How NFL’s salary cap changed free agency, winners of the week and more
How the lowered salary cap changed NFL free agency negotiations, the biggest winners of the past week and more.
Following a COVID-impacted season unlike the NFL had ever seen, there were plenty of constraints on teams as free agency began, thanks to the lowest salary cap in years.
Several marquee agents say that during the first two weeks of free agency, it is easy to see that the $182.5 million salary cap this offseason dramatically changed the way that teams are operating.
“Teams are crying poor,” one agent tells FanSided was the biggest change he’s seen from recent years. “And that’s resulting in a decimated ‘middle class’ of deals.”
The league and the NFLPA moved forward with this league year beginning as scheduled, one day before signing a $110 billion broadcast rights package, thus isolating the pain from lost attendance revenue from 2020 into one offseason.
“Lots of veterans were forced to sign bonus minimum deals,” said one league source. “As a result of how this offseason played out, that’s a $910,000 contract with up to $137,500 in signing bonus that only counts half against the cap. That’s one way teams have gotten around the lower cap.”
As many expected, free agency has been a lesson in haves and have-nots across the league, both from the team and player perspectives of this market.
Through Tuesday, 11 players signed contracts that carry a total value of more than $60 million. While many of those deals will have voidable years and players will never see the total value, it goes to show that teams still weren’t afraid to, and were creative enough to find ways to sign marquee players to lucrative contracts.
“Good players still got paid,” the agent said.
However, there were also quality players that needed to “settle” for one-year contracts, such as Hasson Reddick inking a one-year pact with the Carolina Panthers for $8 million after or producing a career-high 12.5 sacks for the Arizona Cardinals last season. Likewise, Marvin Jones is as proven a commodity as there was on the market, and the Jaguars were able to snag him for just $12.5 million over two years.
In any other offseason, both Reddick and Jones would likely command lucrative four-year contracts with substantial front-loaded money.
“It’s been especially tough this past week just getting fair value on contracts,” said an agent.
The new television deal should lift all boats next offseason, but despite 35 players changing teams when the opening bell rang on free agency, a common refrain from agents representing second-tier players is how slowly the market has developed.
It remains to be seen how teams will handle players who signed one-year contracts this month, either by inking them to lucrative extensions midseason to utilize the influx of cap space in 2022, or if the floodgates will open once again as those players as well as those set to be free agents become available next March.
One thing is a near certainty, this unprecedented offseason, the NFL hopes is also one of a kind. Some teams will welcome normalcy next offseason, but some are making the most of the spending flexibility they had stashed away for this year’s uncertainty.
“There’s never been a year of free agency like this,” former NFL Executive of The Year Randy Mueller tells FanSided. “With all the cap casualties, the pool has never been deeper with quality players.
“The other thing is that half the league isn’t even dipping their toes in, so it’s a perfect storm if you have cap room and are a team like the Patriots or Buccaneers and the fact that it’s a buyers’ market makes it so if you can’t rebuild or retool in this market, you have no excuses.”
4 teams that helped themselves the most in free agency
1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s hard not to see what the Buccaneers have done this offseason and view Tampa Bay as the prohibitive favorites to return to the Super Bowl representing the NFC.
General manager Jason Licht continues to be among the more forward-thinking in the NFL, and after years of acquiring blue-chip talent in the NFL Draft, has been able this offseason to keep the band together by restructuring Tom Brady’s contract to lower his cap hit, keep wide receiver Chris Godwin on the franchise tag, and retain both playmaking linebackers Shaq Barrett and LaVonte David.
The influx of coco-bananas television revenue certainly helps, but Tampa Bay was able to run it back into the 2021 season while still preserving a projected $60.3 million in cap space in 2022. Thanks to Licht’s approach of drafting well and retaining the Buccaneers’ core, it feels like this offseason could be the piece of plywood that keeps Tampa’s Super Bowl window open for at least the next three seasons.
2) New York Giants
In the span of 48 hours, general manager Dave Gettleman and the Giants filled to of the roster’s most glaring needs with premier top-of-market talent.
Did the Giants overpay Kenny Golladay, guaranteeing up to $40 million? Sure. Did they need to do whatever is necessary to sign him? Absolutely. In order to facilitate Daniel Jones making strides in his development, moves like adding Golladay and John Ross to a receiving corps where no one caught more than three touchdown passes was priority No. 1 for this organization.
I’m also hearing, through multiple scouts across the league, that Alabama playmaker DeVonta Smith is Gettleman’s target with the No. 11 pick. In addition to Golladay, the Giants pulled cornerback Adoree’ Jackson to start opposite Pro Bowler James Bradberry, rounding out what suddenly has a chance to be one of the top secondaries in the league.
If Jones makes the leap, tying up as much money as the Giants did under 2022’s cap with Golladay and Jackson ($32 million) will absolutely be worth every dime.
3) Buffalo Bills
What did the Bills give quarterback Josh Allen, who finished last season ranked third in average distance per passing attempt? Yet another reliable wide receiver, Emmanuel Sanders, who averaged a hair under 12 yards per reception as Drew Brees produced a 112.5 passer rating when targeting him. Throw in reliable tight end Josh Hollister, whom Allen played with at Wyoming, and the Bills gave their cannon-armed quarterback another dangerous weapon in the vertical passing game.
According to Pro Football Focus, 25.6 percent of Hollister’s targets traveled at least 20 air-yards. Yeah, he’ll fit right in. It is wholly obvious that Bills general manager Brandon Beane subscribes to the theory that the quickest way to compete for Super Bowls is to surround your young quarterback with speedy, reliable playmakers at the skill positions.
Buffalo came up one win shy of representing the AFC last year, and if anything, this offseason solidifies their position as the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
4) Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach wasn’t going to allow that to happen again, after watching Patrick Mahomes, already hobbled by an injured toe, absorb three sacks and 10 quarterback hits in a blowout Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers.
In response to the Chiefs’ patchwork reserve offensive line getting blitzkrieged, Veach went out and added the premier guard available, Joe Thuney, and to date have been able to keep any of the in-house free agents they’ve wanted to retain from hitting the open-market.
Sitting with a projected $26 million in cap space in 2022, boasting the most gifted quarterback walking the planet, Kansas City remains a destination for free agents in the future, and the offensive line of the present leveled up after Thuney’s arrival.
Bears free agency’s biggest head-scratcher
It was anticipated that this offseason would see unprecedented quarterback movement via trades and through free agency.
To some extent, that has happened, with Carson Wentz being traded to the Indianapolis Colts, Ryan Fitzpatrick signing on as Washington’s next starting quarterback, and of course, the Los Angeles Rams-Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford-for-Jared Goff swap.
However, as former NFL Executive of The Year Jeff Diamond told me during his appearance on the debut episode of The Matt Lombardo Show, FanSided’s latest NFL Podcast inside the Stacking the Box Podcast feed, the one organization that needed to make a bold quarterback move hasn’t, and it could prove costly.
“I think the biggest head-scratcher for me is Andy Dalton to Chicago,” Diamond says. ‘And the Bears’ quarterback situation. That they haven’t stepped up to either sign a big-time guy in free agency or whether they could go back to the NFL Draft now that they’ve officially given up on Mitchell Trubisky. I think there’s a really good chance they try to draft a guy in a strong quarterback draft this year. But, the Bears’ quarterback situation has been a problem for the past several years. It’s still a problem.”
As previously reported, league sources tell FanSided that the Bears’ interest in Wentz cooled days before the Eagles traded him to the Colts. There have been whispers about interest in Seahawks All-Pro Russell Wilson, but it is difficult to look at this current roster and this current quarterback situation and feel optimistic.
It certainly seems as though Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy have taken a short-term bridge — or Bandaid — approach to the quarterback position with Dalton, who passed for 2,170 yards in 11 games with 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions for the Dallas Cowboys last season.
But, it would appear the seats are hotter than a Lou Malnati’s pan under both Pace and Nagy entering 2020, and the Bears might have bigger issues than quarterback, and rather than boldly acquiring one of the best available passers, have been forced to settle on a veteran who hasn’t produced a winning-record since 2015.
“Meanwhile, even without a quarterback, the Bears are having real salary cap issues,” Diamond said. “They just had to let a big-time cornerback, Kyle Fuller, go. You see some of the moves that a team like that is marking, and it seems like they’re taking the approach of not wanting to do a bunch of re-structures, they do not want to spread things out, and as they say ‘kick the can down the road.'”
So far, the Bears have added Dalton, defensive lineman Angelo Blackson, cornerback Desmont Trufant, linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, and offensive lineman Elijiah Wilkinson and retained Allen Robinson, among others. But, Chicago moved on from Trubisky, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, defensive lineman Brent Urban, Fuller, and linebacker Barkevious Mingo.
Nothing matters more, though, than quarterback.
Is Dalton an upgrade over Nick Foles? A substantial upgrade over Trubisky?
I’m not sure the answer is in the definitive to either of those.
After backing into the postseason as an NFC Wild Card last season, it’s fair to wonder if this team is going to come anywhere close to the playoffs in 2021, in a division that’s loaded with talent.
“I just don’t see Any Dalton as a guy who is going to get them over the hump, or be able to get them to surpass the Packers, or perhaps even the Vikings in the NFC North.”
Quotable
"“I’m super excited to be here in Miami. I want to take one year to prove it to the NFL, to the Dolphins, they would have to have me long-term.”"
– Miami Dolphins WR Will Fuller, via the Miami Herald
Fuller was one of the more prolific wide receivers to actually become available via free agency, and the Dolphins were the benefactors of being able to land a game-changing weapon that could push Tua Tagovailoa’s development to the next level.
This is the kind of deal many league insiders thought would be far more prevalent in this economic climate. Fuller was an even stronger candidate for a one-year “prove it” deal, because he still has one game remaining to serve on his suspension for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy.
But, the Texans’ offense was far more explosive when Fuller was on the field last season than when he wasn’t. He caught a career-high 53 passes for 879 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games.
Fuller gets a fresh start, away from the Texans — the most dysfunctional organization in professional sports — and the Dolphins get to kick the tires on a 26-year-old playmaker for their young quarterback.
With Tagovailoa, Fuller, tight end Mike Gesicki, and Devante Parker, look out for the Dolphins as a potential spoiler in the AFC East, and maybe even more than that in 2021.
Final thought
COVID-19’s grip on the sports world is loosening, and that’s an incredible thing.
The NCAA Tournament has once again captivated fans across the country, albeit with teams sequestered in an Indianapolis bubble, and in the most exciting news of the week, the NFL plans to move forward with hosting fans for the NFL Draft in Cleveland.
Not only will NFL commissioner Roger Goodell be in attendance — in person — to announce the picks in downtown Cleveland, but the league hopes to be able to pull off a “large” event.
However, as the most public-facing event the league hosts this side of the Super Bowl each season gears up for a return to normalcy there is some skepticism among some league insiders that 2021 will look all that much different than the beginning of 2020.
“My biggest concern right now,” a head coach recently tells FanSided. “Is whether we’re going to be able to get everybody in one place this spring.”
There has yet to be any announcement about teams being able to hold offseason workouts at facilities, or OTAs and minicamp practices, and the coach is skeptical that the entire roster will be together before the pads go on in August.
“You have to remember,” the coach explained. “There are parts of the country right now that are wide open. Will guys decide that they’re better off working out on their own, staying at home and going about their lives?
“The protocols we have here are strict. And its grating on you. It wouldn’t surprise me if some guys feel they just aren’t ready to jump back into daily testing and holding up in a hotel room for weeks at a time, and they might just say ‘I’ll see you for training camp.'”
Spring workouts and practices have always been voluntary, but this year’s circumstances might serve to underscore that notion further. While the head coach believes that the majority — if not all — of his players will take part in the program, the team doesn’t plan on punishing players who opt to sit out the offseason program.
These worries might turn out to be moot. The United States has now administered 127 million doses of vaccine with 44.9 million Americans now fully vaccinated. Perhaps, as supply ramps up of the Merck-Johnson&Johnson produced J&J one-dose vaccine, it will become even easier to get shots into arms and NFL players might have an easier time getting vaccinated long before OTAs are scheduled to kick off.
But, at least according to this coach, this is a situation worth monitoring over the coming weeks and through the spring as the NFL peeks its head around the corner from a COVID-impacted season unlike any we’ve ever seen.
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL.