NFL Teams Maneuvering Sizable Salary Cap Hits As Offseason Gets Started

The NFL offseason feels like it just started, but there’s already been a flurry of moves across the league.

Teams are not only looking to make deals to improve themselves on the field for 2015, but they’re also making salary cap-influenced transactions that not only free up cap space now but paint a better financial picture in the future.

That has played out in different ways so far, so Matt Chatham took a look at the recent trades and signings in his latest post on FootballByFootball.com. This cap maneuvering is vital to building short- and long-term success, Chatham says, and one of the biggest examples of this process is playing out in Houston.

“Houston may be a team on the cusp, but rather than try to spend their way into playoff contention, they seem to be clearing space and going younger,” Chatham wrote. “If you aren’t winning, there’s a tension against remaining one of the top holders of big money contracts.”