HEADLINES

Roman Harper

Saints Waive Smith, Harper, Greer; Won’t Re-Sign Vilma

February 12th, 2014 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

4:51pm: The Saints have officially issued a press release announcing that Smith, Harper, and Greer have been cut. The team also won’t re-sign Vilma, according to the release.

“These were not easy decisions to make,” said Saints GM Mickey Loomis in a statement. “Since we acquired them, Jabari, Roman, Will and Jonathan have all been excellent players on the field for us. Each of them were integral parts in turning this program around and winning a Super Bowl…. However, a new NFL year is about to begin and, with the start of free agency in March, these difficult moves allow us to position our team under the salary cap to move forward for 2014.”

4:48pm: The Saints will also release cornerback Jabari Greer, according to Florio (via Twitter). The Saints could create about $3.18MM in cap savings by cutting Greer, but it’s not possible the amount will be lower than that, since he could be eligible for $1MM+ in injury protection, as Rapoport explains in a pair of tweets.

4:34pm: NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport confirms (via Twitter) that Harper has been informed the Saints have released him.

4:18pm: Today’s list of NFL transactions didn’t include any from the Saints, so it looks like potential cap casualties have at least earned another day on the roster. Still, cuts are expected to come this week. According to Triplett (via Twitter), the Saints have informed Smith that he’ll be waived. Meanwhile, Harper sent out a thank-you tweet to Saints fans, suggesting that he has also been told he’ll be released.

9:11am: The Saints are expected to release a handful of veteran players to increase cap flexibility, and those cuts could begin as soon as today, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (Twitter link) echoes that report, with both reports identifying safety Roman Harper and defensive end Will Smith as two potential cap casualties for the team.

As Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com details in his latest 2014 salary cap update, only one team (the Cowboys) has more money committed to ’14 salaries than the Saints, who are currently $13MM+ over the projected cap for next year. Waiving Smith represents the best way to immediately clear nearly that entire deficit — in the last year of his contract, Smith has a cap number of $13.9MM, which could be reduced to just $2.35MM in dead money by releasing him.

As for Harper, after starting nearly every game for the Saints in the previous six seasons, he was limited by injuries in 2013, and was ineffective in his limited playing time. The cap savings won’t be as significant for the Saints if and when they waive Harper, since the veteran still has $3.69MM in bonus money on the final two years of his deal, but the club could still clear $2.18MM in space by cutting him.

Florio notes in his report that a return to New Orleans for free agent linebacker Jonathan Vilma appears highly unlikely. The 31-year-old has been plagued by injuries, which limited him to just one game in 2013, and Vilma’s recent comments about having to share a locker room with a gay teammate aren’t likely to help his free agent stock much either.

Bears Notes: Peppers, Jernigan, Harper

February 9th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Rory Parks

With less than 30 days before the free agent market opens, the Bears cannot begin to think about pursuing any free agents before they decide what to do with DE Julius Peppers, says Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. It has already been noted that Peppers, who carries a cap hit of over $18MM for 2014, would be willing to restructure his contract, and it was previously reported that Peppers would simply have to take a pay cut if he wanted to remain in Chicago. Biggs notes that such a pay cut would have to be quite substantial, and Peppers has already restructured his deal twice over the last four seasons to create more cap room.

However, there are a number of factors that impact any decision regarding Peppers. Biggs notes that Peppers, despite his age (34) and disappointing 2013 season, is the only legitimate pass-rusher on the roster, and he must be replaced–or there must be a replacement on the radar–before the Bears let him go. Furthermore, releasing Peppers would create about $8.3MM of dead money, which could be spread out over two seasons if the Bears cut him after June 1. If they chose that route, they would create $14MM of cap space for 2014. If they cut him before June 1, they would eat all the dead money right away and would create $9.8MM of cap space.

Either way, the Bears would have some wiggle room if they released Peppers, though it is unclear what their cash budget is going to be after signing Jay Cutler, Tim Jennings, Matt Slauson, and Robbie Gould. Biggs lays out some of the ways they could spend the money saved by cutting Peppers to bring in another pass rusher. He lists Brian Orakpo, Michael Bennett, and Michael Johnson as potential targets, and notes that Everson Griffin of the Vikings and Willie Young of the Lions could also be considered.

The draft, meanwhile is likely not the place to replace Peppers, as there are not many top-flight 4-3 defensive ends in this year’s class, and Jadeveon Clowney will almost certainly not fall to the Bears with the fourteenth overall pick.

As the Bears decide what to do about their aging star, here are some other musings from Chicago:

  • Given the Bears’ struggles defending the run in 2o13, as well as the injuries to impending free agent defensive tackles Henry Melton and Nate Collins, ESPN.com’s Michael C. Wright thinks Florida State DT Timmy Jernigan would make a lot of sense for Chicago.
  • Wright does not believe the Bears will take a wideout in the later rounds, and he believes the team will give Marquess Wilson the opportunity to become the “speed element” of the passing game to complement Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery.
  • Wright also does not think that the Bears will pursue Saints safety Roman Harper should he be cut by New Orleans. There would be value in pairing the veteran Harper with young safety Chris Conte, but Harper would likely demand more money than the Bears would be willing to pay.

Payton Talks Graham, Free Agency

February 8th, 2014 at 9:46pm CST by Peter Sowards

Saints head coach Sean Payton joined Fox Sports 1 on Friday and discussed the issues facing his team this offseason, according to Larry Holder of The Times-Picayune.

The most notable free agent in New Orleans, without a doubt, is tight end Jimmy Graham. Now, if it comes down to a franchise tag, Graham will contend that he should be paid as a wide receiver rather than a tight end. The difference figures to be nearly $5MM ($11.6MM for WR and $6.8MM for TE).

“I know that Mickey Loomis, CAA (Creative Artists Agency), Jimmy Sexton (Graham’s agent) and all parties involved are going to work very hard and very diligently, no different than they did with Drew (Brees) on his contract,” Payton said. “With that being said, the first thing that comes to my mind with free agency is your own roster. I think often times that gets overlooked.

“The most challenging part of your job as a coach, and I share that with Mickey or anyone that has been with an organization as long as we have been, going on year nine, is some of the tough decisions that have to be made with regards to your cap with the ability that you possibly can sign Jimmy Graham.”

Holder points out safety Malcolm Jenkins, tackle Zach Strief and center Brian de la Puente as “key potential free agents” the team would like to re-sign. Easier said than done, noted Payton.

“It’s very easy to say ‘you are certainly going to get this done’ but you have to understand there is a budget here. That’s the challenging part. You are going to read these names that have already come across the ticker from Atlanta last week (Asante Samuel and Stephen Nicholas) and we will be no different.”

According to Holder, players that could become cap-casualties to help the Saints be able to afford signing Graham to a long-term contract include (figures courtesy of Holder):