Tag: formula

Free agents the Chiefs can sign who don’t count against compensatory pick formula

There are already a number of free agents that the #Chiefs can sign who won’t count against the compensatory pick formula for 2024.

The Kansas City Chiefs could find themselves playing a game within the game of free agency this year.

Orlando Brown Jr., Mecole Hardman and Juan Thornhill are all expected to have robust markets when free agency opens next week. It’s very possible that all three of the players sign lucrative contracts that qualify toward the compensatory pick formula in 2024. If that’s the case, Chiefs GM Brett Veach will likely look to avoid signing compensable free agents who cancel out any compensatory picks earned.

In order to avoid sitting on their hands too long, the Chiefs could prioritize adding from the pool of players who have been released as salary cap casualties. Right now, that list includes 20 players and it could grow even larger by Wednesday, March 15.

Below is an up-to-date list of the players who’ve been released:

2022 NFL comp picks deadline is near, clearing the next Saints offseason hurdle

The New Orleans Saints are will clear the next hurdle of their offseason with protections for 2022 NFL draft compensatory picks in place.

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The ink is still setting on the 2021 NFL draft picks but eyes are already looking towards 2022. And the Saints expect to be bigger players in next year’s draft than they were in the latest cycle, owing to their full compliment of picks plus a few compensatory selections. And with the NFL’s calendar continuing to move along, veteran free agents can be signed without impacting the comp pick formula beginning 3 p.m. CT on Monday, May 3.

That’s big news for New Orleans. The Saints have already locked in a comp pick next year for personnel executive Terry Fontenot (a third rounder), and Over The Cap’s experts project them to receive two more selections for defensive end Trey Hendrickson (fourth round) and interior rusher Sheldon Rankins (sixth round). We won’t know the exact placements until the NFL announces them next spring, but if all goes as expected the Saints could go into the 2022 draft with six picks in the first four rounds.

It clears another hurdle for the Saints’ offseason plan. They do need to make other moves to free up salary cap space so they can go sign more players — after adding 17 rookies between their draft class and undrafted free agent signings, they’ve filled 79 of 90 offseason roster spots — and that can be done with long-term extensions for highly-paid veterans like Ryan Ramczyk ($11 million cap hit), Marcus Williams $10.6 million), and Marshon Lattimore ($10.2 million). Here’s hoping one or two of those deals can be worked out soon.

As for which players the Saints could target after their 2022 comp picks are protected: Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman didn’t sound optimistic about a fit in New Orleans after the team traded up to Paulson Adebo in the third round, though he should be an option; other veteran corners still unsigned include ex-Charger Casey Heyward and former Steeler Steven Nelson. The Saints could also bring back Ken Crawley.

Keep an eye on other position groups, too. Receivers waiting for calls range from Golden Tate and Danny Amendola to Damiere Byrd and Dede Westbrook. They’re on the older side, but the Saints could use a defensive tackle with NFL experience like Geno Atkins, Kawann Short, Jurrell Casey, or Sheldon Richardson. Big-money deals have dried up across the board, so some veteran players are going to have to sign for beneath their market value just to continue playing in 2021.

The Saints still have some boxes to check off as their retool their roster ahead of training camp later this summer. They also have more hurdles to clear before they can do that. But it’s good to see they have options.

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SEC coaches express frustration over lack of transparency, per sources

The beef seemingly stems from the selection process for the 2 non-divisional teams assigned to each school to fill out the 10-game schedule.

All is not well in the land of the Southeastern Conference as the league continues to sort out how it will handle playing its football schedule amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic.

National college football reporter Pete Thamel for Yahoo! Sports tweeted the following on Friday afternoon.

“Sources: The SEC coaches call on Thursday became contentious. At least five SEC coaches expressed frustration over the lack of transparency regarding the inability to produce a “formula” for how the two additional league opponents were chosen.”

The beef, it seems, stems from the selection process for the two non-divisional teams assigned to each school to fill out the 10-game schedule. Apparently, based on what Thamel reported on Twitter, the protocol — or lack thereof — led to a situation where the picks were made arbitrarily, rather than using a “formula” that would evenly distribute the teams.

So far, it appears that the SEC is on track to conduct its conference-only season but nothing has been set in stone just yet. The news of in-fighting within the conference certainly puts an added wrinkle to the uncertainty surrounding Florida’s, the SEC’s and the nation’s college football season this fall.

Answering five major questions facing Florida Gators fans

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The clock is ticking on a Saints compensatory draft pick for Eli Apple

The Saints projected to receive a compensatory draft pick in 2021 after Eli Apple left, but he’s a free agent again before the NFL deadline.

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We were so close to the New Orleans Saints reversing a decades-long trend when it comes to compensatory draft picks. Usually too active in adding free agents to qualify, the Saints finally lost more than they gained in the 2020 offseason following the departures of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, linebacker A.J. Klein, safety Vonn Bell, and cornerback Eli Apple.

When matched against the addition of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, that left the Saints with a +3 value in Over The Cap’s cancellation chart, projecting them to receive three compensatory picks in the 2021 draft. That would mean an extra selection in the third round (for Bridgewater) and a pair of sixth-round picks (for Bell and Apple, having lost another one by signing Sanders).

But Apple’s verbal agreement with the Las Vegas Raiders fell apart before he could put pen to paper, and he’s still a free agent. That cost the Saints a possible sixth-round pick in next year’s draft, and if he doesn’t sign with a new team at a comparable salary before the NFL’s deadline, they won’t get anything back for him.

The new collective bargaining agreement stipulates that veteran free agents may only qualify for the compensatory draft pick formula until 4 p.m. ET on the Monday following the draft; that puts this year’s deadline on April 27. With the first round of the draft set to begin on Thursday night, odds are slim that Apple will land with a new team before the deadline.

That means the Saints swapped a 2019 fourth-round pick and their seventh rounder in 2020 for just 27 games with Apple (including the playoffs). He was just as inconsistent in New Orleans as he was with the New York Giants, the team that drafted him, but Apple’s brightest moments far surpassed those with his first team.

So where does he go next? He might face a more active market after the draft, once teams around the league will have had an opportunity to address their needs at the position. If they weren’t able to do so, Apple should receive more interest as one of the few starting-quality options available.

But if he doesn’t get any offers to his liking, could a reunion with the Saints be in the cards? Stranger things have happened. Apple has said before that he enjoyed his experience in New Orleans, playing with old Ohio State teammates like Marshon Lattimore, and he would offer great depth behind Lattimore and Janoris Jenkins (who he also played with in New York).

But Apple’s best shot at a big NFL payday might come after he proves he can turn in 16 strong games as a starter, and he shouldn’t expect that sort of opportunity with the Saints this year.

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