The Seahawks finally made the big move that has been expected for months. I couldn’t think of a better time to review Seattle’s “True” cap space.
The Seattle Seahawks made a big trade by acquiring safety Jamal Adams. They also released several players. This weekend’s moves have resulted in some changes in the team’s cap space.
This move, as well as others, has the Seahawks looking like they are in win-now mode. They traded for a phenomenal player. They cut some salary. Seattle appears to be revving up for a run at the title in a crowded NFC heavyweight matchup.
If the Seahawks want to get all the way to the top, they will need to make a couple of other moves. This article reviews where the team stands in terms of “true” salary cap in order to see what they have available to spend.
The Seahawks pulled off a splash trade to acquire superstar safety Jamal Adams. It wasn’t cheap in terms of draft assets. However, if there was a year to spend that much draft capital, this was it. With the pandemic potentially limiting the college season, scouting profiles could end being incomplete. Making it all the more difficult to get an accurate reading on college prospects.
There are two positives in terms of today. First, the Seahawks have arguably the best safety pairing in the NFL now. Second, and the one that most pertains to this article, the Seahawks saved some money from the trade.
The Seahawks traded away $4.16 million of McDougald’s cap hit. Meanwhile, they absorbed the 4th year of Jamal Adams’s rookie scale contract valued at a cap hit of $3.6 million. This nets the team roughly $500k in savings. While this move isn’t substantial in terms of savings, it was not the only one made.
Players released Sunday:
The NFL announced that NFL teams have two options for the pre-season. First, they can cut their pre-season roster down from 90 to 80 players. Second, they can split their training camp between veterans in one and rookies/second-year players in the other. The Seahawks apparently made their decision.
Over the weekend the team cut 9 total players. The 10th player is Quinton Dunbar, who was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. This brings the Seahawks roster down to 80.
Of the 9 players cut/released, only 2 players will net the team any savings in terms of salary cap. You see there is a rule known as the ‘Top-51.’ The rule states that only the top 51 salaries are accounted for against the salary cap. This is intended to ensure that when the team trims its roster down to 53, they can afford it.
This ‘top 51’ cut off line for the Seahawks sits at $750k. Because of this, only the terminated contracts of Joey Hunt and Branden Jackson will net the team any additional cash flow. The release of both players saved the team $4.32 million in total.
Let’s review where the Seahawks are in cap space thus far:
Cap Space (Start): $10.37 million
Jamal Adams Trade (Net): $500k
Players Released: $4.32 million
Cap Space (Post Trade): $15.19 million
This is where the other websites like Over the Cap and Spotrac leave it. If you want to learn where the team is in terms of “True” cap space, we have two more slides to maneuver through. “True” cap space is what NFL teams use. It accounts for all occurred and expected costs. The other sites only account for what has occurred.
Side note: it is possible now that Quinton Dunbar has been placed on the commissioner’s exempt list that the Seahawks will end up waiving him. If they do this, it will add $3.4 million to the Seahawks cap space.
The vast majority of the Seahawks draft pool remains unsigned
The NFL as a whole has been very slow to sign draft picks this year. It wasn’t until the NFLPA and the NFL came together to set up specific guidelines to ensure this season occurred that teams really started signing their players.
The Seahawks are one of the teams that have slow-rolled it. To date, they have only signed 3 of their draft picks, Jordyn Brooks, Colby Parkinson and Freddie Swain. The other 5 players remain unsigned.
Below is the expected cost for each of the draft picks, as well as the top-51 cut off-line:
2020 Projected Draft Pool Cap
Round 1, Pick #27: Jordyn Brooks $2,224,656 (signed)
Round 2, Pick #48: Darrell Taylor $1,229,910
Round 3, Pick #69: Damien Lewis $891,299
Round 4, Pick #133: Colby Parkinson $777,610 (signed)
——————Top 51 Cut-Off——————–
Round 4, Pick #144: DeeJay Dallas $733,600
Round 5, Pick #148: Alton Robinson $697,837
Round 6, Pick #214: Freddie Swain $642,353 (signed)
Round 7, Pick #251: Stephen Sullivan $628,872
Projected Draft Pool: $7,826,137
Top 51 Cap Hit (total): $5,123,475
Top 51 Left Unsigned: $621,209
As we spoke about on the last page, the top 51 rule applies here as well. From Deejay Dallas to Stephen Sullivan, their cap hits fall below the threshold of $750k and will not be counted towards the salary cap.
There are 2 players from the Seahawks rookie class that will count toward the salary cap, that remain unsigned. Those two players are Darrell Taylor and Damien Lewis. The combined cap hit between the two players stands at $2,121,209.
There is one missing element before we can deduct this from our “true” cap estimate. We must remove the players’ salaries they will be replacing in the top 51. With the bottom threshold being $750k and these 2 draftees replacing them; the math will look like this: 2 players x $750k = $1.5 million.
To get the final cost of the rookie pool all that has to happen is subtract the 2 players being replaced by the draftees. The math looks like this: $2,121,209 (Taylor and Lewis) – $1,500,000 (the two players that dropped out of the top 51). What this equation equals out to is $621,209. This is the portion from the missing rookie contracts that will affect the salary cap.
The final steps to get the Seahawks “True” cap
Practice squad and injury reserve safety net
The NFL has allowed NFL teams to have a 16-man practice squad. This is up from the original number (12) that was agreed upon during the spring’s CBA. The original cost was estimated at $2.2 million. With the additional 4 bodies, I expect this number to jump up to roughly $2.9 million.
The injury reserve safety net is a little hairier. Typically, teams set aside $2-$3 million every year. This is used as a ‘just in case’ a player gets seriously injured and needs to be replaced with an outside body. With the new agreement in place between the NFLPA and the NFL there is now a temporary IR. This will be used if a player tests positive for COVID-19.
This leads me to believe the standard amount allotted for this may grow slightly. I am going to be safe and set aside $4 million for the safety net in these uncertain times. If nothing else, this will be worst-case scenario.
Failed Physical Designation (FPD – releases)
The Seahawks released 4 players with a failed physical this year. The released players are Ed Dickson, Justin Britt, Nazair Jones and Tedric Thompson. Per the CBA, if a player is released with a failed physical and remains unsigned by the time the regular season begins, the team that released the player will be responsible for a payout. The payout comes at the lesser of the two; 50% of the player’s original base salary or $1.2 million.
As for Justin Britt and Ed Dickson, they will both fall under the $1.2 million limit. Nazair Jones and Tedric Thompson will both fall under the 50% of the base salary bubble. All in all, this has a potential cap charge of $3.84 million.
A keynote: If any of these players sign with an organization before the regular season, the Seahawks will no longer be responsible for these payouts. There is a decent shot that Tedric Thompson, Nazair Jones and Justin Britt will sign with another team.
Ed Dickson is likely done in the league after numerous injuries. This gives a floor of $1.2 million and a ceiling of $3.84 million. For the sake of this article, we will play it safe. If you want to read more about the breakdown of this rule, click here.
Final Cap Breakdown:
Cap Space (Start): $10.37 million
Jamal Adams Trade (Net): $500k
Players Released: $4.32
Draft Pool: -$629k
Practice Squad: -$2.9 million
Injury Reserve: -$4 million
FPD-Releases: -$3.84 million
“True” Cap Space: $3.8 million
This is a worst-case scenario. The best-case scenario would be that Justin Britt, Tedric Thompson and Nazair all sign elsewhere. There is also the chance that the Seahawks allot a lower amount for the injury reserve safety net, something around $2 million.
Were this to happen, the “True” cap would be a little healthier. This would bring the best case scenario to around $8.5 million. This would be more than enough space to bring make another move or two.