Salary Cap Update (Cap Space $14.8M)

Hi all--

For all who want to know the off-season score card after the current deals are factored in I estimate a little under $15.5M in available space. Some of that needs to go to rookies and some needs to hang back at the end of camp so right now I see about $8.1M available to do other stuff.

So what is "other stuff" -- well that means re-signing other vets, extend current deals .. in other words not a lot of money to do all the things that may need doing. For example, do you want to extend Justin Britt? His cap number right now is $1.1M. His cap would go up by at least $5M with a market extension -- so that $8.1M starts to disappear quickly. A deal with Kam wouldn't add as much to our current year cap, but I think you can see that $8.1 isn't really very much. I can see maybe extended 1 guy but not everyone we would hope to.

I'm a little concerned we're relying a lot of weekly roster bonuses in 2017. Many of those bonuses don't count against the cap now because they are for players who missed games in 2016. Lacy, Joeckel, Bennett, Kam ... all those guys if they earn their bonuses those dollars will come off our cap in 2018, so effectively pushing 2017 dollars into the next year.

The subject has come up regarding our ability to adjust contracts to push dollars into future seasons, and of course that is possible, but as I said above, we're kind of already doing that. If we took Richard Sherman's contract and converted his salary into bonus, we're going down a path that could lead to serious problems later on. You may feel this is worth it if our 'window' is short, but doing this doesn't guaranteed anything.

If you hear about any more significant deals ahead, that would tell me that the team isn't really that motivated to extend deals for our 2018 free agents, because there really isn't a lot of money to work with.

One other thing to consider is ... would the team cut bait on some veterans if it meant locking up key players down the road? Many of our 2017 salaries are locked in ... but marginal starts like Kearse and Gilliam could be cut loose if it meant upgrading the overall roster.

Did you really read all that??? Did it make any sense? If it did please tweet 'Mickey Mouse' to @lloydsouth.

What takes so long for some contracts to get updated in Sportrac. I don't actually expect you to know this since you aren't affiliated. But 3-4 business days seems like a long time in the world of now.

I know I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the Hawks handle Kam, but I am also assuming there is a good chance that the possible contract extensions you mentioned don't get done until closer to the draft.

What other players do you think are most likely to be extended? What do you think the extension to Kam will look like? I'm interested from the stand point of mixed feelings about how my own team managed the cap and seeing how another handles there issues.

ringless":2p2u3ubi said:

What takes so long for some contracts to get updated in Sportrac. I don't actually expect you to know this since you aren't affiliated. But 3-4 business days seems like a long time in the world of now.

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Spotrac is a shit site not worth even mentioning. Overthecap.com is the best site for these things. It takes time to post deals because you can't always trust media reports of deals. The details are very important. For example, when Doug Baldwin signed his extension, OTC waited a full week before posting the details but they were accurate. Spotrac routinely copies contract details from OTC without credit or attribution. Spotrac is a lazy worthless venture.

I know I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the Hawks handle Kam, but I am also assuming there is a good chance that the possible contract extensions you mentioned don't get done until closer to the draft.

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Do the Seahawks really want to extend him past his current deal? Don't listen to words. Pay attention to actions. Time will tell.

What other players do you think are most likely to be extended? What do you think the extension to Kam will look like?

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The key free agents for 2018 are Kam, Britt and Graham. I can honestly see any one of the three getting a deal but also none of them. Other players who are free agents in 2018 are Paul Richardson and the new guys -- Lacy and Joeckel.

Hawkstorian":22nzu3w5 said:

ringless":22nzu3w5 said:

What takes so long for some contracts to get updated in Sportrac. I don't actually expect you to know this since you aren't affiliated. But 3-4 business days seems like a long time in the world of now.

Click to expand...

Spotrac is a shit site not worth even mentioning. Overthecap.com is the best site for these things. It takes time to post deals because you can't always trust media reports of deals. The details are very important. For example, when Doug Baldwin signed his extension, OTC waited a full week before posting the details but they were accurate. Spotrac routinely copies contract details from OTC without credit or attribution. Spotrac is a lazy worthless venture.

I know I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the Hawks handle Kam, but I am also assuming there is a good chance that the possible contract extensions you mentioned don't get done until closer to the draft.

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Do the Seahawks really want to extend him past his current deal? Don't listen to words. Pay attention to actions. Time will tell.

What other players do you think are most likely to be extended? What do you think the extension to Kam will look like?

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The key free agents for 2018 are Kam, Britt and Graham. I can honestly see any one of the three getting a deal but also none of them. Other players who are free agents in 2018 are Paul Richardson and the new guys -- Lacy and Joeckel.

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Isn't Avril also coming up to be an FA in a season or two? Seems to me that is the case as well.

I'm not worried about the cap with JS. There are a few vet contracts that could be terminated.

Great post Hawkstorian, thanks.

I really can't believe we're going to basically walk away from free agency with what we're going to walk away with. The good and bad is that they're one year deals, leaving options for various things next year. But yes, if we have the room, I'd strongly prefer to eat some of the Britt extension this year, and maybe even frontload Kam or Jimmy a bit.

Tical21":157nlm5e said:

I really can't believe we're going to basically walk away from free agency with what we're going to walk away with. The good and bad is that they're one year deals, leaving options for various things next year. But yes, if we have the room, I'd strongly prefer to eat some of the Britt extension this year, and maybe even frontload Kam or Jimmy a bit.

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I thought u were done with Jimmy.

Pandion Haliaetus":1ul7hhou said:

Tical21":1ul7hhou said:

I really can't believe we're going to basically walk away from free agency with what we're going to walk away with. The good and bad is that they're one year deals, leaving options for various things next year. But yes, if we have the room, I'd strongly prefer to eat some of the Britt extension this year, and maybe even frontload Kam or Jimmy a bit.

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I thought u were done with Jimmy.

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I am, but have a feeling they're not.

Does anyone believe that the current roster (+ a few draft picks) can win a SB? I don't. I don't know anyone who does.
And given our recent pathetic drafts and Russell becoming a daddy, I'm concerned, we might not even be the best team in the NFC West. We must upgrade. In order to do that, we must take risks. Anyone that believes that we can always "play it safe" and have success is just not realistic. We are NOT the Patriots (we don't have Tom Brady) and there are 30+ teams trying to be the Pats are all failing, because it is not trivial.

I believe we need to raise money by either releasing a veteran or extending one or two of them or some other way.
Obviously, neither of the approaches is a guarantee for success. But, we must try something.

We should seriously consider releasing either Kam, Earl, Richard or Bobby ... or gamble they will still be good in 3-4 years.

Just curious Joe, after cutting one or two of those guys, what are you doing to suddenly make us a contender to win the SB next year? Who are their replacements? I don't remember any of their replacements being on the roster last year.

Those moves are coming down the road when the list you gave are no longer under contract and their replacements are on the roster from the next couple drafts imo. Lets not forget that the Patriots were a couple of epic failures on Seattle & Atlanta's part from joining Buffalo in the all time great SB losers lounge.

Players going on IR usually more than suck up any weekly performance bonuses.
Guys on IR make 50% of their salary.
Some folks may not know that.

Some contracts have "split' values that count less if the player is on IR, but the savings is relatively small. Veteran contracts don't normally have any sort of reduction if the player is on IR. The only savings is the weekly roster bonuses.

TheHawkster":17a2kgq0 said:

Players going on IR usually more than suck up any weekly performance bonuses.
Guys on IR make 50% of their salary.
Some folks may not know that.

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Wrong. Every single player that is on the 53 man roster to start the season (actually on the day of the first game) has their entire salary guaranteed for the year. It doesn't matter if they play every game, get cut after week one, or go on injured reserve. They still make their full base salary no matter what.

This rule is why the Hawks screwed up with Jahri Evans last season. They cut him before the season hoping that they could re-sign him after the first game (that way his salary wasn't fully guaranteed for the season). Unfortunately he signed with New Orleans again, and ended up starting every game for them last season.

joeseahawks":3bs5bc3q said:

Does anyone believe that the current roster (+ a few draft picks) can win a SB? I don't. I don't know anyone who does.

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You know one right here.

Take away that random knee injury for Russell Wilson and who knows how far we get last year.

I cannot believe people dismiss a playoff season so easily.

I still like our talent, but it certainly feels like we're going the wrong direction, and needed a big offseason. This doesn't feel like "it." The draft can help, but I would have really, really liked an impact player through free-agency.

Tical21":3j05ads9 said:

I still like our talent, but it certainly feels like we're going the wrong direction, and needed a big offseason. This doesn't feel like "it." The draft can help, but I would have really, really liked an impact player through free-agency.

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Bottom line is the Hawks still have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.

So the question isn't are we going in the wrong direction, the question is are all these so called superstars we've paid a LOT of money to going to start playing like superstars again......or are they going to continue to play at 70% of that level that they got paid for, and continue to get hurt as they age.

Pete and John chose this roster building philosophy of drafting a group of young hungry players that all had something to prove. Well.........they proved it, got paid and now they need to rise up and prove it again.

They have as good a shot as anyone to win a SB with the current roster. I find it strange people think there is zero chance of that happening. Last year we were a double digit win team with injuries to our QB all year and multiple other big contributors. This team still might have the most talented roster in the NFL. We obviously have blemishes but every roster does.

joeseahawks":2uwrf3lu said:

We should seriously consider releasing either Kam, Earl, Richard or Bobby ... or gamble they will still be good in 3-4 years.

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That's probably the stupidest thing I've read on here. You could possibly make an argument for trading Kam or not reupping him but releasing him and the others is utter madness. You dont release your all pro players.

The Seahawks for now certainly are the best team in the NFC West. The Cardinals just got picked apart during FA, losing 8 starters from last season and counting once Minter signs. That will include 6 starting players from the defense alone. I doubt we are competitive. Next year we will have around 82 million in cap space however when Palmer retires, and only one notable UFA, but will be without the QBotF unless something changes.

The 49ers are still a long way away from competing. The Rams have Goff who doesn't know where the sun sets.