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Jets to have $46.29 mil in cap space available in 2015


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Teams With Money To Burn in 2015

By Joel Corry

CBS Sports

Knowing the potential salary cap space every NFL team could have available and how it might be spent is crucial information for an agent who has clients headed toward free agency.

An agent could do his clients a disservice without a deep appreciation of each team’s financial landscape. When I represented athletes, my colleagues and I would use this type of information in formulating our free agency game plans as the NFL season came to close for the clients playing out their contracts, before meeting with them individually to discuss their particular situations.

NFL teams were informed at an NFL meeting on Dec. 9 that the 2015 salary cap is preliminarily projected to be between $138.6 million and $141.8 million. The actual salary cap this year is 5.3 percent higher than the preliminary projections this time last year. When the 2015 salary cap is set in late February or early March, the expectation is for it to once again exceed initial projections.

Each team's actual salary cap (known as adjusted salary cap) is typically different from the NFL's set amount because unused cap room can be carried over from one year to the next year and other adjustments can further increase or decrease cap space.

For example, the Cleveland Browns have the highest adjusted salary cap this year at $157.42 million thanks in part to carrying over $24.54 million of unused cap room from 2013.

Salary cap accounting changes in the offseason. Only the top 51 cap numbers count on the cap until the start of the regular season. The top 51 includes any franchise/transition, restricted free agent and exclusive rights tenders for unsigned players. The restricted free agent tenders are tied to the growth in the salary cap but will increase by a minimum of 5 percent and a maximum of 10 percent.

The most common restricted free agent tender which entitles a team to draft choice compensation equal to a player's draft round on an unmatched offer sheet will be $1.528 million in 2015 if the salary cap is $142 million. After the regular season ends on December 28, teams can sign players that aren't on rosters to contracts that won't take effect until the 2015 league year begins on March 10.

Typically, these futures contracts are for minimum salary without signing bonus and most teams sign their own practice squad players to help fill out the roster.

Here's a look at the seven teams projected to have at least $30 million of cap space in 2015 assuming the salary cap comes in at $142 million. Unlike most projections of cap room (which usually only include carry over amounts), the fourth-year proven performance escalators earned by third through seventh round picks under the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement's rookie wage scale, tenders for restricted free agents and exclusive rights players with expiring contracts, voidable contract years and futures contracts for practice squad players are taken into account to give a more complete picture. These projections include 51 players unless noted otherwise. [...]

4. New York Jets

Room Projection: $46.29 Million

Rex Ryan's six-year tenure as head coach is likely coming to an end. It remains to be seen whether general manager John Idzik, who is also on the hot seat, will be following Ryan out the door. Idizk has come under fire for hording salary cap space and his inability to address the glaring need at cornerback after making Antonio Cromartie a cap casualty.

Using some of the $19.89 million of cap space, which was second most in the NFL at the time, to obtain Percy Harvin in a mid-season trade with the Seattle Seahawks did little to quiet Idzik's critics despite the low acquisition cost. Seattle only gets the Jets' 2015 sixth-round pick in the trade instead of their fourth-round pick if Harvin is released. Harvin, who is scheduled to make $10.5 million in 2015, would like to remain with the Jets but isn't interested in taking a pay cut.

The Jets have the leverage to ask Harvin to reduce his salary because there aren't any negative cap consequences for releasing him and he's unlikely to find another team willing to pay him anything close to $41.5 million in the remaining four years of his contract after wearing out his welcome with the Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings.

None of the Jets' 16 unrestricted free agents, which include offensive guard Willie Colon, defensive lineman Leger Douzable, linebacker David Harris, strong safety Dawan Landry and quarterback Michael Vick, are players the team can't live without. Besides cornerback, the offensive line needs to be overhauled (excluding Nick Mangold) and Geno Smith may not be the long-term solution at quarterback. Wide receiver becomes a priority without Harvin.

Signing defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who is entering his option year, to a contract extension is a must. He was Pro Football Focus' number two rated 3-4 defensive end this season behind 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt before being sidelined for the past three games with a toe injury. The Jets missed the opportunity to potentially get him in the Calais Campbell neighborhood ($11 million per year/$31 million in guarantees) because they weren't proactive. The market for elite defensive linemen has changed with Watt, Robert Quinn and Gerald McCoy's recent deals averaging $16,666,667 per year, $14,253,724 per year and $13.6 million per year, respectively.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement requires teams to spend 89 percent of the salary cap in cash over four year periods of 2013 through 2016 and 2017 through 2020. Jets can't continue to be frugal. The team is 30th in spending this year ($106.295 million) and below the 89 percent threshold since 2013 at 84.56 percent.

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Math 1, Draft 0

So, we agree that this draft so far has not panned out. It's been one year. What if next year, we get an actual free safety, Pyror moves into his position and does well? Evans comes back and turns out to be a pretty good #2? and McDougle holds his own at CB? I'm sure one of these instances will not happen, but let's say Idzik gets fired this offseason. Hindsight, do you think he deserves that fate?

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So, we agree that this draft so far has not panned out. It's been one year. What if next year, we get an actual free safety, Pyror moves into his position and does well? Evans comes back and turns out to be a pretty good #2? and McDougle holds his own at CB? I'm sure one of these instances will not happen, but let's say Idzik gets fired this offseason. Hindsight, do you think he deserves that fate?

who cares how the draft turns out, he deserves to get fired for his stupid face

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So, we agree that this draft so far has not panned out. It's been one year. What if next year, we get an actual free safety, Pyror moves into his position and does well? Evans comes back and turns out to be a pretty good #2? and McDougle holds his own at CB? I'm sure one of these instances will not happen, but let's say Idzik gets fired this offseason. Hindsight, do you think he deserves that fate?

you forget IK - who will be a score.

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So, we agree that this draft so far has not panned out. It's been one year. What if next year, we get an actual free safety, Pyror moves into his position and does well? Evans comes back and turns out to be a pretty good #2? and McDougle holds his own at CB? I'm sure one of these instances will not happen, but let's say Idzik gets fired this offseason. Hindsight, do you think he deserves that fate?

 

Just one?

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So, we agree that this draft so far has not panned out. It's been one year. What if next year, we get an actual free safety, Pyror moves into his position and does well? Evans comes back and turns out to be a pretty good #2? and McDougle holds his own at CB? I'm sure one of these instances will not happen, but let's say Idzik gets fired this offseason. Hindsight, do you think he deserves that fate?

I'll be a little surprised if Evans is a good #4 next year.

This draft was bad. A 3-11 team cut 5 of 12 draft picks, despite the fact that 2 were lost for the season due to injury. And none of the other ones have made a significant impact this season.

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and if they did...it would have players like DRC making bloated money. 

Why don't you think that DRC is worth 7 mill a year?  Harris just got 10 and gave a home town discount.  What do you think Maxwell will get this year as the best FA CB? And he is not as good as DRC.

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Just one?

 

 

 

 

With health being my only concern (McDougle), all three still have potential. By no means is their careers over. Evans was really good in college, and I have no doubts that he can be a solid player once healthy.

 

So yes, I'll let some of my optimism slide and give you one in this example.

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Signing defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who is entering his option year, to a contract extension is a must. He was Pro Football Focus' number two rated 3-4 defensive end this season behind 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt before being sidelined for the past three games with a toe injury. The Jets missed the opportunity to potentially get him in the Calais Campbell neighborhood ($11 million per year/$31 million in guarantees) because they weren't proactive. The market for elite defensive linemen has changed with Watt, Robert Quinn and Gerald McCoy's recent deals averaging $16,666,667 per year, $14,253,724 per year and $13.6 million per year, respectively. 

 

 

**** it, trade him

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