2015 Salary Cap Projected At $138.6MM+
THURSDAY, 9:35am: According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Facebook link), the NFLPA sent out a memo today to agents and contract advisors, expressing concern that the league is underestimating the cap’s likely growth for 2015. The union intends to issue its own projections in the coming months, based on “analysis of expected revenue.”
WEDNESDAY, 4:55pm: NFL team owners and executives attending the league’s annual labor seminar on Tuesday and the owner meetings in Dallas today have been informed that the 2015 salary cap for teams is currently projected to be $138.6MM, according to reports from Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link) and Jarrett Bell of USA Today. Bell indicates that execs were given a ballpark figure of $138-141MM, while Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) puts the estimated figures at between $138.6MM and $141.8MM.
The 2014 cap number for the league’s 32 teams is $133MM, so even an increase to about $138MM would represent a modest bump. But it’s worth noting that at this time last year, the projected figure for 2014 was $126.3MM — the actual ’14 figure ended up being nearly $7MM higher than that.
If 2015’s number exceeds these initial projections as well, it would fall in line with reports we heard way back in February and March. At that point, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com indicated that a cap number of over $140MM for 2015 seemed likely, while Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggested a ballpark figure of $145MM.
We’ll have to wait until well after the Super Bowl to learn the actual figures, but it seems certain that the salary cap will continue its healthy rise. That’s good news for teams dealing with oversized contracts and an abundance of dead money, or teams that will need to extend key free-agents-to-be. The Broncos (Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Chris Harris) and Lions (Ndamukong Suh) are two clubs that could have an easier time retaining their prospective free agents with a significant bump to the cap.
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Minor Moves: Wednesday
As NFL teams get their 53-man rosters in order for Week 15’s slate of games, we’ll round up Wednesday’s minor transactions in this space, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:
- The Seahawks have signed defensive end David King from the Bengals practice squad, tweets Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. The defensive end, who was drafted by the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2013 draft, was signed by Cincinnati in August.
Earlier updates:
- The Cowboys continue to shuffle pieces to and from their roster and practice squad, with team executive Stephen Jones indicating that defensive end Kenneth Boatright is the latest taxi squad player to receive a promotion, tweets Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dallas now has a full 53-man squad.
- The Panthers have released quarterback Matt Blanchard from their injured reserve list, now that he’s been deemed healthy, tweets Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. As Person adds in a second tweet, Blanchard sustained a severe concussion during a preseason game and wasn’t cleared for more than two months.
- Having waived defensive back Roc Carmichael yesterday, the Eagles filled the opening on their roster today by adding another player to their secondary. The team announced (via Twitter) that it has signed safety Jerome Couplin from off the Lions‘ practice squad. Couplin originally signed with Detroit back in May as an undrafted free agent out of William and Mary.
- Like the Eagles, the Vikings have also poached a player from another club’s practice squad, plucking offensive tackle Carter Bykowski away from the 49ers, per a team release. To make room for the incoming signee, Minnesota has placed linebacker Michael Mauti on the injured reserve list.
- Washington completed a series of roster moves on Tuesday that left the team with an open spot on its 53-man roster, and the club has now signed cornerback Justin Rogers to once again max out the squad (Twitter link). Rogers was one of several players to work out for Washington earlier this week.
Practice Squad Updates: Wednesday
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts, with the latest moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- The Raiders announced that they have filled their two open practice squad spots, signing wide receiver Kenny Shaw and tight end Evan Wilson. Shaw, a former standout at Florida State, briefly spent time with the Browns and Jaguars. Wilson was among the Dolphins final cuts in August, and he had workouts with the Patriots and Giants earlier this season.
- The Seahawks have signed linebacker Mike Zimmer, tweets Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Zimmer (no relation to the coach) played with the Vikings during the preseason.
Earlier updates:
- Cornerback Kennard Cox has signed with the Seahawks‘ taxi squad, tweets Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Cox last played in the NFL with Seattle in 2011.
- The 49ers have filled the last opening on their practice squad by signing offensive tackle Chris Martin, per Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter).
- According to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter), the two openings on the Lions’ practice squad have now been filled, as the team added wide receiver Skye Dawson and linebacker Jerrell Harris.
- The Cowboys have made a change to their practice squad, replacing defensive end Lavar Edwards with cornerback Micah Pellerin, says Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Edwards lands on the team’s practice squad IR list.
- The Panthers have re-signed running back Tauren Poole to their practice squad, tweets Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Poole had a very brief stint on the active roster earlier this season when Carolina was dealing with several injuries in the backfield.
- Wide receiver Alec Lemon, a former local high school standout, has joined the Ravens‘ taxi squad, filling the 10th and final spot, according to a team release.
- The Broncos have filled the lone opening on their practice squad by adding defensive end Gerald Rivers back to the unit, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold (via Twitter). Rivers, who tried out for the Giants this week, was cut last week from Denver’s 53-man roster.
- The Buccaneers have removed tight end Taylor Sloat from their practice squad, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (Twitter link), who says the move may indicate improving health for the team’s tight ends. Linebacker Ka’Lial Glaud has replaced Sloat on the squad.
- With outside linebacker Jason Ankrah having been promoted to the Texans‘ active roster, former Clemson defensive end Kourtnei Brown has been added to Houston’s practice squad to replace Ankrah, tweets Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle.
Extra Points: Goodell, Raiders, JPP, Browns
On the same day the NFL announced that its owners have approved a new personal conduct policy for the league, Outside the Lines reporter Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.com has published a story suggesting commissioner Roger Goodell‘s testimony during Ray Rice‘s suspension appeal hearing was inconsistent with his public statements.
On September 10, Goodell wrote a memo to the league’s 32 owners in which he said that “on multiple occasions, we asked the proper law enforcement authorities to share with us all relevant information, including any video of the [Rice elevator] incident.” However, the 631-page transcript of Rice’s appeal hearing, a copy of which was obtained by Outside the Lines, suggests that the NFL never actually formally requested the elevator video from the one law enforcement agency that actually had it, the Atlantic City Police Department.
With Goodell and the NFL once again under scrutiny for questionable handling of investigative and disciplinary matters, let’s round up a few other notes from around the league:
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Raiders have “a much better chance” of moving to Los Angeles in 2015 than he had realized, adding that the possibility of the team relocating from Oakland to L.A. is “very legitimate.”
- While NFL teams rarely let their starting quarterbacks reach the open market, the early returns for the teams that locked their QBs up this year haven’t been good, writes Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. The Bears (Jay Cutler), Bengals (Andy Dalton), Chiefs (Alex Smith), and 49ers (Colin Kaepernick) likely aren’t thrilled with the new deals for their respective signal-callers, considering all four teams project to finish with worse records in 2014 than 2013.
- Asked about his impending free agency, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said he’d “love to be a Giant for life,” but isn’t sure yet how things will play out (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).
- Although Browns kicker Billy Cundiff missed another key field goal on Sunday against the Colts, head coach Mike Pettine says Cundiff remains the team’s kicker, but “he knows he has to pick it up” (Twitter link via Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald).
- Adrian Peterson is still awaiting arbitrator Harold Henderson’s decision on his suspension appeal, and the Vikings running back continues to hold out hope that he’ll be able to return the field this season, NFLPA executive George Atallah tells Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
- Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion will be represented by Athletes First agents Andrew Kessler and Dave Dunn for the 2015 NFL draft, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal.
East Notes: Finnegan, Rolle, Pats, Bills
It’s a crucial weekend in the NFL’s two East divisions, as the top two teams in both the AFC East and the NFC East will square off, with the Patriots hosting the Dolphins and the Cowboys looking to avenge their Thanksgiving loss against the Eagles. While we look forward to those two matchups and others, let’s check out the latest out of the league’s East divisions….
- Dolphins cornerback Cortland Finnegan tells Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald that he’ll consider retiring after this season, indicating that he’ll probably either return to Miami or call it a career, rather than playing for another team.
- After Tom Coughlin expressed his displeasure with Antrel Rolle‘s celebration following a Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie touchdown on Sunday, the veteran safety didn’t show any real remorse. Considering Rolle is one of the defensive leaders for the 4-9 Giants, it’s no wonder that Coughlin has had trouble getting his team to play disciplined football, writes Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News, suggesting that the club should think twice about retaining the free-agent-to-be this offseason.
- Four mid-season pickups are playing key roles for the Patriots as they make their push toward a first-round bye, writes Christopher Price of WEEI.com. Two of those players, Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Casillas, were acquired via trade, making them rarities for the NFL — deadline acquisitions that are actually making a real impact.
- The Bills are sticking with Kyle Orton at quarterback down the stretch as they attempt to sneak into the playoffs, writes Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. Orton has an option year on his contract for 2015, so it’ll be interesting to see how he finishes the year, since it may dictate whether or not he returns to Buffalo in 2015.
NFL Owners Approve New Conduct Policy
1:33pm: The NFLPA has released a statement on the newly-approved policy, and the union predictably doesn’t sound happy about the league’s announcement. Here’s the statement, in full:
“Our union has not been offered the professional courtesy of seeing the NFL’s new personal conduct policy before it hit the presses. Their unilateral decision and conduct today is the only thing that has been consistent over the past few months.”
12:59pm: The league has issued a formal press release, touches on a few new details of the policy, and laying out how the investigative and disciplinary processes will play out in the event of a potential violation of the conduct policy.
For the initial discipline, the NFL will appoint “a highly qualified league office executive with a criminal justice background.” Goodell will handle appeals of suspensions. Additionally, a committee headed by Cardinals owner Michael Bidwil will review the conduct policy annually and recommend appropriate changes, with the help of outside experts.
12:29pm: After announcing earlier this season that he wanted to have a new personal conduct policy in place before the Super Bowl, commissioner Roger Goodell has beaten his self-imposed deadline by more than a month and a half. Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal and Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter links) report that NFL owners voted today in Dallas on a new policy, approving the proposal. According to Breer (via Twitter), the proposed conduct policy was voted through unanimously.
As we noted this morning, the NFL Players Association was upset at not having been more involved in the creation of the new personal conduct policy, and the two sides had not reached common ground on a number of issues, so it will be interesting to see what the approved proposal looks like.
Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) have some early details, writing that some of the points of emphasis in the policy include prompt reporting of incidents, paid leave for those facing charges, and independent investigations of incidents (rather than relying on police investigations). Garafalo adds (via Twitter) that Goodell’s role under the new policy will be as an appeals officer only — a newly-created special counsel will oversee initial disciplinary rulings.
While some of those aspects of the policy should be good news for the NFLPA, the union intends to immediately study the new policy in search of provisions and topics that would be mandatory subjects of collective bargaining, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote earlier today. According to Florio, if there are terms in the policy that require collective bargaining, the NFLPA will file a “system arbitration” proceeding under the labor deal or initiate an action with the National Labor Relations Board, or both.
In other words, while the league’s owners may have unanimously approved the league’s proposal, the issue likely won’t be put to rest immediately. We’ll await further details on the intricacies of the policy and the union’s reaction.
Suh: Agent Will Make Decision On 2015 Team
Ndamukong Suh is one of the most notable players eligible for unrestricted free agency this coming offseason, but the Lions’ standout defensive tackle doesn’t sound overly excited about the possibility of going through the free agent process. The Pro Bowler told reporters today, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, that agent Jimmy Sexton will decide where Suh plays next season.
“It’ll be Jimmy’s decision, so we’ll go with that,” Suh said. “You can call Jimmy if you want to.” Asked if he meant that his agent will choose the team he plays for in 2015, Suh replied, “Probably will. Yup.”
While there are likely plenty of players who let their agents seek out the highest offer and then agree to sign it, it’s unusual to hear a player – especially one of Suh’s caliber – acknowledge it so openly. At a time when most free-agents-to-be would express a desire to remain with their current teams, Suh didn’t even pay lip service to the idea of wanting to keep playing in Detroit.
Still, Suh’s indication that Sexton will play such a major role in the free agent process doesn’t necessarily mean that the 27-year-old is opposed to the idea of remaining a Lion, or that the team will even let him get away — the franchise tag is one option the Lions could explore, even though the cost would be massive. ESPN’s Michael Rothstein argued earlier in the week that using the $26MM+ franchise tag on Suh could be worth it for Detroit, since he plays such a significant role on defense, and the salary cap figures to be on the rise again in 2015.
Wherever Suh lands for 2015 and beyond, his free agency will be one of the most interesting subplots of the offseason. We ranked the Lions star second in the most recent installment of our free agent power rankings, and perhaps no player near the top of our list has a more realistic chance of switching teams than Suh.
Melvin Gordon To Enter NFL Draft
Appearing today on The Dan Patrick Show, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon announced that he would be leaving school after his junior season to enter the 2015 NFL draft, writes Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk.
No running back has been selected in the first round of a draft since 2012, when Trent Richardson, Doug Martin, and David Wilson all came off the board within the first 32 picks. However, Gordon looks like a good bet to snap that first-round drought for backs — he’s coming off an outstanding season that saw him accumulate 2,336 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 309 attempts, including a record-setting 408-yard performance last month against Nebraska.
ESPN’s general rankings list Gordon as the No. 1 running back in next year’s class, and the 16th-best prospect at any position, while Mel Kiper is even more bullish on the Badger, placing him seventh on his most recent big board. Kiper is wary of Gordon’s large workload in his final year of Wisconsin, but raved about his running ability: “Gordon is an easy accelerator, and he cuts with explosiveness and little wasted motion. He will miss a hole here and there in search of a bigger lane, but he has good vision, isn’t afraid of contact between the tackles or on the edge, and has breakaway speed when he gets in space.”
Although Gordon’s 300+ carries this season are of some concern, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) lauds the running back’s decision to turn pro, pointing out that heading to the NFL means he’ll avoid carrying the ball another 300+ times next season for free.
Lions Place Joseph Fauria On IR
11:30am: The Lions have officially placed Fauria on IR and signed Davis, reports Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter).
10:47am: It appears that tight end Joseph Fauria‘s ankle injury will force him out of action for the rest of the season, with the Lions preparing to place him on injured reserve, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Fauria himself hinted at that possibility, via Instagram, writing, “It will only make my future success that much sweeter. Trust I’m going to come back the best I’ve ever been.”
Fauria, 24, aggravated a previous ankle injury during Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers, and the fact that the Lions agreed to re-sign tight end Kellen Davis yesterday suggested the prognosis wasn’t good for the sophomore. It looks as if moving Fauria to IR will accommodate the official signing of Davis.
Fauria had to compete for playing time and targets with fellow tight ends Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew this season, and caught just six balls for 74 yards and a touchdown in the handful of games in which he played. During his two NFL seasons, Fauria has displayed a knack for finding the end zone, scoring eight TDs on only 24 overall receptions.
The Lions have Fauria under contract through the 2015 season, so he figures to return to the club next year, hopefully with a clean bill of health.