Extra Points: Suh, Hester, Talib
Ndamukong Suh‘s cap number in 2014 is $22.4MM — that’s nearly 17% of the $133MM salary cap.
However, DetroitLions.com Senior Writer Tim Twentyman said this should not hamstring the team’s efforts to be active in free agency. With less cap space last year entering free agency than they have this year, Twentyman writes that Detroit was still able to land Reggie Bush, Glover Quin and Jason Jones on free agency’s opening day.
“The fact we won’t have an extension done with Ndamukong before free agency begins doesn’t affect that plan one bit,” Lions team president Tom Lewand said. “It doesn’t affect our valuation of the free agents, it doesn’t affect what our projection of our cap situation is going forward, and it doesn’t affect how we project eventually working an extension with Ndamukong out at some point in time.”
Twentyman doesn’t expect a re-done deal by the start of free agency, despite Suh’s recent signing of CAA Sports agent Jimmy Sexton.
More notes from the second day of the legal tampering period…
- Dave George of the Palm Beach Post implores the Dolphins, who ranked No. 26 in the league in scoring last year, to sign return specialist Devin Hester.
- With about $24MM in cap room, philly.com’s Zach Berman expects the Eagles to bolster their defense in free agency.
- As cornerback Antonio Cromartie approaches 30, the Jets interest in Alterraun Verner shows that the team is exploring other options, said New York Post’s Brian Costello.
- Free safety, receiver, tight end and cornerback are the positions the Chiefs could target when free agency opens on Tuesday, writes The Kansas City Star’s Terez A. Paylor.
- The NFL is a young man’s game, with players 30 and over finding it more difficult to maintain a roster spot, reports The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.
NFC Notes: Wharton, Panthers, Lions, Saints
The Panthers have already lost one starting lineman to retirement this week, when longtime left tackle Jordan Gross called it a career. Now, left guard Travelle Wharton tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer that he’s not 100% sure about his future either. However, it sounds like if he keeps playing, the free agent lineman wants to do so in Carolina.
“I love it here in Charlotte. This is where we want to live,” Wharton said. “If there’s going to be a next year, we have to sit down and talk about it.”
Here’s more on the Panthers and a couple other NFC teams:
- Steve Smith‘s age (35 in May) and contract ($9MM in dead money, three years remaining) make him a tricky case for the Panthers, as Jason Fitzgerald explores in his latest piece at OverTheCap.com. Fitzgerald thinks it makes sense for the two sides to continue their relationship, but makes some suggestions for how to make the veteran receiver’s contract more tenable for the club.
- When the Lions inked Matthew Stafford to his long-term contract extension last summer, the team agreed to defer the payment of $17.5MM of his $27.5MM signing bonus. That bill has come due, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, who says the team will pay Stafford the remainder of the bonus this Friday. Glover Quin, Reggie Bush, and Jason Jones will also receive deferred bonus money within the next few weeks, but the lump-sum payments won’t alter the team’s cap outlook.
- Running back Mikel Leshoure expressed a desire for a bigger role, either in Detroit or elsewhere, and it looks like he may receive that opportunity with the Lions, writes Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.
- Add linebacker and special teams player Ramon Humber to the growing list of pending Saints free agents who have had early discussions with the club about a new deal, writes Ramon Antonio Vargas of The Advocate.