00:00One thing that's interesting, and I caution folks with this,
00:07is everyone tries to understand the NFL salary cap at such a high level,
00:12but you need a degree in advanced physics to really understand.
00:17And one thing Adam Peters has said before is there's a really big difference
00:22in cash to cap versus calculating salary cap.
00:27But, like, owners a lot of times care how much money they're actually spending.
00:32Yeah.
00:33Right?
00:33Not necessarily.
00:33How much is actually going out.
00:35Right.
00:36Not something they're just showing on that piece of paper.
00:39And so Washington's salary cap is in really good shape.
00:42If you go to over the cap now, they have still over $60 million in effective cap space.
00:49And the effective cap space takes into account your draft class.
00:52They have almost $70 million in just cap space.
00:54But, I mean, that pick at number seven is going to cost a little bit of money,
00:59and then the rest of the picks won't add up to a ton of cash.
01:02But a big reason Washington was able to spend as much as they have
01:07and gain cap space was the Tunsell extension.
01:11Tunsell and then getting rid of Wichcom, Lattimore.
01:14Lattimore, too.
01:15But Tunsell's number dropped significantly by getting the extension done.
01:21Laramie Tunsell, who just signed the biggest deal ever for a left tackle,
01:26is now, counts 11.5 against the cap.
01:29Like, it was smart math there.
01:33Oh, yeah.
01:33But if you look at Washington, I think, was quite ambitious in the amount of moves
01:43they made this offseason.
01:44And one thing I appreciate is you did see, one, a willingness to spend real money,
01:51two, a willingness to get multi-year deals with multi-year guarantees.
01:56Like, if you look at the deals for Owe, Okonkwo, Chennault, Cross,
02:01like, eventually they did get into the one-year deal part of town.
02:05Like, that's what they've been doing now.
02:07Like, the rebuilt running room that people think you can no longer draft Jeremiah Love
02:12because you signed Jerome Ford to a one-year contract.
02:14You're nuts.
02:16But they spent real money.
02:19They're still in really good salary cap position.
02:23But I think people should not conflate that with there's still a ton of signings to come.
02:30There's still big money coming.
02:31No.
02:33Because you've got multiple factors at play.
02:39Eventually, you've got to pay Jaden.
02:41And you've got to pay Jaden a lot.
02:44And you can make space for it.
02:46If you look at the best teams in the NFL, the bills are still paying, guys.
02:50The Chiefs are still paying, guys.
02:52You can afford your quarterback.
02:55Jalen Hurts signed a big contract.
02:57The Eagles still pay everybody.
02:59Every damn body.
02:59So, you can still make it work, but you need your cap to be in a good position to do
03:04so.
03:05And overwhelmingly likely, a new deal for Jaden will be an extension.
03:13So, you're talking about the real money.
03:15Not hitting for it.
03:17After next year.
03:1829.
03:19Yeah.
03:19So, this year, this is the first year they can even talk about a contract.
03:24They can pick up the fifth year option at the end of this year, which they're going to do.
03:27So, 26 is cap numbers 10 mil.
03:3027, that's going to jump to 12 mil.
03:3328, that cap number will be the fifth year option, which will probably be around 30.
03:40And then, in 29, it's going to get significant.
03:43But, they're going to prorate the bonuses out over hell.
03:49However many years, he'll do it.
03:50One thing that I find interesting, and I'm curious how you would have handled this.
03:55If you looked at this free agency cycle, more and more, it's three-year deals, even for some of these
04:02best players.
04:04A couple, four years, but, like, the five-year deals are gone.
04:07The six-year deals are gone.
04:09Guys are trying to get more bites at the apple.
04:11A lot of agents basically look at it like, you locked us in the five off the bat.
04:16We're not getting locked in the five anymore.
04:19And I think the second contracts are no more going towards the four.
04:23More than likely three.
04:25Because, for the player, if you sign a second contract, and you do it for three years,
04:33and you're still balling, you can jump into some more of that money in that third one.
04:38Sign it for four years, you are underpaid by year three.
04:43This is how it goes.
04:45So, you have to start trying to figure out a way to get the more bang for your buck.
04:51Totally.
04:51And it's smart of players and agents to do that.
04:54More buck for your bang.
04:55Now, it does also increase the possibility.
05:00Like, if you have a longer-term deal, and you get injured, or something changes,
05:05at least you have that long-term deal.
05:08But the way these NFL contracts aren't guaranteed anyway.
05:11Even when they're five years, they're normally guaranteed for two or three years.
05:16Right.
05:17So, having...
05:17Because, like, if you get hurt, and you have a long-term...
05:21And you have a five-year deal, and depending on how that injury settlement is structured,
05:25you might not get much in the end of that.
05:28So, that's why they do it for three.
05:30Washington has a lot of...
05:33To try to explain this, technically, they have a lot of cap space available.
05:38But they have shelled out a boatload of money.
05:41Yeah.
05:42Think about just the O-Way and the Tunsil guarantees.
05:46You're probably close to 100 mil right there.
05:48Right there.
05:49Yeah.
05:49And, like, that is...
05:50But all that is prorated per...
05:52That's the years, too.
05:53For the cap.
05:54Yeah.
05:54But the actual checks getting cut, the actual amount of American currency that has to go
06:00into an escrow account, the second those get signed, that's significant, man.
06:05Yeah.
06:05And I think people only think about the cap.
06:07There was this nonsensical, like, I don't even know where it came from, like, deep state
06:14commander's social media about Washington being cheap.
06:18Remember, that was like a storyline.
06:20Well, they weren't cheap when Dan was here, because he didn't have that money to put in
06:23the escrow.
06:24Right.
06:24That's what...
06:24People don't realize the actual machinations involved.
06:27Like, when these contracts get signed, when they...
06:29Even for Jayden, when they pick up his fifth-year option, immediately, that money has to go
06:34to escrow.
06:34A lot of people probably don't know what escrow is.
06:37Stout, you know what escrow is?
06:38Nope.
06:39Right.
06:40Jeff?
06:40Escrow?
06:43That's when, like, they agree to pay something later.
06:46They're like, I know with, like, rent escrow, you put it in, once everything is solved, you
06:52pay for it.
06:53If it's a problem, I don't know how it would go with, like, football.
06:55When you buy a house, you'll find out what escrow is.
07:00So, basically, escrow is like a holding service for cash that pays it out.
07:05Yeah.
07:05And, like, the NFL mandates that the money has to be there.
07:10So, if you think about, like, the checks are actually getting cut, the theory that anyone
07:17was cheap in Ashburn was just nonsensical at all times.
07:21Like, oh, Adam Peters has his hands tied.
07:24They've spent a ton of money.
07:26And, sure, Laramie Tunsell's contract for the salary cap, that money gets spread out.
07:32Yeah.
07:32Not the actual cutting of checks.
07:34That's only, what do you call it, bookkeeping.
07:40Right.
07:42The actual, the way that they do the salary cap stuff is bookkeeping.
07:46Right.
07:47The salary stuff is you have to have money.
07:50Right.
07:50Cash, not, oh, we're going to move this building over there.
07:53No, no, no.
07:54Liquid.
07:55Right.
07:56You got to move it.
07:57What did Randy Moss say?
07:59Straight cash, homie.
08:01You got to move that over there.
08:02So, they have more money available.
08:04At 1045, Stallion's asking where should they spend on, at this stage, barring some release
08:10that's unexpected or something, I don't think there's a big deal coming.
08:14Now, a release in San Francisco and a certain receiver could get a little more interesting.
08:20That's not a vet minimum, but it's going to be largely incentive-based.
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