Albert Okwuegbunam and Lloyd Cushenberry are a part of the league’s official website’s dream 53-man roster that fits under the salary cap.
NFL.com’s Anthony Holzman-Escareno annually builds the best NFL team money can buy under the constraints of the league’s salary cap. This year, third-year players Okwuegbunam and Cushenberry, in the words of professional wrestler Chris Jericho, made the list!
Okwuegbunam and Cushenberry made Holzman-Escareno’s list based on the rules (guidelines). Key rules are “roster spots for players on rookie contracts are capped at 24.”
Because football guys know the best advantage under the constraints of the salary cap are players playing on cost-effective rookie contracts. Especially at the quarterback position.
For reference, there’s Carson Wentz on the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, Jared Goff on the 2018 Los Angeles Rams, Patrick Mahomes on the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs and Joe Burrow on last season’s Cincinnati Bengals. These names are just a list of quarterbacks that have played in the Super Bowl on a rookie contract within the past five years. No big deal.
So, Okwuegbunam makes the dream 53-man roster as the fourth tight end. “Albert Okwuegbunam ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at 6-5, 258 pounds. He only has 451 receiving yards over two seasons, but his value and upside warrant his spot as the last tight end of this roster,” Holzman-Escareno wrote on NFL.com.
Okwuegbunam is currently in Year 3 of his rookie deal. His cap hit for this season is a lowly $1,082,261. Okwuegbunam is the frontrunner to be the Broncos’ top receiving tight end this fall.
Cushenberry, meanwhile, is in Year 3 of his rookie deal as well. His cap hit this season is $1,269,816.For reference, Cushenberry was drafted a round before Okwuegbunam. The former makes the list as the backup pivot.
“Lloyd Cushenberry III had a rough go as a rookie in 2020 but was the 10th-highest graded pass-blocking center by PFF last season. Once again, selecting just eight offensive linemen can be dicey, but decisions need to be made,” Holzman-Escareno wrote.
Other rules on Holzman-Escareno’s list are “no more than four players drafted from each of Rounds 1-3 and 12 total from Rounds 4-7” and that the “[24-player] limit does not apply to undrafted rookie contracts, and players on fifth-year options also do not count toward the rookie contract limit.”
That said, he did not select any rookies from this year’s draft class. Check out the rest of the rules and the full 53-man roster on NFL.com.
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