Author: Luke Adams

Earlier in the offseason, we took a look at the largest 2014 cap hits, by offensive and defensive position, breaking down the top five highest-paid players at each spot on the field for the coming season. Today, we’ll shift our focus to the biggest cap hits by team, attempting to get some insight into which clubs are using significant cap space on their best players and which clubs’ largest cap hits are more problematic.

Despite their lack of recent success, for instance, the Browns’ top two highest cap hits for the coming season suggest the team is managing its cap reasonably well. It’s hard to argue that offensive tackle Joe Thomas and cornerback Joe Haden aren’t the most important players on offense and defense, respectively, in Cleveland — both players play key positions, and their combined cap hit of about $24.4MM doesn’t break the bank.

A team like Jacksonville, on the other hand, has more questionable cap numbers atop its 2014 books. Although he has continued to pile up tackles and made his first Pro Bowl appearance last season, Paul Posluszny has posted subpar Pro Football Focus grades for two straight seasons, ranking 37th out of 55 qualified inside linebackers in 2013, per the site’s advanced metrics (subscription required). Meanwhile, tight end Marcedes Lewis is a solid pass catcher and run blocker, but he has averaged under 40 receptions with only eight total touchdowns over the last three years, and is one of just two players at his position who shows up on the list below. While the Jags still have plenty of cap space, and Posluszny’s and Lewis’ combined cap hit of $17.75MM isn’t exorbitant, it’s not surprising that the team is expected to finish below .500 in ’14, given its lack of star power.

Here’s the full list of the NFL’s largest 2014 cap hits by team, with the second-largest cap number for each team noted in parentheses:

1. Detroit Lions: Ndamukong Suh, DT: $22.413MM (Matthew Stafford, QB: $15.82MM)
2. New York Giants: Eli Manning, QB: $20.4MM (Antrel Rolle, S: $9.25MM)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger, QB: $18.895MM (Lawrence Timmons, LB: $11.816MM)
4. Buffalo Bills: Mario Williams, DE: $18.8MM (Marcell Dareus, DT: $6.493MM)
5. Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler, QB: $18.5MM (Brandon Marshall, WR: $9.375MM)
6. New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees, QB: $18.4MM (Jahri Evans, G: $11MM)
7. St. Louis Rams: Sam Bradford, QB: $17.61MM (Chris Long, DE: $14.9MM)
8. Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers, QB: $17.55MM (Clay Matthews, OLB: $10.944MM)
9. Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning, QB: $17.5MM (DeMarcus Ware, DE: $9.667MM)
10. Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan, QB: $17.5MM (Justin Blalock, G: $7.66MM)
11. Miami Dolphins: Mike Wallace, WR: $17.25MM (Dannell Ellerbe, LB: $7.425MM)
12. San Diego Chargers: Philip Rivers, QB: $16.667MM (Eric Weddle, S: $10.1MM)
13. Carolina Panthers: Charles Johnson, DE: $16.42MM (Greg Hardy, DE: $13.116MM)
14. Baltimore Ravens: Haloti Ngata, DL: $16MM (Joe Flacco, QB: $14.8MM)
15. Houston Texans: Andre Johnson, WR: $15.645MM (Johnathan Joseph, CB: $11.25MM)
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Gerald McCoy, DT: $15.627MM (Vincent Jackson, WR: $12.432MM)
17. New England Patriots: Tom Brady, QB: $14.8MM (Logan Mankins, G: $10.5MM)
18. Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson, RB: $14.4MM (Everson Griffen, DE: $8.2MM)
19. Seattle Seahawks: Percy Harvin, WR: $13.4MM (Russell Okung, OT: $11.24MM)
20. Cleveland Browns: Joe Thomas, OT: $12.3MM (Joe Haden, CB: $12.128MM)
21. Dallas Cowboys: Brandon Carr, CB: $12.217MM (Tony Romo, QB: $11.773MM)
22. Kansas City Chiefs: Dwayne Bowe, WR: $12MM (Eric Berry, S: $11.62MM)
23. Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer, QB: $12MM (Calais Campbell, DL: $11.25MM)
24. New York Jets: D’Brickashaw Ferguson, OT: $11.699MM (Nick Mangold, C: $7.227MM)
25. Washington Redskins: Brian Orakpo, OLB: $11.455MM (Trent Williams, OT: $10.98MM)
26. Philadelphia Eagles: LeSean McCoy, RB: $9.7MM (Jason Peters, OT: $8.292MM)
27. Jacksonville Jaguars: Paul Posluszny, LB: $9.5MM (Marcedes Lewis, TE: $8.25MM)
28. Cincinnati Bengals: Geno Atkins, DT: $9MM (Leon Hall, CB: $8.7MM)
29. Indianapolis Colts: Robert Mathis, OLB: $8.75MM (Vontae Davis, CB: $6.25MM)
30. Tennessee Titans: Andy Levitre, G: $8.6MM (Jason McCourty, CB: $8.3MM)
31. Oakland Raiders: Matt Schaub, QB: $8MM (Tyvon Branch, S: $7.157MM)
32. San Francisco 49ers: Anthony Davis, OT: $7.532MM (Vernon Davis, TE: $7.343MM)

Contract information from Over The Cap was used in the creation of this post.

Yesterday, when we examined the list of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, I observed that more than half of the league’s current coaches have only been in their positions since 2012, meaning they have two seasons or less under their belts with their respective teams. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there has still been plenty of turnover in front offices around the league in recent years.

Although only three teams hired new GMs in 2014, seven did so in 2013, meaning nearly a third of the NFL’s general managers have no more than one season in the books with their current clubs.

Still, on the other end of the spectrum, a handful of general managers have become mainstays with their respective clubs. Among coaches, only New England’s Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003, whereas six GMs fit that bill. Two of those six – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, Saints, and Ravens have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.

You can find the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured general managers below, along with the date they took over the job. In some instances, an executive served as the head of football operations before officially being named as the general manager, so in those cases, we’ve tried to indicate the date on which he became his team’s top football exec. A few names in the group are accompanied by footnotes at the bottom of the page to further clarify their roles.

Here’s the full list:

1. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989^[1]
2. Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991^[2]
3. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000^[3]
4. Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000^[4]
5. Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
6. Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore Ravens): November 22, 2002
7. Ted Thompson (Green Bay Packers): January 14, 2005
8. Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006^[5]
9. Rick Smith (Houston Texans): June 5, 2006
10. Jerry Reese (New York Giants): January 15, 2007
11. Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
12. Martin Mayhew (Detroit Lions): December 29, 2008
13. Bruce Allen (Washington Redskins): December 17, 2009
14. John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010^[6]
15. Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
16. Trent Baalke (San Francisco 49ers): May 20, 2010^[7]
17. John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011^[8]
18. Reggie McKenzie (Oakland Raiders): January 5, 2012
19. Ryan Grigson (Indianapolis Colts): January 11, 2012
20. Ruston Webster (Tennessee Titans): January 18, 2012
21. Phil Emery (Chicago Bears): January 29, 2012
22. Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
23. David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
24. Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
25. Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
26. Dave Gettleman (Carolina Panthers): January 10, 2013
27. John Dorsey (Kansas City Chiefs): January 13, 2013
28. John Idzik (New York Jets): January 18, 2013
29. Doug Whaley (Buffalo Bills): May 16, 2013
30. Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
31. Dennis Hickey (Miami Dolphins): January 27, 2014
32. Ray Farmer (Cleveland Browns): February 11, 2014

Footnotes:

1. Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
2. Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
3. Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
4. Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
5. Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
6. While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
7. Baalke held the role of the team’s VP of player personnel until he received the GM title in 2011.
8. Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.

The NFL is a league of relative parity, one where a perennial contender can bottom out practically overnight and a team expected to finish at the bottom of its division can win it — just ask the 2013 Texans and Panthers, respectively. As such, it’s probably not a surprise that NFL head coaches’ jobs are rarely safe, with most coaches around the league just one or two underachieving seasons away from being replaced.

Of course, there are exceptions to that rule, as is the case in New England, where Bill Belichick is preparing to begin his 15th season as head coach of the Patriots. However, while there are several long-tenured coaches across the NFL, most men in the position are relative newcomers. More than half of the league’s 32 coaches have only been under contract since 2012, and seven have yet to coach a single game for their new clubs.

A coach like Belichick has such a proven track record that a poor 2014 season wouldn’t jeopardize his job. But there are several names on the list below whose longevity may be surprising, and who may be entering make-or-break years. Consider Joe Philbin of the Dolphins and Dennis Allen of the Raiders, who were hired just four days apart and are in the middle of the pack for longevity — disappointing ’14 results in Miami or Oakland may have Philbin and Allen printing new résumés in December.

Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with the month and year in which they assumed the role:

1. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
2. Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati Bengals): January 14, 2003
3. Tom Coughlin (New York Giants): January 6, 2004
4. Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers): January 12, 2006
5. Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
6. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 22, 2007
7. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
8. Mike Smith (Atlanta Falcons): January 24, 2008
9. Rex Ryan (New York Jets): January 19, 2009
10. Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
11. Jason Garrett (Dallas Cowboys): November 8, 2010 (interim; permanent since January 2011)
12. Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco 49ers): January 7, 2011
13. Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers): January 11, 2011
14. John Fox (Denver Broncos): January 13, 2011
15. Jeff Fisher (St. Louis Rams): January 13, 2012
16. Joe Philbin (Miami Dolphins): January 20, 2012
17. Dennis Allen (Oakland Raiders): January 24, 2012
18. Chuck Pagano (Indianapolis Colts): January 25, 2012
19. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
20. Doug Marrone (Buffalo Bills): January 6, 2013
21. Mike McCoy (San Diego Chargers): January 15, 2013
22. Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles): January 16, 2013
23. Marc Trestman (Chicago Bears): January 16, 2013
24. Bruce Arians (Arizona Cardinals): January 17, 2013
25. Gus Bradley (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 17, 2013
26. Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
27. Lovie Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 2, 2014
28. Jay Gruden (Washington Redskins): January 9, 2014
29. Ken Whisenhunt (Tennessee Titans): January 13, 2014
30. Jim Caldwell (Detroit Lions): January 14, 2014
31. Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
32. Mike Pettine (Cleveland Browns): January 23, 2014