NFL 2026 Offseason

[slamtheking]

Justice Department is opening an investigation to the NFL over subscription fees concerns.

Well deserved with all these different streaming services fans have to pay and use just to watch their games! They should do the same to have started with the NBA

fixed it for you

[SparzWizard]

The New York Giants have agreed to send Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for the No. 10 pick in next week?s NFL Draft, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.

[Birdman]

The New York Giants have agreed to send Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for the No. 10 pick in next week?s NFL Draft, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.

Wow, great for my Bengals! Lawerence & Allen at DT gotta be awesome plus having Cook & Duggar at safeties going be great

[Moranis]

Schefter reporting a trade of AJ Brown to Patriots is likely shortly after June 1. 

[Vermont Green]

Schefter reporting a trade of AJ Brown to Patriots is likely shortly after June 1.

He is not really saying all that much:

"No matter what happens at this week's draft, an A.J. Brown trade to the Patriots is still on the table and still tracking to happen on or after June 1, per league sources. The two sides have discussed a deal, but neither has been willing to commit to it until after June 1, when Brown's $40 million salary cap charge would be split between this and next year. All the elements remain in place to make it happen, and Brown to the Patriots is still the likely outcome ... just not during this week's draft, per sources. Put the trade on hold just for now, but things will soon quickly warm back up. The Eagles remain open to trading Brown, the Patriots remain highly interested in acquiring the star receiver, and conversations are expected to resume shortly on or before June 1, probably culminating in a deal, per league sources. As one source said about the Patriots' pursuit of Brown, they'll 'definitely be engaging then.'"

This could be anything from continued ongoing speculation that means nothing to there is a deal decided on and they are just waiting until June 1.  I am less excited about this trade than I was at first.  Not sure why.  Diggs worked out for most of 1 seasons but these diva WR deal tend to blow up.  If there is a deal, I guess it depends on what the Pats give up.

[Moranis]

I interpret Schefter's reporting as they have a deal in place, but they can't make the trade until June 1 so neither is going to fully commit as a better deal may come along.   Like the Pats may use the assets to move up in this draft or another team may offer more for Brown. 

[Vermont Green]

an A.J. Brown trade to the Patriots is still on the table

he two sides have discussed a deal, but neither has been willing to commit to it

All the elements remain in place to make it happen, and Brown to the Patriots is still the likely outcome

The Eagles remain open to trading Brown, the Patriots remain highly interested in acquiring the star receiver, and conversations are expected to resume shortly on or before June 1, probably culminating in a deal

All he is saying is that nothing is going to happen before June 1 and then at that point, "probably" a deal, discussions "expected" to resume, and so on.  I would agree completely that there will be no deal before the draft or before June 1, and there could be a deal already agreed to, but that is not what he is saying.  He is saying discussions are expected to resume that will probably culminate in a deal, which is probably all true.

I was reading that deals after the draft do happen, but the reason that they are not more common is that a lot of preparation happens between the draft and early June.  That may not be as big a deal for a player like AJ Brown but it kind of puts the team on hold for a period of time.  It seems like a deal is certainly possible, maybe even likely, and possibly already agreed to.  But this is nothing new.  It has been the situation for months.

I suspect that the most likely scenario is that there is not a deal agreed to.  That discussions are suspended until after the draft.  That both parties remain interested.  And depending on how the draft and other transactions go, the trade will be revisited.

[SparzWizard]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

[Donoghus]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

Because the draft is this week and this indicates that there will be no draft day deal involving AJ Brown.

[A Future of Stevens]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

Because the draft is this week and this indicates that there will be no draft day deal involving AJ Brown.

I don't want to give up next years first in a trade for Brown. Hopefully the deal will be like a 2nd and a 5th or something.

I just see that blowing up in our face if we give one that far out.

[Vermont Green]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

I don't think he is really leaking anything.  Everything he reported is old news.

Teams are focused on the draft 100% at this point (and probably for the last several weeks).  After the Draft, I am sure some teams, including the Pats, will turn their focus back to this and other moves.  It is no surprise and is not news that the Pats are interested and are open to further discussions.  That will be true of other teams.  And he was never going to be traded before June 1.

I don't understand the Brown's contract.  I saw this yesterday:

Trading WR A.J. Brown
(after June 1st)

New Team Cash
2026: $29M (gtd)
2027: $21M ($4M gtd)
2028: $32M
2029: $31M

New Team Cap
2026: $7M
2027: $10.9M
2028: $17.8M
2029: $23.6M
2030: $53.5M (void)

#Eagles Dead Cap
2026: $16.3M ($7M saved)
2027: $27.1M ($4M lost)

Does anyone understand this?  What does "void" mean relative to the 2030 value?  Does he really have 4 full season left, mostly guaranteed or is that saying that 2028 and 2029 are not guaranteed?  The cap hits are not so bad until 2030, but that is a lot of cash.

[Donoghus]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

I don't think he is really leaking anything.  Everything he reported is old news.

Teams are focused on the draft 100% at this point (and probably for the last several weeks).  After the Draft, I am sure some teams, including the Pats, will turn their focus back to this and other moves.  It is no surprise and is not news that the Pats are interested and are open to further discussions.  That will be true of other teams.  And he was never going to be traded before June 1.

I don't understand the Brown's contract.  I saw this yesterday:

Trading WR A.J. Brown
(after June 1st)

New Team Cash
2026: $29M (gtd)
2027: $21M ($4M gtd)
2028: $32M
2029: $31M

New Team Cap
2026: $7M
2027: $10.9M
2028: $17.8M
2029: $23.6M
2030: $53.5M (void)

#Eagles Dead Cap
2026: $16.3M ($7M saved)
2027: $27.1M ($4M lost)

Does anyone understand this?  What does "void" mean relative to the 2030 value?  Does he really have 4 full season left, mostly guaranteed or is that saying that 2028 and 2029 are not guaranteed?  The cap hits are not so bad until 2030, but that is a lot of cash.

Eagles essentiallly created void years 2030-2033 to further spread out bonus money since that is prorated.  My understanding is bonuses can only be spread out 5 years so the Eagles structured the guaranteed money to be bonuses every year to kick the bonus proration down the road to minimize earlier year cap hits.   The downside of this is that it creates a ton of dead money on the backside.  In this case, 2030.   2030-2033 aren't really contract years.  He's a UFA.

[BitterJim]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

I don't think he is really leaking anything.  Everything he reported is old news.

Teams are focused on the draft 100% at this point (and probably for the last several weeks).  After the Draft, I am sure some teams, including the Pats, will turn their focus back to this and other moves.  It is no surprise and is not news that the Pats are interested and are open to further discussions.  That will be true of other teams.  And he was never going to be traded before June 1.

I don't understand the Brown's contract.  I saw this yesterday:

Trading WR A.J. Brown
(after June 1st)

New Team Cash
2026: $29M (gtd)
2027: $21M ($4M gtd)
2028: $32M
2029: $31M

New Team Cap
2026: $7M
2027: $10.9M
2028: $17.8M
2029: $23.6M
2030: $53.5M (void)

#Eagles Dead Cap
2026: $16.3M ($7M saved)
2027: $27.1M ($4M lost)

Does anyone understand this?  What does "void" mean relative to the 2030 value?  Does he really have 4 full season left, mostly guaranteed or is that saying that 2028 and 2029 are not guaranteed?  The cap hits are not so bad until 2030, but that is a lot of cash.

Eagles essentiallly created void years 2030-2033 to further spread out bonus money since that is prorated.  My understanding is bonuses can only be spread out 5 years so the Eagles structured the guaranteed money to be bonuses every year to kick the bonus proration down the road to minimize earlier year cap hits.   The downside of this is that it creates a ton of dead money on the backside.  In this case, 2030.   2030-2033 aren't really contract years.  He's a UFA.

With that amount of dead money at the end of the deal, it practically guarantees that he'll get extended to spread the hits out further. The Eagles make a lot of deals with this type of structure and pretty much always end up extending the player instead of letting them hit UFA

[Vermont Green]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

I don't think he is really leaking anything.  Everything he reported is old news.

Teams are focused on the draft 100% at this point (and probably for the last several weeks).  After the Draft, I am sure some teams, including the Pats, will turn their focus back to this and other moves.  It is no surprise and is not news that the Pats are interested and are open to further discussions.  That will be true of other teams.  And he was never going to be traded before June 1.

I don't understand the Brown's contract.  I saw this yesterday:

Trading WR A.J. Brown
(after June 1st)

New Team Cash
2026: $29M (gtd)
2027: $21M ($4M gtd)
2028: $32M
2029: $31M

New Team Cap
2026: $7M
2027: $10.9M
2028: $17.8M
2029: $23.6M
2030: $53.5M (void)

#Eagles Dead Cap
2026: $16.3M ($7M saved)
2027: $27.1M ($4M lost)

Does anyone understand this?  What does "void" mean relative to the 2030 value?  Does he really have 4 full season left, mostly guaranteed or is that saying that 2028 and 2029 are not guaranteed?  The cap hits are not so bad until 2030, but that is a lot of cash.

Eagles essentially created void years 2030-2033 to further spread out bonus money since that is prorated.  My understanding is bonuses can only be spread out 5 years so the Eagles structured the guaranteed money to be bonuses every year to kick the bonus proration down the road to minimize earlier year cap hits.   The downside of this is that it creates a ton of dead money on the backside.  In this case, 2030.   2030-2033 aren't really contract years.  He's a UFA.

So if the Pats trade for him, they would own the cap hit in 2030 or is this the dead cap that PHI is left with?  It is such a convoluted contract.  The cap hits are not bad but it is a lot of cash.  But if they get the cap hit in 2030, it is kind of just kicking the can down the road.

[Donoghus]

Wonder why would Schefter leak this. Probably to get other teams to join in on acquiring or swooping him from the Pats with a better offer. Why choose today of all days lol

I don't think he is really leaking anything.  Everything he reported is old news.

Teams are focused on the draft 100% at this point (and probably for the last several weeks).  After the Draft, I am sure some teams, including the Pats, will turn their focus back to this and other moves.  It is no surprise and is not news that the Pats are interested and are open to further discussions.  That will be true of other teams.  And he was never going to be traded before June 1.

I don't understand the Brown's contract.  I saw this yesterday:

Trading WR A.J. Brown
(after June 1st)

New Team Cash
2026: $29M (gtd)
2027: $21M ($4M gtd)
2028: $32M
2029: $31M

New Team Cap
2026: $7M
2027: $10.9M
2028: $17.8M
2029: $23.6M
2030: $53.5M (void)

#Eagles Dead Cap
2026: $16.3M ($7M saved)
2027: $27.1M ($4M lost)

Does anyone understand this?  What does "void" mean relative to the 2030 value?  Does he really have 4 full season left, mostly guaranteed or is that saying that 2028 and 2029 are not guaranteed?  The cap hits are not so bad until 2030, but that is a lot of cash.

Eagles essentially created void years 2030-2033 to further spread out bonus money since that is prorated.  My understanding is bonuses can only be spread out 5 years so the Eagles structured the guaranteed money to be bonuses every year to kick the bonus proration down the road to minimize earlier year cap hits.   The downside of this is that it creates a ton of dead money on the backside.  In this case, 2030.   2030-2033 aren't really contract years.  He's a UFA.

So if the Pats trade for him, they would own the cap hit in 2030 or is this the dead cap that PHI is left with?  It is such a convoluted contract.  The cap hits are not bad but it is a lot of cash.  But if they get the cap hit in 2030, it is kind of just kicking the can down the road.

New team owns the cap hit.  It's based on newer option bonuses so I doubt it would ever get to 2030.  Another thing to keep in mind that if, for some mindboggling reason, it did get there, the salary cap will roughly be $400M at that point so the cap hit is probably gonna be roughly 13% of the cap