Monday Minute: 'What Do We Do Now' Edition - 2/15/21

So how many times did you all cry this week because of no football? I lost count after the 26th time personally. Bucs fans were busy celebrating and will be for the next month or so before Free Agency starts. They deserve it. The real ones anyway. Such a great organization run by amazing people. I feel warm thinking about how happy they must all be. But for the other 31 team fan bases... what next? WHAT DO WE DO NOW??? 'For the first time in forever, I finally understand' that these GMs and teams aren't silent until March. We have seen an unprecedented amount of trade buzz and trade requests from players of all shapes and sizes. We have already started to see some notable (by name) players released from their teams for cap space purposes. This isn't the end. This is the beginning.

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Let's start from where the intro paragraph ended. We have had 2 very notable past All-Pro level players cut this week and another player all in the past week. Going from smallest to biggest name, G Nick Easton from the Saints. He was expendable because in the last 2 drafts the Saints have selected G/C Cesar Ruiz and C Erik McCoy in the top 2 rounds. Both are younger, cheaper and are arguably more talented. Easy $6M saved for New Orleans. Before we get into the other 2 players, I wanted to mention the Drew Brees salary cap situation. I mentioned in my article on the NFC South that NO and Brees could agree to restructure his contract so the Saints would be able to save $24M. They did so and have already saved $30M of the $107M they were over the cap. Baby steps. (Also I'm not sure how I missed Nick Easton as an easy player to cut. Kinda pissed at myself.) 

Another restructure I want to mention, the Packers have saved $8M of the $28M they are over the cap by converting David Bakhtiari's roster bonus into a signing bonus. Little things like restructures are ways you can manipulate the cap, but that restructure means the Packers will owe him $2.75M more each year over the next few years. The Saints and Eagles did a lot of this and are in cap hell because of it. (I am happy that I nailed that I expected to see some restructures in GB. There aren't many good contracts to cut up there.)

Continuing on with the players that were released. CB AJ Bouye has travelled around a bit since his breakout year in 2016 with Houston. After that season, he signed a huge deal in Jacksonville and was there for 3 seasons. He was then traded to Denver last offseason and they just released him saving over $13M in cap space. AJ is going to be 30 this upcoming season and it seems based on his 2020 season that his best years are behind him. He will get a job somewhere on a 1-year deal, but I don't expect anything over $5M in this economy. He will miss the first 2 games of the 2021 season due to a suspension.

Finally, the one everyone has talked about... EDGE JJ Watt. This was expected if you have read my previous articles. His release does 3 things. 1) It saves the Texans $17.5M off the cap. Which gets the team to right at the expected cap, maybe a little bit in the black. 2) It gives JJ the ability to pick the team that he wants to go to right away. JJ has an advantage over most other FAs in that he can sign with a team today if he wanted to. That gives him a headstart and he may be able to get some more money. Also with other FA EDGEs having to wait until March, he will get his pick of the lot. 3) It begins the Texans rebuild. We knew this was probably coming, but this officially tells me that they are going to reset. Additionally, this is a bit of a PR move. The Texans 100% could have gotten a Day 3 Draft pick for Watt. The issue would be that Watt would not be as happy with the trading process vs him being able to sign where he pleases. The Texans want to appear as nice to everyone as possible so Deshaun may somehow change his mind (spoiler alert: he isn't changing his mind).

Last thing before we get into Trade Rumor Central... QB Taylor Heinecke signed an incentive-laden 2-year $8.75M contract with the Washington Football Team. I say incentive-laden because $4M is tied up into performance or playing time incentives. Additionally, this contract only has just over $1M in guaranteed money. This could be a 1-year $3M contract if he is cut after this season and doesn't receive any incentives.

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Trade Rumor Central

I want to start with the trade that I think is almost certain to happen, which is really unfortunate. Carson Wentz has two real pursuers in the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts. Last week, I told you about a report from an Eagles radio host that said a Bears deal was almost certain to happen and that Nick Foles, Tarik Cohen and a 1st Rd pick would be going back. That made no sense to me on many levels. However, there has been some respectable sources saying that the Colts have indeed offered 2 2nd Rd Picks for Carson. The Eagles seem to be holding out for a 1st round pick, but with this information out there I don't think the Bears can offer a 1st round pick anymore. They can certainly offer the same exact deal, though (the Bears offer would be accepted over the Colts because they pick at 20 instead of 21). There are rumblings that a future 1st and a current 3rd Rd pick would also get the deal done. The issue here is that Carson no doubt knows he is being shopped around. He already had issues with the Front Office with Foles and now Hurts. This relationship is damaged to the point of no return and a trade is inevitable, which makes the Eagles bargaining power even less than before. I think we may hear that this trade has been accepted within the week. For Carson's sake... I hope he goes to Indy where he will be in a smaller market but with an OL, team, and coaching staff that is ready to win now.

RT Orlando Brown Jr (Baltimore Ravens) is the newest player to formally request a trade. I mentioned this in my AFC North article, but this is very interesting. He seems to want to play LT not because of money, but because of legacy. Orlando Brown Sr was a mainstay at the RT position for the Baltimore Ravens for 6 of his 9 (hehe) seasons in the late 90s/early 2000s. Sr recognized the importance of the LT position and groomed his son to play on the left side. The Ravens, in both Sr and Jr's time, had a premier talent at the LT position... Johnathan Ogden and Ronnie Stanley. Amazing symmetry, to be honest, some things are just meant to be. But no... Jr requested a trade to play on the left side. He will no doubt create heavy interest as the last time a really good LT was on the market, he went for 2 1st Rd picks and a 2nd Rd pick. By no means am I suggesting Brown is as good as Tunsil, but I am saying that LTs are not made available for trade for a reason. The other example of a starting LT to be traded recently is Trent Williams to the 49ers for a 5th and future 3rd Rd pick. The Ravens should easily get a 1st round pick plus. This trade is something that I expect will happen prior to the Draft. Also just to be cheeky, 31 teams have a right-handed QB where the LT is the blindside protector, Tua is the only lefty in the league. I assume he wants to play Left Tackle no matter what, but maybe blindside protector is what he actually means.

The latest QB to be added to the carousel of trade rumors is... *picks a name from a hat* Russell Wilson! No that won't happen, let me put that back... *picks a new name* is... Russell... Wilson. Teams have been calling the Seahawks about their all-world QB because Russ has made clear about his unhappiness that the team has not successfully protected him throughout his career. I'd be kinda upset if I got hit at all on a football field, but Russ does get hit a lot more than what makes sense given his mobility. Russ has not requested a trade and I don't expect a divorce to happen (because last time I checked I haven't fallen down a golf hole and gotten sucked into the Looney Tunes universe). He has informed the Dan Patrick show and likely Seahawks management about how he would like a seat at the table in terms of roster management. Who knows how much he wants to be involved but to some level he wants that respect that comes with it. Most players accept their respect in the bank, but some players like Russ believe that they have earned this right and I don't disagree. The QB is the face of the organization and if you have a guy like a Rodgers, Russ, Brady, etc, and they aren't going anywhere, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Like I said, I don't think anything will come of this and it is just Russ blowing off some steam, but it is out in the universe now so who knows what will happen.

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I have a couple of closing notes I'd like to at least comment on in this article.

You all know I hate Tom Brady. 7 Super Bowl rings in 10 attempts is enough ok... just leave, please. Some of you may also know I'm not a big drinker. But I will say people need to lay off Tom and the Bucs organization and fans for celebrating a god damn Super Bowl with alcohol. I assume that all of the people on boats were tested for COVID prior to being allowed on these vessels, but in a celebration of this magnitude as long as no one is driving or hurting each other, game on. The last thing on this, Brady's daughter was the only sensible person the entire day. "DAD NOOOO", as Tom throws the Lombardi from boat to boat. I 100% am his daughter in that situation... but the catch and some of those photos are really epic.

I wanted to quickly mention Trevor Lawrence's Pro Day. He will be selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 1st pick. That's all.

In all seriousness, people unfamiliar with the offseason schedule may not have noticed but Pro Days are normally much later on the calendar. Most are in March so this was very early by normal standards. In Trevor's case, he had his Pro Day early so he could have surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, so he would be ready for a full offseason with the Jags. He looked good at his Pro Day, but throwing against the air in shorts really should be a cakewalk for any college QB. 

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TOP 10 2021 Free Agents

Now that the season is over I won't have any game recaps until September. (Side note: If I am still writing then I won't be doing game recaps for every game. I did that for the playoffs specifically.) So I wanted to come up with a new concept for something fun to look forward to in these Monday Minute "recap" type articles. So I will be doing a Top 10 List every single week. The topic could be on anything football related and I might even sprinkle in a few non-football related topics as well. Anywhere, here is my list for the Top 10 2021 Free Agents. (Ranking based on who I would pay the most per year while factoring in age and importance of position)

1. OT Trent Williams
2. WR Allen Robinson
3. EDGE Shaq Barrett
4. S Justin Simmons
5. EDGE Yannick Ngakoue
6. WR Chris Godwin
7. WR Kenny Golladay
8. G Brandon Scherff
9. EDGE JJ Watt
10. C Corey Linsley

Dak was not counted for this list because he will be a Cowboy.

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What would you like to see me make a Top 10 for next week? Let me know in the comments or at @KyleTheCommish on Twitter.