The 2023 edition of NFL free agency is shaping up to be a great one. The running-back pool alone could see four Pro Bowlers in the market, star quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Tom Brady are scheduled to be available, and there should be no shortage of high-end defensive talent.

When the market opens on March 15, money will flow. Naturally, some franchises are better equipped to get in on the action than others. At the time of writing, only 10 teams are projected to have more than $15 million in cap space, while 15 are slated to be over the cap.

This will change in the coming weeks. General managers and other team decisions-makers will find creative ways to clear cap space. Some players will be dumped as cap casualties, while others will inevitably agree to restructured long-term deals—agreements that transform base salary or roster bonuses into a signing bonus that can be spread over as many as five years.

Here, we’ll examine situations where cap space can be created via contract extensions.

Specifically, we’ll examine players entering the final years of their current deals who have enough team and positional value to justify a longer contract. We’ll dive into why their respective teams need additional cap space and how moving non-guaranteed 2023 money to future years can provide cap relief.

Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers are set to be $19.6 million over the cap this offseason. For a team that desperately needs to improve a run defense that ranked last in yards per carry allowed (5.4) this season, that’s a problem.

Extending star running back Austin Ekeler wouldn’t erase all of L.A.’s cap deficit, but it would provide a nice head start. Ekeler, who racked up 915 rushing yards, 722 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns in 2022, is only 27 years old and should remain a long-term building block for the Chargers.

The final year of Ekeler’s contract is set to carry a 2023 cap hit of $7.8 million with only $1.5 million in dead money. On a new deal, though, Ekeler’s $6.3 million base salary could be reduced to the league minimum of $1 million.

With dead money and a minimum salary considered, Los Angeles could lower Ekeler’s 2023 cap hit by $4.3 million—give or take, depending on how any bonuses are structured. A singing bonus could be prorated over the life of the contract, and general manager Tom Telesco could offer guaranteed future salaries or roster bonuses.

This would effectively give Ekeler more guaranteed money upfront while providing Los Angeles with a little more cap flexibility and ensuring that one of its biggest stars is around for the foreseeable future.

Derrick Henry, Taylor Lewan and Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are projected to be $23.5 million over the cap, and they need to address a pass defense that allowed more yards than any other team in 2022.

Tennessee also needs to decide the futures of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and offensive tackle Taylor Lewan. Lewan is a three-time Pro Bowler but missed the bulk of the 2022 season with a knee injury.

Tannehill has mostly been a solid starter for the Titans, but at 34 years old, he may have taken the team as far as he’s going to take it. The possibility of upgrading the quarterback position and/or planning for Tannehill’s exit hangs over Tennessee’s offseason.

“Ryan has been great here. He’s won a lot of football games. I look forward to us winning football games. But I still need more time to evaluate and make those decisions,” new general manager Ron Carthon said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport.

If the Titans choose to keep Tannehill, they could clear considerable cap space with an extension. He’s set to carry a $36.6 million cap hit with $18.8 million in dead money and a $27 million base salary. His league-minimum salary would be roughly $1.2 million.

Lewan is set to carry a $14.8 million cap hit with no dead money remaining. His base salary could be lowered to a league-minimum $1.2 million on an extension if the Titans believe he can bounce back. If they don’t, he could be released outright.

Star running back Derrick Henry, on the other hand, is more likely to be in the team’s future plans. He’s set to carry a $16.4 million cap hit with $9 million in dead money. An extension would be the logical next step after Henry agreed to restructure his deal at the beginning of the 2022 season.

Releasing Henry would save $7.4 million off the 2023 cap. Extending him with a $1.1 million base salary would save nearly as much—again, give or take bonuses—without giving up the lifeblood of Tennessee’s offense.