Rough 2018 Seattle Seahawks Salary Cap Calculations

Rough 2018 Seattle Seahawks Salary Cap Calculations
Adjustment Reason Adjustment Amount Available Cap Space
Currently Available - $19.13M
Cut/Trade Lane $4.75M $23.88M
Fill out Roster ($8.16M) $15.72M
Draft Pick Allocation ($1.69M) $14M
Practice Squad ($1.3M) $12.7M
Injury Replacements ($3.78M) $9M
Proven Performance Escalators ($2.3M) $6.7M
Final Available Cap Space $6.7M
2018 Seattle Seahawks Salary Cap Overview as of Now

Yes, there is the possibility that the team could make certain moves to free up additional cap space, including extending players such as Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, or Cliff Avril could retire as a result of his neck injury, however, barring any of those moves taking place, no one should expect the Hawks to be major players in free agency.

Now, as $6.7M is next to nothing when it comes to playing in free agency, and with multiple players up for an extension, including Paul Richardson, Sheldon Richardson, Luke Joeckel, Frank Clark, Tyler Lockett, Blair Walsh, Oday Aboushi, Thomas Rawls, Luke Willson and a host of others, I am very skeptical that the team will be much more than bystanders when it comes to the free agent market next spring. In addition, I would not be surprised to see some creative structuring of any extension for players the team might extend between now and the end of the 2018 season in order to push caps hits out into the future.

John Schneider has done a fantastic job managing the roster and the salary cap to keep the Hawks competitive, and the next year and a half will be the most challenging period he will have faced as GM of the team.

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2017/11/4/16 ... ne-aboushi

Good article.

He does round up a in a couple of his calculations so let's just say we're sitting at $7M in available space before we sign any additional free agents or cut players for cap relief.

The author has us cutting Jeremy Lane. We could also cut Cliff Avril ($7.5M - aging and facing a career-threatening injury) and Neiko Thorpe (1.85M - great on special teams but rarely plays on defense). That brings us to roughly $16.5M.

Here are the key free agents as I see them:

Sheldon Richardson
Jimmy Graham
Paul Richardson
Luke Willson
Blair Walsh

Assuming we re-sign all of them, and after cutting Avril and Thorpe, that means we'd need to fill only 14 roster spots (as opposed to the 17 in the article). That adds another $1.5M to the available cap, bringing us up to ~$18M.

Sheldon Richardson is going to be the most costly. The most comparable contract is probably that of Kawann Short, who signed this past offseason for 5/$85 with $45M guaranteed. His first year cap hit is $10M.

I'm going to skip Jimmy Graham for now.

Paul Richardson's worth is hard to project but if he gets a Jermaine Kearse type of deal, we're looking at a roughly $2.5M cap hit in the first year.

If Willson and Walsh get deals similar to the ones they're on, that's another $3M cap hit for both.

That leaves us with only $2.5M left with Graham still unsigned. Does that mean Graham has to go? Not necessarily.

They could choose to let Willson walk, which would allow for a $4M 1st year cap hit, which is doable if Graham takes a slight pay cut from his current salary. They could also convert someone like Bobby Wagner's 2018 salary in to a bonus, which would open up ~$5M in cap space. There are also a number of highly-paid players who would be "eligible" for extensions (Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, KJ Wright, Duane Brown), and those extensions could easily be structured to free up space.

Are the Seahawks poised to make a big splash in free agency? Not unless they allow guys like Sheldon Richardson to walk. Can they keep the entire team intact while adding depth and draft pics? Absolutely.

A-Dog":qysqww7v said:

Good article.

He does round up a in a couple of his calculations so let's just say we're sitting at $7M in available space before we sign any additional free agents or cut players for cap relief.

The author has us cutting Jeremy Lane. We could also cut Cliff Avril ($7.5M - aging and facing a career-threatening injury) and Neiko Thorpe (1.85M - great on special teams but rarely plays on defense). That brings us to roughly $16.5M.

Here are the key free agents as I see them:

Sheldon Richardson
Jimmy Graham
Paul Richardson
Luke Willson
Blair Walsh

Assuming we re-sign all of them, and after cutting Avril and Thorpe, that means we'd need to fill only 14 roster spots (as opposed to the 17 in the article). That adds another $1.5M to the available cap, bringing us up to ~$18M.

Sheldon Richardson is going to be the most costly. The most comparable contract is probably that of Kawann Short, who signed this past offseason for 5/$85 with $45M guaranteed. His first year cap hit is $10M.

I'm going to skip Jimmy Graham for now.

Paul Richardson's worth is hard to project but if he gets a Jermaine Kearse type of deal, we're looking at a roughly $2.5M cap hit in the first year.

If Willson and Walsh get deals similar to the ones they're on, that's another $3M cap hit for both.

That leaves us with only $2.5M left with Graham still unsigned. Does that mean Graham has to go? Not necessarily.

They could choose to let Willson walk, which would allow for a $4M 1st year cap hit, which is doable if Graham takes a slight pay cut from his current salary. They could also convert someone like Bobby Wagner's 2018 salary in to a bonus, which would open up ~$5M in cap space. There are also a number of highly-paid players who would be "eligible" for extensions (Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, KJ Wright, Duane Brown), and those extensions could easily be structured to free up space.

Are the Seahawks poised to make a big splash in free agency? Not unless they allow guys like Sheldon Richardson to walk. Can they keep the entire team intact while adding depth and draft pics? Absolutely.

Click to expand...

They may not want to, the new blood has to push the old blood aside at some point, if we have players with contracts still that we could get relief as well as draft picks for I think we may see certain players traded if there is a suitable team and compensation in draft choices. That how you keep in contention and were very close or at that point.

They do need to start looking at new blood to replace the defensive core. However, my guess is that barring injury that won't happen until after next season. All of the big contract guys are still playing at a high level, and keeping continuity for one last title run with the main group makes sense with the current cap situation:

Player / Age at start of 2019 Season / 2018 cap savings if cut / 2019 cap savings if cut

Richard Sherman / 31 / $11M / N/A
Earl Thomas / 30 / $8.5M / N/A
KJ Wright / 30 / $ / $7.2M / NA
Kam Chancellor / 31 / $2.3M / $8M
Michael Bennett / 33 / $2.025M / $5.265M

Looking at the numbers, assuming they stay healthy it seems unlikely that Kam or Bennett get cut next year as the savings aren't that great. However, after next year they will be 31 and 33 years old respectively, and could open up significant cap savings if cut.

I doubt Earl or KJ are cut next year - both will still be in their 20's, Earl is probably the hardest player on the defense to replace, and we lack depth at LB. I would bet that Earl is extended. KJ is probably in line for one as well but the team might let him test the market if he wants another huge contract.

If anyone is cut or traded after this season, Sherman seems the most likely. He'll be 30 going in to 2018, his cap savings would be $11M, and the team was open about listening to trades for him last year. To his credit he's been healthier than Earl and Kam. If the Hawks can get a young talented starter via trade or cutting Sherman to use his cap space in FA they might let him go after this year, but I'm guessing the team lets him play out his contract and test the market in 2019.

It will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out.

What the hell? Some folk can't live enjoying the minute. They have the Chicken Little "The Sky is Falling" mindset continuing into next year already. Good Grief! :17:

I am very much enjoying the moment. However, I find it pretty fascinating to analyze how the roster may change in the future. I also do not at all think they sky is falling - I think the Seahawks are in a great position to make two strong title runs this year and next, and re-make the roster as the core ages and key contracts run out after next year.

Re: Rough 2018 Seattle Seahawks Salary Cap Calculations
by A-Dog » Sat Nov 04, 2017 4:07 pm
I am very much enjoying the moment. However, I find it pretty fascinating to analyze how the roster may change in the future. I also do not at all think they sky is falling - I think the Seahawks are in a great position to make two strong title runs this year and next, and re-make the roster as the core ages and key contracts run out after next year.


This
It's really fun to look into the future and realizing that JS is already 3 Yrs. ahead but not knowing his plan.
I wonder if they plan for injuries knowing they happen every year but are unpredictable as to who.
Seems like we always go into the season with a few million anticipating somethings gonna happen.
Fun to watch a master at work.

Bigpumpkin":39vv80df said:

What the hell? Some folk can't live enjoying the minute. They have the Chicken Little "The Sky is Falling" mindset continuing into next year already. Good Grief! :17:

Click to expand...

Not the sky is falling, more like reading tea leaves, we have drafted heavy in the secondary recently as well as brought in D lineman. Much of our higher costs are in those two groups at the moment, letting players go after their contract means we get nothing for them, using the Patriots approach we can, better to let them go a year early then late as many have said here, I follow that with if we have their replacement already here playing at a close level and improving and having a higher ceiling.