DeForest Buckner’s new contract with the Colts lowers the 2024 cap hit, but what’s it really matter?

The Colts saved some cash on the cap this year. At the end of the day, what does it all mean?

The Indianapolis Colts made a great decision this week by extending DeForest Buckner. They agreed to add another two years to his existing contract as the Colts look to continue to roll last year’s club farther down the line. The move itself is important because it keeps the leader of the defense and perhaps entire team on the roster longer. What Buckner brings to the team isn’t in question. What is in question, however, is what, if anything does this mean for 2024 and beyond?

With this extension and restructuring, Buckner’s cap hit for 2024 falls from around $23 million to $8 million. That provides some major flexibility and ability to do more with the roster before the start of the season. The question is, will the Colts do anything with it? To that, there are some doubts as to the immediate impact as expressed by Stampede Blues’ Compton5.

…the cap maneuver added two voidable years to the end of Buckner’s freshly minted extension, providing financial flexibility for the near future. Although this gives the Colts ~$29M in cap space for the 2024 calendar year…this move speaks to Chris Ballard’s overarching decision to prepare for the future as they’re betting on themselves now.

He isn’t the only one who doesn’t believe this new found cap space will be used in 2024. Stephen Holder of ESPN is thinking along the same lines.

Oh, goodie. More cap space to roll over. That is like building a huge walk-in pantry that you can fill with all sorts of groceries and supplies but you choose to leave it close to bare. You have plenty of it, but choose to do close to nothing with it. Who really cares then? Why create this additional cap in 2024? Do we think some incredibly tempting opportunity is going to come up at this point in which Ballard will be the only one willing and able to strike? If the deal is good enough, other teams will find a way to make room in their pantry, er, I mean payroll.

If this was a one time move by Ballard to roll cap space into the following year, I could be swayed to believe something was brewing. Maybe, just maybe, it would be spent to do something great. That isn’t his modus operandi, though. The 2025 offseason will see an excess amount of unspent cap rolled into 2026. Rinse and repeat. While I love the move to keep Buckner around longer, that is where the story ends. The extra cap will not be used, and the cupboards will continue to have plenty of unused space.