Report: Cardinals create cap space by restructuring Patrick Peterson’s deal
Nov 30, 2016, 8:56 AM | Updated: 4:59 pm
(AP Photo/David Goldman)
Monday morning during his weekly visit with Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim stated he’s looking forward to 2017.
“I started thinking about that last year,” Keim said. “From my standpoint, I’ve got to look at it from a three-year view, whether it’s a cap situation or where we are from a roster standpoint — when you look at age, when you look at contractual situations.
“I’m always thinking about next year.”
Consistent with that statement, Keim is doing a little restructuring on one star player’s contract to create some future salary cap space, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
Source: the Cardinals converted $3,172,941 of CB Patrick Peterson’s base salary into a signing bonus, creating $2.5M in 2016 cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 30, 2016
Peterson, 26, signed a five-year, $70 million deal with the Cardinals during training camp in 2014. According to Spotrac, Peterson’s deal pays him $3,072,377 in signing bonus in each of the last four years of the deal. Obviously, that figure would change moving forward, although it’s not known if the $3.1 million Yates referred to would be attached to one year’s signing bonus or spread out over the remainder of the pact.
Peterson, a five-time Pro Bowler, is enjoying another fine season individually. Through 11 games, he’s registered 34 total tackles and has two interceptions for 25 yards. The sixth-year star from LSU is regularly matched up against the opposition’s top receiver.
Spotrac indicates the Cardinals have 36 players signed for 2017 with about $29.6 million in available cap space, before the reported Peterson restructuring.