The Green Bay Packers salary cap situation for 2021 has flown a little under the radar but they were projected to be around $21 million over the cap for next season with plenty of free agents they may want to keep. They began the process of getting their cap in order today by releasing right tackle Ricky Wagner and linebacker Christian Kirksey.

Wagner was signed last season to a two year contract following his release from the Lions. Wagner was serviceable last year, appearing in 16 games and starting 9 of them for the Packers. Our valuation metric had him in the upper $8 million range which would put him around the mid way point of all right tackles.

This was likely a salary cap dump as he was going to carry a $6 million cap charge which is a lot for someone who will likely be a reserve lineman next year on a cap starved team. The team will carry $1.75 million in dead money, freeing up $4.25 million in cap room. I would expect Wagner to pick up with another team.

Kirksey was a bold move to say the least. The team signed him to a two year, $13 million contract last season despite the fact that Kirskey had played in just 9 games over the last two years. While he did suit up for 11 games as a Packer he only played in 53% of the teams defensive snaps and was not very effective. We had his value to the team under $2 million.

Kirksey’s contract was backloaded for cap purposes and his salary cap number was set to be $7.6 million. By releasing him they created $5.6 million in cap room. He will count for $2 million on the Packers cap as dead money.

The Packers should now be around $11 million over the $180 million salary cap floor.

The Jets have released veteran wide receiver Quincy Enunwa less than two years after signing him to a four year, $36 million contract extension. The contract will likely go down as one of the worst contract decisions in Jets history.

Enunwa’s career peaked with the Jets in 2016 when he had a breakout year in which he caught 58 passes for 857 yards, but his career was derailed from that point forward by injury. Enunwa suffered a neck injury the following summer and missed all of the 2017 season. Enunwa’s numbers dropped significantly when he returned in 2018 with 38 receptions for 449 yards. Despite being injured again the Jets signed him to the contract extension a day before placing him on IR to end his 2018 season.

It was a strange contract which was seemingly a last ditch effort by former GM Mike Maccagnan to make a mark on the organization at a time when it was rumored his job was in jeopardy. Despite the injury history the prior two years the Jets guaranteed Enunwa $20.25 million of the $36 million total contract. It was doubtful in free agency Enunwa would have received a number anywhere near that total.

Enunwa wound up appearing in just one game after signing the contract, unfortunately suffering another neck injury on his first reception of the year. He was placed on the PUP list this offseason and it was unlikely he would be able to play again.

Enunwa’s $6 million salary in 2020 was fully guaranteed and he should be eligible to also collect on his $4.078 million injury guarantee for 2021. The Jets did fine Enunwa last year for missing treatment but I would doubt that this would void the guarantee. As long as the guarantees stand the Jets ultimately should wind up paying him the full $20.25 million for 1 catch for -4 yards.

Assuming the guarantee stands Enunwa’s dead money will be $11.879 million in 2020, a loss of $4.078 million in cap room. This is rare to see these kind of releases so I have a feeling that this is simply the Jets using newfound cap space from opt outs to get it off the books now rather than waiting until next year and also prevents Enunwa from being able to opt out to delay the timeline for the team. Enunwa will also carry a $3.6 million dead money charge in 2021.

The Jets look to be all in on creating cap space for next year now that they have traded Jamal Adams and watched CJ Mosley opt out of the season and this should do just that. They are up to $30M in cap space this year and will now be among the league leaders in projected cap space for 2021.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and confirmed by multiple other reporters the Jets will be releasing starting guard Brian Winters.

A surprise release: Jets are cutting last season’s starting right guard Brian Winters, per source.

As a starting guard, Winters is not expected to be without a job very long.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 2, 2020

We have long said that Winters would be a potential salary cap casualty this year so the release does not come as much of a surprise to me. With the expected revenue decrease it made a player in Winters situation much more vulnerable to not even have an opportunity in training camp.

Winters signed a four year, $29 million contract with the Jets in 2017 and had played the role of a steady presence on the Jets offensive line in 2017 and 2018. Last year Winters just played in 9 games before injury ended his year, the second time in three seasons he finished the year on IR.

Winters was set to count for $7.28125 million on the salary cap this year. There is no dead money associated with his release so the Jets will clear the full amount from the cap. Once the Jets process this release they will have around $28 million in cap space in 2020 with more to likely come if CJ Mosley makes his opt out official.

The Denver Broncos have released tight end Jeff Heuerman per various reports. Heuerman was expected the be the type of player who would be very vulnerable in a year of very uncertain economics. Heuerman was scheduled to earn up to $4 million this season with a cap hit up to $4.5 million. They will free up $4 million in cash and $3.875 million in cap space with the release.

Heuerman had signed a two year, $8 million contract with the team in 2019, but since then the Broncos had spent a first round pick on Noah Fant in 2019, a 4th round pick on Okwuegbunam this year, and signed Nick Vannett in the offseason. Those three players combined will earn just $5.42 million, this year, and the addition of the latter two players likely contributed to the decision to release him.

Heuerman will leave the Broncos with $500,000 in dead money. Though the cap is very fluid right now we currently estimate Denver to have about $20 million in cap room for 2020 following the cut.

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