The 2014 NFL Draft is less than a month away which means the bombardment of claims about how important the draft is has already begun. One of the most popular cliches around the NFL is championship teams are built through the draft. It's an easy argument to make, especially when a team like Seattle wins the Super Bowl with a lineup loaded with drafted players. It's just as easy to make an argument against building through free agency. The Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys have been among the biggest free agency spenders in the last decade and all they have to show for it are a scant few playoff appearances and massive salary cap issues.
Buying the perfect NFL team, 2014 edition
Draft picks are unpredictable and take time to develop. Why bother building a team that way when you can spend big on free agents? Mark Sandritter takes on an experiment in roster building, with surprising results.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
It should be obvious that building through the draft is the way to go, right? Not so fast. Instead, the issue hasn’t been building through free agency, it’s been the lack of commitment to building through free agency. Blowing the limited budget on one or two players is not the way to go. Instead, a team needs to fully commit to the free agent plan, clear the entire salary cap and build the NFL version of the Monstars.
The Raiders got close this year, opening free agency with more than $60 million in salary cap space, but that is only half of what they needed. You can't half dive into a pool, you have to jump all the way in. C'mon Reggie McKenzie, you're better than that.
Why try and predict how a 21 or 22-year-old will develop and adjust to the NFL when you can sign proven commodities entering the prime of their careers? All it takes is one team to go all in on free agency. Clear the entire cap, trade players and draft picks for future assets, tank an entire season, then re-tool with the greatest team money can buy.
First, let’s take a look at the best 53-man roster 2013 free agency can buy using the actual contract values handed out this offseason.
Quarterbacks | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
33 | 1 year, $4 million | |
Tarvaris Jackson | 30 | 1 year, $1.25 million |
Running backs | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
Ben Tate | 25 | 2 years, $6.2 million |
26 | 1 year, $3 million | |
27 | 1 year, $645,000 | |
28 | 1 year, $710,000 | |
Wide receivers | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
27 | 3 years, $24 million | |
Eric Decker | 27 | 5 years, $36.25 million |
25 | 1 year, $5.5 million | |
30 | 3 years, $10 million | |
Jacoby Ford | 26 | 1 year, $740,000 |
25 | 1 year, $1.375 million | |
Tight ends | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
29 | 4 years, $16 million | |
31 | 1 year, $1 million | |
28 | 2 years, $4.25 million | |
Tackles | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
26 | 5 years, $37.5 million | |
Jared Veldheer | 26 | 5 years, $33 million |
31 | 1 year, 1.85 million | |
Charles Brown | 27 | 1 year, $795,000 |
Guards | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
27 | 4 years, $16.8 million | |
31 | 1 year, $2 million | |
28 | 2 years, $6 million | |
John Jerry | 27 | 1 year, $770,000 |
Centers | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
27 | 4 years, $14.25 million | |
Brian De La Puenta | 28 | 1 year, $795,000 |
Defensive ends | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
28 | 4 years, $28.5 million | |
Lamarr Houston | 26 | 5 years, $35 million |
Willie Young | 28 | 3 years, $9 million |
Robert Ayers | 28 | 2 years, $3.75 million |
26 | 1 year, $1.5 million | |
Defensive tackles | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
Linval Joseph | 25 | 5 years, 31.25 million |
30 | 2 years, $10 million | |
27 | 4 years, $12 million | |
28 | 1 year, $1.45 million | |
Outside linebackers | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
27 | 2 years, $4.05 million | |
Shaun Phillips | 32 | 2 years, $5 million |
Dekoda Watson | 26 | 3 year, $6.25 million |
29 | 2 years, $2.0 million | |
Inside linebackers | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
Donald Butler | 25 | 7 years, $51.8 million |
Arthur Moats | 26 | 1 year, $795,000 |
Kavell Conner | 27 | 3 years, $2.7 million |
Cornerbacks | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
Alterraun Verner | 25 | 4 years, $25.5 million |
Walter Thurmond | 26 | 1 year, $3 million |
Antonio Cromartie | 30 | 1 year, $3.5 million |
27 | 1 year, $780,000 | |
Tarrell Brown | 29 | 1 year, $3.5 million |
Safeties | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
27 | 6 years, $54 million | |
T.J. Ward | 27 | 4 years, $23 million |
Kendrick Lewis | 25 | 1 year, $795,000 |
34 | 1 year, $1.02 million | |
Specialists | ||
Player | Age | Contract |
Steven Hauschka | 28 | 3 years, $8.55 million |
33 | 3 years, $5.5 million | |
Charley Hughlett | 23 | 2 years, $930,000 |
On paper, that is a very talented roster. It has its weak points -- including quarterback and outside linebacker -- but overall is strong. There is great depth up and down the roster, the receiving corps would be among the best in the NFL, both lines are stout and the secondary would rival Seattle’s as the best in the league. That’s without even factoring in the upcoming NFL draft. It’s hard to imagine that team not playing in the playoffs and being a conference championship contender.
Even if you could fit the roster into the 2014 salary cap, you have to be on track for major salary cap issues in the coming seasons, right? Not exactly. Based on the contracts each of those players signed this offseason, the above roster fits into the salary cap this year with room to spare and leaves some flexibility to re-tool in the coming years.
Salary cap figures via Overthecap.com and Spotrac.com.
Player | Position | 2014 Cap | 2015 Cap | 2016 Cap | 2017 Cap | 2018 Cap | 2019 Cap | 2020 Cap |
Michael Vick | QB | $4,000,000 |
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Tarvaris Jackson | QB | $1,250,000 |
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Ben Tate | RB | $2,406,250 | $3,700,000 |
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Knowshon Moreno | RB | $3,000,000 |
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Andre Brown | RB | $645,000 |
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Jed Collins | FB | $710,000 |
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DeSean Jackson | WR | $4,250,000 | $9,250,000 | $9,250,000 |
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Eric Decker | WR | $4,000,000 | $6,500,000 | $8,000,000 | $8,750,000 | $9,000,000 |
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Jeremy Maclin | WR | $5,500,000 |
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James Jones | WR | $3,800,000 | $3,100,000 | $3,100,000 |
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Jacoby Ford | WR | $740,000 |
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Kenny Britt | WR | $1,375,000 |
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Brandon Pettigrew | TE | $2,200,000 | $3,800,000 | $4,650,000 | $5,350,000 |
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Owen Daniels | TE | $1,000,000 |
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Brandon Myers | TE | $2,125,000 | $2,250,000 |
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Eugene Monroe | OT | $546,765 | $3,200,000 | $7,700,000 | $8,700,000 | $8,950,000 | $8,950,000 | |
Jared Veldheer | OT | $2,500,000 | $7,750,000 | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 |
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Khalif Barnes | OT | $1,850,000 |
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Charles Brown | OT | $795,000 |
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Geoff Schwartz | OG | $2,325,000 | $4,975,000 | $4,750,000 | $4,750,000 |
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Willie Colon | OG | $1,162,500 | $2,000,000 |
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Chad Rinehart | OG | $1,250,000 | $1,750,000 | $3,350,000 |
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John Jerry | OG | $770,000 |
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Evan Dietrich-Smith | C | $3,500,000 | $3,750,000 | $2,500,000 | $4,500,000 |
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Brain De La Puenta | C | $795,000 |
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Michael Bennett | DE | $4,800,000 | $4,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $9,500,000 |
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Lamarr Houston | DE | $5,040,000 | $6,990,000 | $6,990,000 | $6,990,000 | $8,990,000 |
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Willie Young | DE | $2,666,666 | $3,166,666 | $3,166,668 |
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Robert Ayers | DE | $1,750,000 | $2,000,000 |
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Corey Wootton | DE | $1,700,000 |
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Linval Joseph | DT | $6,600,000 | $4,600,000 | $6,350,000 | $6,350,000 | $6,850,000 | $6,850,000 | |
Randy Starks | DT | $4,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
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Clinton McDonald | DT | $3,500,000 | $3,250,000 | $3,250,000 | $2,000,000 |
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Pat Sims | DT | $1,450,000 |
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Keith Rivers | OLB | $1,850,000 | $2,200,000 |
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Shaun Phillips | OLB | $1,975,000 | $3,025,000 |
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Dekoda Watson | OLB | $2,000,000 | $2,250,000 | $2,000,000 |
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Jo-Lonn Dunbar | OLB | $879,987 | $1,125,520 |
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Donald Butler | MLB | $2,980,000 | $5,480,000 | $9,280,000 | $8,630,000 | $9,280,000 | $7,750,000 | $8,400,000 |
Arthur Moats | MLB | $795,000 |
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Kavell Conner | MLB | $820,000 | $840,000 | $1,040,000 |
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Alterraun Verner | CB | $8,250,000 | $4,250,000 | $6,750,000 | $6,500,000 |
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Antonio Cromartie | CB | $4,000,000 |
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CB | $3,500,000 |
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CB | $780,000 |
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Walter Thurmond | CB | $3,000,000 |
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Jairus Byrd | S | $3,500,000 | $10,300,000 | $9,700,000 | $10,500,000 | $11,000,000 | $9,000,000 | |
T.J. Ward | S | $3,250,000 | $7,500,000 | $5,750,000 | $5,750,000 |
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Kendrick Lewis | S | $635,000 |
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Ryan Clark | S | $635,000 |
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Steven Hauschka | K | $620,000 | $1,700,000 | $3,325,000 | $3,525,000 |
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Donnie Jones | P | $620,000 | $1,333,333 | $2,083,333 | $2,083,334 |
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Charley Hughlett | LS | $420,000 | $510,000 |
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Totals |
| $124,512,168 | $122,545,519 | $119,235,001 | $99,628,334 | $71,820,000 | $32,550,000 | $8,400,000 |
The roster checks in with $8.5 million to spare on the 2014 salary cap. Only the top 51 contract count toward the cap, so that clears another $1.04 million in space. The team would need to leave roughly $5 million in space to account for injuries, practice squad players and other factors. Still, the team would rollover roughly $4.5 million to the 2015 salary cap. That money will be useful with 31 players under contract for more than $120 million.
Predicting how much the NFL salary cap will be is a mostly futile exercise, but we know it will be at least $133 million and likely at least $136. The cap jumped $10 million last season. If we factor on a $136 million cap with the $4.5 million rollover, the team would have roughly $18 million in space to work with, without having to restructure a single contract. Re-tool a bit and fill out the depth chart with low-priced veterans and rookies and it should be another year to contend.
The majority of your starting lineup remains in place for 2016, with two draft classes and two years of moderate salary cap space to fill out the roster. With even average quarterback play the team is poised for at least a three-year window to compete for a championship. That’s much better than most of the NFL can currently say.
Building through the NFL Draft is all the rage to the point free agency may be becoming undervalued. It only takes one team with a radical approach to change that.
Come on Jerry Jones, you know you want to.
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