Tag: sean murphy-bunting

Contract details, salary cap breakdown for CB Sean Murphy-Bunting

A look at the details of the three-year contract the Arizona Cardinals are giving to cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.

During a whirlwind of action on the first day of the NFL free agent negotiation period Monday, there were close to 100 players league-wide that agreed to terms on contracts to either change teams or stay where they were.

The unofficial count on Day 1 was 59 players changing teams and 36 agreeing to re-sign.

One that found a new team was cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who left the Tennessee Titans and agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

Original reports pegged the deal as worth $25.5 million with $18.5 million guaranteed. The total value is correct, but the guarantees are different.

Sean Murphy-Bunting contract details

Including a $6 million signing bonus, $14.195 million is fully guaranteed at signing, while another $3.195 million is guaranteed only for injury.

The base salaries in the contract are $3.695 million this year, $7.695 million in 2025 and $7.195 million in 2026.

This year’s salary is guaranteed as well as $4.5 million of his 2025 salary. That $3.195 million injury-only guarantee becomes fully guaranteed if Murphy-Bunting is on the roster on the third day of the 2025 league year.

Also included in the contract are $15,000 per-game roster bonuses for a maximum total of $255,000 each year. There are also $50,000 offseason workout bonuses each year.

Salary cap implications

Most important are the salary-cap charges each year. Those are $5.955 million in 2024, $10 million in 2025 and $9.5 million in 2026. The cap charges total only $24.455 million because he played in 14 games in 2023 and the additional three games are considered unlikely to be earned.

If Murphy-Bunting plays in more than 14 games during the 2024 season, the additional money will be charged against the 2025 cap. If he plays fewer than 14 games, the Cardinals will receive a credit in 2025.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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CB Sean Murphy-Bunting getting 3-year deal from Cardinals

The three-year deal is worth $17.4 million.

Last offseason, the Arizona Cardinals did not give any free agent a contract longer than two years. Things are different this offseason.

The Cardinals’ first reported addition in free agency was former Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. According to Avi Meirov, the deal is three years and worth $17.4 million.

Murphy played on a one-year, $3.5 million contract last season with the Titans.

It will take a few days to get more details about the contract, but it is an average of $5.8 million per season, which is a pretty reasonable deal for a decent starting cornerback in the league.

In 2023 for the Titans, Murphy-Bunting played in 14 games, starting all of them, and had 57 total tackles, three for loss, two interceptions, eight pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals adding CB Sean Murphy-Bunting

Murphy-Bunting played last season for the Titans and picked off two passes. He immediately projects as their No. 1 cornerback.

The Arizona Cardinals’ first outside move in free agency gets them a starting cornerback. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Cardinals have agreed to terms with cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting who played last season for the Tennessee Titans.

The length and value of the deal were not immediately reported.

Murphy-Bunting has been in the league for five seasons. Drafted in the second round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, he played four seasons there before signing a one-year, $3.5 million deal to play for Tennessee.

Last season, he played in and started 14 games, logging 57 tackles, two interceptions, eight pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

He immediately projects as the Cardinals’ No. 1 cornerback in a room that includes four players who were rookies in 2023.

If this is anything like the Cardinals did last offseason, it is probably a one or two-year deal.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Ex-Titans CB Sean Murphy-Bunting agrees to terms with Cardinals

Titans pending free-agent CB Sean Murphy-Bunting has reportedly agreed to terms with the Cardinals.

The Tennessee Titans will not be retaining cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting in 2024, as the veteran has reportedly agreed to terms with the Arizona Cardinals in free agency.

The news comes from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The deal is for three years and $25.5 million, which is a significant boost in pay from the one-year, $5 million deal Murphy-Bunting got from the Titans in 2023.

I’m good with the Titans not paying that.

SMB was inked to be the Titans’ No. 2 cornerback opposite Kristian Fulton. He had an OK season and was a serviceable No. 2 option, but he also had his fair share of lapses in coverage and backbreaking penalties.

With SMB now on his way to the desert, the Titans have a pair of starting cornerback spots to fill, as Fulton is also expected to leave Nashville.

The Titans reportedly have Cincinnati Bengals pending free agent cornerback Chidobe Awuzie at the top of their list of free-agent targets, so he’s one possible solution.

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What Titans should do with pending free agents on defense

Our thoughts on what the Titans should do with their 13 pending free agents on defense.

The Tennessee Titans have a grand total of 26 pending free agents to make decisions on during the 2024 offseason, and 13 of of those come from the defensive side of the ball, which is now headed by new defensive coordinator, Dennard Wilson.

While Tennessee’s defense no doubt had its issues in 2023, it was easily the more consistent unit, with the team’s pass-rush standing out the most. That was crucial because of how poorly the secondary played.

The biggest notch on the Titans’ belt on defense in 2023 was the fact that the unit finished as the No. 1 red-zone defense in the NFL.

The Titans have a slew of needs to address on the defensive side of the ball, but some of those can be filled simply by bringing back some of their own pending free agents.

Let’s take a look at who the Titans’ 13 pending free agents on defense are and we’ll share our verdict for what Tennessee should do with them, whether that be re-sign them or let them walk.

Note: Defensive free agents list is courtesy of Over the Cap.

Sean Murphy-Bunting tabbed as a “perfect fit” for Vikings by ESPN

The Vikings could be on the market for cornerbacks in free agency and ESPN’s Matt Bowen thinks Sean Murphy-Bunting could be the perfect fit.

The Minnesota Vikings’ defense was much improved in 2023, but there are still some holes that need to be addressed. The Vikings are also facing the prospect of losing several key free agents when the NFL’s free agency period opens up in mid-March. One of the positions the team could be looking to upgrade, either through free agency or the NFL Draft, is cornerback, and ESPN’s Matt Bowen has a perfect fit for the Vikings at that spot: Sean Murphy-Bunting.

Bowen has tabbed the Vikings as the perfect landing spot for the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans cornerback, saying:

I originally had Murphy-Bunting to Arizona here, but I believe the Vikings will be seeking some corners for Brian Flores’ aggressive system, and he’d work well in Minnesota. With his long frame and fluid hips, Murphy-Bunting can challenge on the outside or match in blitz coverage. He has eight interceptions and 22 pass breakups over five pro seasons, with two picks in 2023 in Tennessee.

Bunting would seem to be a great fit for the scheme that defensive coordinator Brian Flores wants to run with the Vikings. He would also be a clear upgrade at the position. But with this year’s draft being strong at the cornerback position, is general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah going to want to spend the resources to sign a high-profile free agent when he could grab a rookie on a much cheaper deal?

Minnesota has the 11th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, and they could be in a prime position to draft someone like Iowa’s Cooper DeJean, Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, or Clemson’s Nate Wiggins, all of whom would provide the Vikings with the upgrade they’re looking for while committing less money to the position.

With limited resources to spend in free agency and guys like Danielle Hunter and Kirk Cousins also set to hit the market, that’s a concern Adofo-Mensah is going to need to balance.

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Titans’ list of dead cap hits before making roster cuts

The Titans currently lead the league in dead money and could add to that total if they make cuts.

As the Tennessee Titans attempted to keep a winning team on the field in recent years, they’ve gotten into the business of adding void years to the contracts of free agents they sign and players they restructure.

As a result, it has led to the team having no shortage of dead money over the last two offseasons. One year after landing in the top 10 in that category, the Titans currently sit with the most dead cap in the NFL at $31.8 million, per Over the Cap, which is $7 million more than any other team.

Lest we forget, Tennessee hasn’t made any cuts yet, something the team is expected to do with at least one player in left tackle Andre Dillard. So, the dead money figure will go up.

A notable deadline passed for the Titans recently. The team had until Monday to extend players with void years in their contracts, which would have given Tennessee the opportunity to push the money into future years.

Instead, Tennessee did not extend any of the players on that list, which included running back Derrick Henry, quarterback Ryan Tannehill, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and cornerback Sean Murphy Bunting.

The Titans can still re-sign any of the four (Tannehill is the only one with zero shot to return), but now the aforementioned void year money will be tacked on to the 2024 salary cap on top of whatever the team pays them should Tennessee decide to bring any of them back.

But those four players aren’t the only ones who will account for dead money in 2024. Here’s a look at the entire list and how much each are on the books for, according to Over the Cap.

Titans named best fit for pair of top-50 pending free agents

While the Titans were named the best fit for two notable pending free agents from other teams, they were not named the best fit for two of their own.

The Tennessee Titans are facing a rebuild this offseason but can get a great jump start on it thanks to the wealth of cap space and pair of top-40 draft selections the team has.

After having financial constraints last offseason, the Titans are set to have about $65.2 million in cap space this offseason, per Over the Cap, which is the fourth-most in the NFL.

That’s based on a salary cap figure of $242 million, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports it could go as high as $250 million. The league hasn’t revealed what the number will actually be yet.

Bear in mind, Tennessee can open up more cap space by making cuts, of which there is expected to be at least one with left tackle Andre Dillard.

Three of Tennessee’s biggest needs are at left tackle, wide receiver and cornerback.

In a recent article naming the best fit for each of ESPN’s top-50 free agents, Matt Bowen named the Titans as ideal landing spots for two of them, while also naming other teams as best fits for two of Tennessee’s own free agents.

Here’s a look at what Bowen had to say about each of them and some of our thoughts.

Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent cornerbacks

Top cornerbacks entering free agency in the 2024 offseason

The Carolina Panthers have lacked cornerback depth for a few seasons now. Will this be the offseason where they finally address it?

Here are the top 12 free-agent cornerbacks of 2024:

Titans offseason preview at CB: Pending free agents, biggest needs

What should the Titans do at cornerback in 2024? We take a look at that and more in our latest offseason preview.

The Tennessee Titans had a tough year in coverage in 2023, leading to their sporting the No. 18 pass defense in the NFL.

The biggest problem? The play from the cornerbacks.

While slot cornerback Roger McCreary was consistently good, the rest of the cornerbacks room was not.

Kristian Fulton managed to stay healthy before landing on season-ending injured reserve but his play was riddled with poor coverage and terrible penalties.

Sean Murphy-Bunting was better than Fulton, for sure, but was not immune to boneheaded penalties and lapses in coverage. He did do enough, however, to be considered a candidate to be re-signed.

As far as the backups were concerned, Tre Avery was exposed when out there for extended periods of time, and UDFA Eric Garror was quietly oosted impressive numbers in coverage.

So, what do the Titans need to do at cornerback this offseason? We take a look at that and much more in our latest offseason preview.

All contract statuses are courtesy of Over the Cap.