they had nearly $13,000,000 in rollover cap space and adjustments. They’ll operate with that number in 2023 instead of the league’s base amount.

San Francisco landed with the third-highest adjusted cap number in the NFL behind Cleveland and Carolina. Here is the full list via ESPN’s Field Yates:

San Francisco has $4,391,088 in effective cap space (their cap space once they have 51 players signed) per Over the Cap. That number could see a significant increase with a handful of restructured contracts later on this offseason.

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Saints salary cap space update after restructuring Demario Davis and Taysom Hill

We’re almost to the finish line. Updating the New Orleans Saints salary cap situation after restructuring Demario Davis and Taysom Hill:

So how much salary cap space do the New Orleans Saints have at their disposal after restructuring their contracts with linebacker Demario Davis and utility player Taysom Hill? Converting salaries to signing bonuses with each of them saved the Saints about $12.7 million, but they were over the cap by a substantial margin before knocking those items off their offseason checklist.

Well, they don’t have any spending room yet. The Saints are still over the 2023 salary cap by as much as $18.1 million, per Over The Cap (a more conservative estimate from Spotrac has New Orleans in the red by $17.2 million). But the finish line is within sight.

There are five players left with salary cap hits valued at more than $15 million, and the Saints will need to make a decision with each of them: restructure, extend, or release. Here’s the list:

  • DE Cameron Jordan: $25.7 million
  • CB Marshon Lattimore: $22.4 million
  • LG Andrus Peat: $18.3 million
  • RB Alvin Kamara: $16 million
  • QB Jameis Winston: $15.6 million

Wide receiver Michael Thomas also has a cap number of $13.3 million after previously redoing his deal, and the expectation is that he’s going to be released at the start of the new league year with a post-June 1 designation. He could return on a new deal at a significantly lower salary, but but that’s too far ahead to guess at. Teams may use that designation twice in advance of the June 1 deadline, and it’s an option for either Peat or Winston depending on how things shake.

Lattimore and Kamara should be easy calls to restructure given their age and productivity (and in Kamara’s case, it would prevent him from losing much money to a possible NFL suspension stemming from his Las Vegas battery case; weekly salaries are forfeited, but signing bonuses are not touched). Jordan could sign an extension, seeing as he’s in the final year of his contract, rather than doing a standard restructure which would leave a lot of dead money behind if he isn’t re-upped in 2024.

The Saints still have options. And that’s just how their salary cap guru Khai Harley likes it — he designs contracts with players to have all of these levers and mechanisms to work with years in advance, giving New Orleans salary cap flexibility that few teams can weaponize as effectively. Hopefully the Saints can get in the clear soon and open up more resources to put towards improving their roster when free agency kicks off on March 15.

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Saints restructure Demario Davis and Taysom Hill contracts in big step towards salary cap compliance

The Saints restructured their contracts with Demario Davis and Taysom Hill, taking a big step towards salary cap compliance:

Bang: the New Orleans Saints completed another big step towards getting under the 2023 salary cap by restructuring their contracts with Pro Bowl linebacker Demario Davis and do-it-all tight end Taysom Hill, per ESPN’s Field Yates, saving more than $12,724,000 against the 2023 salary cap.

As is often the case for these restructures in New Orleans, both players will receive a large chunk of their initial base salary in the form of a new signing bonus, which will toll over future seasons for accounting purposes.

This was another expected move, and it gets the Saints within punching distance of the salary cap — pretty soon they’ll be looking to open up spending-room beneath it, not just complying with league rules in reaching it. New Orleans is still over the cap by an estimated $18.1 million, but they can get in the clear with further restructures for cornerback Marshon Lattimore (saving over $10 million) and defensive end Cameron Jordan (opening up another $10 million), among other moves.

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Jaguars give three-year extension to DE Roy Robertson-Harris

Roy Robertson-Harris is staying in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future.

The Jacksonville Jaguars locked up defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris to a three-year, $30 million extension, according to a report Saturday from Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Robertson-Harris, 29, had one season left on the three-year, $23.4 deal he signed with the Jaguars as a free agent during the 2022 offseason.

While the Jaguars are lacking in cap space to work with this offseason, the decision to spend $30 million in future money on Robertson-Harris likely saved the team cap space. The veteran defensive lineman was due to count just over $10 million against the team’s cap in 2023. By adding years to his contract, the Jaguars gave themselves the opportunity to push money into future seasons.

Robertson-Harris previously spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Chicago Bears after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in 2016. In his two seasons with the Jaguars, he has six sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and six pass deflections.

The new deal ties Robertson-Harris to the Jaguars through the 2026 season.

How far away are the Saints from salary cap compliance?

How far away are the Saints from salary cap compliance? Their latest moves with Ryan Ramczyk and Wil Lutz covered a lot of ground:

The New Orleans Saints took a couple of important steps towards reaching salary cap compliance on Thursday, restructuring their deal with standout right tackle Ryan Ramczyk while agreeing to bring back struggling kicker Wil Lutz on a pay cut. These two moves saved a combined $11.8 million in salary cap space, leaving New Orleans over the 2023 salary cap by about $35.5 million.

Not bad considering they were over the cap by more than $58 million just a few weeks ago, and they haven’t lost a single player. With free agency on the horizon in March, it’s vital that the Saints continue to set up their books to keep their best talent in town and prepare for new additions. So what comes next?

We’ve outlined the many different roster moves and contract restructures available to the Saints this offseason, but there are a couple of obvious decisions ahead of them. Let’s recap them in brief:

  • DE Cameron Jordan: Restructure (saving $10,001,250) or extension (saving $10,668,000)
  • CB Marshon Lattimore: Restructure (saving $10,065,000)
  • LG Andrus Peat: Restructure (saving $7,995,000) or release with post-June 1 designation (saving $11,825,000)
  • QB Jameis Winston: Release with post-June 1 designation (saving $12,800,000)

Teams are allowed to release just two players with a post-June 1 designation, though, and that’s also a likely option for wide receiver Michael Thomas (saving $1,165,000), so it could be more feasible to restructure Peat’s deal and let him play it out. The point is that the Saints have several avenues ahead of them in reaching salary cap compliance, and these four moves alone would do it. After that, they’ll be looking to open up more room for signing free agents in the weeks ahead.

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Bleacher Report suggests a bold trade sending Cameron Jordan to the Seahawks

Bleacher Report suggested a bold trade sending Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan to the Seahawks, which would leave New Orleans with $23 million in dead money:

Everyone has their take on what the New Orleans Saints should do this offseason — including Cameron Jordan, who ended his offseason social media hiatus to lobby for his team’s pursuit of former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. But what if Jordan himself goes on the move? Would trading him be a consideration?

The latest proposal comes from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, who suggests the Saints could kick off a rebuild by trading Jordan to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick in 2023 and a third rounder in 2024.

On the one hand, that’s strong value for an aging player. It would put the Saints on the board three times in a 23-slot span this April, and it would return the third-round pick they sent to the Denver Broncos next year. New Orleans would go on the clock at Nos. 29 (first round), 41 and 53 (second round), plus 72 (third round) through the first two nights of the 2023 draft. That’s appealing, but it isn’t enough.

And on the other hand, this doesn’t help the Saints out financially. They would be left with a $23.4 million dead money payout for Jordan that might otherwise go to different players. Trading him saves only $2.2 million against the salary cap. It’s in their interest to either restructure Jordan’s contract or sign him to a new deal this spring, saving more than $10.6 million while keeping a top defender in the lineup.

And offloading Jordan like this could be hazardous for the state of their defensive line. Starters David Onyemata and Marcus Davenport are both free agents, as is top backup Tanoh Kpassagnon and every other defensive tackle who got into a game for New Orleans last year. The Saints badly need Jordan’s stable presence in the defensive front while renovating the unit around him. That’s to say nothing of Jordan’s value to the team as a leader and steadying presence in the locker room.

Maybe a first-round pick would be worth it (and Seattle owns two of them, at Nos. 5 and 20) but it’s very unlikely the Seahawks would trade those kinds of assets for a 33-year-old pass rusher. Given the salary cap penalties involved, there probably isn’t a realistic price the Saints could find an interested team to agree to in trading for Jordan at this point in the offseason. Playoff hopefuls like Seattle will need to look elsewhere to cure what ails them.

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Saints restructure Marcus Maye’s contract to chip away at 2023 salary cap commitments

The Saints restructured Marcus Maye’s contract to manage their salary cap commitments in 2023. The move saved them $4.8M, but his cap hit next season is higher:

The New Orleans Saints have begun their annual round of salary cap maneuvering, per ESPN’s Field Yates, who reports that the Saints have restructured their contract with starting safety Marcus Maye to free up about $4,856,000 in salary cap accounting for the 2023 season. That leaves them in the red by more than $50 million, but it’s a start.

Remember, this isn’t a pay cut. Maye agreed to convert $6.07 million of his 2023 compensation into a signing bonus which, for accounting purposes, will be spread out over future seasons. Our own Ross Jackson explained the mechanics of this move — Maye’s base salary was reduced to the veteran’s minimum at $1.08 million, with the difference added to his roster bonus and then converted to a signing bonus. Maye still gets his money, but it’s paid out in a structure that better benefits the team.

And because this is now being paid out in a signing bonus rather than in weekly game checks, Maye will continue to get the paid for any time he loses to a possible suspension. He’s had a DUI charge in Florida hanging over him since the 2021 offseason, and he was arrested following a road rage incident in New Orleans last year. Either or both of those cases could lead to a league suspension once the legal process finishes playing out.

Availability was always in question with the Saints signing Maye, and those concerns were justified last season when he missed six games with injuries. He’s struggled to stay on the field throughout his career. The risk in restructuring a contract with a player is it becomes more difficult to get out of it later, and it’ll leave some dead money behind once they’re off the roster. Maye turns 30 in March and could miss time in the fall with a suspension, and injuries are going to continue to be a concern. He isn’t under contract beyond 2024, but he’ll leave a $6 million dead money cap hit behind unless the Saints restructure his deal again this time next year (when he’ll be counting against the cap by more than $9.9 million).

Tying yourself more closely to an aging player with questionable availability isn’t ideal. But the Saints didn’t realistically have any better options. Outright releasing Maye would have cost them an addition $3.35 million in salary cap penalties, and it’s tough to say whether they’d find a trade partner for him. They’ll just have to ride this contract out and hope the salary cap rises high enough in 2024 and 2025 that they can work around it.

Hopefully he enjoys better health this year to justify their investments in him. Maye is the only safety with much range to speak of on the back end in New Orleans, though he didn’t create as many turnovers or impact plays as his predecessors Marcus Williams and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. It would make a lot of sense to draft and begin developing his replacement this year.

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