NFL 2025 salary cap expected to be 5-10 million higher than previous estimates (merged) (5 Viewers)

[SailorJerrysHorse]

We do not need to compromise ourselves much other than potentially having either a slightly overpaid starting QB or a ridiculously overpaid backup QB, along with keeping older guys like Demario, Taysom, and Tyrann an extra year longer than ideal. Certainly not ideal, but also not the end of the world to keep those guys around.

If getting right with the cap this year comes down to EITHER keeping Carr and losing DD, Taysom, and Tyrann (and I would add Jordan as possibly being necessary too) OR getting rid of Carr and keeping the above (albeit perhaps past their primes) then to me there is no question. I'm choosing the proven leaders, men who have dedicated their lives to this team and the city, over a mediocre QB who is only moderately better than other cheaper options and who is - and even the Carr fans realize this - not in the long term future plans of the franchise.

 

[soggymoss84]

If getting right with the cap this year comes down to EITHER keeping Carr and losing DD, Taysom, and Tyrann (and I would add Jordan as possibly being necessary too) OR getting rid of Carr and keeping the above (albeit perhaps past their primes) then to me there is no question. I'm choosing the proven leaders, men who have dedicated their lives to this team and the city, over a mediocre QB who is only moderately better than other cheaper options and who is - and even the Carr fans realize this - not in the long term future plans of the franchise.

Even keeping Carr and restructuring him we would still have to restructure probably Cam also to end up cap compliant. I know that is the “easiest” way to get cap compliant, but in order to get to where we want to be cap wise we need to move on from Carr IMO

 

[greatshow25]

Have we had bad drafts or just a coaching staff that hasn’t been teaching guys fundamentals (Foskey) and not knowing how to use them(Baun)?

I was watching Ross the other day and you may need to add Foskey to the not knowing how to use category. He said Foskey played the joker position at Norte Dame which is a stand up pass rusher. He had back to back 11 sack seasons. He was saying switching to a 3-4 maybe the answer for Foskey.

 

[Stalwart385]

This seems to happen every year, but it is good news for us.

And not to touch a controversial subject, but an extra $10 million more than expected would make cutting or trading Carr a lot more feasible.

Feasible like a 300lb lineman fitting through a 5" gap.

 

[St. Widge]

Feasible like a 300lb lineman fitting through a 5" gap.

Feasible as in before we could have done it but had little or no money left over, but now we could have an additional $5 million or $10 million to work with.

 

[Stalwart385]

Feasible as in before we could have done it but had little or no money left over, but now we could have an additional $5 million or $10 million to work with.

Feasible as in to form a functional roster and let your coach operate you need way more than that.

 

[Elvis]

Oh what the heck, I have a few minutes to spare before my kids get home.

Eagles - $19m in cap space and here are their free agents:




Ravens - $13m in cap space, and here are their free agents:



Bucs - $8m in cap space, free agents:



Chiefs - $8m in cap space, free agents:



Texans - $5m in cap space, free agents:



Saints, -$47m in cap space, free agents:



I don't see any "Must signs" from the Saints. We do have a small handful of "Must replaces" though. To Mickey's point though, you can clearly see that the other teams are losing a lot more prime free agents/starter types than we are.

And this doesn't even conclude the fact that we signed free agents and guys with the full intention of restructuring them, which we simply haven't done yet, while other teams have their contracts more centered on the present.

This is going to sound negative to some of you but it is not my intention. It’s simply how I feel about the state of our team, how the leagues best teams manage their teams and the direction we should be going.

Ok, so how many players are under contract for each team, because that is what Loomis was referring to.

Saints 62
Texans 58
Chiefs 50
Bucs 61
Ravens 53
Eagles 59

The Chiefs are definitely the worse off as they only have 50 under contract. But their problem comes with how much success they’ve had. They’ve won their divisions 9 years in a row and have been to the Super Bowl 5 out of the last 6 years. Their players are more in demand and command bigger contracts to retain. Their best players are under contract and they’ll fill the bottom through the draft. If they lose one or two, they’re largely fine because they have a core they can afford for now and most importantly they win. They may end up in trouble soon for the same reasons we started to in 2019. But it will be worth the rebuild because of their success. No doubt their fans will think it was worth it.

And of all of those free agents you listed, how many will those teams prioritize resigning? Each of those teams will prioritize a couple of their best players that are in their primes and let the rest test leave in free agency. They’ll draft some replacements and fill the bottom of the roster with cheaper players. The rest will go on to get contracts from other teams like the Jaguars, the Raiders and Titans that have cap space and are trying to improve.

Now look at the Saints roster. They have free agents that they might not even care to have back and other teams might not want either. How many do they have under contract that we would release to get younger if we could in order to sign the scraps of the winning teams? A bunch, but they can’t because the team’s books are screwed up. You can’t convince me that they actively want to keep Cam, Demario, Tyrann, and Taysom until their wheels fall off. And I don’t believe that they don’t regret that Carr contract and wouldn’t kick the can if they didn’t have to. Yet that’s what we’re doing and they are all close to falling off a cliff.

The point is that the good teams are letting their older players cycle out and keep their best young players on the team. We can’t even be talked about in the same breath as those teams because we are lacking in young talent and are stuck with our old players contracts. The real apples to oranges is that those other teams are ALL under the cap, winning with sustained success over years and have roster flexibility in the right places and we have none of those things.

 

[St. Widge]

Feasible as in to form a functional roster and let your coach operate you need way more than that.

Feasible as in can do it without cutting anyone, extending a few of our good young players, keeping older vets like Cam, Demario, Hill, and Tyrann, and having the same roster as last year with a few low priced free agents and draft picks. And now we can do it and sign at least one mid-level free agent. And then in 2026 your new coach can operate with more freedom because the cap is clear. This is not a one year rebuild back to being a contender. This is about the long term and keeping Carr doesn't help the long term.

 

[DSnfla]

If getting right with the cap this year comes down to EITHER keeping Carr and losing DD, Taysom, and Tyrann (and I would add Jordan as possibly being necessary too) OR getting rid of Carr and keeping the above (albeit perhaps past their primes) then to me there is no question. I'm choosing the proven leaders, men who have dedicated their lives to this team and the city, over a mediocre QB who is only moderately better than other cheaper options and who is - and even the Carr fans realize this - not in the long term future plans of the franchise.

I don't think it's a either, or question. For me it's not restructuring Mathieu , DD , Cam or Hill. Cutting them does very little for our cap. I want to not touch those contracts unless they take a pay cut. Let their contracts run out. That's why restructuring Carr for at least 1 more yr is the best way to go so we're not paying those aging guys long past their prime

 

[DSnfla]

Even keeping Carr and restructuring him we would still have to restructure probably Cam also to end up cap compliant. I know that is the “easiest” way to get cap compliant, but in order to get to where we want to be cap wise we need to move on from Carr IMO

If you restructure DC and just do the young guys that are going to be here without touching any of the older guys like Mathieu, DD, Cam or Hill we can be 15mil under the cap. If Cam and TH take pay cuts it would be even more

 

[SailorJerrysHorse]

I don't think it's an either, or question. For me it's not restructuring Mathieu , DD , Cam or Hill. Cutting them does very little for our cap. I want to not touch those contracts unless they take a pay cut. Let their contracts run out. That's why restructuring Carr for at least 1 more yr is the best way to go so we're not paying those aging guys long past their prime

I hear you. Listen there’s no ideal solution here. And I think as fans we’re all gonna have different preferences. But regardless, there’s gonna be players who are going to be paid for not a lot of production and/or after they’ve left the team entirely. It’s where we’re at.

I’m just saying for me, personally, Id rather that dead money be going to the guys who have been key contributors to the success of this franchise and who are proven leaders both on and off the field. For me, that’s Jordan, that’s Mathieu, that’s DD, that’s Taysom. I think they add more value - even if just in a leadership role - than Carr does. Plus as @Elvis has pointed out a few times getting that one big contract off the books this year is better in the not-so-long run.

 

[Saint1977]

If we had a competitive team then I would say make it rain and keep it over the cap. But since we are far removed from that it’s time to balance the books .

 

[Hubig]

Everyone keeps assuming Carr wants to be here. There is a very real chance he doesn't. He turns 34 on March 28th, a new regime is coming in, he will have to learn a new offense. This is a different situation than the Raiders, the Raiders didn't want him and they kinda humiliated him by benching him at the end of that season. This is about a guy who will be 34 in a month and 8 days who is looking at either a rebuild or being here 1 more season at best.

If I was him, I want out. The fans don't like me, I'm staying a year at best if they do decide to keep me. It's been a rough 3 years and it has not gone well. The new head coach was very non-committal at his introductory presser. Lets waive the no-trade clause and find me a place where I can go compete and I'll work with the team to make my contract more attractive to find a partner.

 

[DSnfla]

I hear you. Listen there’s no ideal solution here. And I think as fans we’re all gonna have different preferences. But regardless, there’s gonna be players who are going to be paid for not a lot of production and/or after they’ve left the team entirely. It’s where we’re at.

I’m just saying for me, personally, Id rather that dead money be going to the guys who have been key contributors to the success of this franchise and who are proven leaders both on and off the field. For me, that’s Jordan, that’s Mathieu, that’s DD, that’s Taysom. I think they add more value - even if just in a leadership role - than Carr does. Plus as @Elvis has pointed out a few times getting that one big contract off the books this year is better in the not-so-long run.

The thing is that Mathieu, DD and Cam are declining and not very slowly. And while I think Taysom will come back just about as strong as he was ( and he's not one of the contracts I'd mess with) It really IS better for the team to not 6/1 cut Carr. It's better to restructure him and leave those aging players contracts alone and get them off the books ASAP.

The $ we get back after 6/1 will most likely not benefit us until next yr. And will hurt in residing our own FAs , like Adebo and JJ and Harris and anyone we want to keep. Plus we won't be able to sign any upgrades in FA.
Our rookie class would have to wait till 6/1 to sign so no rookie mini camp.
And then we'd have to sign some kind of super cheap vet QB and could not do that till 6/1 and really that would be a waste of $.

We'd be basically saying " we don't care at all about the 2025 season" And I don't think the FO , coaches and players want that, and for sure most fans even though they may say they are Ok with it will be even more sour on the team , coaches and players if we go 3-14

It kind of sounds like to me it's a personnel thing you have with Carr

 

[soggymoss84]

If you restructure DC and just do the young guys that are going to be here without touching any of the older guys like Mathieu, DD, Cam or Hill we can be 15mil under the cap. If Cam and TH take pay cuts it would be even more

Not sure where you’re getting your numbers from but restructuring Carr, Ruiz, McCoy, Granderson and Shaheed gets us to 6 million under the cap. Not enough to work with for the offseason so we would still have to do either DD and Tyrann or just Cam to even be able to have enough to sign draft picks.

If Cam and Taysom take a paycut then sure we could get enough to operate, but can’t count on that happening.