Author: wheelhousesports24

Spain just won the World Cup with a quiet dominance. They constantly possessed the ball and only gave up one goal in the entire tournament. They were a great team from top to bottom in all aspects of the game.

Their NFL comparison: the early 2000s Patriots. Those Pats teams were led by great defenses. In their Super Bowl-winning seasons of 2001, 2003, and 2004, those Pats teams ranked 6th, 2nd, and 1st, respectively, in points allowed.

Offensively, those Patriots teams weren’t dominant but were solid, did not make mistakes, and came through when they needed to.

Bonus NFL comparison: France was like the early 2000s Indianapolis Colts led by Peyton Manning. They were so much fun to watch and put up unreal numbers with their plethora of offensive superstars. But when France/the Colts faced Spain/the Patriots in the playoffs, the better team stifled the high-powered offense and won with great defense and timely scoring.

The Seattle Seahawks were recently sold for $9.6 billion, a record for an NFL franchise and the second-highest price ever paid for a professional sports team.

Below is how CNBC, Forbes, and Sportico most recently valued the Seahawks in their annual franchise rankings:

• CNBC: 19th most valuable team at $7 billion
• Forbes: 14th most valuable team at $6.7 billion
• Sportico: 14th most valuable team at $6.6 billion

As we’ve seen with other sports teams, the price a new owner actually pays for a franchise usually far exceeds the “book value” due to many factors.

First off, there are only 32 NFL franchises and they don’t come up for sale often. If you want to join the club, you need to pay up. In the Seahawks’ case, the buyer is a West Coast technology billionaire and his family. The opportunity to buy a premier West Coast NFL team that is close to home is rare.

Another big driver is the guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that teams share every year, mainly from the TV contracts in place. Each team earned $432 million in national NFL revenue in 2024. This does not include the individual revenue that teams made on their own like concessions, parking, and team sponsorships. In 2024, the Seahawks made $624-$638 million in total revenue according to Forbes and CNBC. Luckily for NFL owners, the NFL can opt out of its current TV deal after the 2029 season and make even more money from new TV deals, which will continue to pit legacy networks like FOX and CBS versus streaming and tech giants like Netflix and Amazon. Not only is the NFL currently raking in money, but it looks like it will continue to do so and team valuations will keep going up.

Lastly, in an era dominated by AI and other technology trends, the NFL – and sports in general – remains a reliable safe haven. People genuinely love their NFL teams. Fans will continue to watch games, buy jerseys, and follow stars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Beyond that, the NFL is a uniting force for fans from across the country and the globe.

All of these factors push the true value of NFL teams to a much higher number than standard valuations can reflect.

I recently hit 100 episodes on my podcast 15 Minute Blitz. Over the nearly two years of doing the podcast, here are three of the biggest lessons I have learned firsthand. I think these can apply to almost anything in life.

1. You’ll never feel fully ready, but start anyway

One of the hardest parts of any new journey is simply starting. This is especially true if you are the one holding yourself responsible and don’t have a parent, boss, or mentor pushing you to start. You will always come up with reasons or excuses of why you aren’t ready yet but totally will be ready in a day, week, or month.

You’ll never be 100% ready. There will always be fear and doubt. Start anyway.

2. Show up consistently 

Sometimes a random wave of motivation will surge inside of you and help start a journey. On Monday, you work out for the first time in two years and feel really good about yourself. You tell yourself you are going to work out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the indefinite future. Wednesday comes in the blink of an eye. You’re sore from your workout Monday, your motivation is completely gone, and you’re finding every excuse to skip Wednesday’s workout. 

This is when you need to power through and build the mental stamina to chase your dreams and goals. Motivation is overrated. It is fleeting and unreliable. Being able to show up even when you aren’t “motivated” that day is invaluable. There is a reason an old saying in the NFL is that the best ability is availability. 

In life, showing up consistently and giving the best effort you can give that day puts you ahead of the majority of people.

3. Have passion for what you do

It is important to enjoy what you do in life, whether it be work or a hobby. Being passionate about what you do leads to loving what you do so much that you need to start the journey and show up consistently. It pushes you through tough times, feeling under the weather, and moments of self-doubt that everyone experiences.

Passion doesn’t mean you will always feel motivated or love what you are doing every moment. But it keeps fuel in the tank to push you forward.

Two-Minute Drill

Beyond these lessons, I just want to say thank you. Whether you constantly listen to the podcast because you enjoy the show or listen once and think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever heard, I appreciate you.

College football purists, I have some bad news for you all. You all complain about how bad Notre Dame’s schedule is, but it really isn’t that bad. Especially when compared to other big-time programs.

Notre Dame’s Schedule

Three Big Ten teams:

While Purdue has been poor for a long time, Michigan State and Wisconsin are historically strong programs that are currently in down cycles. Notre Dame scheduled them expecting quality opponents. Yes, these three games are not going to be incredibility difficult but… that comes with a downside for the Big Ten.

Everyone loves to brag about how good the Big Ten is without bringing up how poor the depth of the conference is. Take a look at the conference standings. They have some legitimately terrible programs that shouldn’t be considered Power Four schools.

People have no issue saying the Big Ten opponents Notre Dame are playing are bad. But they don’t keep that same narrative when discussing how the good Big Ten programs benefit from the lack of depth in the conference and the number of easy games said lack of depth provides.

Six ACC matchups:

Four are against average or below-average teams, but one game is against Miami, who is one of the best teams in the country. And the other is against an SMU team that made the playoffs two years ago and is a pretty good program right now.

BYU:

BYU nearly made the playoff last year and was actually ranked as one of the Top 12 teams in the country in the final CFP rankings. They missed out on the technicalities involving conference champions and at least one Group of Five team making the playoff.

Two non–Power Four games:

Rice is a true patsy game but Navy is one of the best non-Power Four schools in the country and way better than most cupcake non-Power Four games other programs play.

Verdict:

Notre Dame’s schedule is by no means a gauntlet, but it is harder than people want to admit. All told they play 10 Power Four games – 3 of which are truly quality opponents that will likely be ranked to start the year – and one of the best non-Power Four teams in the country.

Penn State’s Schedule

Non–Power Four games:

Penn State faces three absolute cupcakes for its non-conference slate.

Key Big Ten matchups:

Washington, Michigan, and USC are good programs but not currently elite.

Six other Big Ten games:

These are largely against average or poor teams, reflecting the conference’s top-heavy nature.

Verdict:

Despite the Big Ten’s prestige, Penn State’s schedule has plenty of soft spots. If the Nittany Lions finish with the same record as Notre Dame, people will likely try to say they deserve to be in over ND due to “playing in the Big Ten.” Which, in this case translates to playing 3 tough games all year – the same number as Notre Dame.

Miami’s Schedule

Non-conference games:

Two against weak non–Power Four opponents to start the year. But… Notre Dame also appears on the schedule, giving Miami a big-time non-conference test.

One tough ACC matchup:

They are playing a Clemson program that had a down year, but I believe is still a quality opponent.

Eight other ACC games:

These are against average or below-average competition. Virginia Tech might improve under James Franklin, but results remain to be seen. And FSU is so volatile, they could be good this year or awful.

Verdict:

Miami has what looks like 2 tough games. I don’t hear people complaining about their schedule.

Two-Minute Drill

The common perception that Notre Dame’s schedule is soft doesn’t fully reflect the reality. If these three programs finish with the same record, it’s worth remembering that their strength of schedule is more similar than people will initially think.

Managing the NFL salary cap is a complex puzzle. Successful franchises like the Eagles and Rams are praised for their ability to “manipulate” the cap, while less aggressive teams, such as the Bengals, are often criticized for failing to take advantage of these tools. In this post, we’ll break down the main methods teams use to maximize their financial flexibility and stay competitive.

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1. Contract Incentives

One of the most common ways teams manage the salary cap is through contract incentives. Incentives come in two categories:

• Likely To Be Earned (LTBE)
• Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE)

The NFL determines these categories based solely on a player’s prior-year performance, regardless of circumstances like injuries.

Example:

• Saquon Barkley rushed for 1,140 yards last season. Let’s say theoretically his cap hit is $10 million this year.
• If the Eagles give him a $5 million incentive for reaching 1,100 yards next year, that incentive is LTBE because he surpassed that mark last year. His cap hit would immediately include the $5 million, totaling $15 million. If he hits the mark then all is well. If he doesn’t, the team gets $5 million credited to their cap space next year.
• If the incentive is set at 1,200 yards (which he didn’t hit last year), it is NLTBE, meaning the cap hit this season stays at $10 million. If he hits 1,200 yards, the $5 million counts against next year’s cap instead. If he doesn’t hit the mark then all is well.

This allows teams to manage when cap hits occur, creating flexibility between seasons.

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2. Contract Restructures

Teams often restructure contracts to push cap hits into future seasons. Here’s how it works:

• A player has a $20 million salary.
• The team converts $18 million of that into a signing bonus and leaves $2 million as base salary.
• If he has three years left on his deal, the $18 million bonus is prorated over those years: $6 million per year.

Result:

• Original cap hit: $20 million
• New cap hit: $2 million (base) + $6 million (bonus) = $8 million
• Additional $6 million cap hit the next two year

The player typically prefers this since they get most of the money upfront as a lump sum. Teams can spread out the bonus over a maximum of 5 years.

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3. Void Years

When a player is in the final year of his contract, teams can still spread out bonuses by adding “void years.” These are fake contract years used purely for cap accounting.

Example:

• Player has 1 year left with a $20 million salary.
• The team converts $18 million of that into a signing bonus and leaves $2 million as base salary.
• Team adds 2 void years.
• The $18 million bonus is spread over 3 years ($6M each), reducing the immediate cap hit to $8 million this year: $2 million (base) + $6 million (bonus) = $8 million

When the contract ends, the remaining bonus owed in the void years becomes dead money against the cap immediately. Even with void years, teams can still spread out the bonus over a maximum of 5 years.

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4. Post-June 1 Designation

Cutting or trading a player after June 1 allows teams to split dead money over two seasons:

• Pre-June 1: Entire remaining bonus a team owes a player hits that season’s cap immediately as dead money.
• Post-June 1: Current year’s bonus counts this season, while the rest is deferred to the following year.

This approach gives teams short-term cap relief, which is especially useful for contending teams.

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5. Cap Rollover

Cap space can also roll over to the following year:

• If a team finishes $40 million under the cap, that amount can be added to next year’s spending limit.
• Teams must still spend at least 89% of the cap over a four-year period to prevent abuse.

This strategy is ideal for struggling franchises that want to save money for future free-agent spending sprees.

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The Big Picture

Salary cap manipulation is a balancing act. Successful teams push cap charges into the future to maximize their current rosters, but eventually, dead money catches up.