{"id":11328,"date":"2012-03-13T10:56:33","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T14:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jetnation.com\/?p=11328"},"modified":"2012-03-13T10:56:33","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T14:56:33","slug":"jets-salary-cap-analysis-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/2012\/03\/13\/jets-salary-cap-analysis-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets Salary Cap Analysis: Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Now is a good time to take a look at the Jets salary cap position before entering free agency.\u00a0 All incentives and raises are over while the cap is set at $120.6 million<\/a><\/strong>, so a clear understanding of the team\u2019s finances is available for analysis.\u00a0 Numbers are sometimes rounded and\/or approximated just to keep things simple.\u00a0 As always the figures come from Jason at NYJetscap.com <\/a>and I would like to thank him for answering questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recently D\u2019Brickashaw Ferguson <\/a>\u00a0and Mark Sanchez <\/a>restructured their contracts to create $13.6 million<\/strong> in much needed salary cap space.\u00a0 The NFL is allowing most teams additional cap space of $1.6 million<\/strong> <\/a>in connection with violations by the Cowboys and Redskins\u00a0during the uncapped 2010 season.\u00a0 Currently the Jets are $16 million<\/strong> under the cap before starting free agency, but how much can the team actually spend on free agents?\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to look at some known cost and possible moves to get this number.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jets just resigned Sione Pouha, <\/a>while contract details have not been released, a good estimate should be around $4 million <\/strong>in 2012.\u00a0 The team has also tendered Aaron Maybin <\/a>at $1.26 million<\/strong>.\u00a0 These moves will decrease the cap by about $4.5 million<\/strong>, so $11.5 million<\/strong> is left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You will have to keep the incoming rookies cost in mind.\u00a0 Obviously the draft class will not count anytime soon but should be included in our overall budget.\u00a0 Their cap charge will be around $2.5 million<\/strong>, so you have about $9 million<\/strong> to spend resigning former Jets and other team\u2019s free agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marquice Cole and Jamaal Westerman were restricted free agents but have not been tendered.\u00a0 Since they were undrafted the lowest tender, right of first refusal, would have been $1.26 million<\/strong> and included in the salary cap when made.\u00a0 The Jets will let the market set their value before choosing to resign one or both of these players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of former unrestricted Jets which should be considered for resigning:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Nick Folk<\/li>\n
  • Jim Leonhard<\/li>\n
  • Brodney Pool<\/li>\n
  • Donald Strickland<\/li>\n
  • Bryan Thomas<\/li>\n
  • Robert Turner<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    It is possible these players will fall under the NFL\u2019s \u2018minimum salary benefit rule\u2019, which means the cap charge is less than their actual salary.\u00a0 A player under this rule will most likely count $605,000<\/strong> resulting in a cap increase of $215,000<\/strong> per signing.\u00a0 Thomas and Turner would be strong candidates for this type of maneuver since they are coming off an injury and Leonhard as well because he will not be available to start the season.\u00a0 There may not be much of a market for these players so it is possible they will accept the minimum salary necessary to take advantage of this rule. \u00a0<\/p>\n

    The Jets\u00a0could sign free agents at quarterback, linebacker, safety, wide receiver, running back, tight end\u00a0or offensive line.\u00a0 There is no way of knowing who they will sign or exact costs but right now you have a budget of around $9 million<\/strong> which may not be enough to get players you need.<\/p>\n

    Some likely salary cap reducing moves the Jets can make:<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • Under the new CBA teams are allowed a 2012 salary cap exemption of $1.5 million<\/strong>. They can take this money and spread it out into one or parts of 2014-17 caps.<\/li>\n
    • Eric Smith is going to be cut or restructured, no matter which option Smith takes, the Jets will save approximately $1.5 million<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
    • Converting Antonio Cromartie\u2019s 2012 roster bonus of $3 million<\/strong> into signing bonuses prorating it over the life of his contract adds $1 million<\/strong> to 2012-14, but results in a $2 million<\/strong> reduction for 2012.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Total additional savings: $5 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Mike DeVito might be approached for a restructuring, he is set to make $3.1 million<\/strong> in 2012 and none of it is guaranteed.\u00a0 The Jets may ask him to lower his salary to $2.1 million<\/strong> in return the team will fully guarantee the contract.\u00a0 Why would DeVito take a reduction, because he is getting something in return, a fully guaranteed salary. \u00a0\u00a0After an injury filled 2011 season he may decide a guaranteed contract will be protection from release for cap reasons or declining play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Now a contract where you can make a \u2018Ferguson type\u2019 maneuver is Santonio Holmes.\u00a0 Hopefully Holmes can become a team player and cutting him won\u2019t be an issue but the more money you move in his contract the harder it becomes to release him.\u00a0Holmes is signed through 2015 and has a guaranteed base salary of $7.75 million<\/strong> in 2012.\u00a0 Reducing his base salary by $4 million<\/strong> prorating it over the contract adds $1 million<\/strong> to 2012-15 caps and crates 2012 savings of $3 million<\/strong>.\u00a0 Even after this contract change it will still be possible to release Holmes in 2014 if necessary.\u00a0 Of course the team could prorate more or less depending upon need but Holmes\u2019 contract is most likely to be used for relief after all the other moves have been made. \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Between Ferguson, Sanchez, Cromartie and Holmes contract changes the Jets have moved about $5.4 million<\/strong> into 2013 but didn\u2019t touch Bart Scott, Calvin Pace or Wayne Hunter\u2019s contracts, all likely to be cut in 2013, and you eliminated Eric Smith\u2019s salary that year as well.\u00a0 These reductions total $22.65<\/strong> million<\/strong>, so the team can absorb the additional increase in salary.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Depending upon need the Jets will have $9 million – $18 million<\/strong> to spend on free agents without damaging their finances in future years.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Now is a good time to take a look at the Jets salary cap position before entering free agency.\u00a0 All incentives and raises are over while the cap is set at $120.6 million, so a clear understanding of the team\u2019s finances is available for analysis.\u00a0 Numbers are sometimes rounded and\/or approximated just to keep things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[213],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-jet-news"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-2WI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11328"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11378,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11328\/revisions\/11378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}