Onwenu Takes Paycut for 2026

[Huckleberry1]

Really smart management. The OL is sett for the next couple of years with the possible exception of a depth piece on the interior line. It looks like they believe they can go for it, and are going to make a couple of moves to put them into position for a run at a Lombardi. If Roseman ants to play games they could sign Diggs and trade for Sweatt, or possibly even go after Garrett.

 

[rkarp1]

Felger ain't my boy despite my avatar.

The NBA has a hard cap. The NFL do have a hard cap with rookies, but not overall.

I will tell you this. Quarterback salaries are going to start to make the cap less and less flexible for a lot of teams. When an average QB is getting upwards to $50 million a year, it is giving teams a lot of hassle with what they can do.

the cap will soon be $400m
relax and pay your streaming fees

 

[rkarp1]

Really smart management. The OL is sett for the next couple of years with the possible exception of a depth piece on the interior line. It looks like they believe they can go for it, and are going to make a couple of moves to put them into position for a run at a Lombardi. If Roseman ants to play games they could sign Diggs and trade for Sweatt, or possibly even go after Garrett.

does this mean you believe Onwenu will be here next season? after they cut him $7m this season?

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Where are you seeing the dummy year reported? This does not seem to be the case. It's been reported everywhere as pretty straight forward...

Old: $17.5M base salary
New: $2.95M salary, $6M signing bonus

He takes a $7.5M paycut in actual cash and we save the same on the cap.

Yeah, he's now guaranteed $10m this year, instead of $17.5m that wasn't guaranteed. One thing I'm wondering about is why have the $6m as a signing bonus instead of salary? It's not amortized so it all counts against the 2026 cap.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Better it be for extending Gonzo.

Yup - they've got the money for Brown already set aside.

These things need to take place before they extend Gonzo but I'm sure that will happen.

Great win win move for Owenu and the team to get his cap hit down (I think it was $25 million for this season?)

Contracts like his are meant to be renegotiated and in this case, with no guaranteed money before now, it's a fair tradeoff

With this being a 1 year deal though I get the sense that they may be moving on from him next year when he'll hit free agency (he'll do well if he continues to play like he has, but we may be priced out of that by then and one hopes one of our younger guys steps up)

 

[Rob0729]

the cap will soon be $400m
relax and pay your streaming fees

And by the time Maye can get a contract, his yearly salary is going to be over $60 million. Gonzalez' is going to be over $30 million. That is two players.

 

[TommyD4207]

I have a feeling I'm going be right about this one.

 

[PatsFan2]

 

[Hyped]

This time last year, I was torn between Cardona, Dugger, Jennings, and Onwenu for a jersey choice. Ended up with a Vrabel jersey.

With Onwenu’s pay cut, I am getting his jersey now. We are not cutting a guy who has 10M guaranteed.

Really looking forward to a lineup of: Campbell, Vera-Tucker, Wilson?, Onwenu, and Lomu?

Think that along with the new blocking TE and a true FB in Gilliam….. Henderson should be taking it to the house 10x…..

 

[Wozzy]

oooof
do you not understand the cap or what??
the guy just took a $7m haircut

What’s more, no contract or a guaranteed contract for this year?

He wasn’t going to play without some guaranteed money. You think people will show up and play just because a piece of paper says they should… pull your head from your rear.

 

[Wozzy]

I wish whoever came out with the term the "cap is crap" never did. It is such a misleading statement. The cap is flexible. It isn't crap.

Felger

 

[Triumph]

I dont want him ext this offseason, I want to see him play more of the season. We have him for two more years now and can tag him after that.

Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones earn more that Gonzo right now.

 

[BobDigital]

Do they? it says guaranteed.



You are correct if you say that the only thing that matters in an NFL contract is guaranteed money, but that has nothing to do with the cap.

If it's not guaranteed, you can cut a player and save everything cap, but the guaranteed money previous and future, that hasn't counted against the cap yet.

That doesn't make it crap.

Pretty sure they did (before this deal)/ 7.5M was already dead and paid for). The 17.5M he was getting paid besides that on the other hand wouldn't have counted until he made the 53 man roster I am pretty sure. I don't think June 1 was the deadline. I think it was the 53 Man roster under current rules. If I am wrong someone can correct me. Now with the new deal that is not the case.

I do not think Onwenu is happy, unless he knew for a fact he was never going to get all of that 17.5M extra. If he knew that was off the table, he is probably happy to get some secured cash. If he believed he was going to get it this year then told no he is probably not that that happy. Yes he is protected from a preseason injury situation, but he only needed to stay healthy a few months for it to lock in.

The timing of this is interesting as it is after the free agency smoke has cleared. If they were planning on cutting him he would have surely preferred for it to happen earlier. I think we can all agree a pre june 1 cut or pre 53 man roster cut is not the way he would want to hit free agency.

So either he always knew this was in the cards, and it was just hashing out the details, or it came to a head and he probably is less than happy right now, but at least has the benefit getting paid today. That's something.

 

[Triumph]

Onwenu was scheduled to have a $17.5M base salary this year. Now he has a $6M signing bonus paid up front and a $2.95M salary. So he took a $7.5M paycut. Instead of making $17.5M this year he will only make $10M.

Everybody knew before hand that the 17.5 Mil would not stand.

The allure of Onwenu to do this deal is 6 Mil in his checking account right now.

 

[Triumph]

This time last year, I was torn between Cardona, Dugger, Jennings, and Onwenu for a jersey choice. Ended up with a Vrabel jersey.

With Onwenu’s pay cut, I am getting his jersey now. We are not cutting a guy who has 10M guaranteed.

Really looking forward to a lineup of: Campbell, Vera-Tucker, Wilson?, Onwenu, and Lomu?

Think that along with the new blocking TE and a true FB in Gilliam….. Henderson should be taking it to the house 10x…..

No Moses?

Campbell - Tucker - Wilson - Onwenu - Moses

 

[mgteich]

Yeah, he's now guaranteed $10m this year, instead of $17.5m that wasn't guaranteed. One thing I'm wondering about is why have the $6m as a signing bonus instead of salary? It's not amortized so it all counts against the 2026 cap.

The $6M get paid now. Onwenu can relax. Also, if the team now choses to trade him, he is worth more in compensation.