The Athletic's Ben Standig suggests that Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, who is headed into the final year of his four-year, $72 million extension, could be a salary cap casualty this offseason. Allen has a $22.47 million cap hit in 2025 but only a $6 million dead-cap charge. The Commanders have plenty of cap space this year, but fellow defensive tackle Daron Payne will count more than $20 million against the cap as well. Allen suffered a left pectoral tear in 2024, and the Commanders have a potential replacement in Johnny Newton, who they drafted in the second round last year. The 30-year-old former 17th overall pick in 2017 played in just eight regular-season games (seven starts) and had 19 tackles (16 solo), three sacks, and seven QB hits. Allen was a Pro Bowler in 2021 and 2022, but his production has dipped the last two seasons.

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The move to trade wide receiver A.J. Brown and replace him with Treylon Burks (knee) was one of the worst personnel moves in Tennessee Titans franchise history, and one of the worst in recent NFL memory, and The Athletic's Joe Rexrode thinks the Titans need to stop waiting for Burks to be a factor. Rexrode points out that Burks' 2025 salary cap hit and dead-money number are both $4.6 million if the Titans cut him, and he thinks it's totally worth doing to move on and give Burks a fresh start. The 24-year-old former first-rounder in 2022 has played in only 27 of a possible 51 games due to injuries and also had surgery in 2024 to address damage to his ACL. When Burks has been on the field, he's done very little, catching 53 passes for 699 yards and one touchdown. There's no guarantee that Burks can turn it around with Tennessee or another organization, though, especially coming off his knee injury.

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The Athletic's Dan Pompei singles out Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean as a potential salary cap casualty this offseason, mainly because his 2025 cap hit of $15.2 million ranks eighth-highest among all NFL cornerbacks. Tampa also is projected to have only $11.7 million in cap space, so they will certainly be looking to save money where they can. Dean will be 29 in October, has missed time due to injuries the last two years and has never really been a big-play producer or shutdown cornerback. Cutting him would leave the Bucs thin at the position, but it might be worth it. The former third-round selection in 2019 out of Auburn played in a career-low 12 games in 2024 due to hamstring and knee injuries and finished with 59 tackles (45 solo), one interception, seven pass breakups and one forced fumble. Dean picked off his first pass since the 2022 season.

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The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar writes that Seattle Seahawks linebacker Dre'Mont Jones' $25.6 million salary cap hit appears to be untenable. Jones is only 28 years old, but he might be the team's fifth-best pass-rusher when everyone is healthy, and the Seahawks could save $11.5 million by trading or releasing him. Seattle signed Jones to a three-year, $51 million contract in March of 2023, which at the time was the biggest external free-agent deal by average annual salary of the John Schneider era. In addition to potentially trading or cutting Jones, the Seahawks could save $17 million by trading or releasing aging receiver Tyler Lockett. Jones makes sense as a potential salary cap casualty after having a down year in 2024 with only 28 tackles (14 solo), four sacks, seven tackles for loss, 13 QB hits and a forced fumble in 17 games (seven starts).

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to have the NFL's highest-paid defensive for the fourth straight season in 2025 but can save $7 million of defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi's $10 million salary cap hit by cutting him this offseason, according to The Athletic's Mike DeFabo. Since joining the Steelers in 2022, Ogunjobi has only reached double digits in QB hits once while also playing through multiple injuries. It's a stark contract to him recording double-digit tackles for loss and QB hits in three of his first five seasons in the NFL before heading to the Steel City. DeFabo thinks that regardless of whether the Steelers actually cut Ogunjob, they'll be targeting a younger, less-expensive defensive lineman early in the 2025 NFL draft. The 30-year-old Ogunjobi missed two games with a groin injury in 2024 and finished with 41 tackles (16 solo), 1.5 sacks, five tackles for loss and seven QB hits in 15 games (12 starts).

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The Athletic's Brooks Kubena suggests that Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, who has the sixth-highest salary cap hit on the team in 2025, could be a cap casualty this offseason. Cutting the 34-year-old Slay with a post-June 1 designation would save the team $4.3 million this year and $17.7 million in 2026. The six-time Pro Bowler continues to play at a high level for the Eagles, but he also battled multiple injuries in 2024 and missed time with groin and knee ailments. Philadelphia may find it hard to get rid of such an influential player in their secondary, but they have the luxury to do so after both defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean (their first two draft picks last year) were finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Slay didn't record an interception during the regular season and finished with 49 tackles (39 solo), 13 pass breakups, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 14 regular-season games.

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The New York Giants don't have any big contracts that they need to shed this offseason and are in a pretty healthy salary cap situation in 2025, but The Athletic's Dan Duggan suggests that kicker Graham Gano could still be a cap casualty as the Giants look to save a little extra money. The 37-year-old veteran is set to count $5.7 million against this year's cap and has missed 16 games because of injury the last two years. If the G-Men decide to cut the kicker, they'd save $3.2 million on the cap while creating $2.5 million in dead money. Gano injured his hamstring in Week 9 in 2024 and ended up playing in only 10 games, going 9-for-11 on his field-goal tries and 15-for-15 on extra points. He's been pretty reliable in his five seasons with New York, making 87.2% of his field goals, but the Giants wouldn't be blamed for looking to go younger at the position.

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The Athletic's Chad Graff suggests that it could be time for the New England Patriots to move on from wide receiver Kendrick Bourne this offseason, even if he's their top player at their biggest position of need. Bourne missed the start of the 2024 season while recovering from a torn right ACL and caught only 28 passes on 38 targets for 305 yards and one touchdown in 12 games (nine starts) once he returned. With a new coaching regime in town, the Patriots could move on from Bourne, who will be heading into his age-30 season in 2025. New England would save $4.9 million in salary cap space if they cut him before June 1 or $6.3 million if they cut him with a post-June 1 designation. Bourne is under contract with the Patriots through the 2026 season, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see this rebuilding organization go in another direction as they completely rebuild their receiving corps.

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Although reports to this point suggest that the New Orleans Saints will keep quarterback Derek Carr around in new head coach Kellen Moore's first season in 2025, The Athletic's Amos Morale III also points out that Carr is the most obvious cut candidate as well. Moore was non-committal about Carr's future during his introductory press conference, and the Saints are roughly $51 million over the projected 2025 salary cap. Cutting the veteran signal-caller would add to the team's league-leading dead-money total, according to Spotrac, but the Saints have a lot of those contracts coming off the books in 2026. If Moore and his coaching staff decide to stick with Carr, they will at the very least need to restructure his deal. The 33-year-old dealt with more injuries in 2024 and played in a career-low 10 games. Carr has become a pretty big injury risk and will carry a $30 million base salary and $10 million roster bonus in 2025.

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The Athletic's Alec Lewis writes that the Minnesota Vikings cutting offensive guard Ed Ingram this offseason makes sense if the team is serious about improving their trench play. Ingram struggled in pass protection in 2024 for the third straight season and was benched in Week 11 after being the starting right guard for three seasons. Cutting the former second-rounder in 2022 out of LSU would save the Vikings a minimum of around $3.3 million on the 2025 salary cap. Lewis explains that the move wouldn't be a necessity for the salary cap, as the Vikings already have close to $60 million in cap space this year. The move would essentially be about making the interior offensive line better, especially if the Vikes hand the reigns over to former first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy in 2025.

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The Miami Dolphins have already cut veteran running back Raheem Mostert, cornerback Kendall Fuller and tight end Durham Smythe this offseason, and The Athletic's Jim Ayello suggests that kicker Jason Sanders could be the next on the chopping block. The Dolphins have one of the worst salary cap situations in the league this year, and cutting big-money players such as left tackle Terron Armstead and linebacker Bradley Chubb would incur huge dead-cap penalties ($32.7 million for Armstead and $27.3 million for Chubb). Sanders has a fair cap hit of $4.7 million in 2025, but the Dolphins could get additional cap space of $3.3 million by cutting him. The 29-year-old was a top-10 fantasy kicker in 2024 and made a career-high 37 of his 41 field-goal attempts in 17 games while missing just two of his extra-point tries. This situation purely comes down to salary-cap space for Miami.

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The Athletic's Jourdan Rodriguez writes that if the Los Angeles Rams can't trade wide receiver Cooper Kupp this offseason, they could cut him instead. Things are a bit tricky, though: Cutting him before June 1 would incur $22.26 million in dead money while saving only $7.5 million. Kupp has a roster bonus of $7.5 million due on March 17. If the Rams were to designate him as a post-June 1 cut, they'd have $14.8 million in dead money while saving $15 million. According to a league source, the Rams didn't ask Kupp about a contract restructure and appear to be willing to eat some money in order to facilitate a trade. The 31-year-old wideout has been in decline ever since recording the receiving Triple Crown in 2021 with 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. Injuries are mostly to blame -- he hasn't played more than 12 games the last three years -- but he could still be fantasy relevant in the right situation elsewhere.

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The Athletic's Daniel Popper suggests that Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa could be a salary cap casualty this offseason for several reasons. The Chargers do have the sixth-most salary cap space in the league, but even with all that space, keeping Bosa at his $36.47 million cap hit (highest in the league for an edge rusher) in 2025 doesn't make much sense. If they were to cut Bosa, they'd save $25.36 million. Due to injuries, the 29-year-old has played in only 28 of a possible 51 regular-season games in the last three years. He has 14 combined sacks in that span. Bosa's production and availability just have not matched that price tag. He doesn't appear to be the dominant pass-rusher he once was and recorded only 22 tackles (17 solo) and five sacks in 14 games (nine starts) for the Bolts in 2024. Injuries have definitely taken their toll.

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ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Friday that the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Los Angeles Rams personnel executive James Gladstone to be their new general manager. Gladstone had been the Rams' director of scouting strategy for the last three seasons but had been with the Rams for nine seasons in total. He worked closely with general manager Les Snead in strategic planning and the daily scouting process. New Jaguars head coach Liam Coen is familiar with Gladstone from his four years with the Rams, when he served as assistant receivers and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2018-20 and as offensive coordinator in 2022. The 34-year-old Gladstone was the youngest of Jacksonville's five finalists for the GM job. He will replace Trent Baalke, was the Jaguars' GM from 2021 until being fired on Jan. 22 of this year.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Friday that they signed free-agent tight end Donald Parham Jr. to an undisclosed one-year deal. Parham will head to the AFC North after catching 67 of his 100 targets for 764 yards and 11 total touchdowns in 47 games (23 starts) over his four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers after debuting in 2020. The 27-year-old tight end went undrafted out of Stetson College in 2019. His best season was in 2023 with the Bolts, when he caught 27 of his 41 targets for 285 yards and four touchdowns across 14 regular-season games (eight starts). L.A. released him last August and he latched on with the Denver Broncos' practice squad, but he didn't appear in an NFL game. At 6-foot-8, Parham was mostly a red-zone weapon for the Bolts. He'll attempt to win a roster spot with Pittsburgh out of training camp but can be ignored in most fantasy leagues.

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San Francisco Chronicle's Eric Branch writes that the San Francisco 49ers and star tight end George Kittle have been in talks about a contract extension early this offseason. The 31-year-old is heading into the final year of his current deal in 2025 after a strong 2024 campaign in which he caught 78 passes on 94 targets for 1,106 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 15 starts. The production was all the more impressive after he revealed that he played through cracked ribs for much of the season, and he also missed two games with a hamstring ailment. Kittle's 1,106 receiving yards and eight touchdowns were both the second-best marks of his career. He was the TE1 overall in fantasy, with only Brock Bowers and Trey McBride besting him in total yardage. Regardless of whether he gets a contract extension from the Niners (he likely will), Kittle will be a top-five fantasy TE in drafts this fall.

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Philadelphia Eagles pass-rusher Nolan Smith (triceps) had surgery on Wednesday for a torn triceps muscle that he suffered in the Super Bowl LIX win over the Kansas City Chiefs, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Despite suffering a torn triceps, Smith gutted it out and played through the injury in the second half of the 40-22 blowout win. Rapoport reports that Smith will be ready for the start of the 2025 season, but he'll likely miss all of the team's offseason program this spring. In his second season in 2024 after the Eagles took him with the 30th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft out of the University of Georgia, the 24-year-old linebacker took a step forward with 42 tackles (21 solo), 6.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, 11 QB hits, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in 16 regular-season games (10 starts). Smith added another four sacks in four playoff games.

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NFL Network's Tom Pelissero said on the Rich Eisen Show on Friday that the Los Angeles Rams have given quarterback Matthew Stafford's agent permission to talk with other teams to gauge his contract value this offseason if he were to be traded. It also helps the Rams in their own negotiations with Stafford by letting the market determine what his value could be in 2025. Pelissero says that it seems like the Rams and Stafford's priority is to run it back in 2025, but if nothing is settled in a couple of weeks, a trade could become more likely. It will all come down to what Stafford views as fair compensation for his services for another year and what the Rams are willing to pay him. If the Rams and Stafford cannot agree on a new deal, the 37-year-old veteran QB will become the most coveted signal-caller available after his strong finish in which the Rams almost beat the eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles in the playoffs.

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The Athletic's Nate Taylor writes that the Kansas City Chiefs could release wide receiver Skyy Moore this offseason and save $1.6 million on the 2025 salary cap, according to Over The Cap. Moore would leave behind just $467,819 in dead money. The 24-year-old former second-round pick (54th overall) in 2022 out of Western Michigan has really struggled in his three years in the NFL and hasn't earned much of a role on offense. The Chiefs can also create more salary cap space this season by converting a large chunk of quarterback Patrick Mahomes' $32.3 million roster bonus into a signing bonus. Moore dealt with an abdominal injury in 2024 that landed him on Injured Reserve for the majority of the regular season, and he wasn't able to return in the playoffs. He played in just six regular-season games and didn't record a single catch. Moore has 43 catches for 494 yards and one TD in 36 games to this point.

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Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and owner Michael Bidwell said that the team plans to be active in free agency this offseason with more than $76 million available in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. It's the fourth-most cap space available of any NFL team. "We're going to look for every avenue to improve the team, but we have to be smart about not only this year's team, but as we build for the future and our own players that we want to extend," Ossenfort said. The Cardinals will also continue working on a contract extension for Pro Bowl tight end Trey McBride. Arizona didn't make the playoffs in 2024 but managed to double their win total from the previous season. In addition to locking up McBride long term, don't be surprised if the Cardinals give quarterback Kyler Murray more help in the passing game alongside McBride and former first-rounder Marvin Harrison Jr.

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