Official Salary Cap space for all 32 teams – as of 6/23/13

•The Eagles have plenty of room. No surprise there.

•The Redskins, conversely, have next to nothing in cap space (with only the Rams having less), and will need to make more space under the cap before the Top 51 Cap rule expires in 74 days on September 5th.

•The Cowboys look good now, but going forward they're in as bad shape as can be. They are a house of cards waiting to collapse. J.J. has no clue what he's doing down there w/respect to the cap, and it will cost them dearly as times goes on, even though most people don't understand why now.

Wonderful work as always...so how could it work with a Leech or Bishop assuming they won't take the minimum and with the draft picks signings imminent and a potential Cruz deal later...they seem to be beyond the Giants financial reach yet there are those "reports" of interest.

Sorry to see Philly have so much space and to a lesser extent GB and SF.

From a "value relative to cap cost", who do you see as the most likely current Giants casualties if cap space needs to be freed up quickly for Bishop or Leach? I guess even more importantly, what (if anything) has to happen if / when Cruz is signed to a long term deal before 9/5?

Cincinnati is a pretty good team with close to 20mm in cap room.

but they'll have to re-sign Dalton and Greene and others before long so that 20 million in cap space is going to be need/used to a fair extent.

Also besides Green, Geno Atkins will command a high cap number shortly or will leave
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cincinnati-bengals-owner-mike-brown-faces-biggest-test-134600868.html

When you have an Eli, or someone like him at QB with a huge cap number it really makes things tight elsewhere unless by some miracle the overall team cap number rises significantly which it hasn't.

The Bengals have a nice young team and a good situation right now.

I wrote about it players who could help the Giants to get further under the cap here, and likely scenarios for each to help achieve that goal:

Players who would be willing and able to help the Giants get further under the cap - Friday, June 21, 2013

If the Giants and Cruz agree to terms on a new deal for him, then Cruz's cap number for 2013 may not be that high for the first year of his new deal. Just look at Will Beatty's contract for reference. I wrote about that here:
Giants front office's to-do list before the start of training camp on July 26th - Thursday, June 20, 2013

I was tweeting Jason Fitzgerald where the Giants could create more money under the cap as I wrote that first post listed at the very top above here for my Giants cap blog. He went on to address the issue in his podcast last night from overthecap.com

You can listen to it here:
Podcast: Hernandez, Giants, and QB Decisions (54m 49s) - June 23, 2013
•Jason covers the Giants' specific cap situation for about 12 minutes, from the 24:30 mark to the 36:18 mark of the podcast.
•Click HERE to listen and fast forward to the specific sections.

•Jason talks about the Rolle, Snee, and Tuck cap situations at the 28:17 mark.
•What he says about them is very interesting, and reflects the Giants' views on these players in 2014, and maybe even before that.

Their inflated cap space number is exclusively due to their carry over money from last year. The same applies to Denver, Tennessee, Jacksonville, & Minnesota after taking a quick glimpse at the carryover money from 2012.

posted the link to regarding the drafting of young QBs, particularly in the case of Eli.

A guy like Ryan Nassib wasn't just drafted to be used as trade bait in 3 years, even if that's what eventually happens (which I think it will). It also serves the purpose of helping to transition away from an established star who may or may not want to renegotiate his deal, or becomes too full of himself with respect to what he think he's worth.

Young QBs drafted onto teams with established QBs like Eli serve two purposes:

1 - leverage to pressure the established starter into taking less money if the team and the established QB attempt to renegotiate the terms if his contract via an extension, so the vet. QB doesn't have all the negotiating power.
2 - leverage to give you the option to move on from the established star starting QB (e.g., Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay with Brett Favre).

I hope we won't be thinking about "moving on" from Eli any time soon.

spending limit number to work from. Take the $123 million dollar limit for 2013 for instance. This figure is NOT the only factor in determining how much teams have to spend.

Cap adjustments made to each of the 32 teams in the league are UNIQUE to them, thereby resulting in DIFFERENT adjusted cap baselines, as Jason Fitzgerald refers to them here on this Caponomics video on YouTube:

Caponomics 101 video - Cap Adjustments at the 23:57 mark



The variables that factor into this adjusted baseline cap number for each team are listed in the screen shot above from the 23:57 mark of the YouTube video linked above. Here they are in bullet style:

Quote:

•Prior Year Carryover - This INCREASES the adjusted baseline cap number for each team •Cap Penalties - This DECREASES the adjusted baseline cap number for teams that have incurred these penalties, like the Redskins, Cowboys, Raiders, and Saints •Finalized Grievances - This CAN INCREASE OR DECREASE the adjusted baseline cap number percentage-wise for teams depending on what an arbitrator decides depending on what he/she decides what a team owes a given player or players •LTBE (Likely to be earned) incentives - This INCREASES a given team's adjusted baseline cap number since the player was supposed to earn an incentive, with it already counting on a team's cap the previous year; the next year that cap space is returned to the team, equating to a cap increase commensurate with what that player was supposed to have earned. •NLTBE (Not likely to be earned) incentives - This DECREASES a given team's adjusted baseline cap number since the player earned an incentive that he wasn't supposed to, without it counting on a given team's cap the previous year; the next year that cap space counts against the team's cap, equating to a cap decrease commensurate with what that player unexpectedly earned.

The adjusted baseline cap numbers for all 32 teams are adjusted up or down from the general $123 million dollar salary cap number before adjustments are factored into the equation using the variables listed above.

I wrote about it about two weeks ago (see link HERE).


The reason I don't write about all of the variables mentioned above in this "salary cap stew" is because it'll drive people crazy, and has the potential to cause confusion. I only listed the carryover money since it's the easiest number to understand out of the 5 variables that I listed.

You hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Wellington Mara was often quoted saying that. In the end, it's business. The Nassib selection makes even more sense when you take into consideration the other factors mentioned above in my 2:05 pm post.

You can't get caught with your pants down. Look what happened to the Colts in 2011. They were lucky enough to have ot one but two franchise QBs to fallback on as a consolation prize for such a miserable year, after Peyton's neck went AWOL. Not every team that stinks it up is lucky enough to land guy like Luck, or like Tim Duncan for the Spurs, to make a cross-sports analogy, when San Antonio stunk and subsequently tanked the 1996-1997 season.

On the flip side, you have the Packers who did the prudent thing, and drafted a QB who fell into their laps, in 2005, when they took Aaron Rodgers with the 24th overall pick. Favre, who was 35 and at the end of his prime at the time of the drafting of Rodgers, was a guy who was still playing well, but the value was too good for Green Bay to pass up.

Smart organizations take young QBs they have a conviction on, especially when their starters are in their 30s. Hell, Bill Walsh got Steve Young to compete with Joe Montana when Montana was still the best QB in the NFL--the same Joe "God" who many people think is the best QB in the history of the NFL (an opinion I happen to share btw).

Eli is 32 now, and is in the "wheelhouse" of his prime, to quote Jerry Reese, so the drafting of Nassib isn't quite like the Rodgers/Favre situation; however, it is still very prudent. Eli hasn't missed a game in his career since he started his first game in 2004 (hopefully it stays that way). There is no guarantee that that streak will continue indefinitely. Starters who are entrenched are always a play away from losing that distinction. Look at what the Mo Lewis hit on Drew Bledsoe did for the career of Tom Brady, and the Patriots franchise.

You never know what's around the corner, so it makes perfect sense for the Giants to have done what they did when they woke up on day 3 of the draft, and still saw Ryan Nassib on the board, within striking distance for them to obtain. All it cost them was their 6th round pick, a decision I'd wager that they would make 100 times out of 100 if given the chance to do over again considering the circumstances.

I always enjoy reading your salary cap work even though I don't understand about 50% of it. It's like the joke about the roof...

Welcome aboard btw.

I try not to get into the nitty gritty of the cap for two reason: I'm still learning myself, and because it gets too technical. Not everyone is as interested in the process as I am, and I realize it.

I completely understand fans who aren't into it the way I am. The NBA salary cap drives me insane, which is why I'm not as into it as I am in the case of the NFL. Those 5 variables though, and that Caponomics video are worth a look at. Jason's second video on YouTube details the components of an NFL contract, and is alos outstanding. I link his work on my site all the time. Here it is:

Caponomics 101 Components of an NFL Contract

Everything that the Giants do is "capcentric" with an eye on the future. The moves they make with respect to salary cap are not focused on the short term, as in the cases of the Cowboys now and the Raiders for almost the past decade or so before the passing of Al Davis and the subsequent arrival of Reggie McKenzie as their new GM.

The Giants have to make some hard key decisions, and then if they deem it necessary, then make room for upcoming big ticket free agents of their own who they would likely want to re-sign. Those players include Hakeem Nicks and JPP in the next two seasons. This is why they're trying to avoid too much dead money being left over on their salary cap. look no further than the Oakland Raiders for proof of how that works. They're taking their medicine for past transgressions this season (they have almost $50 M in dead money, whereas the Giants have only about a little less than $7 M), so that they can become healthy again salary cap-wise in 2014 and beyond (click HERE to see what I mean).

As long as the Giants keep their dead money total down (as of now they have nothing, or next to nothing in that department on next season's cap), they'll be in better shape to execute any plans that they have. If they play "kick the can" with contracts, or dig themselves into a hole like Jerruh has with the Cowboys--who have played fast and loose with the salary cap--then they'll screw themselves out of an opportunity to remain a balanced and highly competitive team.

It's no coincidence that the Giants, as an organization, have won the most Super Bowl championships in the league, dating back from 1986, winning 4 and having an opportunity to win a 5th. Managing the salary cap correctly going forward is the key to them maintaining that successful approach. The Giants have shown that they are a forward thinking organization that will not completely sacrifice the long term in order to win in the short term. They are an organization that strives for balance in all things; a philosophy that has served them well. If people pay attention, it also plays itself out with regard to the cap decisions that they make.

You have forgotten more about the salary cap than I ever knew?

I was thinking about a conceivable occurrence near the end of training camp this season. Namely, the desire of the Giants to trade or release Mathias Kiwanuka.

It's hard to believe, but he has been a Giant for seven years already. In that seven years he has a total of 30 sacks and 8 forced fumbles. I think I remember reading that Kiwanuka was taking less than half the snaps at the end of last season. This is probably more about the way the Giants have mishandled Kiwanuka's career than about Kiwanuka himself. Whatever the reason, that production doesn't support a salary of about four and a half million dollars the next two years.

I was thinking about this because the Giants have so many defensive ends that Kiwanuka might not be one of the top three, especially if Tuck escapes from the alien spacecraft that snatched him in 2011 and returns to New Jersey. Then what could the Giants do with him at that salary except maybe try him at tight end?

If the Giants released him, would it be a cap coup or a cap catastrophe?

is likely in his final season. So it isn't likely Kiwi is going anywhere. Unless Moore's development is a lot faster than we expect.

restructured this offseason. See this article below for reference:
Mathias Kiwanuka restructures contract with NY Giants, will save Big Blue $1M against salary cap - by Ralph Vacchiano / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | Monday, February 25, 2013, 2:16 pm

Releasing him makes no sense whatsoever. You don't restructure a player and then release them--not even the dumbass Raiders, Cowboys, or Saints would do that (although when Crazy Al was alive anything was possible).

Kiwi has the 7th highest cap number n the team. IF the Giants lost their marbles and decided to release him in the next two months, then they wouldn't even save money. They'd actually be CHARGED money on the cap for doing that, specifically $3,750,000.

He has 3 more years left on his deal, including this coming season. His cap number in 2013 is $4,125,000; in 2014 it's $7,050,000; and in 2015 it's $7,450,000. Check out his contractual breakdown in the link below from overthecap.com to see the details.

Mathias Kiwanuka contractual breakdown - ( New Window )

I'll say this too: it is very likely that 2013 is going to be the final year that Snee & Rolle spend in a Giants uniform.

If you know hoe to read the cap tea leaves, then it becomes evident that the Giants will look very different in 2014. I'm not just talking about the Snee and Rolle cap situations. I'm also talking about all 11 Minimum Salary Benefit (MSB) contracts on the team this season---the most in the entire league.

I didn't say that releasing Kiwanuka would free up tons of cap space. I asked what the consequences would be.

It makes no sense from a cap point of view to release Kiwanuka. It makes no sense to pay a guy 4.5 million to spend half the defensive snaps on the bench.

Strahan played effectively through age 35 and could have gone on another year. If this is Tuck's last year as a Giant it won't because of his age.

is going to play a lot more. With Osi gone, he's one of our top 3 DEs. Add in JPP coming off back surgery and you know he's going to play a lot.

You asked a question, and I answered.

It is interesting that the top six teams in terms of salary cap numbers have never won a Super Bowl. Just sayin.

You are the Cap Man.

Their defense is going to be awful this year. And as I've been mentioning for a while, next season they're going to take some huge cap hits from some ofthese more recent contracts they handed out.

According to overthecap.com, the Eagles are estimated to have the 9th largest amount of cap dollars allocated already for next year's cap with $121,469,843 and without any dead money as of yet.

See link: NFL Estimated Salary Cap Spending- 2014

The problem is thought they have plenty of cap space left over from this season, that will carry over into 2014 (they're under $22,466,188 the cap now). Even if they spend a couple of million more between now and September 5th, they're not in terrible shape at all.

I'm gonna take a look at who they have coming up next year though to re-sign to see who they'll wanna keep. Off the top of my head, I don't think Vick is gonna be there for too much longer, with the same applying to DeSean Jackson. Defensively you're 100% right: they're an absolute sieve.

This is really good work and interesting to analyze.

bank on it