{"id":812835,"date":"2026-03-15T00:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T00:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/812835\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T00:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T00:57:17","slug":"nfl-free-agency-who-are-some-remaining-potential-cap-casualties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/812835\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Free Agency: Who are some remaining potential cap casualties?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things are quieting down on the free agency market. While there are plenty of projected top-200 free agents still available to sign<\/a>, and teams have nearly a collective billion dollars left in available cap space<\/a>, per Over The Cap\u2019s latest projections, clubs are now turning their attention to another matter: internal restructures. If you\u2019ve been paying attention in recent days, the restructures are coming in faster while the signings are slowing down.<\/p>\n

This is sort of the third wave of the free agency cycle. The first was the two-day legal tampering period (Monday and Tuesday), when the top free agents were all scooped up. The second wave came when the first day of the new league year started on Wednesday, when teams needed to become cap-compliant for the first time in 2026 and executed their releases of cap casualties, who were then finally able to sign with other teams.<\/p>\n

Now, the third wave focuses on this staring contest between teams and their own players. There are more expenses to come for clubs, as they\u2019ll need around a $7 million piggybank to make it through the season (the cost to go from the offseason 51-man salary cap to the in-season cost of the full 53-man roster, injured reserve, 17-man practice squad, signing their rookie draft class, plus some wiggle room) and have in-season extensions to pay for, too. But, for now, teams are holding onto players whom they don\u2019t want to pay at their current rate for 2026, but the players also aren\u2019t being allowed to hit the open market while cap dollars are being depleted. That\u2019s the strength of clubs\u2019 leverage when they\u2019re approaching these same players and asking them if they\u2019re willing to take less to remain on the team. If the players say no, there\u2019s a risk that the team will still end up releasing them down the line, but when other clubs have used up even more of their available cap space. (See: Alexander, Jaire – 2025)<\/p>\n

We have you covered on the cap casualty front, as we have a tracker<\/a> that lets you know whenever one of these players, who have played at least one offensive or defensive snap in 2025, becomes available. But who are the players who could potentially become available down the line when teams\u2019 circumstances change? That\u2019s what we\u2019re here to show you today.<\/p>\n

Back in January, Over The Cap dropped their 100 most likely cap casualties<\/a>. As of now, nearly half of them have had their situations change, either by a trade, release, restructure or retirement. There\u2019s not a 100 percent chance that these players become available at some point this offseason (they have the Green Bay Packers\u2019 Josh Jacobs and Keisean Nixon making the list, for example), but it\u2019s a good watchlist to keep track of.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go position-by-position, looking at the remaining players from OTC\u2019s top 100 and who could be available down the line.<\/p>\n

Andy Dalton, PanthersJacoby Brissett, CardinalsJameis Winston, GiantsJarrett Sitdham, BroncosJustin Fields, Jets<\/p>\n

The Arizona Cardinals are probably expecting Jacoby Brissett to be their starting quarterback in 2026, despite signing Gardner Minshew in free agency. Maybe Brissett is available post-draft, if the Cardinals take a quarterback early, but I wouldn\u2019t expect Brissett to be moved before then.<\/p>\n

The other interesting one here is Justin Fields, who is due $10 million guaranteed from the New York Jets in 2026. As he\u2019s unlikely to sign more from that on the open market, he\u2019s incentivized to make the Jets pay that money as close to full, taking a minimum contract with his next club. Every dollar he signs for with his next team will just offset money for the Jets, rather than make Fields more money in 2026 (unless he makes more than $10 million this year, which seems very unlikely). As of now, the Jets seem to be fine squatting on Fields\u2019 contract, despite the cap hold, in hopes of a contract restructure or a trade down the line, but it seems highly unlikely that New York will actually pay him the $20 million he\u2019s due ($10 million guaranteed) as a backup with the Jets this year.<\/p>\n

Alvin Kamara, SaintsD\u2019Andre Swift, BearsTony Pollard, Titans<\/p>\n

The New Orleans Saints signed running back Travis Etienne to a big contract in free agency, and I\u2019m going to assume the team moves off Alvin Kamara at some point this year. The Saints, ever innovative from a cap standpoint, found a loophole in the collective bargaining agreement that allowed them to drop Kamara\u2019s salary cap number without actually having to guarantee him money<\/a> like they would have if they converted his salary into a signing bonus. This seems to be a short-term move to squat on him, at a reduced cap rate, for a potential trade down the line. This mechanic can only be used in specific circumstances (the player must have already had void years on his deal prior), but I\u2019d assume that it\u2019ll be used more in the coming years now that Pandora\u2019s box has been opened.<\/p>\n

Davante Adams, RamsDemarcus Robinson, 49ers<\/p>\n

Do not hold your breath that Davante Adams will be released.<\/p>\n

Charlie Woerner, FalconsColby Parkinson, RamsCole Kmet, BearsDalton Schultz, TexansEvan Engram, BroncosHunter Henry, PatriotsTommy Tremble, Panthers<\/p>\n

I\u2019m including Dalton Schultz here, even though he\u2019s in a weird spot. The Houston Texans and him agreed to a new contract restructure\u2026but the NFL declined it without letting the public know what was wrong with the deal<\/a>. He\u2019s probably going to end back with the Texans, but technically his contract hasn\u2019t officially been touched until the team submits a new deal that actually works with the league.<\/p>\n

Jake Brendel, 49ersJaylon Moore, ChiefsNick Allegretti, CommandersPatrick Mekari, Jaguars<\/p>\n

Interior Defensive Linemen<\/p>\n

Arik Armstead, JaguarsBroderick Washington, RavensDaron Payne, CommandersDavon Godchaux, SaintsDavon Hamilton, JaguarsDeForest Buckner, ColtsGrover Stewart, ColtsHarrison Phillips, JetsMaliek Collins, BrownsRoy Robertson-Harris, GiantsTedarrell Slaton, Bengals<\/p>\n

I\u2019m putting Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner firmly with Davante Adams in the \u201cthey won\u2019t be made available\u201d category, even though Jacksonville\u2019s salary cap situation is in a bit of a mess. Both would be 3-4 defensive ends for new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, anyway, roles that are highly likely to be filled by Devonte Wyatt and the recently-signed Javon Hargrave. The Packers should be more in the 3-4 nose tackle market than for someone who can help them at 3-4 end or in their nickel package (Hargrave can play nose tackle in nickel).<\/p>\n

Anthony Nelson, BuccaneersBaron Browning, CardinalsDorance Armstrong Jr., CommandersFrankie Luvu, CommandersJonathan Greenard, VikingsPatrick Jones II, PanthersUchenna Nwosu, Seahawks<\/p>\n

By all accounts, Jonathan Greenard is actively being shopped by the Minnesota Vikings. No trigger has been pulled yet, though.<\/p>\n

Blake Cashman, VikingsChristian Elliss, PatriotsMalik Harrison, SteelersPatrick Queen, SteelersZaven Collins, Cardinals<\/p>\n

I heard from a league source that Patrick Queen was being shopped by the Pittsburgh Steelers going into free agency. I don\u2019t think the Packers are going to add more to their linebacker room, though, unless they get a trade offer for Isaiah McDuffie that they like, as it\u2019s going to be tough for them to keep more than five off-ball linebackers on the team, and they are fine with that fifth player being a special teams-only contributor.<\/p>\n

Donte Jackson, ChargersIsaiah Rodgers, VikingsKenny Moore, ColtsKristian Fulton, ChiefsMarlon Humphrey, Ravens<\/p>\n

The big one here is Marlon Humphrey, who is due $19.25 million in cash this year. He\u2019s due a $4 million bonus on the fifth day of the new league year, which will be March 15th, so this one should be decided soon, one way or another. I\u2019m assuming he stays in Baltimore. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

Brandon Jones, BroncosGrant Delpit, BrownsJeremy Chinn, RaidersJessie Bates III, FalconsWill Harris, Commanders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Things are quieting down on the free agency market. While there are plenty of projected top-200 free agents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1227,7,9684,2702,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-812835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-around-the-nfl","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-green-bay-packers-free-agency","11":"tag-green-bay-packers-news","12":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116230477917941652","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}