Rivera felt his Carolina Panthers got too old in the year following their 2015 Super Bowl run, and in Washington he saw a possibility to build around a promising defense filled with 24- and 25-year-olds who could form the foundation of an NFC East contender. Also appealing was the fact that Washington looked to be in position to have tens of millions of dollars in salary cap room this offseason, allowing him to spend heavily after using the previous year to figure out the team’s needs.
Who could have known how much of an advantage that cap space would become?
“I think it’s a great time to retool your team,” former longtime NFL general manager Randy Mueller said, before adding: “But only if [Washington] can identify the talent that fits them best.”
This is an important offseason for Rivera and his top personnel executives, Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney — maybe the biggest they’ll have in Washington. The extra cap room gives them a chance to add key pieces to the Super Bowl contender Rivera hopes to build for the next few seasons, and most of the conference’s teams are strapped by an unexpectedly low salary cap because of lost revenue amid the pandemic.
As most of Washington’s NFC competition grits its teeth and makes cuts it does not want to make, Washington has the luxury of snatching up gifted players at prices lower than in more normal, robust years.
“An opportunity,” Rivera called it recently.
Of course, some of that money is going to be spent on a new quarterback, possibly Marcus Mariota, Sam Darnold or Teddy Bridgewater. But, still, there will be cap room. It could be a significant amount of cap room, for Washington to add a wide receiver to pair with Terry McLaurin, a second tight end and maybe another defensive starter.
Perhaps even more significant are the lesser players Washington will be able to sign, players who aren’t stars, who might not even start but who add depth to the roster for when injuries inevitably come along. Players such as last spring’s signings along the offensive line, Cornelius Lucas and Wes Schweitzer, who wound up holding the unit together for significant chunks of last fall. Sometimes free agency isn’t just about the superstars you land but the secondary pieces that blunt the blow when the regulars go down.
“I think it’s a great advantage [for Washington] because the talent pool has never been this deep and will continue to grow over the next couple weeks,” Mueller said. “More good players are available than at any point in the history of the league. … It will be a referendum on their ability to identify talent, and that talent has to fit their schemes.”
Washington will do this with many of its conference opponents in a financial straitjacket or weakened by the moves they made to clear cap space. If Rivera, Mayhew and Hurney manage the next two weeks well, they could put Washington in position to win multiple NFC East titles in the coming seasons.
In acknowledging this year’s cap “opportunity,” Rivera said he wants to re-sign some of his own players, an often overlooked aspect of salary cap space. In addition to possibly working out a deal with Scherff, he can use the extra room to keep other players, such as Ronald Darby, who signed a one-year contract last year and became the team’s most-effective cornerback. In another year, a player like Darby might have been hard to bring back, but this time Washington has the space to retain him if it chooses.
But the extra cap room also helps Washington in April’s draft. By filling needs in free agency, Rivera and his advisers will be freed up to select players they really like, regardless of position. Ultimately, these are often the players who eventually thrive because they weren’t picked out of necessity.
“We’re not desperate,” Rivera said the other day.
In a year when the salary cap has made much of the NFC exactly that, it’s a very good place for Washington to be.