Agents Take The 15 contract-year players

Signings leading up to the start of the regular season took players that would have been highly sought after in free agency or franchise tag candidates off the market. Most notably, reset the quarterback market when the signed him to five-year, $135 million contract extension with an record $92 million of overall guarantees during the preseason. His $50 million signing bonus is the largest ever for an NFL player. The $60.5 million fully guaranteed at signing is also an NFL record. helped advance the ball for wide receivers by setting new standards for pa s catchers with $49 million in overall guarantees and $36.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. His five-year, $81 million extension from the ranks second only to ( ) with a $16.2 million average yearly salary.Contract-year players that escape serious injury and poor performance in the final year of their deals could see increased Adam Frazier Jersey attention or riches in free agency with the salary cap expected to continue increasing in 2018 at the roughly 8 percent rate it has been in recent years. This type of growth should put next year's cap in the $180 million range and keep producing deals during the first wave of free agency where good players are paid like elite players at their position and average players are overpaid.Here are 15 players to keep an eye on during their contract year. MIN QB #8 Cousins, who was designated as a franchise player for a second straight year, is playing the 2017 season for a fully guaranteed $23.9 million because he declined a offer reportedly worth $133 million over six years. This offer contained $72 million in overall guarantees, of which $53 million was fully guaranteed at signing. Under franchise tag rules, the Redskins are prohibited from signing Cousins to a multi-year contract until the end of the 2017 regular season on December 31. Absent a long-term deal before the 2018 league year begins on March 14, Cousins Pittsburgh Pirates Jersey will likely become an unrestricted free agent next offseason because of the high price of restricting him again. Although Redskins president Bruce Allen has indicated that designating Cousins as a franchise player in 2018 for a third and final time at almost $34.5 million is a po sibility, it seems implausible, due to the steep cost. Another option is using a transition tag for $28.7 million, which would only give the Redskins a right to match another team's offer sheet. Cousins could be a litmus for quarterback salaries should he become an unrestricted free agent. Quality quarterbacks almost never hit the open market.This is predicated on Cousins performing like he has over the last two seasons when he has been one of the NFL's most productive quarterbacks statistically. Cousins has completed 68.3 percent of his pa ses for 9,083 yards with 54 touchdowns and 23 interceptions to post a 99.3 pa ser rating. He has the NFL's third-best completion percentage, is fourth in the NFL in pa sing yards, sixth in pa ser rating and 12th in touchdown pa ses during this span. Cousins commanding $30 million per year with $100 million in guarantees as an unrestricted free agent after another good season isn't out of the question because there are more than competent quarterbacks. Some of the quarterback-needy teams will have an abundance of cap space next offseason. Cousins' downside with a regre sion or mediocre season is probably the last offer he rejected from Washington averaging a little Bryan Reynolds Jersey more than $22 million a season because of the shortage of quality quarterbacks. Drew Brees QB The 38-year-old Brees is content to play out his contract, a one-year extension for $24.25 million signed early in the 2016 season, even though his preference is to finish his career in New Orleans. Brees hasn't showed signs of slowing down. He led the NFL with 5,028 pa sing yards in 2016. He completed 70 percent of the pa ses to rank second in completion percentage. He was also third with 37 touchdown pa ses and fifth with a 101.7 pa ser rating. Brees' contract was structured with 2018 through 2020 contract years that automatically void next March 14, the last day of the 2017 league year. This voiding date eliminates the po sibility of Brees being given a franchise tag since it is after the designation period ends on March 6. If an extension isn't worked out between the end of Blank Jersey the season and the voiding date, the will have an $18 million salary cap charge in 2018 regardle s of where Brees plays next year because of the proration from the $30 million signing bonus he received with 2016 extension. As long as Brees can continue to keep Father Time at bay, it may make sense to continue going year-to-year. 2018 could be converted into a real contract with a slight raise to put him closer to Stafford's average and the voiding of the 2019 and 2020 contract years is delayed until the last day of the 2018 league year in March 2019. TB RB #6 According to our own NFL insider Jason La Canfora, Bell rejected a contract offer the NFLPA found appropriate as the July 17 deadline for franchise players to sign multi-year deals approached. Previous reports had put the offer at more than $60 million over five years. La Canfora indicated the offer had $18 million in first year and $39 million over the first three years. Pittsburgh's offer was substantially more than the current $8.25 million per year benchmark in a declining running back market. Bell was reportedly looking for at least $15 million per year to build upon the contract had been playing under since 2011 that averaged approximately $14 million per year before the released him in March. Whether Bell made a mistake turning down the deal remains to be seen. Pittsburgh has the option of placing another franchise tag on Bell in 2018 for $14.544 million, which is 120 percent of his current $12.12 million franchise number. CHI TE #80 Graham set franchise records for a tight end with 65 receptions for 923 yards in a comeback 2016 season. In 2015, his first in Seattle, Graham tore the tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. Placing a franchise tag on Graham in 2018 is remote, and here's why: the 120 percent of the prior year's salary rules suggest that the signing bonus proration from Graham's deal with the Saints, Mitch Keller Jersey which made him the NFL's first and only $10 million per year tight end, is included the calculations. With the bonus proration factored in, Graham's tag number should be $15.58 million. Fortunately for Seattle, the tight end market has been stagnant with Graham's deal still leading the way. A 31-year-old Graham may have a hard time getting the same money in 2018 he did at 27 without bettering the franchise marks he set last season during his contract year. ARI QB #9 Bradford is going to be sitting in the driver's seat if he can maintain or improve upon his 2016 performance. He set an NFL single-season record with a 71.6 completion percentage and threw for a career high 3,87