Character issues aside, can Seattle even afford to pick at 5?
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Cap experts, please weigh in.
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The Salary Cap is purely accounting. You can create space at any given time.
There are restructures, voidable years, cutting vets who get replaced by cheaper rookies, trades, straight paycuts, etc.
When it comes to money and spending in the NFL it is more about how aggressive the owner is in terms of Cash over Cap.
The Seahawks since Paul Allen has fallen ill operate like they are small market. It could be that is just how Pete & John want to operate, or it could be Jodi doesn't want to put a lot of money into escrow, choosing to stay in the black. Regardless, the Seahawks will do a few of those things listed above when the time comes (The Seahawks currently sit at $5.9M in space via ovethecap.)
There are about 10 vets making more money than the 10 rookies that will replace them (Drafted and Undrafted). That will free up some cap space.
Though, they will have to do a move such as a trade Noah Fant, cut Dissley, etc. As the top 5 pick will make more money than most of the veterans on the team. So something will have to be done for that contract, and the other 1st rounder.
Only the top 51 contracts count against the salary cap the off-season. So any rookie on the roster that is below that 51 line, (which is most of them) won't count against the cap until the season starts. Which by that point they will have jettisoned vets to make room for them saving even more cap space.