A look into 2018 from a contracts and cap space perspective

Thought I'd take a closer look into how we're looking going into the 2018 season with regards to cap space and player contracts, it would be a great discussion for members to understand the cap a bit more and also those interested in it to add their 2 pence (pence, not cents, I'm across the pond from most of you )

Starting 2018 we have a total cap space of -

$30,968,508

These are the players currently on the team that are due to be (unrestricted) free agents this spring, I've broken it down into offense, defense and teams as the list is quite long!

Also their 2017 cap hit is next to it -

Offense -

Jimmy Graham $10 million
Luke Joeckel $8 million
Eddie Lacy $4.25 million
Luke Willson $1.8 million
Paul Richardson $1.178 million
Oday Aboushi $975k
Matt Tobin $862.5k
Austin Davis $855k

Total - Roughly $27.92 million


Defense -

Sheldon Richardson $8 million
Bradley McDougald $1.8 million
Michael Wilhoite $1.55 million
DeShawn Shead $1.2 million
Marcus Smith $990k
Terence Garvin $855k

Total - Roughly $14.39 million

Special Teams -

Blair Walsh $1.1 million


Now it's fair to say not all of these players will get contract extensions, the aggressive churning of this roster and constant charges guarantees that.

I really cannot see Jimmy Graham or Eddie Lacy being resigned (and highly likely that Jeremy Lane will be cut in the offseason as we'd save $4.75 million in cap by cutting him).

Who do you see as contract extensions? Feel free to discuss anything loosely to do with the subject, specific player contracts, who will and won't be resigned etc, outside free agents that may well be of interest etc.

For me personally, Here are my must signs (in blue), priority signings in green, maybe's in yellow and avoids in red -

Sheldon Richardson

Luke Willson
DeShawn Shead
Blair Walsh
Marcus Smith

Luke Joeckel
Paul Richardson
Oday Aboushi
Matt Tobin
Austin Davis
Bradley McDougald
Michael Wilhoite
Terence Garvin

Jimmy Graham
Eddie Lacy

Just to add I listed the players under contract for 2018 here

Offense
WIlson
Baldwin
Britt
Ifedi
Lockett
Pocic
Prosise
Vannett
Odhiambo
Glowinski
Darboh
Fant
Madden
Mcevoy
Senior
Carson
Roos

Defense
Wagner
Sherman
Thomas
Chancellor
Wright
Avril
Lane
Bennett
Thorpe
Mcdowell
Reed
Clark
Griffin
Hill
Jones
Thompson
Alexander
Elliott

The low hanging fruit is easy: Joeckel isn't work 8 million. Lacy is gone, he's just too slow to the hole for this OL. I'd like to resign Graham, but not at 10 million. He'll likely get it, but he's not worth that to us.

Cut Lane as we have guys that play that well already on the squad.

Also the cap is likely to go up again next year, but no one knows how much yet.

I'd MUCH rather see Luke Willson on a 3/4 year deal than touching Graham again next season. The money could be spent far more effectively elsewhere.

Hawks46":3p8c3xpe said:

Also the cap is likely to go up again next year, but no one knows how much yet.

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before the "protests" this was a sure thing. Now...not so much. The cap is tied to projected NFL revenues and that comes largely from advertising and TV money! Ratings are currently dropping. If they don't come back up then the cap could take a hit. If that occurs any players who wish to be retained will definitely have to take a pay cut.

original poster":3tab4byj said:

I'd MUCH rather see Luke Willson on a 3/4 year deal than touching Graham again next season. The money could be spent far more effectively elsewhere.

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Well, two things:

1. Graham is worth the money, IF we utilized him correctly. You saw this yesterday, and last year's playoffs against the Falcons. Instead of lining him up as a Y TE on the 3 yard line, thus letting teams hit him with a LBer and keep a Safety over the top without fear of getting beat deep, we lined him up 1 on 1 on the outside. It's almost indefensible. You literally can't double team Graham that far out in space unless you virtually guarantee a TD to someone else. Plus we have a mobile QB that you have to account for.

2. I'm not saying we pay Graham 10 mil/year. I'd like to see him at 8 if we can get it. Then utilize him correctly. Maybe give him some incentive bonuses so if the guy gets 12 TD's and 1200 yards in a year, then he'll get his 10 mil. And be worth it.

But Joekel just isn't worth 8 mil/year. Lane isn't earning his paycheck either, both by not being much better than our current depth, and be not being able to stay on the field. Lacy's contract looks down right terrible right now, it's a certainty he's gone at that cap number, or won't be resigned at it next year.

Paul Richardson is going to be one of the harder decisions to make. I'd like to see Sheldon resigned. There just might not be room for Graham, but if you had to make the decision right now, either resign Graham or Sheldon Richardson....I couldn't make that call at this point of the year.

Couldn't agree more than Graham would be worth every cent if utilised correctly, lining him out wide on Sunday worked well and they are clearly trying different things now, I guess lets see how the games moving forward pans out for him, guess thats exactly what the team is doing as well, no need to rush.

Thanks for this original poster it is useful information.

We can see it could be very difficult to re-up a few of the players here on 1 year deals. I agree with the observation that Graham is not being used to his fullest potential, and that keeping Richardson would be a priority. The situation with Avril's neck is concerning and his deal may just have to be factored into the long term thinking if he decides for health reasons to hang 'em up. That would make Richardson even more of a priority.

The interesting reality of losing Richardson or Graham may be a high comp pick which which could in part offset their original cost, something that may have factored into their acquisition.

jammerhawk":1p9lem5v said:

Thanks for this original poster it is useful information.

We can see it could be very difficult to re-up a few of the players here on 1 year deals. I agree with the observation that Graham is not being used to his fullest potential, and that keeping Richardson would be a priority. The situation with Avril's neck is concerning and his deal may just have to be factored into the long term thinking if he decides for health reasons to hang 'em up. That would make Richardson even more of a priority.

The interesting reality of losing Richardson or Graham may be a high comp pick which which could in part offset their original cost, something that may have factored into their acquisition.

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Absolutely.

I think their plan A is to sign Richardson long term and let Graham walk thus gaining a very likely 3rd round comp pick but they will most certainly have plan B's, C's & D's!

Thank you for this post it's very helpful.

I would get rid of Lacy, graham and joeckel.

Keep Willson, shead, walsh.

Most important to keep is richardson

Graham is arguably worth 10 but on our team he's worth 1.5

Based on Pete's recent comments on Cliff Avril's injury, his 2018 cap of $7.5M if cut prior to June 1st is likely to be available to use elsewhere... pure speculation at this time however.

I like Paul Richardson and support him being extended for a couple of years if he can be retained at $4M/year. Unless, of course, Amara Darboh turns it on and ends up being our #3 receiver by the end of the year. If that is the case, you let Richardson go to free agency and perhaps get a comp pick in 2019.

Definitely re-sign Sheldon Richardson... #1 priority.

Jimmy's a nice toy that sits on a shelf and gets admired, at least thus far. I'll wait until this season is over before expressing an opinion about his future with the team.

And definitely let Lacy and Joeckel walk.. but re-sign Aboushi and Willson for an additional year or two.

If they aren't going to extend jimmy, then I think they have to trade him for Duane Brown.

onanygivensunday":zhlad6bb said:

Based on Pete's recent comments on Cliff Avril's injury, his 2018 cap of $7.5M if cut prior to June 1st is likely to be available to use elsewhere... pure speculation at this time however.

I like Paul Richardson and support him being extended for a couple of years if he can be retained at $4M/year. Unless, of course, Amara Darboh turns it on and ends up being our #3 receiver by the end of the year. If that is the case, you let Richardson go to free agency and perhaps get a comp pick in 2019.

Definitely re-sign Sheldon Richardson... #1 priority.

Jimmy's a nice toy that sits on a shelf and gets admired, at least thus far. I'll wait until this season is over before expressing an opinion about his future with the team.

And definitely let Lacy and Joeckel walk.. but re-sign Aboushi and Willson for an additional year or two.

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I think Joeckel has been really good - I would re-sign him if his knee and $$ are okay. Actually I think Joeckel and Ifedi have both really come on strong the last couple games.

Jimmy Graham caught 65 receptions for 923 yards last year. That's third in the league in receptions. And they're only now really getting into how to use him right.

Luke Willson isn't going to come up with the same kind of production while being doubled by defenders. That leaves free agency, which everyone hates because...I dunno, free agency or something?...or the draft, and PCJs don't like having their options constrained during the draft.

I also agree that Joeckel is slowly improving. Can't help him having Rees on his left.

Just so you all know the information as to who is signed here on a one year/or expiring deal is available on the roster thread as all intalicized players are so recognized.

The monetary part and the further info from others as to who remains signed for 2018 in this thread is all useful information and all of your efforts in making it available is appreciated.

According to overthecap.com, if we cut Avril, Lane, and Thorpe (who has barely played this season), we'll have $45M in available cap space. I know some of that goes to the draft, some goes to RFAs and ERFAs, some goes to filling out the roster, and some must be kept for in-season transactions. Still, that's a big chunk of change.

Look for Earl and KJ to get extensions that drop their 2018 cap number. Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett are also in line for extensions but those will be harder to pull off since their current salaries are very low.

The Franchise tag number for DT should be somewhere around $14M and for TE around $10M. Assuming we re-sign those guys their cap numbers will be south of those figures, at least in year one.

That should leave something like $15M for a big FA signing or two. If I'm the Seahawks I'm looking hard at G Justin Pugh of the Giants and DE Ezekiel Ansah of the Lions (the latter especially if McDowell is not likely to return).

MontanaHawk05":2cssbwep said:

Jimmy Graham caught 65 receptions for 923 yards last year. That's third in the league in receptions. And they're only now really getting into how to use him right.

Luke Willson isn't going to come up with the same kind of production while being doubled by defenders. That leaves free agency, which everyone hates because...I dunno, free agency or something?...or the draft, and PCJs don't like having their options constrained during the draft.

I also agree that Joeckel is slowly improving. Can't help him having Rees on his left.

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YUP. Jimmy did that on one of Russ's major down years. I'm not looking it up because I don't care if the stats said best passing year or worst, but we all know it was uncharacteristically "off" last year. Obviously injuries played the large part.

But yeah, if Jimmy could just turn the corner with a healthy Russ, I think he becomes the priority. Like it or not, Pete may never chase the big dollar lineman in lieu of basketball players, castoffs, and the draft. Let's hold off critiquing his ways until we don't make the playoffs, or hell, until we don't win at least one game in the playoffs every single year. Call me crazy but I just feel that as long as we stay respectable with the check that Jimmy won't chase the top dollars anyways because he's good enough that he wants that chip to cement a legacy. For about the next 3 years we offer one of the best paths due to divisional dominance, unless NE somehow springs for him.

Truthfully, think about it. If Russ's mobility is generally our strength, how would Russ look behind a great O line anyway? We all know he's not a superior pocket passer, and half the time it seems Bevell's offense clicks sometimes when things get messy and busted up anyway. I'm not promoting a pathetic Oline on purpose, but Russ would look silly scrambling around with a clean pocket. And let's face it, what has been more effective than a mobile Russ dodging, dipping, ducking, diving, and, dodging?

If this spitshow of a line could just gel a little more, I think we're on the verge of a 10-11 win season again. So why are so many so comfortable with parting with one of the deadliest TEs in the league when he has proven time and again to be a big play threat? Single handedly won the Buffalo game. Knifed up Pittsburgh before getting hurt. Terribly needed TD vs Rams.

So often you see a team mess with the chemistry too much and pretty soon their D's in the dirt and back to the drawing board.