Tag: claim

Report: Saints are ‘one to keep an eye on’ if Odell Beckham Jr. clears waivers

Report: Saints are ‘one to keep an eye on’ if Odell Beckham Jr. clears waivers; how WR could fit under salary cap

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It’s not a situation that the New Orleans Saints or Odell Beckham Jr. have much control over right now, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport suggested Sunday that both sides share interest in teaming up once Beckham becomes a free agent. Well, if he becomes a free agent.

The Cleveland Browns adjusted Beckham’s contract before releasing him this weekend, which means he will be formally waived on Monday — giving teams 24 hours to decide whether to submit a waiver claim by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. And those adjustments to his contract make it “very unlikely” any team does choose to claim him and take on $7.25 million in salary for the rest of the season, knowing he’ll be a free agent in the spring and not factor into the compensatory draft pick formula. This is a different resolution than what we expected based off earlier reporting, but it helps raise Beckham’s chances of eventually landing in New Orleans.

That too-high salary cap hit would be very difficult for the Saints to manage, but they could work something out with Beckham if he goes unclaimed and is able to negotiate as a free agent. And that appears to be Rapoport’s expectation given what he’s hearing from around the league.

“Expect him to be a free agent. He’s going to have significant interest. One team, just one to keep an eye on, the New Orleans Saints they had interest in potentially trading for him, it didn’t happen. Obviously he went to LSU as well, I would expect him to have interest there. Just one to keep an eye on,” Rapoport said.

Beckham’s Louisiana roots extend beyond LSU. He was born in Baton Rouge and starred at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans (the same powerhouse that sent Peyton and Eli Manning into the high-stakes SEC, and later the NFL). It makes plenty of sense that he’d welcome a return home.

But can the Saints afford him? Claiming him off of waivers outright isn’t an option, which is the case for most teams around the league (and Beckham’s agent is working to discourage even more potential suitors to try and control his client’s path forward). If Beckham goes unclaimed, the Browns will be on the hook for $4.25 million of his remaining salary in addition to whatever his new team signs him for.

And while the Saints are awful tight against the salary cap right now, and they have a couple more pennies to pinch in contract restructures with Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara, and Ryan Ramczyk that could yield as much as $2.6 million. Combine that with the Saints’ estimated $1,098,472 in salary cap space and the deduction of another contract from their books to add Beckham and you’ve got just enough cap space to squeeze Beckham in with a $3 million cap hit, making up what he’s lost by going unclaimed on waivers.

It’s tricky. There’s a lot of moving parts and a lot outside of the Saints’ (and Beckham’s) control, but there’s an avenue forward to get both parties together. But it just looks like such an easy match with such a glaring weakness in the Saints receiving corps and Beckham’s own motivations to get here. Let’s wait and see what happens next.

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The Lions should not put in a claim for RB Leonard Fournette

The Jacksonville Jaguars have released running back Leonard Fournette, and in no way should the Detroit Lions put in a claim for him.

After failing to trade the fourth overall pick from the 2017 NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars are releasing running back Leonard Fournette.

Many Detroit Lions fans clamored for the team to find a way to secure Fournette in 2017 — they selected Jarrad Davis 21st overall instead — and now that he has been released, the Lions have an opportunity to put in a claim and potentially secure his rights — they sit third on the waiver wire.

While Fournette is a draw in name draw and has rushed for 2631-yards in his three years in the NFL, the Lions should not put in a claim for him.

Fournette was scheduled to make $8.6 million in Jacksonville this season, way too high a cost for a team that is in full-blown rebuild mode and looking to enter the season with a running back by committee approach.

By releasing Fournette, the Jaguars will incur a $4.4 million dollar cap hit, leaving $4.2 on the final year of his contract — something a team would have to take on if they claimed him.

For reference, the Lions, who are also taking a running back by committee approach, are only spending a combined $6.8 million on Kerryon Johnson, D’Andre Swift, Ty Johnson, Jason Huntley, Bo Scarbrough, Jonathan Williams, and Wes Hills.

Adding a player who makes $4.2 million is counterproductive to the approach they have taken to reduce costs at this position.

The Lions do have around $24 million in cap space but with contract extensions coming for Kenny Golladay and Taylor Decker in the near future, the Lions cap number is likely to be reduced before the regular season. Add in the fact that the 2021 cap that is going to take a massive hit, likely being reduced by over $23 million, and it further complicates matters.

$4 million might not seem like a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but every penny spent this season takes away from the Lions potential rollover fund, which will impact next season’s salary cap. When investing in a player who will be here for future years — like Golladay and Decker — it makes sense to invest money into them because you are getting a return. But for a player like Fournette, who is on a one year deal, the cost-benefit doesn’t make sense.

For example, spending $4 million by claiming Fournette now, not only reduces their ability to spend money in 2020, but in turn, it also reduces next year’s rollover money by $4 million, and that will reduce the Lions 2021 cap.

Now, if Fournette passes through waivers and is willing to play at a significantly reduced salary — which seems unlikely —  the Lions may consider him, but at $4.2 million, they should definitely not put in a waiver claim.