The Free Agency starts in three weeks – the time of the threatening layoffs is about to begin! What about Dez Bryant, Doug Martin, Clay Matthews, Richard Sherman, Jordy Nelson and Co.? Who is allowed to stay, who is dismissed and who may be a trade candidate? In this issue of his NFL column, SPOX editor Adrian Franke looks at potential cuts before the Free Agency’s launch – and takes a first look at the subsequent draft.
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Contract up to (including): 2019
Cap Hit 2018: $6.5 million
Dead Cap 2018 (when dismissed): –
Maybe the easiest decision on this list – after Doug Martin. Murray was clearly the worst of the two Titans backs last season. Tennessee needs speed and explosiveness, Murray doesn’t seem to be able to deliver them anymore. So: Make Henry a starter, put a rookie behind it and stick the won cap space into the receiving corps.
Contract until: 2020
Cap Hit 2018: $20 million
Dead Cap 2018:9 million dollars
There are now more than just rumours: Wilkerson has been a huge disappointment ever since he received his major contract extension – sporty on the one hand, but above all internally on the other. The D-Liner is said to have repeatedly indisciplined and violated team rules, no trace of role models.
Nine million dollars is a violent dead cap, but that’s the price of the fact that the jets can steer the atmosphere within the team in different directions. Gang Green doesn’t lack Cap Space anyway, even if they actually shower cousins with money.
Cap Hit 2018: $7 million
Dead Cap 2018: –
The constancy – or rather the search for the same – is the big topic that accompanies Martin’s NFL career. 1,454 rushing yards in 2012 (4.6 yards per run) and 1,402 rushing yards in 2015 (4.9 yards per run) frame two massively disappointing seasons – followed by 2016 and 2017, when the 29-year-old was not able to reach over 2.9 yards in each case.
This inconsistency was precisely the reason why Bucs Martins structured their contract in such a way that they could regularly drop out of it. This year is the time, with savings of over seven million dollars and the draft at the door, if those responsible in Tampa do not have to think about it for too long.
General trend: The running backs will have a hard time once again. This is not necessarily due to a devaluation of the position, but rather to the huge talent supply that is available here every year in the draft for little money. Martin expects a short-term contract, for example in LeGarrette-Blount dimensions.
Contract until: 2021
Cap Hit 2018: $8 million
Dead Cap 2018: $5 million
4 years. 42 million dollars. 28.5 million guaranteed: The contract Austin received last year is one of the most absurd in the recent past. The Rams have made an impressive turnaround this past season, especially offensively – the 27-year-old receiver is by far the most prominent player who has been more or less passed by.
Austin recorded a total of 13 receptions under McVay (3.6 yards per catch) and was primarily used as a runner (59 ATT, 270 YDS). Even if L. A. Austin’s dismissal saves comparatively little: the Rams will probably have admitted in the course of last season that McVay doesn’t know how to use Austin either. An 8 million cap hit is not justifiable.
Contract until: 2018
Cap Hit 2018: $9.3 million
Dead Cap 2018: $1.7 million
The Chiefs belong to the lower third of the league in terms of Cap Space, even after Alex-Smith-Trade. Defense must become younger, faster and ideally cheaper – this is the direction in which the trend is heading, and not only because of Kendall Fuller’s commitment to the Smith trade.
Kansas City has already announced that linebacker Derrick Johnson will become a free agent after 13 years with the Chiefs (1,151 tackles, 27.5 sacks, 14 interceptions) and Hali is expecting the same fate. Dee Ford is available as an alternative – the gap in the center of defense through the Johnson exit will probably be more difficult to fill.
Cap Hit 2018: $10.1 million
Dead Cap 2018: $3.25 million
For over two years, Veldheer was an absolute bargain in Arizona: An above-average left tackle with comparatively low cap hits. But this has increasingly changed: injury problems, switching to Right Tackle – the cardinals have to create Cap Space anyway and Veldheer is one of the most logical cut candidates to achieve this. The left side of the line belongs to D. J. Humphries, on the right, Arizona should get even better benefits for less money.
Cap Hit 2018: $2.8 million
A saving of more than 2.8 million dollars is not the world at first, but as Veldheer said: Arizona needs Cap Space. David Johnson returns as an undisputed starter after a cured injury, followed by T. J. Logan will also be available after injury. And the draft is once again full of good, young running backs that can be drafted in the late rounds and transferred to the squad for little money as backups and alternatives – while Peterson’s one-dimensionality is a real handicap in today’s NFL.
Contract until: 2019
Cap Hit 2018: $16 million
Dead Cap 2018: $4.5 million
Mitchell Trubisky.
Page 1: Which big names are dismissed?
Page 2: Trade candidates – what happens to Sherman, Nelson, Bryant and Co.
Page 3: Where is McCarron going? Is Manziel coming back? And: a first draft outlook