NFL Salary Cap Casualties: 11 Tight Ends Who Might Be Giants

Jimmy Graham (Seattle Seahawks)

Age: 29

2016 Cap Hit: $9,000,000

Likeliness Grade of Trade / Release: C

Trade/Cut: No dead cap ($9M in savings), restructure more likely

Oooo, man. What a conundrum. Seahawks trade for Graham, he says he’s not being targeted enough (74 targets in 11 games), ruffles some feathers, gets hurt, and Seattle makes the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs without him. After scoring 26 touchdowns the prior two seasons, Jimmy only had two in 2015. While Spotrac believes a restructure is likely, maybe Graham doesn’t see a future in the Pacific Northwest and gives the other coast a shot.

Seattle has the 9th most salary cap space available with ~$29 million. Graham’s the 5th largest cap hit for the ‘Hawks, but if Marshawn Lynch retires, he’d move up a spot. The team has three or four players entering free agency that they might want to hold on to: Russell Okung, Brendan Mebane, Jermaine Kearse, and Bruce Irvin.

Heath Miller (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 33

2016 Cap Hit: $7,181,668

Likeliness Grade of Trade / Release: C

Trade/Cut: $3,181,668 in 2016 dead cap ($4M savings)

Pitt has the 8th least amount of salary cap space available with a little more than $6 million to spend. Miller’s the 7th biggest cap hit. The 2-time Pro Bowler is about as reliable as you can get. In his 11 seasons, he’s never played less than 14 games in any one season. Heath is good for 3-4 catches and 35-45 yards per game, but more importantly can pick up the tough first downs and is a weapon in the red zone. If you’re the Giants, though, you can get that out of Will Tye for way less money.

Brandon Pettigrew (Detroit Lions)

Age: Will be 31

2016 Cap Hit: $4,650,000

Likeliness Grade of Trade / Release: C

Trade/Cut:

• Pre 6/1: $2M in 2016 dead cap ($2.65M savings)
• Post 6/1: $1M in 2016 dead cap ($3.65M savings), $1M in 2017 dead cap

Brandon missed half the season last year and only started 9 games in 2014. In each of those seasons, he had 10 catches or less for less than 100 yards total, mostly due to the arrival of first round draft pick Eric Ebron. The Lions are middle of the road in the league in terms of cap space and Pettigrew is not among their top cap hits, but considering his lack of production, Detroit might ask for a refund.

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CONCLUSION:

Do the Giants roll the dice on Cameron or Pitta? Or take a one-year flyer on Heath Miller? Is Jimmy Graham worth all that money if he’s going to demand the ball from Eli? Will Tye has shown he might be the next Antonio Gates, but it would be nice to pick up a relatively cheap complement to take the focus of the linebackers and safeties away from him. However, the majority of snaps are in a three wideout, one tight end formation, so a second tight end would only come in handy occasionally.