Now that the fifth day of the new league year has passed, when many contract triggers have been decided, this is a good time to take a look at what veteran contracts were terminated in preparation for and during the beginning of free agency–and see what trends can be identified.
The list
Here are all the players cut that resulted in salary due in 2024 that was shed by their former teams:
| # | Name | Pos. | Former Team | 2024 Cash Saved |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | QB | Raiders | $24,250,000 | |
| 87 | David Bakhtiari | T | Packers | $21,500,000 |
| 13 | Mike Williams | WR | Chargers | $20,000,000 |
| 48 | Shaquil Barrett | EDGE | Buccaneers | $17,000,000 |
| Jamal Adams | S | Seahawks | $16,500,000 | |
| D.J. Humphries | T | Cardinals | $16,000,000 | |
| 7 | Emmanuel Ogbah | EDGE | Dolphins | $15,800,000 |
| 66 | Justin Simmons | S | Broncos | $14,500,000 |
| J.C. Jackson | CB | Patriots | $14,375,000 | |
| 35 | Eddie Jackson | S | Bears | $14,150,000 |
| 82 | Kevin Byard | S | Eagles | $14,100,000 |
| 99 | Laken Tomlinson | G | Jets | $13,000,000 |
| 76 | Arik Armstead | IDL | 49ers | $12,860,000 |
| Charles Leno Jr. | T | Commanders | $12,000,000 | |
| 19 | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | WR | Chiefs | $12,000,000 |
| Darious Williams | CB | Jaguars | $12,000,000 | |
| 26 | Aaron Jones | RB | Packers | $12,000,000 |
| 12 | Hunter Renfrow | WR | Raiders | $11,882,000 |
| 72 | Jerome Baker | LB | Dolphins | $11,133,000 |
| 77 | Quandre Diggs | S | Seahawks | $11,000,000 |
| 49 | De’Vondre Campbell | LB | Packers | $10,750,000 |
| 43 | Tre’Davious White | CB | Bills | $10,400,000 |
| 90 | Cody Whitehair | G | Bears | $10,250,000 |
| 22 | Allen Robinson | WR | Steelers | $10,000,000 |
| Michael Gallup | WR | Cowboys | $9,500,000 | |
| 83 | Rayshawn Jenkins | S | Jaguars | $9,000,000 |
| Chukwuma Okorafor | T | Steelers | $8,750,000 | |
| 79 | Mitch Morse | C | Bills | $8,500,000 |
| 33 | Tracy Walker | S | Lions | $8,000,000 |
| 25 | Folorunso Fatukasi | IDL | Jaguars | $8,000,000 |
| 23 | C.J. Uzomah | TE | Jets | $8,000,000 |
| 46 | Marcus Maye | S | Saints | $7,500,000 |
| 29 | Avonte Maddox | CB | Eagles | $7,500,000 |
| 45 | Brian Allen | C | Rams | $7,000,000 |
| 47 | Will Dissly | TE | Seahawks | $7,000,000 |
| Patrick Peterson | CB | Steelers | $6,850,000 | |
| 60 | Logan Thomas | TE | Commanders | $6,565,000 |
| 57 | Jonnu Smith | TE | Falcons | $6,500,000 |
| 91 | Eric Kendricks | LB | Chargers | $6,500,000 |
| Andre Dillard | T | Titans | $6,500,000 | |
| Mitchell Trubisky | QB | Steelers | $6,000,000 | |
| Bradley Bozeman | C | Panthers | $6,000,000 | |
| 20 | Bryan Mone | IDL | Seahawks | $5,900,000 |
| 71 | Mark Glowinski | G | Giants | $5,700,000 |
| 86 | Jordan Poyer | S | Bills | $5,500,000 |
| 4 | Tyus Bowser | EDGE | Ravens | $5,500,000 |
| 17 | Nyheim Hines | RB | Bills | $5,000,000 |
| 54 | Mason Cole | C | Steelers | $4,750,000 |
| 10 | Deonte Harty | WR | Bills | $4,110,000 |
| 21 | Dean Lowry | IDL | Vikings | $4,000,000 |
| Isaiah Oliver | CB | 49ers | $3,500,000 | |
| Alexander Mattison | RB | Vikings | $3,350,000 | |
| Nick Scott | S | Bengals | $3,300,000 | |
| Keion Crossen | CB | Dolphins | $3,245,000 | |
| Adrian Phillips | S | Patriots | $3,000,000 | |
| Lawrence Guy | IDL | Patriots | $3,000,000 | |
| Vonn Bell | S | Panthers | $3,000,000 | |
| Siran Neal | CB | Bills | $2,880,000 | |
| Nick Bellore | LB | Seahawks | $2,850,000 | |
| Chris Manhertz | TE | Broncos | $2,650,000 | |
| Leighton Vander Esch | LB | Cowboys | $2,500,000 | |
| Brian Hoyer | QB | Raiders | $2,332,500 | |
| Jerry Tillery | IDL | Raiders | $2,300,000 | |
| Hayden Hurst | TE | Panthers | $2,250,000 | |
| Keanu Neal | S | Steelers | $2,250,000 | |
| Chris Board | LB | Patriots | $1,960,000 | |
| DeVante Parker | WR | Patriots | $1,800,000 | |
| Nick Gates | C | Commanders | $1,800,000 |
The number on the left column is the rank that player had on OTC’s 2024 top 100 possible cut candidates. Overall, that experiment went well: of the 50 players cut where they were due at least $4 million in salary for 2024 (the lower bound on the list), 38 of them were on the top 100 list, making up 76% of those cuts. In addition, six other players (Joey Bosa, Tim Patrick, John Cominsky, Donte Jackson, Tyler Lockett, and Shaq Thompson) also suffered negative contract fate by taking pay cuts in order to stay on their teams. That means the list identified 44 players that teams deemed were slated to be paid more in 2024 than they were willing to pay. With a few more tweaks, I hope to work further on exploring contract fate more, and attempting to increase the number of players that are accurate identified as possible cut candidates.
2024 Cash Saved By Team and Position
| Team | 2024 Cash Saved |
| Packers | $44,250,000 |
| Seahawks | $43,250,000 |
| Raiders | $40,764,500 |
| Steelers | $38,600,000 |
| Bills | $36,390,000 |
| Dolphins | $30,178,000 |
| Jaguars | $29,000,000 |
| Chargers | $26,500,000 |
| Bears | $24,400,000 |
| Patriots | $24,135,000 |
| Eagles | $21,600,000 |
| Jets | $21,000,000 |
| Commanders | $20,365,000 |
| Broncos | $17,150,000 |
| Buccaneers | $17,000,000 |
| 49ers | $16,360,000 |
| Cardinals | $16,000,000 |
| Cowboys | $12,000,000 |
| Chiefs | $12,000,000 |
| Panthers | $11,250,000 |
| Lions | $8,000,000 |
| Saints | $7,500,000 |
| Vikings | $7,350,000 |
| Rams | $7,000,000 |
| Falcons | $6,500,000 |
| Titans | $6,500,000 |
| Giants | $5,700,000 |
| Ravens | $5,500,000 |
| Bengals | $3,300,000 |
| Texans | $0 |
| Colts | $0 |
| Browns | $0 |
| Position | 2024 Cash Saved | Proportion To 2023 Cash Spent |
| S | $111,800,000 | 22.8% |
| WR | $69,292,000 | 8.7% |
| T | $64,750,000 | 8.4% |
| CB | $60,750,000 | 9.5% |
| EDGE | $38,300,000 | 4.3% |
| IDL | $36,060,000 | 4.2% |
| LB | $35,693,000 | 7.2% |
| TE | $32,965,000 | 8.5% |
| QB | $32,582,500 | 3.6% |
| G | $28,950,000 | 7.1% |
| C | $28,050,000 | 12.9% |
| RB | $20,350,000 | 6.7% |
The team column to the left mostly speaks for itself as to which teams felt they had more 2024 salary that they needed to shed. Collectively, 29 teams shed $559,542,500 in 2024 salary–yes, that’s over half a billion dollars.
But it’s the position breakdown that fascinates me much more–particularly the very high number at safety. I can’t recall the last time that one position suffered this many high level cuts (13) at such a high number and high proportion to last season’s spending. This may have caused a chain reaction in which we saw some safeties unexpectedly cut, as more teams were market correcting.
Wide receiver and cornerback also suffered high amounts that were cut. This may suggest the “speed” positions at wide receiver and at defensive back saw many players that teams felt lost a step in speed and otherwise.
On the other hand, it’s no surprise that quarterback saw the least proportion of 2024 cash shed, with edge rushers and interior defensive linemen right behind as high valued positions. It was a bit surprising to see the running back amounts to be quite low–perhaps this comes a season or so after market corrections happened there that may be impacting safety right now. It will be good to discover in the future what trends end up changing.