Tag: Financial

Vikings get creative, save $2.1 million with adjustment to Byron Murphy’s contract

The #Vikings freed up more than $2 million in cap space by adding three void years to Byron Murphy’s contract on Tuesday

Finances have played a huge role in the Minnesota Vikings’ ability to construct a competitive roster ahead of the 2023 season, and with an adjustment to newly acquired cornerback Byron Murphy’s contract, the team managed to save over $2 million against their salary cap.

This shrewd maneuver involved adding three void years to Murphy’s signed contract, which will incur a dead-money hit for the 2025 season, but free up $2.1 million for them this season. It is worth noting that this move got Minnesota under the salary cap limit, which should enable the Vikings to continue pursuing free agents as the offseason wears on.

The merits of these void-year arrangements are debatable, but for a team that sees itself as being in a championship window, they could prove themselves to be necessary if the Vikings truly think they can compete for a Super Bowl in 2023. While borrowing money from future seasons seems like a desperate move now, the risk would surely be worth the reward if Minnesota manages to bring home a Lombardi trophy next season.

Camryn Bynum among top earners in NFL’s 2022 performance-based pay program

Bynum was among the NFL’s most rewarded players when the numbers for the league’s performance-based pay program came out on Friday

Camryn Bynum has come on strong for the Minnesota Vikings since joining the team as a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft and was rewarded for his exceptional play via the NFL’s performance-based pay program to the tune of nearly $700,000.

After starting in every regular season game for the Vikings in 2022, Bynum established himself as a consistent contributor to Minnesota’s defense, cementing his status as one of the NFL’s best young defensive backs. He hauled in two interceptions in the 2022 campaign and added 81 combined tackles and two fumble recoveries to his exceptional sophomore resume.

While he still has room to grow, Bynum should be considered one of the Vikings’ most promising defenders ahead of the 2023 season and is set to take another big step forward in the near future. Minnesota’s defensive additions in free agency will free up Bynum to make even more game-changing plays from his safety spot in the Vikings’ defensive backfield and should lead to even more impressive production when the regular season commences.

This shrewd cap maneuver enabled Vikings to keep Harrison Smith in 2023

The #Vikings will have safety Harrison Smith on their roster for one more season, but it won’t be without significant drawbacks in 2024

The Minnesota Vikings had to get creative to keep safety Harrison Smith on their roster next season, but the arrangement the team came to could cost them dearly in 2024. What the Vikings elected to do was a shrewd business decision wherein they made 2023 the last functional year of Smith’s contract by offsetting some of the money they were set to pay him into the next year of his deal, which is now set to void at the end of the season.

The team-friendly agreement helped take some of the strain off of the Vikings’ salary cap but comes with some concerning strings attached. It inflated Smith’s salary cap hit for 2024, and guarantees that they will part ways with him, even if only temporarily, after this season to keep their finances in order.

Smith’s loss will come at a steep price, too. The team will eat nearly $8 million in dead money cap space that they won’t be able to spend next year because of the structure of this new deal. This situation is similar to the one they found themselves in with linebacker Anthony Barr in 2021 which ultimately led to his departure.

While some may see this as folly, essentially using next year’s money to pay for this year’s luxury, the move was the only option that Minnesota had to keep their beloved safety on the roster without committing a disproportional amount of money to him this season. Fans would surely prefer that Smith stick around through the end of his career, but in the business of the modern NFL, teams can only do so much to out-maneuver the market to keep their star players.

Ravens restructure contract of DL Michael Pierce

The Ravens restructured the contract of defensive lineman Michael Pierce

The Baltimore Ravens have been making moves to get below the NFL’s salary cap threshold after the team put the non-exclusive franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson. The team needs to be cap compliant by the time free agency rolls around, and Jackson’s $32 million cap hit means they need to free up money elsewhere.

In an effort to get below the NFL’s salary cap threshold ahead of free agency, the Ravens restructured the contract of defensive lineman Michael Pierce, saving close to $3 million. Pierce was lost for the year early in the 2022 season with an arm injury after playing well for the Baltimore defense.

The move comes just a day after playmaking safety Chuck Clark was traded to the New York Jets, and is a clear indication that Baltimore is squarely focused on getting their finances in order. They’ll need to free up a significant amount of cap space to hopefully sign other contributors outside of Jackson during free agency.

Pierce’s contract adjustment also entails three void years that were added to the back end of his deal to enable the team to free up space. How this might affect the Ravens’ financials moving forward is unknown, as the full details of the restructure haven’t been released. Still, this move is yet another indication that Baltimore is dead-serious in their pursuit of building a roster that can contend for a Super Bowl championship in the near future.

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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.

Every NFL team’s estimated salary cap space in 2023

Here is a look at where each NFL team stands in terms of their salary cap flexibility ahead of the 2023 offseason.

The NFL announced their $224.8 million salary cap number for the 2023 season this week, which is sure to have implications for the Los Angeles Chargers as well as the league’s other 32 teams.

Los Angeles is currently overextended relative to the cap and will need to make some tough decisions in the offseason to get under the salary threshold heading into the new season. Though they don’t necessarily need to part ways with the top talent on their roster, the Chargers’ fiscal mobility relative to player contracts is severely restricted at this juncture.

Check out every team’s projected cap space below to see just how deep the hole general manager Tom Telesco will have to dig out of:

How NFL’s expected $224.8M salary cap will impact the Chargers in 2023

The #Chargers are overextended by more than $20 million after the NFL finalized its $224.8 million cap number earlier this week

The Los Angeles Chargers have some important decisions to make over the course of the next several months, and their salary cap numbers will have a huge impact on their financial mobility moving forward.

According to Sportrac’s numbers, the Chargers have contract commitments that put them about $20 million over the cap threshold ahead of the offseason, which will severely limit their ability to make enticing offers to free agents in March.

Heading into the final year of Justin Herbert’s rookie deal, this dearth of cap space could also keep the team from extending their phenom quarterback before the start of the 2023 regular season.

While there is plenty of money to be gained back by restructuring some of the more bloated contracts they have on their books, namely those of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, their situation relative to the cap is certainly less than ideal.

General manager Tom Telesco will need to reach deep into his bag of tricks to find ways to relieve some of the strain that currently characterizes the Chargers’ cap situation, and if he can’t it could affect Los Angeles’ ability to field a competitive team for years to come.

 

Report: NFL wants financial issues settled with NFLPA before Chiefs rookies begin workouts

Sunday could be the unofficial deadline for the NFL and NFLPA solving issues of a revenue shortfall.

The NFL wants to get financial issues settled with the NFLPA ahead of Sunday when Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans rookies are now scheduled to begin strength and conditioning training. According to a new report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL is motivated to get come to an agreement before Sunday.

Pelissero says there isn’t an official deadline for the NFL and NFLPA to come to an agreement on outstanding financial issues related to a projected revenue shortfall during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunday could potentially act as an unofficial deadline of sorts.

The NFL is projected to lose billions of dollars due to the pandemic and could lose even more if they had to cancel regular-season games. The NFL maintains that teams and players should account for any shortfall against the salary cap in the next two seasons. The NFLPA is advising its members that they should spread the hit out over the life of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That choice would have the revenue shortfall impact the salary cap slightly for the next 11 years.

According to Pelissero’s report, if no agreement occurs before Sunday, the NFL is within its rights to tell teams to continue virtual work indefinitely. That’d mean Chiefs rookies might not be able to get started on strength and conditioning work. Pelissero also says that NFL players are unable to strike or hold a lockout due to a clause within the CBA.

The NFL and NFLPA have a pretty big gap to close on this issue. The owners feel like they’re handing out an interest-free loan to players if they go with the NFLPA’s suggestion. The players feel like NFL teams would be unable to pay talent if the salary cap took such a big hit in 2021 and 2022. Right now, there are no signs of either side budging on the respective opinions of how they should handle financials moving forward.

Buckle up for a potential standoff over this issue as we inch closer to what appears to be an unofficial deadline.

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