Projected cap space: $27m (36 players) (11th most in the NFL)
Rookie pool cost: ~$10m
Cost of filling the roster with vet min contracts: ~$10m
Effective cap space: ~$7m (13th most in the NFL)
Possible cap casualties:
- Goff ($20.5m cap saving to trade or cut)
- Brockers ($10m)
- R Okwara ($7.5m)
- Vaitai ($6m)
- C Harris ($4m)
Possible contract restructures / extensions:
- Goff ($30m cap hit in 2023, 2 years remaining)
- Decker ($19.3m, 2 years)
- Ragnow ($16.5m, 4 years)
- Walker ($11.3m, 2 years)
Brockers is surely gone so that takes us up to $17m. I think Charles Harris is also likely gone so make that $21m.
I think we can all agree that unless we can somehow pick up Mahomes or Allen on waivers, Goff isn’t being moved on. And as @DeadStroke says it’s unlikely his contract is reworked as it will just load up his cap hit and potential dead cap hit in 2024. At the moment making the decision to extend or move on from Goff in 2024 suits everyone.
Romeo Okwara and Vaitai are tough to call, I think the staff loves both of them but the nature of their injuries make them questionable to be brought back. Romeo has missed most of two seasons and the Achilles is very important for D-linemen, these last few games of this season feels like a good opportunity to evaluate whether he still has the same spring, burst and strength as he had pre-injury. Vaitai having a back injury is also a big worry for an O-lineman.
I don’t think they do anything with Decker’s contract, his cap hit is the same again in 2024 and then he has a void year costing $4m in 2025. Moving more money into those years makes little sense, and it’s also too early to think about an extension due to his age and the fact that Sewell will be up for renewal in 2024 and will command LT money, and paying both of them will not be cheap.
Walker is another one with pretty much the same cap hit in 2024 as 2023, and with him coming off a serious injury it makes no sense to push any of his money into 2024 when they might not want him around.
The one contract that is reworkable is Ragnow’s. You could take $9m of salary and spread it over 2024-2026 without making his cap number in those years too crazy ($16m, $17m, 19m). If Holmes wants to create space I think this is how he’ll do it.
So to answer the question, somewhere between $20m and $40m.