Monday Minute: Getting Under The Cap Edition 3/8/21
There was a lot of roster news this week, but sadly there isn't a larger topic that I would like to go in-depth about. I am also surprised that we only have 1 franchise tag placed (and another is strongly expected) so far with the deadline being Tuesday. Keep in mind, if there is any news that comes out Monday morning (I expect we will start to hear teams placing tags) I won't be reporting on it this week because I always complete these articles the night prior.
With all of that being said, let's dive into the news on this week's Monday Minute.
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Let's start with the Franchise Tags that I mentioned. FS Justin Simmons of the Denver Broncos will be staying put in Vic Fangio's defense. If you read my Franchise Tag article almost 2 weeks ago then this move isn't really too surprising. I put a medium chance on it because I expected a long-term deal would already be in place. But I knew Simmons would be playing in Denver in 2021. This is his 2nd tag in a row, but the price is still very affordable at $13.7M because safeties don't get paid well for whatever reason.
The 2nd tag technically hasn't been applied yet, but OT Taylor Moton won't be hitting free agency in 2021. The Panthers are strongly expected to give him the tag as he has developed into a top 10 RT and will only be 27 this season. I'm interested to see if they apply the exclusive franchise or non-exclusive as that will make a pay difference and also determine if another team can attempt to sign him to an offer sheet. Regardless, I expect these two parties will try to bang out a long-term deal between now and July, when the deadline for doing so comes around.
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I mentioned it in Friday's article but Big Ben has restructured his deal in Pittsburgh. There is a lot to this but I want to clear something up. There is a difference between a players cap hit and what the player is going to be paid. Big Ben had a $42M cap hit in 2020 prior to his restructure; however, he was only going to be making $19M in salary ($15M roster bonus and $4M base salary non-guaranteed). Due to a restructure in 2020, they pushed a large amount of money to the 2021 cap and that is what resulted in the $42M cap hit. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up.
The Steelers and Ben ended up coming together to restructure his deal again in 2021, but this time in a positive way for the team and Ben. Ben took a $5M pay cut from his roster bonus and then spread the rest out over 4 years. Essentially, the Steelers will be paying Ben $2.5M each year from 2022-2025. But there are 2 VERY IMPORTANT details about this. First, his contract still expires after the 2021 season, so they will be paying him that money each season once he has retired or left the team. Second, for salary cap purposes, all of that $2.5M x 4 seasons is compounded onto next year's cap. So in 2022, the Steelers already have a $10M dead cap hit for Ben. All in all, the dummy/voided years with a signing bonus applied to them are going to be popular with the cap going down. This is probably a best-case scenario for both sides. Ben still gets paid $14M and the team reduces his cap hit by approximately $15M.
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Before we get too far into the weeds on all of the restructures and releases over the past week I want to talk about a couple players on the trade block.
RT Trent Brown of the Oakland Raiders was officially put on the trade block as I noted in Friday's article. Trent is one of the top 5 biggest players in the NFL weighing in over 360 lbs. He came over to the Raiders from the Patriots and previously the 49ers. AKA he has moved around quite a bit and hasn't been with a team longer than 3 years. He is entering his age 28 season but has missed 16 games over the last 2 years. It is expected that the team will retain him if they do not get an adequate offer for him. It intrigues me how much he has been perceived as a Pro Bowler and top player at the position that he may be moving to a new team again.
Another player that may be on the trade block, WR Mike Williams. The Chargers are unsure of their plans for the 2022 free agent. If they outright cut him right now they would save over $15M which would be enough to help bolster their OL or just get a better WR. Would any team give up an asset for a player that hasn't really broken out and pay him $15M? I've seen flashes from Mike Williams that are worthy of his top 5 selection in the 2017 draft, but they have been nowhere near consistent enough to be paid that type of money. If I am the Chargers, I ask him if he wants to get an extension for 1 year that will basically spread that $15M over 2 seasons or I cut him.
There has been absolutely no movement on the trade markets for the QBs. Marcus Mariota, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, or Jimmy G. The only thing that I will note is that it has been reported that the #1 QB on the Patriots list this offseason is Jimmy G. Whether that deal gets done is probably reliant on the 49ers getting a QB of their own to replace him, and that seems unrealistic.
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Alright, let's get into these cap casualties!
Let's start with the Saints who did a lot of work this week. Starting with releasing their top 2 TEs on the depth chart Jared Cook and Josh Hill. There is some good news in the fantasy community though. The Saints drafted TE Adam Trautman out of Dayton in the 3rd round last year and he looks like he is going to be a fine player. I am excited to draft him in the 15th round and have him flounder because of poor QB play. The Saints also released their longtime punter Thomas Morstead. Morstead finally had a down year after years of Pro Bowl quality play, and as the top-paid player at the position, he knew his time was up. You can't be paying $4M+ to a punter anyway. Finally, the Saints restructured the contracts of LB Demario Davis and EDGE Cam Jordan. By far two of the most underrated defensive players in the league, both of them are over the age of 30 and these moves will make it harder to move on to them in the future if they so choose. The restructures saved the team $13M, but the team is still $48M over the cap.
The Giants made a couple moves this week releasing both WR Golden Tate and LB David Mayo. David was mostly a special teams savant but Golden Tate was brought in immediately after Odell Beckham was traded to Cleveland. I don't expect the team thought Tate could match OBJs production, but nonetheless the media pegged it that way. The Giants WR room was put together rather weirdly since Odell was traded. They have Tate and Sterling Shephard who aren't the biggest guys and Darius Slayton who is a deep threat option but relies on speed rather than size. Really they don't have anyone that can win a jump ball besides TE Evan Engram who is constantly hurt. The Giants are reportedly in the WR market this offseason so we will see how much the $6M in cap savings does them. They are only $6M under the cap at the moment.
On top of Trent Brown being on the trade market, the Raiders released both of their starting Offensive Guards, Gabe Jackson and Richie Incognito. There are rumors that the team wants to bring Richie back at a reduced salary, so we will see what happens there. Richie will be 38 this season but has said he wants to continue playing. He still is posting 80+ grades on PFF. Gabe had 2 seasons left on his contract but cost nothing to cut him. His PFF grades were not as high as Richie's but will find a job in 2021 as he has put together quality play for years and is only 30. Their releases saved the team $15M and the Raiders are now under the cap by $10M.
The Lions are releasing starting CB Desmond Trufant one year after signing him. The move saves them $6M and puts 1st round pick CB Jeff Okudah as the #1 CB on the team. The Lions are going to be less than $1M over the cap once this move takes place.
Comeback Player of the Year, QB Alex Smith was released saving the team $14.7M. It sounds like Alex asked for his release because Washington wasn't going to let him compete for a starting job, so it doesn't sound like he will be retiring. Alex is turning 37 this year and is lucky to be alive considering his injury and the surgeries that followed. If he does continue playing, I don't expect it will be as a starter. Jacksonville makes the most sense as he was Urban Meyer's QB at Utah oh so long ago and he can mentor young Trevor Lawrence. Washington joins 3 other teams with over $50M in cap space.
TE Kyle Rudolph (Vikings) and LB Kyle Van Noy (Dolphins) were released on the same day last week as all Kyle's around the world shuddered. Rudolph's release opens the door for former 1st round pick TE Irv Smith Jr to take the mantle. It saved the team $5M and leaves the team $3M over the cap. Van Noy's release saved the team $10M and I expect his role will be filled by someone in free agency. He was a productive player when healthy but I think the team already has their eye (a possible deal already in place) for a cheaper replacement alongside LB Andrew Van Ginkel. KVN technically is still on the team as they try to find a trade partner for him, but it is unlikely they find one.
RB David Johnson was in the final year of his contract with the Texans and the team gave him a choice. Be released or restructure your deal. His cap hit was $8.5M before they gave him a modified pay cut. DJ was only slated to bank $2.1M guaranteed but could have earned more with his base salary. His new contract guarantees him $4.5M but he can only make a maximum of $6M. Essentially, the team gave him more money guaranteed but lowered his overall cash number potential and cap hit. He will still be a free agent after this season. The move saved the team only a few million off the cap and they have $16M in room right now.
The Eagles also made a couple of moves this week, restructuring CB Darius Slay and re-signing C Jason Kelce to an augmented deal similar to Big Ben. First, CB Darius Slay did a restructure which created $9M in cap space this season but is going to give him $20M+ cap hits in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, they added 2 dummy years at the end of his contract so in 2024, he will cost the team $4.5M when he isn't on the team. For Kelce, the restructure was similar to Ben's in that he was signed for 2021 only so they just needed to get that cap hit down this year and add dummy years later. His cap hit was supposed to be $9M this year and Kelce will be making $9M in 2021, but his cap hit this season has shrunk to $4M. The Eagles will be paying Kelce $15M from 2022-2024 as he enjoys his retirement. The team is still $34M over the cap.
Help is coming to the Detroit Lions. WR Tyrell Williams signed with the team on a 1-year $6.2M deal after being cut by the Raiders just last week. I am sure this deal is very incentive-based because his play hasn't lived up to this much money. Tyrell is the best WR on the team at the moment though, unless WR Kenny Golladay gets tagged or signs a long-term deal. Also in Detroit, there has been chatter that the team has received trade offers for backup QB Chase Daniel. Chase is a perennial backup and will continue to be, but is seen as a great bridge QB and has 2-years $10M left on his deal (very affordable for a backup QB).
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The final 2 notes in this article aren't too important but are worth noting. I mentioned last week about Von Miller being a potential cut for the Denver Broncos but there were legal issues surrounding him. It turns out that there will be no charges brought to him. The team only has about a week to work out a restructured deal, cut him, or exercise the club option. I'm sure I'll have something to report in next weeks big Free Agency Monday Minute. Like I said previously, I don't think the team will keep him at this current number and he will need to be cut or restructured to stay. Their GM wants to keep him though.
Not really NFL related but still kind of is... Tom Brady's Rookie Card sold for $1.32M this past week. I'm not really big into the whole sports card scene but it is absolutely blowing up. That is a record for football cards and is also larger than the veteran minimum salary in the NFL.
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TOP 10 College Basketball Teams
- Baylor
- Gonzaga
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Virginia
- Ohio St
- Alabama
- Houston
- Loyola-Chicago
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Would you be interested in a March Madness preview article (even though I am going to do one either way)? Let me know in the comments or at @KyleTheCommish on Twitter.
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