5 biggest salary cap concerns heading into NFL pre-season 

The NFL salary cap is a unique measure to ensure fair competition among all 32 teams in the league. The fact that breaches carry an actual punishment is envied across other sports.

Ahead of the 2022 NFL season, there are a number of teams that are either in immediate NFL salary cap trouble or will be struggling in a year due to player contracts.

It can be difficult for general managers, when handing out contract extensions, knowing that they could become millstones around a franchise’s neck in just two years.

High NFL salary cap hits can be problematic obstacles to trades and other roster moves, but by June and pre-season, you’d hope most teams would have their major issues sorted.

That isn’t true in a small number of cases in 2022.

What are the 5 biggest NFL salary cap concerns right now?

#1 - Jimmy Garoppolo: $26.9 million cap hit (San Francisco 49ers)

Garoppolo will need to be traded by the 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers can’t win a Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoppolo as their starting quarterback. He’s talented but makes too many mistakes and is, perhaps, too conservative in the playoffs.

He doesn’t have that sprinkling of stardust that a quarterback needs to be able to lead a team at the business end of the season, the kind of stardust that Kyle Shanahan hopes Trey Lance possesses. This is why he gave so much up to trade up and draft him in 2021.

After another disappointing year with injuries and falling just short in the playoffs, the 49ers will turn to Lance in 2022. He will be their starter. However, this will leave them with the highest paid QB backup in NFL history.

Garoppolo’s cap-hit in 2022 is $26.9 million, and this is proving to be a huge obstacle in trade talks with other NFL teams.

John Lynch made clear releasing Jimmy G wasn’t an option, even if it would have cleared a lot of his cap hit, and now time is running against the Santa Clara franchise.

Any team that would hope to acquire Garoppolo ahead of the 2022 season would be required to pay $25.5 million of that salary.

So, while trading him would be a great move for the Niners, it’s easy to see why teams would have reservations, especially given the fact he isn’t going to be able to take a team to the next level in the playoffs.

#2 - Baker Mayfield: $18.9 million cap hit (Cleveland Browns)

Baker Mayfield has made clear he won't play for the Browns again

In an almost carbon copy of the Garoppolo situation, Baker Mayfield is an $18.9 million drain on the Cleveland Browns’ salary cap, and it is unlikely he will ever play for them again.

It's a relationship that has gone sour in a way that the one between the 49ers and Garoppolo hasn’t. Mayfield has felt disrespected by the Browns, but his problem is that teams across the NFL don’t want to trade for his contract.

The Browns have a relatively good amount of cap space, but that will decrease next year with contract renewals coming up.

They need to get rid of Mayfield this offseason in order to ease that future burden, but again, teams aren’t looking to trade for such a cap-hit that comes with a player that isn’t considered elite.

Mayfield led the Browns to their first NFL playoff victory this millennium, yet he couldn’t go any further. There are teams that would welcome that level of success, but aren’t wiling to pay that high a price to get it.

#3 - Jared Goff: $31.1 million cap hit (Detroit Lions)

Los Angeles Rams gave up on Jared Goff

Jared Goff isn’t the solution to the Detroit Lions’ long-term issues at quarterback. You would think that the franchise themselves are aware of that, but are looking ahead to a 2023 NFL draft class, which is thought to be elite at the position.

Until then, Goff will play under center in Motor City, yet his $31.1 million cap-hit is staggeringly painful.

Finding a team to take that contract on in the future will be difficult for Detroit, especially if he has another poor year in 2022.

The Lions have already restructured the deal once, but it is set to run until the end of the 2024 NFL season.

However, in the offseason before the 2023 NFL season, Goff could be cut for a fairly reasonable price. The Lions would only have $10 million in dead cap, and drafting their new QB would be infinitely cheaper than the $31.1 million lost to Goff in 2022.

The real problem comes if the Lions have a successful year in 2022 without Goff playing a starring role.

#4 - Kenny Golladay: $21.1 million cap hit (New York Giants)

New York Giants hope Golladay comes good in 2022

The New York Giants gave Kenny Golladay an expensive four-year contract in good faith. He was supposed to arrive and be a veteran presence in their receiving corps, as well as being the lead playmaker on the offense.

His first year in 2021 didn’t go to plan. He started just 14 games and received 521 yards without scoring a single touchdown.

2022 will need to be a bounce-back year for the receiver; otherwise, the Giants will be looking at the contract given to him.

His cap-hit in 2022 is $21.1 million, and there isn’t a cheap out until the end of the 2023 season for the Giants.

This is a situation where the New York franchise needs to pray Golladay rediscovers his form. Otherwise, the 2023 offseason is going to be painful trying to trade him.

#5 - Carson Wentz: $28.3 million cap hit (Washington Commanders)

Carson Wentz will be with his third NFL team after signing with Washington

The Washington Commanders will tell you that they are all in on Carson Wentz being their franchise quarterback. The reality is they took what was available.

There is a reason why Wentz is no longer with the Philadelphia Eagles or the Indianapolis Colts. He isn’t seen as someone capable of making a team win.

The Commanders have a problem now because they’re too good to really be involved in the race for the elite quarterbacks available in the 2023 NFL Draft, but it’s difficult to see Wentz dragging them into the playoffs.

Fortunately, for the Commanders, they have an out in 2023, which would see them able to cut Wentz without any dead cap space. However, his $28 million cap-hit in 2022 isn’t ideal.

It limits what the team is able to do with regard to adding further free-agents ahead of the pre-season, but the franchise knew that risk when they made the deal with the Colts.

However, a problem may arise if the Washington Commanders have a strong season in 2022, can’t find a viable replacement for Wentz and need to keep him on the team for a further two years with his huge contract.