Category Archives: Steelers Salary Cap

Jason Worilds Accepts Transition Tag

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Jason Worilds has reportedly accepted his transition tag today. This means that he may no longer consider offers from other teams. There is reading between the lines to be done here. On the surface, it seemed like the best thing for Worilds and his agent to do was explore the market, hoping for a big payday.

Multiple assumptions can be made about his quickness to “sign” the transition tag. It’s possible that he wasn’t as hot a commodity as many people thought, though I don’t really think that’s true. It’s very probable that his camp and Steelers management are close to a long term deal. The Steelers knew that slapping the transition tag on a player makes it difficult for another team to make a play for him.

Of course it’s not impossible for another team, but the original team has the leverage in that situation. If you’re a team that’s hungry for a pass rusher, having to work out a deal with a player’s agent and then having to wait up to 5 days for the original team to match it, is less than ideal. The beginning of free agency is extremely active, and if you have to wait nearly a week for one player who you might not get, you put yourself in a tight spot, because you likely miss out on other available free agents. On top of that, teams hate to negotiate contracts for other teams, which is essentially what they would be doing. With the team being in worse shape than most from a cap standpoint, they made themselves vulnerable to losing Worilds to a deal they couldn’t match. It wouldn’t take too much for a team to offer the linebacker a front loaded contract that the Steelers wouldn’t possibly be able to equal.

Worilds and his representation may have feared the Steelers would rescind the tag. If he didn’t get the interest he hoped for, and the Steelers withdrew the transition tag, things could get tricky. Ultimately, it’s about risk/reward for both sides.

Now that he has in fact “signed” it, the Steelers have lost a lot of leverage in negotiations. Being a cap strapped team, Worilds’ agent knows the Steelers don’t likely want to pay him $9,754,000 guaranteed this year. The sooner they can lower that cap hit by signing him to a long term deal, the better.

Jason La Canfora reported earlier that the Steelers have made progress towards reaching a long term deal with Worilds. I imagine that’s true, and am sure that is their hope.

 

Steelers Use Transition Tag On Jason Worilds

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The Steelers announce that they are using the transition designation on LB Jason Worilds. This comes right at the 4:00 PM deadline. By doing this, the team is saying they want to sign Worilds to a deal, but either they aren’t yet sure what his value is yet, or both sides can’t yet reach an agreement. Using the transition tag is basically telling his agent to see if he can go find a deal.

Lets explore how the transition tag works. Designating a player a transition player lets him explore the free agent market, while the franchise tag does not. The Steelers will have the right of first refusal to match any offer that Worilds should receive in free agency. If that does happen, they will have 5 days to decide if they want to match. They won’t however receive any compensation this year if they do lose him to free agency.

Using the franchise tag on a linebacker counts $11.455 Mil against a team’s cap, while the transition tag is less expensive at $9.754 Mil. The Steelers will be on the hook for that amount starting March 11th. The two sides can always come to long term agreement, and that contract will make the transition tag a moot point. The last time the Steelers used the transition tag on a player was Max Starks in 2008.

Report: Steelers Rework Heath Miller’s Contract

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According to Ian Rapoport, the Steelers have reworked Heath Miller’s contract to create needed cap space for 2014.

2014 is the final year of  Heath’s contract, so a traditional restructuring isn’t an option.  I posted previously that I expect the Steelers to extend Heath’s contract. The Steelers restructured Miller’s contract  in September to make additional cap room for the 2013 season.

Traditional restructuring reduces the player’s base salary and rolls it over into a signing bonus, thus reducing the cap number for that year. Since Heath is in the final year of his contract, obviously his salary cannot be pushed forward without extending the duration of his contract.

Here are Heath’s 2014 numbers before today’s moves:

[table]

Player, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Miller, Heath”, “$6,020,000”, “$3,446,500”, “$9,466,500”

[/table]

I’ll post Heath’s contract details when more information becomes available.

NFL Makes It Official: 2014 Salary Cap Is Exactly $133 Million

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The NFL made yesterday’s rumors official by releasing a memo to all teams today notifying them that the 2014 salary cap is $133 million. This comes in slightly over the $132.3 that was projected yesterday. Last night, I wrote about what the Steelers would need to do to get under the cap if it were $133 Mil. Release Levi Brown. The end.

OK, so things aren’t quite that simple. Releasing Brown does bring the Steelers below the $133 Mil cap limit, but of course, they need to do a lot more than just get in cap compliance. Now that we know the number the team will be working with, we know the team will need to clear roughly $5.67 Mil (by my calculations). This includes dead money already on the books for 2014 and the surplus rollover the team did not use last season. Most of that dead money, which totals $4.55 Mil, is from the release of Willie Colon last year.

After releasing Levi Brown,  the team should be down to approximately $580,000 under the salary cap. That’s good, but the team will need to make several other moves to clear the space it will need for the draft pool, free agent signings, injury signings, various roster bonuses, and other miscellaneous operating expenses.

Let’s explore that a little deeper. The team is likely looking at totaling roughly $5.5 Mil for their draft signings if my comp pick estimate is correct, though after displacement, just shy of $3.5 Mil of that should count against the cap. Add to that approximately $500,000 for bonuses, $2-$2.25 Mil for injury signings, and an uncertain amount for free agents signings. Though, it should be noted that some of the upcoming FA signings shouldn’t move the salary cap needle all too much due to cap displacement. As a refresher, here is the list of the players who will soon hit the free agent market-

[table sort=”desc,asc” width=”300″ colwidth=”20|280″ colalign=”left|center”]

Pos, Player

LB, Jason Worilds

S, Ryan Clark

DE,   Brett Keisel

WR, Emmanuel Sanders

DE,    Ziggy Hood

WR,   Jerricho Cotchery

OL ,   Fernando Velasco

S,   Will Allen

RB,   Jonathan Dwyer

LS,  Greg Warren

WR,  Plaxico Burress

TE,  David Johnson

RB,  Felix Jones

P,   Matt McBriar

OL,   Eric Olsen (ERFA)

TE,   Michael Palmer

RB,  LaRod Stephens-Howling

LB,   Stevenson Sylvester

OL,   Cody Wallace

DE,    Jamaal Westerman

OL,    Guy Whimper

LB,    Kion Wilson

DT,  Al Woods [/table]

 

Some of them will get offers, but many of them won’t. Some of them can be re-signed relatively cheaply, but others will command a much higher premium if the team hopes to retain them (see Jason Worilds). It should be noted that the newest projections have the cap breaking $140 Mil, and $150 Mil for 2015 and 2016 respectively. That will factor in to the team’s moves, as it allows for some breathing room for money to be pushed into the future.

So, what can the team do to clear more cap space now? Well, the team has a lot of options. Extending Ben Roethlisberger is a big one. The Steelers will want to work on an extension with Ben to get their franchise quarterback on the books for the long term, but also to lower his 2014 salary cap hit. A reasonable extension with Ben can easily lower his 2014 cap hit $4-$5 Mil. I’m talking a reasonable extension too, not a hometown discount.

Other candidates for extension are Troy Polamalu and Heath Miller. Here are their cap figures:

[table]

Player, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Polamalu, Troy”, “$8,250,000”, “$2,637,500”, “$10,887,500”

“Miller, Heath”, “$6,020,000”, “$3,446,500”, “$9,466,500”

[/table]

 

Releasing Troy would create $2,637,500 in dead money, but would free $8.25 Mil in salary cap space.

Releasing Heath would incur a $3,446,500 dead money hit, but would free up just over $6 Mil in cap space.  They aren’t going to be released, I’m just telling you what their numbers are. One player who is a legitimate candidate for release is Ike Taylor. Here are what his 2014 numbers look like:

[table]

Player, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number
“Taylor, Ike”, “$7,000,000”, “$4,942,404”, “$11,942,404”
[/table]

 

As you can see, Ike’s cap number is very high, especially relative to his level of play last season. I imagine the team is going to try to renegotiate Ike’s contract- ie. take a pay cut. If he doesn’t, then they may release him. Releasing Ike would create a dead money charge of $4,942,404 but would free up $7 Mil in space.

Larry Foote is another player who is a candidate for release. Doing so would create $666,667 in dead money, but would clear $1.16 Mil in cap space.

Whatever decisions the Steelers do make to get their salary cap where they need it to be, you can plan on them moving ahead with them in the near future.

NFL Salary Cap Expected To Be Finalized Friday At $132 Million

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Various reports are circulating that indicate the NFL and NFLPA are expected to finalize the 2014 salary cap tomorrow. According to Jason La Canfora, the salary cap figure is projected to be $132.3 Mil. The final cap number should be announced by Monday according to reports.

This projection falls in line with John Clayton’s report from last week. If this is indeed true, this will be roughly an eight percent increase from last year’s salary cap. It’s looking like only two teams will be over the cap, the Steelers and the Cowboys. Let’s round up to $133 Mil for discussion’s sake. Accounting for the rule of 51 (only the top 51 contracts will count towards the salary cap), the dead money that’s on the books for 2014, and rollover from last year’s cap that went unspent, the team will be close to $5.7 Mil over the cap.

As I’ve said before, cutting Levi Brown costs the team nothing, and clears $6.25 Mil in cap space. Poof, just like that their cap nightmare is over. (That was mild sarcasm)

Now, before we get too carried away, the team will still need to make some moves to clear cap space for the draft pool, free agency, roster bonuses, injury signings, etc. The rookie pool should be just under $5.5 Mil, but count just under $3.5 Mil after displacement.

We’ll know the final number the team will be working with very soon, and the news of cuts, restructures, and extensions should follow slowly as we approach spring.

Report: 2014 NFL Salary Cap Could Reach 135 Million

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Recently I reported that the 2014 NFL salary cap was surprisingly projected to reach upwards of $132 Mil. At the end of that article I jokingly suggested that, “At this rate, by the time the owners meet next month, maybe the Steelers won’t need to do any trimming to get below cap compliance.” Well, maybe that wasn’t so unrealistic after all.

According to Mike Florio of Profootballtalk, a source with knowledge of the situation reports that the salary cap could likely be a few million higher than that $132 Mil projection. That would be an increase of roughly 9.75% from last year. One of the biggest story lines this off-season was the Steelers insurmountable ‘cap hell’, and if this report is indeed true, the team will need to do very little to get under cap by March 11th.

It is unclear if the NFLPA is using their $2 Mil cap option to increase the cap at this time. Florio’s source also projects that similar increases will happen in years to come.

Report: NFL Salary Cap Projected To Reach $132 Million

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John Clayton of ESPN is reporting that the NFL salary cap is being projected to reach $132 Mil, according to his sources.

If this is indeed true, that would be an increase of roughly 7% from last year’s $123 Mil salary cap figure. Just a few days ago, I passed along the $130 Mil cap projection that Adam Schefter reported. So, we’ll have to wait and see who is closest to right here. At this rate, by the time the owners meet next month, maybe the Steelers won’t need to do any trimming to get below cap compliance. [That was a joke.]

At last check, the Steelers were roughly $9 Mil over the $130 Mil cap projection. Scratch off Levi Brown’s $6.25 Mil and getting below the cap isn’t so difficult.

2014 NFL Salary Cap Now Expected To Increase To $130 Million

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The 2014 NFL Salary Cap is expected to increase to roughly $130 Mil according to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter. This is a much larger increase than the $126.3 estimate that was being reported in December. This would be a 5.69% increase from last year’s salary cap of $123 Mil.

If this is indeed true, the Steelers would only need to trim down roughly $9 Mil in cap space to be in compliance by the March 11th deadline. $6.25 Mil of that is easily cleared by the release of OT Levi Brown. So, getting under the cap, while not terribly difficult for the team to do before, is obviously much easier now.

Think about the list of Steelers free agents. Now think about the impact that an extra $3.7 Mil has on that list.

NFLPA Mulling Possible Use Of $2 Million Cap Option

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The NFL Players Association is reportedly deciding on whether or not to use a $2 million per team cap option that would increase the salary cap to roughly $128.3 million in 2014. The Pittsburgh Steelers could greatly benefit from an additional 2 million in 2014 salary cap space. Jason Cole of the National Football Post reports that the NFLPA is considering the option in hopes to end the string of 4 straight years of having the salary cap fall below the pre-2009 CBA high. The current projection of the 2014 salary cap is roughly $126.3 Mil.

The NFLPA has an incentive to do this, as tough negotiations in recent salary cap years have caused a strain on player relations. The option was born in 2012, when NFL owners reached an agreement with the union to deffer payments of certain benefits to future years of the CBA, and move that money to the compensation of salary. At that time, the NFLPA also agreed not to bring collusion charges against the NFL for events prior to the new CBA’s signing.

Cole also reports that NFLPA spokesman George Atallah declined to say whether the union would use it this year. In an email Atallah told Cole, “The new economic model places an emphasis on cash spending to players not on cap, which is the highest it has ever been. Any report on what the salary cap will be next season is speculative because we will not know until mid-March. No decisions can be considered until then. Any reporting on the salary cap without the context or understanding of how the new system works is incomplete.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello acknowledged the existence of the option, but reportedly declined to speak for the union.

Good News Steelers Fans- 2014 Salary Cap Projected To Increase

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During their quarterly meeting today, league owners and GM’s were informed that the 2014 NFL salary cap was tentatively projected to increase to $126.3 Mil, roughly a $3.3 Mil increase from 2013. This is welcome news as the Steelers 2014 salary cap situation is precarious, and any increase to the maximum salary cap is most welcome. It was widely believed that the 2014 NFL salary cap was not going to increase much or at all from the 2013 salary cap number. The final number will be set in February 2014.

The Steelers currently have 42 players under contract for 2014, and are already over the projected salary cap for a total of ~$131 Mil. That’s not including dead money which totals just over $4.5 Mil, most of which is from Willie Colon. However, Levi Brown’s contract was virtually risk free, and cutting him will roughly yield an easy $6.25 Mil savings.

The Steelers will be able to carry over their 2013 salary cap surplus which is approximately $1.4 Mil at the time of this writing. There will be extensions, restructures, cuts, and some tough choices ahead, but I don’t believe the team will be having the mass blood letting that some do. Omar Khan, Samir Suleiman, and company will have to work their magic this year turning dimes into dollars.