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There has been a lot of talk about what will happen with the NFL salary cap in light of the lost revenue in 2020 because of COVID. Most people have speculated that the cap would come in around $175 million dollars. Adam Schefter is reporting today that he expects the number to be closer to $180 million:
Though the NFL’s salary cap is not expected to be officially set until next month, league sources believe it will be roughly $180-$181 million. Throughout the past season, many expected it to be around $175 million, but it now is projected to come in slightly higher, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 7, 2021
The Titans currently sit just north of $185 million for the 2021 salary cap, according to Over the Cap. There are a few things they can pretty easily do to get that number down. The first comes with a decision on Malcolm Butler. His cap number is $14.2 million. He was their best defensive back in 2020. My guess is that they will go to him and try to work out a restructure on his contract. If they can’t work something out there they would have to think about moving on from him. I would bet they get something done.
They also have to make decisions on Adam Humphries and Kenny Vaccaro. I loved the Humphries signing when it happened, but it hasn’t worked out because of injuries. They can save $4.75 million by cutting him.
Vaccaro has been really good for this team since he came here when Johnathan Cyprien was injured. His cap number is almost $7 million. The team seems to really like Amani Hooker. He was getting run ahead of Vaccaro at times last season. They would save almost $4 million against the cap if they cut him.
There are other restructures they could look at including Kevin Byard, Taylor Lewan and Ben Jones.
The best teams in the league have largely proven that the salary cap isn’t real in the last few years. Jon Robinson has some work to do here, but he isn’t in a position where it would be impossible to create some room to still be able to get some things done.