Salary Cap Kings: Dwight Freeney, Peyton Manning Among NFL Players With Largest Cap Number

Salary Cap Kings
St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long (91) celebrates after sacking New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez for a 3-yard loss during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)
St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long (91) celebrates after sacking New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez for a 3-yard loss during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

By Joel Corry, National Football Post

The largest salary cap numbers can be a pretty good indicator for how NFL teams value the different playing positions. Normally, quarterbacks dominate a list of the largest cap numbers, but that’s not the case this year. Matthew Stafford ($17,098,750), Ben Roethlisberger ($16.92 million), Eli Manning ($16.35 million) and Tom Brady ($15.2 million) lowered their 2012 cap numbers in contract restructurings designed to create cap room for their respective teams.

Calvin Johnson was scheduled to have the NFL’s largest cap number at $21,081,946 until he leveraged it into a seven-year, $113.45 million contract extension (with $53.25 million in guarantees) from the Detroit Lions, which is the richest deal in NFL history for a non-quarterback. Here’s a look at the players with 2012’s largest cap numbers. The Collective Bargaining Agreement’s daily amounts for participating in a team’s voluntary offseason workout program are included in the cap numbers.

1. Dwight Freeney (OLB)-Indianapolis Colts: $19,038,255

NFL Salary Cap Kings

Follow me on Twitter: @corryjoel

Joel Corry is a former sports agent who helped found Premier Sports & Entertainment, a sports management firm that represents professional athletes and coaches. Prior to his tenure at Premier, Joel worked for Management Plus Enterprises, which represented Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ronnie Lott. You can email Joel at jccorry@gmail.com

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