Noah Fant released….

[curmudgeon]

https://x.com/profootballtalk/status/1947025737950581050?s=12

[River Dog]

I just saw that. It comes as a bit of a surprise as we have quite a bit of cap space so he can't be called a cap casualty. They must have confidence in Barner and the rookie.

[Aseahawkfan]

That's odd. Must be wanting to save some cap space.

[trents]

This really caught me by surprise as well. He was their best TE.

[NorthHawk]

Something in the works for Hendrickson?
It’s Schneider’s MO to make a big trade or addition at or near the start of the season.

[River Dog]

That's odd. Must be wanting to save some cap space.

Unless something big is in the works, we have plenty of cap space. We currently have $28.7M in cap space, the 10th largest amount of cap space in the league. That's plenty of space for a contingency fund. This is most likely a football move, not an administrative one.

[River Dog]

This really caught me by surprise as well. He was their best TE.

Fant was a very good receiving tight end, but not much of a blocker. We drafted a receiving TE that isn't a proven in line blocker, so this could be a sign that we intend on emphasizing the run game. Nevertheless, it still doesn't make a lot of sense as the TE room wasn't exactly overflowing. We now have 1 returning vet, a rookie, and a journeyman.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

That's odd. Must be wanting to save some cap space.

As someone else said, I think it's a football decision. They already had a ton of cap space before they released him. They probably wanted to make sure Arroyo was signed and ready before pulling the trigger.

They are looking at extensions for Cross and *maybe* Woolen, but there's still plenty of cap space with those. I think they could trade for a veteran or look to add a vet OL cut.

Kind of sucks for Fant with the timing as rosters are mostly built and cap space allocated, but I could see him going to a contender and doing well with a competent OC.

He never hit his potential here, but neither Waldron nor Grubb knew how to use him.

[River Dog]

That's odd. Must be wanting to save some cap space.

As someone else said, I think it's a football decision. They already had a ton of cap space before they released him. They probably wanted to make sure Arroyo was signed and ready before pulling the trigger.

They are looking at extensions for Cross and *maybe* Woolen, but there's still plenty of cap space with those. I think they could trade for a veteran or look to add a vet OL cut.

Kind of sucks for Fant with the timing as rosters are mostly built and cap space allocated, but I could see him going to a contender and doing well with a competent OC.

He never hit his potential here, but neither Waldron nor Grubb knew how to use him.

Not sure about Woolen. He's been benched for performance (or lack of) in his last two seasons under two different coaching staffs, the last one involving some sort of disciplinary action. I doubt that we extend him this year. This is likely his make-or-break season with us.

[Aseahawkfan]

I imagine the extension for Cross might be expensive. The new TEs John and Mike may have judged as equivalent. So smart move to open more cap to extend Cross and maybe make a FA move. I guess we'll see.

[River Dog]

I imagine the extension for Cross might be expensive. The new TEs John and Mike may have judged as equivalent. So smart move to open more cap to extend Cross and maybe make a FA move. I guess we'll see.

The highest paid LT in the league is Trent Williams at $27m/year, and there's no way Cross is going to get or even demand that kind of money, and even if he did, we already had that much in cap space before we released Fant. Like I said, unless JS has something else up his sleeve, this is a football move first and cap space just an afterthought.

[NorthHawk]

There are a lot of smoke and mirrors in the contracts these days. What seems to really matter is the guaranteed amount.
I think they could afford to pay more than Williams if Cross was as good as Big Walt. But we all know he has his limitations so if re-signed I would expect to see him get somewhere around the middle of the pack money unless this year he really nails it.

[River Dog]

There are a lot of smoke and mirrors in the contracts these days. What seems to really matter is the guaranteed amount.
I think they could afford to pay more than Williams if Cross was as good as Big Walt. But we all know he has his limitations so if re-signed I would expect to see him get somewhere around the middle of the pack money unless this year he really nails it.

Agreed. And in addition to him really "nailing it", it's going to have to correspond with team success.

I'll try to get around to posting the full rankings later, but PFF has Cross ranked 13th in their 2025 preseason OT rankings. If that is close to what he's perceived by NFL GM's, he's not going to be getting a market setting deal, especially this season. We picked up his 5th year option, so he won't be hitting free agency until after the 2026 season. There's no sense of urgency to get a deal done.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Not sure about Woolen. He's been benched for performance (or lack of) in his last two seasons under two different coaching staffs, the last one involving some sort of disciplinary action. I doubt that we extend him this year. This is likely his make-or-break season with us.

Yeah, I don't think the team is sure about him, either. This is a really important season for Riq. He is a Pete guy and a leftover, so he needs to imprint on Macdonald.

That's the thing here...they have $34 mil in cap space right now after Fant was released, and outside of Cross (and probably Bryant) - not a lot of extensions looming in the immediate future.

I was watching an interview yesterday on You Tube, and someone made a good point: apparently, next off-season is a "historical" free agent class so teams may be putting some coins in the piggy bank for that.

Here is a list of pending FA's for 2026. Obviously, some of these guys (like Kelce) will never see the light of day in free agency...

Deebo Samuel
Terry McLaurin
Trey Hendrickson
Mike Evans
Kolton Miller
Christian Kirk
Khalil Mack
Travis Kelce
Taylor Moton
Joel Bitonio
Zach Allen
Jonah Williams
Wyatt Teller
Aaron Rodgers
Daniel Jones
Haason Reddick
Mark Andrews
Courtland Sutton
David Njoku
Joey Bosa
Cam Robinson
Jalen Thompson
David Onyemata
Kaleb McGary
Rob Havenstein
Malcolm Koonce
D.J. Reader
Jakobi Meyers
Russell Wilson
Harrison Smith
Dyami Brown
Tutu Atwell
Amani Hooker
Darius Slay
Dallas Goedert
Leonard Floyd
Taysom Hill
Jack Conklin
Bobby Wagner
Lavonte David
Kevin Zeitler
Adam Thielen
Demario Davis
Andre Cisco
Dre'Mont Jones
Tyler Higbee
Kyle Pitts
Marcus Mariota
DaQuan Jones
Samson Ebukam
Braden Smith
Isaac Seumalo
Kenneth Murray
Kevin Byard
Denico Autry
John Franklin-Myers
Connor McGovern
Trey Pipkins
Kaden Elliss
Marquise Brown
Donovan Wilson
Jermaine Eluemunor
Arden Key
Sebastian Joseph-Day
Joseph Ossai
Matt Milano
D.J. Wonnum
Alex Anzalone
Zach Ertz
Evan Neal
Cameron Jordan
Ted Karras
Zach Wilson
A.J. Epenesa
Alex Singleton
Tyquan Lewis
Ethan Pocic
Tyrod Taylor
Quincy Williams
John Simpson
Dante Fowler Jr.
Jauan Jennings
Colton McKivitz
Calais Campbell
Jonathan Jones
Jaylen Warren
Najee Harris
Sheldon Rankins
Alohi Gilman
DeAndre Hopkins
Austin Hooper
Geno Stone
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
Darrell Taylor
Shemar Stewart
Amik Robertson
Daniel Carlson
Kamren Curl
Kyle Van Noy
Jimmie Ward
Teair Tart
Shelby Harris
Matt Gay
Micah Parsons
Germaine Pratt
Ryan Bates
Joe Flacco
Laken Tomlinson
Austin Ekeler
Wil Lutz
Rashawn Slater
Khalen Saunders
Foster Moreau
Davis Mills
Josh Jones
Kelvin Beachum
Josh Metellus
Tyrann Mathieu
Charles Omenihu
Tyler Lockett
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Jordan Hicks
Levi Onwuzurike
Rakeem Nunez-Roches
Andrew Wylie
Andrew Billings
Derek Barnett
Kalif Raymond
Jaire Alexander

[NorthHawk]

3 players come to mind for extensions - Lucas if he has a solid year with few injuries, Witherspoon, and maybe Ken Walker again if he has a good year behind this new Offense. We have Cross for 2 more years but if they intend to keep him it’s better to re-sign him early and save money than do the Cowboys thing and wait until the market moves far beyond what it would have cost if signed earlier.