2024 Free Agency

[Anteaters]

Tee Higgins getting tagged by the Bengals.

It really helped that the NFL raised the salary cap by $15M.

[tstafford]

Will be interesting to see if he ends up actually playing on the tag. It's weird they announced it this early.

[Hottoddies]

Will be interesting to see if he ends up actually playing on the tag. It's weird they announced it this early.

It could be a tag and trade kind of move.

[BabyChark23]

Tee Higgins getting tagged by the Bengals.

It really helped that the NFL raised the salary cap by $15M.

I heard it was $30M

[frerichs5]

Will be interesting to see if he ends up actually playing on the tag. It's weird they announced it this early.

Curious why you say this. The tag period opened up a couple days ago and only goes until March 5th. I guess they could have waited like a week, but that’s about it.

[frerichs5]

Tee Higgins getting tagged by the Bengals.

It really helped that the NFL raised the salary cap by $15M.

I heard it was $30M

Yeah, cap went up like $30m from last season. Maybe he meant from projections. A lot I saw projected 240-242 and it ended up 255.

Either way, the Bengals were projected over $50m in cap space. I expected him to get tagged before the increase.

[Bronco Billy]

It really helped that the NFL raised the salary cap by $15M.

I heard it was $30M

Yeah, cap went up like $30m from last season. Maybe he meant from projections. A lot I saw projected 240-242 and it ended up 255.

Either way, the Bengals were projected over $50m in cap space. I expected him to get tagged before the increase.

I don’t see how tagging him helps their cap issue. If anything, it exacerbates it.

My thought was that it is being used as leverage to extend him. Then they can keep him on the roster, pay him a large signing bonus to put big money in his pocket up front, and reduce the cap damage by backloading a 4-5 year contract.

The tag sends the message that we value you and you’re going to be with us next year regardless, so now let’s talk about a win-win multiple year contract for you. They get it done, remove the tag, and then can use the tag elsewhere.

[frerichs5]

I heard it was $30M

Yeah, cap went up like $30m from last season. Maybe he meant from projections. A lot I saw projected 240-242 and it ended up 255.

Either way, the Bengals were projected over $50m in cap space. I expected him to get tagged before the increase.

I don’t see how tagging him helps their cap issue. If anything, it exacerbates it.

My thought was that it is being used as leverage to extend him. Then they can keep him on the roster, pay him a large signing bonus to put big money in his pocket up front, and reduce the cap damage by backloading a 4-5 year contract.

The tag sends the message that we value you and you’re going to be with us next year regardless, so now let’s talk about a win-win multiple year contract for you. They get it done, remove the tag, and then can use the tag elsewhere.

I’m not saying they had a cap issue. I was saying they had plenty of space at the projected cap number to tag him, and even more now that the real 2024 cap number is higher than projections were.

[Bronco Billy]

The 2024 cap is set at $255.4 million, an increase of $30.6 million from this past season ($224.8 million).

Here's where all 32 teams stand in terms of cap space heading into free agency and draft season with the official number locked in (numbers per OTC)

Washington Commanders: $87.05 million
New England Patriots: $82.9 million
Chicago Bears: $80.4 million
Tennessee Titans: $78.6 million
Cincinnati Bengals: $72.8 million
Indianapolis Colts: $72.3 million
Houston Texans: $67.6 million
Detroit Lions: $63.7 million
Arizona Cardinals: $55.1 million
Las Vegas Raiders: $48.7 million
Los Angeles Rams: $45.99 million
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $45.5 million
Carolina Panthers: $40.2 million
Atlanta Falcons: $38.5 million
Minnesota Vikings: $37.9 million
New York Giants: $32.9 million
Philadelphia Eagles: $32.2 million
Kansas City Chiefs: $27.7 million
Jacksonville Jaguars: $24.7 million
Baltimore Ravens: $18.5 million
New York Jets: $15.1 million
Seattle Seahawks: $12.97 million
Green Bay Packers: $8.2 million
Pittsburgh Steelers: $7.4 million
San Francisco 49ers: $834,165
Cleveland Browns: ($6.2 million)
Dallas Cowboys: ($8.2 million)
Denver Broncos: ($10.7 million)
Los Angeles Chargers: ($22.1 million)
Miami Dolphins: ($38.5 million)
New Orleans Saints: ($40.1 million)
Buffalo Bills: ($41.7 million)

[Bronco Billy]

Yeah, cap went up like $30m from last season. Maybe he meant from projections. A lot I saw projected 240-242 and it ended up 255.

Either way, the Bengals were projected over $50m in cap space. I expected him to get tagged before the increase.

I don’t see how tagging him helps their cap issue. If anything, it exacerbates it.

My thought was that it is being used as leverage to extend him. Then they can keep him on the roster, pay him a large signing bonus to put big money in his pocket up front, and reduce the cap damage by backloading a 4-5 year contract.

The tag sends the message that we value you and you’re going to be with us next year regardless, so now let’s talk about a win-win multiple year contract for you. They get it done, remove the tag, and then can use the tag elsewhere.

I’m not saying they had a cap issue. I was saying they had plenty of space at the projected cap number to tag him, and even more now that the real 2024 cap number is higher than projections were.

Thanks for the clarification. I clearly misunderstood where you were heading.

[81-]

The 2024 cap is set at $255.4 million, an increase of $30.6 million from this past season ($224.8 million).

Here's where all 32 teams stand in terms of cap space heading into free agency and draft season with the official number locked in (numbers per OTC)

Washington Commanders: $87.05 million
New England Patriots: $82.9 million
Chicago Bears: $80.4 million
Tennessee Titans: $78.6 million
Cincinnati Bengals: $72.8 million
Indianapolis Colts: $72.3 million
Houston Texans: $67.6 million
Detroit Lions: $63.7 million
Arizona Cardinals: $55.1 million
Las Vegas Raiders: $48.7 million
Los Angeles Rams: $45.99 million
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $45.5 million
Carolina Panthers: $40.2 million
Atlanta Falcons: $38.5 million
Minnesota Vikings: $37.9 million
New York Giants: $32.9 million
Philadelphia Eagles: $32.2 million
Kansas City Chiefs: $27.7 million
Jacksonville Jaguars: $24.7 million
Baltimore Ravens: $18.5 million
New York Jets: $15.1 million
Seattle Seahawks: $12.97 million
Green Bay Packers: $8.2 million
Pittsburgh Steelers: $7.4 million
San Francisco 49ers: $834,165
Cleveland Browns: ($6.2 million)
Dallas Cowboys: ($8.2 million)
Denver Broncos: ($10.7 million)
Los Angeles Chargers: ($22.1 million)
Miami Dolphins: ($38.5 million)
New Orleans Saints: ($40.1 million)
Buffalo Bills: ($41.7 million)

Saints are a mess. They should have sat out the cart sweepstakes (giggle) and went straight to full rebuild.

[cazzie33]

This is where the GMs prove their mettle. Cap space needs to be allocated not only to signing FAs but also expiring vets & rookie contracts in the next couple of years.

Lions for example look like a great young up & coming team. But they have ARSB , SEWELL and Goff all looking for extensions after '24 so they can't sell the farm for much more than 1 year rental types. Need to keep deep pockets to sign their own.

Many have them in the running for D. Hunter or H. Reddick but I doubt they want to give a long term 3 or more years contract to anyone. Will be interesting to see what transpires around the lg with this huge bump in cap space.

[tstafford]

Will be interesting to see if he ends up actually playing on the tag. It's weird they announced it this early.

Curious why you say this. The tag period opened up a couple days ago and only goes until March 5th. I guess they could have waited like a week, but that’s about it.

Right and usually teams take every bit of the time. It's very unusual for a player to actually be tagged during February. But technically I'm not sure Higgins is officially tagged yet.

[Jigga94]

The 2024 cap is set at $255.4 million, an increase of $30.6 million from this past season ($224.8 million).

Here's where all 32 teams stand in terms of cap space heading into free agency and draft season with the official number locked in (numbers per OTC)

Washington Commanders: $87.05 million
New England Patriots: $82.9 million
Chicago Bears: $80.4 million
Tennessee Titans: $78.6 million
Cincinnati Bengals: $72.8 million
Indianapolis Colts: $72.3 million
Houston Texans: $67.6 million
Detroit Lions: $63.7 million
Arizona Cardinals: $55.1 million
Las Vegas Raiders: $48.7 million
Los Angeles Rams: $45.99 million
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $45.5 million
Carolina Panthers: $40.2 million
Atlanta Falcons: $38.5 million
Minnesota Vikings: $37.9 million
New York Giants: $32.9 million
Philadelphia Eagles: $32.2 million
Kansas City Chiefs: $27.7 million
Jacksonville Jaguars: $24.7 million
Baltimore Ravens: $18.5 million
New York Jets: $15.1 million
Seattle Seahawks: $12.97 million
Green Bay Packers: $8.2 million
Pittsburgh Steelers: $7.4 million
San Francisco 49ers: $834,165
Cleveland Browns: ($6.2 million)
Dallas Cowboys: ($8.2 million)
Denver Broncos: ($10.7 million)
Los Angeles Chargers: ($22.1 million)
Miami Dolphins: ($38.5 million)
New Orleans Saints: ($40.1 million)
Buffalo Bills: ($41.7 million)

Saints are a mess. They should have sat out the cart sweepstakes (giggle) and went straight to full rebuild.

They needed to do that 3+ years ago. Their books are atrocious now

[Jigga94]

This is where the GMs prove their mettle. Cap space needs to be allocated not only to signing FAs but also expiring vets & rookie contracts in the next couple of years.

Lions for example look like a great young up & coming team. But they have ARSB , SEWELL and Goff all looking for extensions after '24 so they can't sell the farm for much more than 1 year rental types. Need to keep deep pockets to sign their own.

Many have them in the running for D. Hunter or H. Reddick but I doubt they want to give a long term 3 or more years contract to anyone. Will be interesting to see what transpires around the lg with this huge bump in cap space.

Personally, the draft is where you make your money as a GM. The great GMs continually draft franchise players though and some will not be affordable when the bill comes in. The best GM know who and when to let go and not throw the bag at someone. Detroit has done an amazing job drafting as of late and it will be interesting to see how they continue to build. Their UFAs for future years right now (assuming they exercise 5th year options)
2025- Goff, ARSB, Decker
2026- Sewell
2027- Laporta, Ragnow, Hutchinson
2028- Gibbs, Campbell