HEADLINES

Ahmad Brooks

Joel Corry On Worst Salary Cap Situations

December 25th, 2014 at 10:18am CST by Rob DiRe

On Christmas Eve, Joel Corry of CBS Sports took a look at a few NFL teams who have the worst salary cap situations going into 2015. He picked out the five organizations stuck deepest in salary cap hell:

  1. New Orleans Saints – $23.07MM over the cap
  2. Arizona Cardinals – $6.44MM
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers – $2.901MM
  4. New England Patriots – $1.945MM
  5. San Francisco 49ers – $928,000

Here are some of the highlights of actions Corry suggests that would help them get under the cap in order to have a successful offseason:

Saints

  • Pass rusher Junior Galette could see his contract restructured to open up $10MM, despite signing the extension this past offseason.
  • Another contract doled off last offseason that can be restructured is of prized free agent Jairus Byrd, which could open up $5.6MM in cap space.
  • A third contract from last offseason that can be restructured is that of tight end Jimmy Graham. That move could save $4.77MM in cap space.
  • Both of their Pro Bowl guards are suddenly highly paid luxuries as they have seen their performance drop, and Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs are candidates for release. If cut, they will free up $6.6MM and $3.6MM, respectively.
  • Veteran receiver Marques Colston holds a $9.7MM cap number, and has seen a sharp decline in his play. It will be a tougher cut, but is a candidate to be released.
  • The team could restructure Drew Brees‘ contract again, although they will only push their cap problems into the future in exchange for immediate relief.
  • Releasing linebacker David Hawthorne will free up $2.99MM in cap space if he is released before his $2.5MM roster bonus on the third day of the 2015 league year.

Cardinals

Steelers

Patriots

  • The obvious move for the Patriots would be signing Darrelle Revis to a long-term deal, which would create substantial cap space. The team is unlikely to keep him in 2015 at his current number. They will open $20MM in cap space if they do not keep him on the roster.
  • The Patriots could open up $4MM in cap space by restructuring Tom Brady‘s contract.
  • The team will likely ask linebacker Jerod Mayo to take a pay cut, or they may release him. Corry writes that his $4.5MM injury guarantee will be the only thing that potentially saves him from being released.
  • Danny Amendola will be expendable, and cutting him will free up $2.1MM in cap room or $4.5MM if he is designated a post June 1st cut.
  • Vince Wilfork could also become a cap casualty, as the team will have to decide whether to guarantee his contract for 2015 and 2016. Releasing him will free up $7.566MM in cap room.
  • The team could also recoup some money from Aaron Hernandez‘ signing bonus if the grievance ruling comes back favorable for the Patriots.

49ers

  • The 49ers could restructure Colin Kaepernick‘s contract to lower his 2015 cap number.
  • Linebacker Ahmad Brooks may be released, freeing up a little over $4MM in cap room.
  • Another staple of the team, Vernon Davis, could be released as performance has dropped. The team would gain $4.95MM from releasing him.
  • If Aldon Smith‘s off-field troubles are too much for the 49ers, the team could decline his 2015 option and pick up $9.754MM in cap space.
  • The team could pass on re-signing Michael Crabtree, and will likely cut Stevie Johnson and save just over $6MM unless they lose Crabtree and replace him with Johnson.
  • The team will most likely not seek to bring Frank Gore back to the team, unless it is at an extremely reasonable number.

49ers Notes: Tryouts, Kaepernick, Bowman

December 8th, 2014 at 7:27pm CST by Ben Levine

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was not a man of many words following his team’s loss to the lowly Raiders on Sunday. After the game, reporters wanted to question the coach’s future with the organization, but Harbaugh made his intentions clear.

“My priorities are: No. 1, winning football games,” Harbaugh said (via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com). “No. 2, the welfare of our players, coaches and our staff. And lastly, is what my personal/professional future is.”

So, does the coach want to remain with the 49ers next season?

“My priorities,” he said, “are winning games.”

As we try to decipher Harbaugh’s comments, let’s take a look at some more notes out of Santa Clara…

Extra Points: RGIII, Brooks, Steelers

November 16th, 2014 at 10:40pm CST by Ben Levine

Let’s check out some leftover notes to wrap up the weekend…

  • If Washington decides to exercise the fifth-year option on Robert Griffin III, the quarterback’s 2016 salary will be worth about $18.4MM, calculates Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. If the former second-overall pick doesn’t improve quickly, Florio says it’s hard to imagine the team picking up the option.
  • The 49ers reportedly shopped linebacker Ahmad Brooks close to the trade deadline, and it appears like that relationship continues to deteriorate. Mike Garafolo of FoxSports.com reports that the 30-year-old pulled himself from Sunday’s win over the Giants because he was upset about playing time. Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter) guesses that the 30-year-old and his $7.3MM contract won’t be around next season.
  • The dominant defense that the Steelers featured in the past is much harder to construct nowadays, writes Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Previously, the team’s 3-4 strategy was unique and exclusive, meaning the team could target specific types of players for significantly less money. However, many teams have switched over to the Dick LeBeau-styled defense, and Pittsburgh is now being forced to bid against teams with larger pockets.

NFC Links: Avant, Palmer, Brooks

November 8th, 2014 at 12:34pm CST by Ben Levine

Panthers wide receiver Jason Avant is looking forward to returning to Philadelphia this weekend, but the veteran is also looking back on his time with the Eagles. The 30-year-old was asked about his departure from Philly, and the wideout understood that he was on the outside looking in. Via the Philly Mag’s Tim McManus…

“You have an emerging [Jeremy] Maclin, you have a receiver draft that is high on talent that year and then you just paid Riley Cooper, so you kind of put the pieces together. Me and DeSean or me and Mac, we knew two of us would be gone,” he said. “We didn’t know which one it would be but you kind of [understand] situations over the years.

“I saw my role and what they had me doing and it just didn’t make sense for them financially to keep me to do some of the things I was doing. That’s no slight at Chip [Kelly] or anyone, it’s just a good business decision. Man, if I was in the business decision I would have looked at it and said: Look, to catch bubbles and to block, we can get a rookie to do that for a lesser price. That’s just a smart move by Howie Roseman and Chip.”

“Every player wants to play in one city for their whole career, but I understood the business side of it,” he said. “I love the organization, I love [Kelly and Roseman], I don’t have any hard feelings. I’ll be giving [Kelly] a big hug when I see him. I respect him and I respect what he is doing. They’re having a great season so far and I am really, really excited for a lot of the guys there, and I still talk to a lot of people. I’m happy they’re doing well — I just hope they don’t do well this week. That’s it.”

Let’s check out some more notes from the NFC…

  • The Packers will evaluate the availability of guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang today, and they could decide to activate lineman Josh Walker from the practice squad, writes Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel.
  • The Cardinals made the correct move in signing Carson Palmer, says ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss. The 34-year-old’s performance since returning in mid-October has proven to the writer that the veteran was deserving of a three-year extension.
  • 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh would not comment on rumors that the team was shopping linebacker Ahmad Brooks. “No, no, I don’t have any comment on that,” Harbaugh said (via ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez). “As always, no comment on those things. It would be second-hand, and I don’t have the specific knowledge.”

NFC West Notes: Brooks, Smith, Seahawks

November 4th, 2014 at 10:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio doesn’t put much stock into a recent report that San Francisco almost dealt linebacker Ahmad Brooks to the Browns before last week’s trade deadline, writes Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was never mentioned to me before the trade deadline ended and I would think that if there was any seriousness going on along those ways that [general manager] Trent [Baalke] would have mentioned it to me,” Fangio told KNBR in San Francisco. “And he never did. So I think those reports are way out of line.” Fangio’s reasoning is valid, but I outlined in the link above why the idea of the Niners shopping Brooks wouldn’t be too far-fetched. Here’s more from the NFC West.

  • 49ers pass-rusher Aldon Smith‘s suspension won’t be reduced (as was rumored), according to Ed Werder of ESPN, meaning Smith will be allowed to return to the field on November 16 against the Giants. The linebacker, who was banned for the first nine games of the season, should provide a nice boost to a 4-4 San Francisco team.
  • The Seahawks worked out several players today, report Adam Caplan of ESPN (several Twitter links) and Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link), who identify receivers Austin Pettis, Arrelious Benn, Tim Benford, and Michael Preston, and quarterback Brad Sorensen as the players who auditioned for Seattle. Pettis is a former Rams third-round pick who was waived two weeks ago, while Benn, a second-round pick in 2010, has played for the Buccaneers and Eagles.
  • Missouri governor Jay Nixon will hold a media conference call tomorrow to discuss the Rams’ stadium situation and how to keep the team in St. Louis, writes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Amid rumors of the franchise moving to Los Angeles, Nixon’s comments should shed some light on the state’s commitment to retaining the team.

49ers Shopped Ahmad Brooks

November 2nd, 2014 at 12:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We heard last week that the 49ers could consider trading second-year linebacker Corey Lemonier, but according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports (via Twitter), San Francisco was actually shopping a different defender — outside ‘backer Ahmad Brooks. Per Glazer, the Browns were interested in acquiring the 30-year-old, but trade discussions ultimately fell through.

Brooks, a Virginia product, has been with the Niners since 2008. He was originally selected by the Bengals in the third round of the 2006 draft. In 84 games with San Francisco, Brooks has accrued 36 sacks, 184 tackles, and three interceptions. He’s having a subpar season in 2014, as Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grades him as the second-worst 3-4 outside linebacker in the league among 46 qualifiers, and rates him last in pass-rush productivity.

As Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee writes, it makes sense that the 49ers would look to trade Brooks. The veteran is set to earn more than $19MM in base salaries over the next three seasons, and is due roster bonuses totaling more than $2.5MM. The club has Aaron Lynch and Dan Skuta, each of whom has garnered better PFF grades than Brooks, available to play OLB, with the aforementioned Lemonier behind them. Most notably, Aldon Smith will return from suspension next week, adding yet another pass-rushing element to the Niners’ front seven. Combine these factors with Brooks’ declining play, and it’s not surprising the team tried to move him.

For their part, the Browns were probably looking at Brooks as a half-year rental; I doubt they’d be interested in paying his large base salaries for any of the next three seasons, and they likely would have cut him before his 2015 $1.2MM roster bonus was due. Still, if the draft pick compensation San Francisco wanted was reasonable enough, Brooks could have been a nice addition to a Cleveland linebacking corps that includes Karlos Dansby, Paul Kruger, and Barkevious Mingo.

49ers, Ahmad Brooks Restructure Contract

July 29th, 2014 at 6:45pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers and Ahmad Brooks have agreed to a contract restructuring that will create just over $2MM in cap space for the team, according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap (on Twitter). Brooks’ new Paragraph 5 salary (base salary) is $855K for the coming season and he’ll make up for that in bonus money (link).

Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports (Twitter links) has the details. The veteran linebacker converted $3.395MM of his 2014 base salary into signing bonus money for cap purposes. His cap number for 2014 drops from $6.6MM to about $4.5MM while his cap numbers in the remaining years rise to about $9.6MM in ’15 and ’16 and $8.6MM in ’17. That $9.6MM cap number for 2015 includes a $450K reporting bonus, according to Brian McIntyre (on Twitter).

Brooks, 30, signed a six-year contract extension worth $44.5MM ($17.5MM guaranteed) in February 2012. The outside linebacker has yet to miss a regular season game across four seasons for the 49ers, racking up 196 tackles and 33 sacks along the way.

While the restructuring doesn’t mean that another move is around the corner, it does give San Francisco some extra flexibility this offseason as they have several players seeking extensions and a holdout from guard Alex Boone. Tight end Vernon Davis, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, and right guard Mike Iupati are among those who could be in line for new deals.