The Official ES 2021 Free Agency Thread / Tracker Fitzpatrick, Curtis Samuel, William Jackson, LB Mayo, C Larsen WR Humphries, CB D. Roberts, KR D. Carter , LT Charles Leno, S Bobby McCain signed

[JamesMadisonSkins]

On 2/20/2021 at 6:48 PM, method man said:

 

 (Per PFF, he is coming off a bad year, however)

 

Regarding Boston, he was played closer to the line in 2020 and struggled. He is a high safety and thrives against the pass, which is represented by his previous season's PFF grades. I don't know why Carolina brought him closer to the line last year, but he'd be a deep safety for us which suits his strengths.

[Malapropismic Depository]

Falcons said to Franchise Keanu Neal.

Isn't that the guy that essentially ended Jordan Reed's career, needlessly in a preseason game ?

[Skinsinparadise]

If David doesn't hit the market, KJ Wright to me also fits the London Fletcher mode.  Been touting him on and off for months.  Leader type too.  One pause I have is they moved him to strong side LB last season, is that his better spot, if so we arguably need a MLB or WLB more. 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

Falcons said to Franchise Keanu Neal.

Isn't that the guy that essentially ended Jordan Reed's career, needlessly in a preseason game ?

 yep

[JamesMadisonSkins]

How can the Falcons honestly franchise-tag Neal when they're $20m over the cap? I know they can, because they have time to get their books in order but that seems like a bad situation down there.

 

Wow, trying to figure out their cap situation is BRUTAL. They can't cut Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarret, Jake Matthews or Dante Fowler ... they could cut Jarret/Matthews/Fowler but that only frees them of like $8m and they're $20 over. So much dead cap in that situation.

 

I just went through and really the only players that save them any substantial money are James Carpenter and Russell Gage, but even then it only frees them up of about $6 million. I don't know wtf they're gonna do. They have $54m in cap space next year so I guess they could shift some $$ around but that would only weaken them more next year.

Edited February 23, 2021 by JamesMadisonSkins

[Est.1974]

17 minutes ago, JamesMadisonSkins said:

 

Wow, trying to figure out their cap situation is BRUTAL. They can't cut Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarret, Jake Matthews or Dante Fowler ... they could cut Jarret/Matthews/Fowler but that only frees them of like $8m and they're $20 over. So much dead cap in that situation.

Ugly situation which they’ll have to botch by pushing millions of salary out into future years by converting to bonus. And then wait for the cap to take off again to cover that when it ends up as dead money down the line.

 

Shame they didn’t need to cut Deion Jones.

[Malapropismic Depository]

Dez says 2 more years, later clarified, not with the Ravens.

 

 

 

[Malapropismic Depository]

 

 

 

[Est.1974]

Gonna have to be some severe moves around the league. 
 

I mean, what would happen if the Saints turned around and said they aren’t getting under the cap ??? Is that at all possible to do ?? Perhaps that just invokes major fines under the CBA, loss of substantial draft picks ?? Can’t incur loss of cap space !! Maybe future penalties on that ??

 

Or is there simply no choice but to get under the number? Even with the major downturn through the impact of COVID. Should have put that in the random thought thread 

[Koolblue13]

I'd sign DJax.

[FootballZombie]

1 hour ago, UK SKINS FAN 74 said:

I mean, what would happen if the Saints turned around and said they aren’t getting under the cap ?

 

Pretty sure NFL runs a hard cap, meaning no team can exceed the set cap.

 

Teams like the NO and PHI have to get under the cap... and more.

 

I believe teams will have to be under the Cap by the start of the league year, but it will require even further cap space to bring in the incoming rookie draft class. We will very likely see a strong wave of additional veteran cuts after the draft when cap strapped teams have to make even more space for incoming rookies. Since these players would have passed the first round of cuts, it could create an incredible secondary free agency pool of players teams really did not want to let go of.

 

 

[Burgold]

I wonder if this is a situation where a team could go to Jacksonville and trade cash for draft picks. Hey Jaguars, we'll absorb 10 million of your cap debt for your first rounder or something like that.

[Est.1974]

1 hour ago, FootballZombie said:

 

Pretty sure NFL runs a hard cap, meaning no team can exceed the set cap.

 

Teams like the NO and PHI have to get under the cap... and more.

 

I believe teams will have to be under the Cap by the start of the league year, but it will require even further cap space to bring in the incoming rookie draft class. We will very likely see a strong wave of additional veteran cuts after the draft when cap strapped teams have to make even more space for incoming rookies. Since these players would have passed the first round of cuts, it could create an incredible secondary free agency pool of players teams really did not want to let go of.

 

 

Yeah I agree. NO clearing 70mil+ in space is going to be quite an achievement though.
 

Hard to tell how player contracts are structured behind the detail we see on various sites, but wonder if they have to trade away contracts to maximise cap clearance on the transaction, maybe giving draft capital away in the process. 

[Koolblue13]

39 minutes ago, UK SKINS FAN 74 said:

Yeah I agree. NO clearing 70mil+ in space is going to be quite an achievement though.
 

Hard to tell how player contracts are structured behind the detail we see on various sites, but wonder if they have to trade away contracts to maximise cap clearance on the transaction, maybe giving draft capital away in the process. 

With DB retiring, I'd imagine they'd try and dump every decent player they can to tank the season and load up on picks for the next year or two. 

[DWinzit]

2 hours ago, FootballZombie said:

 

Pretty sure NFL runs a hard cap, meaning no team can exceed the set cap.

 

Teams like the NO and PHI have to get under the cap... and more.

 

I believe teams will have to be under the Cap by the start of the league year, but it will require even further cap space to bring in the incoming rookie draft class. We will very likely see a strong wave of additional veteran cuts after the draft when cap strapped teams have to make even more space for incoming rookies. Since these players would have passed the first round of cuts, it could create an incredible secondary free agency pool of players teams really did not want to let go of.

 

 

And if WFT takes their time spending in FA they could some out with a nice haul of talented players on at lest short contracts. 

This is going to be a great year to have cap space!

[redskinss]

3 hours ago, FootballZombie said:

 

Pretty sure NFL runs a hard cap, meaning no team can exceed the set cap.

 

Teams like the NO and PHI have to get under the cap... and more.

It does make me wonder though what would the penalty be?

Do you happen to know what the nfl would do if they didn't get under the cap?

 

[kingdaddy]

Wonder if Detroit would take our 3rd round pick we got from SF for Kenny Golladay? He's only 27, is 6'4 and would be incredible to put next to TMac. If they didn't I would trade them our 2nd for him for sure. Look at the difference Stefon Diggs made for Buffalo and they paid a fortune to get him. This move seems like a no-brainer unless your worried about Golladay's injury history. 

[LaRonDontLikeUgly]

19 minutes ago, kingdaddy said:

Wonder if Detroit would take our 3rd round pick we got from SF for Kenny Golladay? He's only 27, is 6'4 and would be incredible to put next to TMac. If they didn't I would trade them our 2nd for him for sure. Look at the difference Stefon Diggs made for Buffalo and they paid a fortune to get him. This move seems like a no-brainer unless your worried about Golladay's injury history. 

Golladay is an unrestricted free agent so the Lions won’t get anything from him unless they Tag-N-Trade.  In the event that they did this, I would assume they’d be looking for a late first or a 2nd + 3rd.

 

I’m more of a Marvin Jones Jr guy for this team. He’s got size, speed, jump ball skills, and he’ll come relatively cheap.  Draft one of these blazing slot WRs in the draft, and all of a sudden you have a very dangerous WR core. 

[DWinzit]

7 minutes ago, LaRonDontLikeUgly said:

Golladay is an unrestricted free agent so the Lions won’t get anything from him unless they Tag-N-Trade.  In the event that they did this, I would assume they’d be looking for a late first or a 2nd + 3rd.

 

I’m more of a Marvin Jones Jr guy for this team. He’s got size, speed, jump ball skills, and he’ll come relatively cheap.  Draft one of these blazing slot WRs in the draft, and all of a sudden you have a very dangerous WR core. 

I have been pushing Jones for months as the perfect fit along with a slot guy in the draft! He would be a great vet to work with the young receivers and QB's.

Now if we can just convince him to come to Washington. He wants to be on a contending team. If we had signed Stafford he would have been knocking on our door

 

[Ball Security]

2 hours ago, redskinss said:

It does make me wonder though what would the penalty be?

Do you happen to know what the nfl would do if they didn't get under the cap?

 

I think it’s pretty clear that if any team violates the cap, then Washington will be penalized.  At least, that’s what Mara will do.

[JamesMadisonSkins]

Saw something floating around about NO trading Michael Thomas. Boy, if he were to be available, he'd be worth the 19 pick and all the $$ we'd pay him annually.

 

I like the FA group this year but there's 2 WRs in this league that IMO are worth more than anyone else. Michael Thomas and Davante Adams. There are others that are very good and could get into the conversation but those two are just game-changers. Thomas + McLaurin. Idc who is throwing the ball, that's some good stuff. Two of the best route runners in the NFL.

[FootballZombie]

4 hours ago, redskinss said:

It does make me wonder though what would the penalty be?

Do you happen to know what the nfl would do if they didn't get under the cap?

 

 

I don’t think any team has ever gone over the cap to my knowledge, but the NFL employs several ways to punish teams that do cap trickery... like we were punished a few years back

 

I know they can fine teams millions of dollars. They can take draft picks too. They can impose cap constrictions on future monies as well.

 

I think the most important thing is that they can void contracts, especially new ones. Any team that tries to sign or trade a player, FA or Rookie, has to go through the NFL for approval. If a specific team does not have the cap space at the time to facilitate the transfer, they will have their transaction voided.

 

That means that at the very least any team that would be over the cap come the start of the league year would be unable to sign anyone. No Rookies, No FAs, nothing. On top of being fined to oblivion and having their assets taken.

 

I would seriously doubt there is an existing pathway for any team to just F-it and take the penalties instead of just getting under the cap.

Edited February 24, 2021 by FootballZombie

[Est.1974]

2 hours ago, JamesMadisonSkins said:

Saw something floating around about NO trading Michael Thomas. Boy, if he were to be available, he'd be worth the 19 pick and all the $$ we'd pay him annually.

 

I like the FA group this year but there's 2 WRs in this league that IMO are worth more than anyone else. Michael Thomas and Davante Adams. There are others that are very good and could get into the conversation but those two are just game-changers. Thomas + McLaurin. Idc who is throwing the ball, that's some good stuff. Two of the best route runners in the NFL.

I think if they trade him his cap number via dead cap is higher, so that seems odd. Where’s that being reported?

[JamesMadisonSkins]

1 minute ago, UK SKINS FAN 74 said:

I think if they trade him his cap number via dead cap is higher, so that seems odd. Where’s that being reported?

 

I gotta go dig, tbh. It might have been one of those rumor accounts or something. It was someone talking about how the Saints could be creative to get under the cap and it was listed that if Brees is done, and they hit reset, they could go firesale mode. Thomas is owed a ton of money so yeah the dead cap might prohibit the move. I wouldn't read too much into it

 

[Est.1974]

2 minutes ago, JamesMadisonSkins said:

 

I gotta go dig, tbh. It might have been one of those rumor accounts or something. It was someone talking about how the Saints could be creative to get under the cap and it was listed that if Brees is done, and they hit reset, they could go firesale mode. Thomas is owed a ton of money so yeah the dead cap might prohibit the move. I wouldn't read too much into it

 

that said, he might want out if they gut the roster elsewhere, interesting to watch that unfold in NO.

[Skinsinparadise]

Heinicke or Trevor Lawrence ?

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/2021-nfl-free-agency-seven-intriguing-player-team-fits?campaign=Twitter_atn

 

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

 

Curtis Samuel

WR

Turning in the card to select Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft will be easy -- ensuring Lawrence has the supporting cast he needs to succeed will be a bigger challenge. D.J. Chark is a quality receiver, and James Robinson is coming off one of the greatest rookie seasons ever recorded by an undrafted running back, but beyond that, upgrades are needed. Inking Samuel, who hit career highs in catches (77), receiving yards (851) and catch rate (79.4%) with the Panthers in 2020, would be a good start, not least because he also has the ability to carry the ball out of the backfield (41 rushing attempts for 200 yards and two scores last season). I can still remember Samuel's impressive pro-day performance, and I'm sure new Jags head coach Urban Meyer, who recruited Samuel to Ohio State when he was coaching the Buckeyes, remembers it well, too. Samuel doesn't turn 25 until August, and his best football is ahead of him.