Bengals create more 2024 salary cap space with release of La'el Collins
Releasing offensive tackle La'el Collins just one week into the regular season was a curious move made by the Cincinnati Bengals. As more information comes out, the more clear the reasoning becomes. The Bengals could've saved around $7 million in salary cap space for the rest of this season when letting Collins go. According to salary […]
Releasing offensive tackle La'el Collins just one week into the regular season was a curious move made by the Cincinnati Bengals. As more information comes out, the more clear the reasoning becomes.
The Bengals could've saved around $7 million in salary cap space for the rest of this season when letting Collins go. According to salary cap expert John Baines, Cincinnati instead gained $4.25 million in space and will credit the remaining $3,117,647 in savings towards the 2024 league year.
Collins' prorated base salary he could've earned from playing this year represents the $4.25 million in cap savings the Bengals are gaining from his release. The remaining $3,117,647 are his Likely To Be Earned (LTBE) incentives from this year, which were calculated based on how many games he played in last year (15).
Much of Collins' potential earnings came down to per game roster bonuses, and since he will not be playing any games with the Bengals this year, that is cash the Bengals are saving.
The significance of crediting that ~$3 million in savings towards next year tells us all we need to know about the transaction releasing Collins. The team is turning his potential earnings into more cash and cap space to operate next year.
That means slightly more capital to get big-time deals done with Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, and more.
The Bengals can also rollover the $4.25 million saved from Collins' base salary to add more cap space if they don't happen to use it this year. This move leaves about $9 million in current cap space for the Bengals to make midseason transactions, ala waiver claims and trades.
Say they use most of that space and can't rollover much into 2024; the decision to transfer Collins' LBTE incentive money immediately gives them guaranteed space for their 2024 plans.
Collins' release was a bit odd in terms of timing, but by doing it early, they incurred more future savings.
Answering why the Bengals released La’el Collins out of nowhere
The Bengals letting Collins was unexpected. We’re here to explain it.
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