Get ready for some eye-popping contracts going to a lot of less-than-eye-popping talent when the NFL’s free-agency period opens Wednesday.
Overpaying has become a fact of life in free agency thanks to the franchise tag, which regularly keeps the best young players from ever reaching the open market.
But league observers say a confluence of factors — especially the salary cap shooting up almost 10 percent to $155.2 million this season at the same time a host of teams must meet a minimum payout threshold — could make this one of the wackiest offseasons yet in terms of the dollars being thrown around.
“The fun is to know you have [a lot of cap room available],” Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said last week. “The challenge is to be able to find the players to spend it on.
“You can’t create players to spend it on,” Caldwell added. “The nature of free agency is, you’re going to overpay. If you want a player, you have to overpay to get him. That’s the nature of the beast. And there’s a limited pool of talented players.”
Caldwell knows that difficult equation better than anyone this year. After hoarding cap space the past three years, Jacksonville is expected to have a staggering $83.1 million in cap room when free agency opens.
The Raiders aren’t far behind, with a projected $74.1 million available, and the Giants ($57.7 million), 49ers ($55 million) and Buccaneers ($49.4 million) round out the top five. Not only that, but 14 teams are projected to enter free agency with at least $32 million each in spending room.
And here’s the thing: They have no choice but to spend it. Due to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, teams are required to pay out in actual cash a minimum of 89 percent of the cumulative salary cap from 2013-16 or write a check to the NFL Players Association for the difference.
Yet the rapidly rising cap combined with the franchise tag — a one-year contract binding a potential free agent to his current club for the average of the five highest-paid players in the league at their position — will once again thin the herd of talent considerably.
The tag this year means such lustworthy free-agent candidates as Broncos Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, Jets defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson and Chiefs safety Eric Berry won’t see the open market or likely will be prohibitively expensive in terms of draft picks required as compensation.
The best quarterback options are also already off the table as the Redskins tagged Kirk Cousins and the Eagles re-signed Sam Bradford, leaving the Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick as the most attractive free agent at the sport’s most in-demand position.
Panthers GM Dave Gettleman, a former Giants executive, doesn’t see the need to apologize for the tag system, either.
“I don’t believe in drafting [and] developing players for other teams,” Gettleman said last week, sarcastically adding: “For some reason, that doesn’t make sense.”
No wonder Caldwell didn’t appear to be as excited about having more cap room than anyone in the league to spend this year.
That’s not to say difference-making veteran talent will be unavailable starting next week. Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson, Ravens offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and Buccaneers running back Doug Martin are just a few of the players whose phones likely will be ringing off the hook next week.
But most of the class will have the usual warts that come with free agency, the biggest ones being age (Chiefs pass rusher Tamba Hali, for example, will soon turn 33), too little tread left on the tires (Matt Forte) or massive off-field baggage (Greg Hardy).
“In free agency, you’re not going to find a sustainable improvement,” the Jaguars’ Caldwell said. “You might be able to find a quick fix. That’s it.”
