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2022 NFL Cap Space, By Team

September 30th, 2022 at 1:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

As we exit September, trade rumors will become a steady NFL topic. This year’s deadline falls on Nov. 1. That will return cap-space discussions to the forefront. Here is how every team stacks up financially going into October, via Over The Cap.

  1. Cleveland Browns: $35.94MM
  2. Philadelphia Eagles: $10.89MM
  3. Denver Broncos: $10.67MM
  4. Carolina Panthers: $10.47MM
  5. Las Vegas Raiders: $10.35MM
  6. Dallas Cowboys: $9.25MM
  7. Pittsburgh Steelers: $8.64MM
  8. Green Bay Packers: $8.57MM
  9. Indianapolis Colts: $7.97MM
  10. Atlanta Falcons: $7.92MM
  11. New York Jets: $6.97MM
  12. Chicago Bears: $6.84MM
  13. San Francisco 49ers: $6.75MM
  14. Miami Dolphins: $6.51MM
  15. Arizona Cardinals: $6.25MM
  16. Los Angeles Chargers: $5.83MM
  17. New York Giants: $5.49MM
  18. Jacksonville Jaguars: $5.41MM
  19. Los Angeles Rams: $5.38MM
  20. Baltimore Ravens: $4.51MM
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $3.87MM
  22. New England Patriots: $3.5MM
  23. Cincinnati Bengals: $3.16MM
  24. New Orleans Saints: $2.86MM
  25. Detroit Lions: $2.64MM
  26. Washington Commanders: $2.58MM
  27. Buffalo Bills: $2.44MM
  28. Tennessee Titans: $2.41MM
  29. Seattle Seahawks: $2.28MM
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: $2.12MM
  31. Houston Texans: $1.64MM
  32. Minnesota Vikings: $1.47MM

The Eagles’ number is certainly far closer to the Vikings’ last-place figure than what the Browns have stockpiled. Cleveland would stand to have room to augment its 2022 roster, via a patient free agent or a trade. That could depend on where Jacoby Brissett has the team stationed going into the Nov. 1 deadline. But the Browns also appear to be preparing for their Deshaun Watson future. Watson’s unprecedented contract spikes from a $9.4MM cap number (2022) to a record-shattering $54.99MM numbers from 2023-26. As that reality awaits, the Browns rolling over cap space to 2023 would be prudent.

With Sterling Shepard‘s ACL tear moving the veteran wide receiver to IR, the Giants will need to both cover that cost ($6.3MM) and add a contract to fill the roster spot. Every team will go through versions of that issue this season, as injuries pile up. The Giants are prepared to eat a significant chunk of Kenny Golladay‘s 2022 base salary ($13MM) to move him, eyeing an escape from his $4.5MM 2023 guarantee. No takers have emerged, though it will be interesting to see if a market for the former Pro Bowler forms once injuries affect more teams’ receiver situations.

Since their Jimmy Garoppolo restructure, the 49ers agreed to a two-year extension with Dre Greenlaw. The team is not expected to extend Nick Bosa until 2023, however. The Texans, Falcons, Bears and Eagles all sit north of $60MM in dead money, meaning more than a quarter of their respective cap space is tied to players no longer on the roster. Watson, Matt Ryan and Khalil Mack are responsible for massive dead-money hits on the Houston, Atlanta and Chicago payrolls. Philadelphia still has Alshon Jeffery, Malik Jackson and Brandon Brooks dead money on its cap sheet.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/22

September 24th, 2022 at 4:28pm CST by Ely Allen

Lots of moves leading into gameday. Remember that players promoted from the practice squad for games will revert back to the practice squad after:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/19/22

September 19th, 2022 at 6:37pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor moves, including some standard practice squad elevations for the two Monday Night Football games:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders

 

Brewer has completed a pretty unlikely path to an NFL game. Coming out of Coastal Carolina, the defensive lineman had to have surgery following an injury suffered in the Chanticleers’ bowl game. With no college all-star game and no NFL Combine, Brewer had only his Pro Day to show his ability. After going undrafted and unsigned as a college free agent, he earned a rookie mini camp tryout and got to stay for training camp as the lowest player on the depth chart. Brewer played more than any other defensive player in training camp and stayed healthy. He got cut, signed with the practice squad, and is now getting an opportunity to appear in his first NFL game.

The Cowboys had hoped to re-sign Ridgeway after waiving him. It doesn’t appear that Washington was the only team to keep him from returning to Dallas, as multiple teams reportedly submitted claims for the former fifth-round pick.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/17/22

September 17th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the league, including practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s action:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Daryl Worley, WR Raleigh Webb

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Falcons Place RB Damien Williams On IR

September 17th, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

The depth in the Falcons’ running game will be tested somewhat over the next several weeks. The team announced on Saturday that Damien Williams has been placed on IR due to a rib injury, meaning that he will miss at least the next four games. 

Williams, 30, spent the first four years of his career in Miami. He operated strictly as a rotational rusher and special teamer, never registering a start. A much more productive, two-year stint in Kansas City followed, where he racked up over 1,100 scrimmage yards and 13 total touchdowns. The former UDFA put up less impressive numbers last season with the Bears.

As a free agent, Williams signed a one-year deal with the Falcons, whose front office now includes ex-Bears GM Ryan Pace. That provided the team with an experienced back to make up for the departure of Mike Davis, following his release. In his Falcons debut last week against the Saints, Williams received just a pair of carries and totaled two yards.

Atlanta will be able to move forward with Cordarrelle Patterson as their lead back in Williams’ absence, of course, but they will now exclusively rely on inexperienced options below him on the depth chart. 2021 fifth-rounder Avery Williams, as well as rookies Tyler Allgeier and practice squad elevation Caleb Huntley will operate as Patterson’s backups on Sunday.

With 120 rushing yards and a touchdown in the team’s season opener, Patterson may not need much in the way of support when the Falcons visit the Rams, or for the next several contests after that. If he does, though, the team will be missing one of its more experienced offensive contributors.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/15/22

September 15th, 2022 at 6:24pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: DE Gerri Green

Seahawks’ Jamal Adams To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

September 15th, 2022 at 12:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The quadriceps injury Jamal Adams suffered early in Week 1 will end his season. The veteran safety plans to undergo surgery to repair a torn quad tendon, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

Adams sought additional opinions from doctors this week, but the conclusion will bring a quick end to the former All-Pro defender’s sixth NFL season. The Seahawks will move Adams to IR, and Rapoport adds they are signing cornerback Teez Tabor off the Falcons’ practice squad (Twitter link).

This deals the Seahawks’ defense a major blow, and it continues a string of Adams unavailability since he was traded to Seattle in 2020. Adams, however, only missed four and five games, respectively, during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. This will be new territory. He played 15 snaps against the Broncos. Adams only missed two games during his three-season Jets tenure.

With Jets contract negotiations not progressing, the Seahawks stepped in with a monster trade offer to acquire the former top-10 pick. The Seahawks sent two first-round choices, a third-rounder and veteran safety Bradley McDougald to the Jets for Adams. After playing a fourth season on his rookie contract, Adams cashed in last year. The Seahawks’ decision to trade for the acclaimed blitzer and give him a then-market-topping extension has backfired to this point.

Adams’ $17.5MM extension last summer topped the safety market by more than $2MM (AAV-wise). Although Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James have since surpassed that deal, Adams is the highest-paid defender on Seattle’s defense and — post-Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner — the second-highest-paid player on the team. Seattle re-signed Quandre Diggs this offseason, giving the franchise two of the league’s top-10 highest-paid safeties. Diggs will have to go it alone for the season’s remainder.

While Adams is not regarded as a high-quality cover man, the Seahawks put him to work as a hybrid player over his first two seasons. After a 6.5-sack 2019 season with the Jets — an All-Pro campaign — Adams set a safety record with 9.5 sacks in his first Seahawks season, helping the team to the playoffs. Adams did not record a sack in 2021. Injuries have dogged him for much of his Pacific Northwest stay, however. Two shoulder surgeries have occurred since Adams arrived in Seattle, and he underwent multiple finger operations this offseason. The LSU alum’s finger issues have left him no longer able to make a fist with his left hand, and Adams said his shoulder trouble had him playing “with one arm for damn near two years.”

The Adams contract runs through 2025. He is due an $11MM base salary in 2023 and is in line to count $18.1MM on Seattle’s cap next year. Adams, 26, counts just $9.1MM this year. His 2024 and ’25 cap numbers come in at $23.6MM and $24.6MM, respectively.

Falcons Restructure Deion Jones’ Deal

September 14th, 2022 at 12:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

Mentioned in trade rumors throughout the offseason, Deion Jones is currently on injured reserve. The Falcons linebacker, who underwent shoulder surgery in May, cannot return to action until at least Week 5. The Falcons may be planning ahead regarding a Jones move, however.

The team converted $8.5MM of Jones’ base salary to a signing bonus, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). This creates $6.8MM in cap space for Falcons while also dropping Jones’ 2022 base to $1.14MM.

The adjustment, which dropped Jones’ cap figure from $20MM to $13.2MM, marks the second straight September in which the Falcons’ current regime has restructured Jones’ contract. Jones remains tied to the four-year, $57MM extension he signed during the Thomas Dimitroff GM tenure.

[RELATED: Assessing Jones’ Trade Candidacy]

Jones’ contract served as a previous impediment to a trade, a scenario that has been rumored for months. But this recent restructure stands to make the seventh-year defender easier to trade. The Falcons could now trade Jones and save $6.2MM. Previously, the team would barely have been able to save $1MM by dealing away its longest-tenured defender. While a Jones trade would come with a $7MM dead-money hit this year, that number is way down from where it once stood.

Atlanta added three void years to Jones’ deal, which runs through 2023. The former Pro Bowler carries an $11.99MM base salary next season. GM Terry Fontenot‘s Matt Ryan trade — which triggered an NFL-record $40MM dead-money charge this year — showed the team is willing to pay the necessary costs if a worthwhile deal emerges. The restructure, however, also would make it costlier for the Falcons to cut Jones in 2023.

Jones would need to flash some of his previous form in order for the Falcons to collect a decent asset, and the cap space added would help the team in the event no deal commences before the Nov. 1 deadline. The former second-round pick is still just 27 and has 83 starts on his resume. Jones’ five pick-sixes are also one shy of the linebacker record (shared by Karlos Dansby and Hall of Famers Bobby Bell and Derrick Brooks). It would not shock to see a linebacker-needy team make the Falcons an offer, should Jones re-emerge healthy ahead of the deadline. Prior to this season, Jones had missed just one game over the past three years. Jones registered 137 tackles in 2021; he has notched 25 tackles for loss since 2019.

The Falcons made several moves at linebacker this offseason. Former Titans first-rounder Rashaan Evans is back with DC Dean Pees, starting for his new team in Week 1. Evans started alongside third-year ‘backer Mykal Walker. The Falcons also have second-round pick Troy Andersen and veteran Nick Kwiatkoski in the fold. Jones would crowd this position group upon returning.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22

September 13th, 2022 at 9:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.

Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.

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