Former NFL agent Joel Corry is one of the foremost experts on contracts and the salary cap, so with this year’s NFL cap going up significantly, BMitch & Finlay brought Corry on to explain exactly what’s going on – starting with how the franchise tag has become, in JP’s words, ‘more advantageous for ownership and management than ever.”
“The 2011 CBA changed how they dicephered those tags; it used to be the average of the top five salaries by cap number from the previous year at a position, and that would be the franchise tag,” Corry explained. “Now, it's more convoluted because it's based on what's called a cap percentage average – you use that original methodology, add up what it would be for the previous five years, then you take the sum of the salary cap for the previous five years, divide those two into each other, and multiply that resulting percentage by what the upcoming salary cap is going to be.”
If it sounds kind of convoluted…yeah, it is, and Corry hasn’t really done the math to see which system is better for the players, mostly because contracts get restructured all the time, which affects cap numbers, but you don’t get an immediate benefit if a cap or a salary group jumps up because it’s an average now.
This year, the QB franchise tag being $40 million when the average of the top five salaries at the position is well north of that, is a prime example for JP of what’s wrong.
“Average salary and cap number are two different things, because every year you have all these guys that have huge cap numbers like Deshaun Watson's $73 million right now, but it's gonna get chopped down,” Corry said. “That’s why they did that maneuver towards the end of the year to add dummy voiding years, to anticipate they're going to restructure it. Right now, you have Patrick Mahomes at $66 million, but I doubt he's carried at $66 million during the year; he’s been right around 37 or 38 the past two years. Same with Dak Prescott, who is bordering $90 million, but he won’t have that cap number by the start of the league year.”
What we do know is that Washington will have a lot of cap space, the third-most in the NFL, but they have more than two dozen free agents, and will have to fill those holes somehow.
“They have to make some choices on who to bring back and who not to bring back, because they had a bunch of guys on one-year deals, and nobody thought they’d be in the NFC Championship Game,” Corry said. “I look at the Texans, who did the same thing and went out and made some judicious choices getting Danielle Hunter and trading for Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs when they had the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year on a cost-contained rookie contract, which you guys have now.”
Of the free agents here, Corry thinks Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner are the ones to prioritize, both as ‘culture setters’ and producers on the field – but what could those look like?
“Ertz was practically the lowest paid starting tight end on a veteran contract at $3 million base last year, and if you look at him statistically, it compares to Pat Freiermuth, who signed for $12.1 million as an extension of his rookie deal, and Hunter Henry, who is at $9 million. So, where they are, I think maybe $7 or $8 million on a one-year deal for him,” Corry said. “Wagner, all the guy does is get accolades, and last year, Lavonte David signed a one-year deal for $8.5 million with up to $10 million in incentives, and Demario Davis signed for two years at an average of $8.625 million. Bobby’s better than both of those guys always has been, and the cap has gone up at least 10 percent, so I think that $10 million could be his floor, because you have to throw age stuff out the window with him.”
Take a listen to Corry’s entire visit above, as he also goes into who might get franchise tagged and where spending sprees will happen, Myles Garrett’s potential future, and more!