With just under a month until players start reporting to training camp across the league, the player acquisition phase of the offseason is mostly over. Right now, front offices are getting their own payroll in order.
Just about every week we are seeing a notable contract extension, but that’s not the only way to address a team’s cap situation.
This is also a time of year where we could see a few contract restructures.
Restructures are an important tool in the arsenal for front offices. They come in a variety of forms but most have to do with converting salary into a signing bonus that is paid to the player and prorated over the remaining years of the contract. Teams can also add void years which allows them to spread the cap hits beyond the contract.
It’s a way to create immediate cap space at the cost of pushing more money into the future. Looking across the league, there are a few stars whose contracts could be restructured to give their team flexibility as they navigate the season.
2024 cap room figures via Spotrac.
Tyreek Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has hinted at the famed speedster wanting a new contract with the Dolphins. The receiver has said being greedy isn’t going to help the team.
The Dolphins restructuring Hill and making sure that more of his current contract is guaranteed could be a suitable solution for both parties.
Hill has three more years on the four-year, $120 million contract that he signed when he was traded to South Beach. The contract currently has some seriously inflated money anchored by the final year of his contract that carries a $43.9 million base salary and a $56.3 million cap hit.
Paying that cap hit to a 32-year-old Hill isn’t going to happen. It’s much more likely that the Dolphins will either release him, trade him or extend him before that happens.
By restructuring and clearing up current cap space, they would afford themselves a bigger budget for this season while having the void year in place to push even more of his 2026 cap hit when the time comes.
The need to smooth out that final cap hit is going to be even more pronounced if Tua Tagovailoa gets a new contract. The Dolphins might as well spend the money before balancing the books gets even more difficult.
NFL quarterback contracts are becoming bigger and bigger, but the nice thing is that they can work like a bank. The massive salaries attached to contracts like Lamar Jackson’s five-year, $260 million contract give team’s some wiggle room with the cap.
For instance, the Ravens could restructure a portion of $14.3 million salary to give them cap relief right now. The Ravens could ostensibly be in the market for an edge rusher or wide receiver if either becomes available on the free agent or trade market.
Essentially borrowing against Jackson’s contract would afford them the ability to make an important addition and Jackson isn’t going anywhere.
Jackson’s 2025 $43.7 million cap hit is manageable. The downside to a restructure is that it would further inflate his 2026 and 2027 hits of $74.7 million. However, the Ravens would be able to add money to the two void years that are already on his contract when the time comes to get those hits down.
At that point Jackson will be 30 years old and the Ravens will have a better idea of whether another extension is in their best interest.
For now, they should be worried about capitalizing on his 2023 MVP campaign and utilizing some cap savings to address a few important needs.
The Atlanta Falcons have clearly pushed a lot of chips in on the 2024 season. Going out and signing Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix Jr. is a clear signal they believe they have a roster to compete if they can just get good quarterback play.
As such, they need to have some cap flexibility if they believe there’s an opportunity to add a player that can help them win the NFC South.
The problem right now is that they are one of the most cash-strapped teams in the league with just $3.1 million in space.
Grady Jarrett is set to have one of their highest cap hits at $20.4 million. The Falcons should be weary of handing him a contract extension coming off of an ACL tear, but a restructure could make sense.
The sacrifice would be giving up some of the savings if the Falcons decide to move on from him next season. As it stands, they could release him and save $16.3 million against the cap in 2025.
However, Jarrett has no void years in his contract right now. If they were to convert some of his $15.3 million salary into a bonus and add a few void years, they could retain some of that flexibility in 2025 while freeing up important dollars for 2024.
The ideal scenario for the Seattle Seahawks would probably be to give DK Metcalf an extension. He only has two years left on his contract and the 26-year-old is a pivotal element of their offense.
However, Justin Jefferson’s contract is a tide that is going to lift all boats so the price for a good receiver just went up. Restructuring Metcalf would put more money in his pocket right now and ensure that there’s less trade chatter during the season.
The Seahawks are one of the closest teams to the salary cap right now. They have just $33,176 in cap room. That’s not a sustainable in-season budget and gives the Seahawks no room for free agent or trade acquisitions.
Restructuring Metcalf’s contract would allow them to save around $6 million against the cap this season. It would essentially provide additional security as the two sides negotiate a more long-term extension so they could add void years without worrying about a sunk cost.
The Seahawks were a fringe playoff team last year and will look to at least compete for a wildcard spot again in Mike Macdonald’s first year. Restructuring Metcalf could allow them to get a little more aggressive in building toward that goal.
The Giants don’t have a lot of foundational players to feel good about. Thus, they don’t have a lot of players they should feel comfortable restructuring. Andrew Thomas is one of the exceptions.
Thomas signed a five-year, $117.5 million contract that should age well as the tackle market develops with the rising salary cap. The pact is straightforward with Thomas under contract through the 2029 season and never carrying a cap charge of more than $22.9 million.
While it would be nice to keep things that way, there’s room for expanded hits down the line, especially if the salary cap continues to rise every year.
The Giants 2024 outlook is bleak. They were 30th in our post-draft power rankings, but they might not be able to afford to be as bad as they are projected to be. Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen are in the third year of their tenure and they’ve made a sizable bet on being able to win with Daniel Jones.
They might need to swing a trade or add a free agent at some point this season and they are 22nd in cap space right now.
Restructuring Thomas is an easy sell to ownership that would create extra cap space to get aggressive and maybe exceed expectations. They aren’t going to regret paying Thomas a slightly higher cap hit over the life of his contract.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have restructured Vita Vea’s contract each of the last two seasons, but the third time might be a charm. They are once again in need of cap space with only $8.6 million available and Vea is a prime restructure candidate.
The Bucs could more than double their cap space by restructuring Vea for the third consecutive season. It would provide him with a little more job security and give the Buccaneers some more breathing room as they try to compete in the NFC South.
Vea’s cap hits over the next two seasons are around $22 million, but they have already added a void year which would keep those hits from getting too much higher.
A restructure makes more sense than an extension for Vea at this point. The 29-year-old is still one of the elite nose tackles in the league, but waiting to see what he looks like in a year or two before committing to more contract years is a prudent move.
For now, going back to him with a restructure to create some 2024 cap space while minimally adding to his future cap hits is the best path forward.
It’s no secret that the Jets are heavily invested in winning in 2024. They are one of the team’s in the league with the widest range of outcomes and there could be jobs on the line if this year isn’t a success.
The Jets are relying on a lot of players who could be classified as injury risks so the ability to make moves during the season could be critical. That should make the fact that they are just $6 million under the cap a bit of a concern going into the season.
One of the easiest ways to inflate that number would be to restructure the contract extension that they gave Quinnen Williams last season.
Williams reset the non-Aaron Donald defensive tackle market with his four-year, $96 million contract last season. The Jets have yet to add any void years to his deal and the final year is essentially an option with only $4.9 million in dead money.
Converting a portion of his $14.4 million base salary into a bonus would allow them to free up some cash for this crucial campaign while maintaining their future flexibility by adding at least one void year.
Williams was talented enough to get this extension. He’s talented enough to believe he’ll be worth the bigger cap hit down the road.
If the Jets front office isn’t willing to make the move to improve this roster they might not be around to manage Williams contract down the road anyway.