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NFL teams must be ‘creative’ to squeeze under new salary cap
What I hear: How not having fans in the stands affects team budgets
WhatI’mHearing, USA TODAY
The 2021 NFL Free Agency Market does not officially open until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday for players with expiring contracts – but they are already eligible to negotiate with any teams they choose. Players who have already been released can immediately sign elsewhere, and anyone is free to re-sign with their current club.
The NFL salary cap for the upcoming season will be $ 180 million with a maximum value of $ 182.5 million – all teams must be under the cap by Wednesday, when the league’s new year begins. .
Here are the major movements that have already taken place on Monday March 15:
FREE AGENCY: Top 21 market players
MIKE JONES: Free agency in 2021 will be different – here’s why
FREE AGENT TRACKER: Follow the rhythm of the big movements of the offseason
OLB Shaq Barrett
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff hero – he had four combined sacks between the NFC title game and Super Bowl 55 – stays with the champions on a four-year, $ 72 million contract, according to USA TODAY’s Mike Jones Sports, with $ 36 million guaranteed. As Tom Brady reported, it looks like the group is sticking together. Barrett has 27½ regular-season sacks over two years in Tampa, including a best 19½ in 2019.
More Bucs news
Speaking of this Tampa group, TE Rob Gronkowski reconsiders a one-year, $ 10 million contract. Gronk has indicated he will be back after the Super Bowl, and now it’s official. After his one-year retirement, Gronkowski produced 45 receptions for 623 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. He caught six balls for 67 yards and a pair of scores in the team’s Super Bowl 55 triumph.
Jets add Davises
The New York Jets entered this week with some of the biggest places in the league. Mostly calm on Monday, they added two Davises – former Lions LB Jarrad Davis, then the big splash, landing former Titans WR Corey Davis for three years and $ 37.5 million, according to reports. Davis, the No.5 pick in the 2017 Draft, posted his best season of 2020 and gives Sam Darnold (or the Jets’ next QB) a legitimate downline weapon.
OLB Leonard Floyd
The Rams passer will continue to build his year of career at LA Floyd, who had a career best 10½ sacks in 2020, re-signed for four years and $ 64 million, according to multiple reports. An important piece of the NFL’s top-rated defense remains in place … although S John Johnson is on his way to Cleveland.
BY Yannick Ngakoue
The pass rusher is set to join its fourth team in less than a year. A Jacksonville franchise player in the 2020 offseason, Ngakoue was traded to Minnesota and then Baltimore before ending up in the free agent market. Now he’s been given a ticket to Sin City, agreeing to be part of a Raiders defense that is desperately in need of a reconciliation that can help this team maintain the lead they too often lost last season.
C Corey Linsley
Last year’s All-Pro pivot leaves the Packers and three-time MVP Aaron Rodgers to protect offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert for the next five years – for the price of $ 62.5 million. Huge money for Linsley, huge win for Herbert’s bad O-line … and huge loss for Rodgers.
OL Joe Thuney
A 2020 New England franchise player, the offensive lineman has agreed to a five-year (reported $ 80 million) deal with the AFC Champion Chiefs, per agent Mike McCartney. Thuney will consolidate an O-line that was shredded in the Super Bowl – presumably at his usual left guard post, despite playing center and right tackle.
Browns fortify defense
Cleveland snatched sterling S John Johnson III from the Rams’ top-tier defense, with the parties agreeing to a three-year, $ 33.8 million ($ 24 million guaranteed) deal, according to the NFL Network. Strong against the run and the pass and able to be a quasi-coach on the pitch, Johnson could be one of the most underrated steals in this market. The Browns’ pass defense, despite the presence of All-Pro DE Myles Garrett, ranked 22nd in 2020.
Pats improves defense
OLB Matt Judon, the Ravens’ best sack in the past two years – and with a total of 34½ over his five-year career – agrees to travel to New England with a four-year, $ 56 million offer. The Patriots haven’t had a dominant presence since they traded Chandler Jones.
New England, which missed the 2020 playoffs for the first time since 2008, also agreed to add the Eagles’ Jalen Mills to a four-year, $ 24 million contract, per NFL Network. Mills is the all-around type of player favored by Bill Belichick, able to play both corners and safe.
The Pats also snatched defensive lineman Davon Godchaux from division rival Dolphins for the next two years. LSU’s fifth-round pick in 2017, he has started 42 games since then and has been a regular contributor to Miami coach Brian Flores, who was previously Belichick’s defensive coordinator.
Patriots Upgrade Attack
After a career year with the Titans (41 catches for 448 yards and 8 touchdowns), TE Jonnu Smith agreed to join New England on a four-year, $ 50 million contract early Monday as the team launched. his spending spree. Smith fills a void that has existed since Rob Gronkowski retired after the 2018 season.
Monday night – after Belichick spent the day adding bodies to his defense – WR Nelson Agholor agreed to come to Foxborough on the heels of his own career year (48 catches for 896 yards and 8 touchdowns). Former 49ers WR Kendrick Bourne, who agreed to a three-year, $ 22.5 million deal, according to reports. The Patriots playoff produced just four TD catches in 2020.
BY Romeo Okwara
After doubling his career sack total by posting 10 in 2020, the Detroit Lions re-signed their 25-year pass rusher with a three-year, $ 39 million contract, according to reports.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.
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