A day before Seahawks G.M. John Schneider addressed the potential impact of Washington’s looming “millionaire tax” on the defending Super Bowl champions, Simms and I stumbled into a conversation about state income taxes during PFT Live.
The spark came from the trade that has sent defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa from the Cowboys (and Texas) to the 49ers (and California). In his last stop, there was no state income tax. At his new team, he’ll lose 13.3 percent, off the top.
It’s not as clean and simple as every penny of compensation being taxed, or not, by the state where the team plays. For road trips, the game check is taxed by the state in which the game happens. It gets more complicated as to per-game roster bonuses. As we hear it, some states try to tax the visiting player based also on a percentage of the full-year roster bonuses and/or the prorated portion of the signing bonus for the season in which the game is played.
And, yes, the lack of state income tax becomes a selling point in free agency, which explains Schneider’s concerns about Washington’s tax rate for millionaires increasing from 0.0 percent to 9.9. But, as Odighizuwa will learn the hard way, that doesn’t matter if the free-agent contract also doesn’t include a no-trade clause.
Regardless, the variations in state income tax create an imbalance as it relates to the most important aspect of anyone’s pay — how much they take home.
Simms mentioned on Thursday’s PFT Live that he heard something interesting from someone in the league who saw the tax discussion from the day before. (And, yes, plenty of people in the league watch PFT Live — probably because it features no phony debates, no false praise, no reckless hype, no minced words, and no performative antics.) There’s an argument to be made that the salary cap should take state income taxes into account.
It would be complicated, given that taxes depend on where games are played. Still, every team has eight or nine home games per year. That’s roughly half of the compensation, taxed based on where the team is located.
The real question is whether teams should get more to spend, given that more of what is paid will end up being taken off the top by the state government. Some teams may not want to do it, since having a higher cap means having a higher floor means spending more money that otherwise would be siphoned away as pure profit.
And the numbers would be significant. At a 2026 salary cap of $301.2 million, providing the Rams, Chargers, and 49ers with a 13.3-percent bump would push the cap to $341.2 million for those teams.
The deeper question is whether state income taxes make a competitive difference. As noted the other day, most of the teams in the no-tax states haven’t been to a Super Bowl this century. (The Seahawks and Buccaneers are the exception; the Titans, Cowboys, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Texans are not.)
Part of the problem is that most players don’t fret about state income taxes, even if they should. Players focus mainly on annual average, the true locker-room measuring stick that determines the pecking order among the most and least valuable players.
Although it would indeed be difficult to come up with the right way to determine cap credits, since the total tax burden depends on where games are played, that would be doable. The bigger challenge would be to get all teams in states with income tax to agree to a higher cap in order to account for it.
News flash: Not every team is as obsessed with winning as they pretend to be. For many owners, it’s about profit. Having more money to spend means having less to buy giant yachts or that much-needed tenth home. Especially since the owners of the teams in the high-tax states are also paying those increased rates, too.
Just kidding. The ultra-rich have seemingly cracked the code on eating nearly every ounce of what they kill. Which is another reason why the owners of the teams in the high-tax states won’t want to have more to spend — even if they have to say they do.
The Dolphins are signing wide receiver Jalen Tolbert to a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Tolbert, 27, spent his first four seasons with the Cowboys after they made him a third-round pick in 2022.
He has made 91 catches for 1,093 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career.
Tolbert has seen action on 1,922 offensive snaps and 381 on special teams.
In 2025, he caught 18 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown after the Cowboys brought in George Pickens as their No. 2 wide receiver.
Tolbert played with new Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis in the 2022 Senior Bowl.
Edge rusher David Ojabo is moving on to the Dolphins.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Ojabo has agreed to sign with Miami as a free agent. No terms of the deal have been reported.
Ojabo was a Ravens second-round pick in 2022 and missed most of his rookie season while recovering from a torn Achilles that he suffered at his Michigan Pro Day workout. A torn ACL ended his 2023 season after three games, but Ojabo returned to play in 27 games the last two seasons.
Ojabo had 25 tackles and 2.5 sacks in those appearances to go with seven tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles in his first two years. The Dolphins will be hoping that a change of scenery can boost Ojabo’s productivity in 2026.
The Giants are adding a piece to their secondary on Friday.
Defensive back Elijah Campbell’s agents Drew Rosenhaus and Shawn O’Dare told Adam Schefter of ESPN that Campbell has agreed to terms with the NFC East club. It’s a one-year deal in Jersey for Campbell.
Campbell appeared in 10 games for the Dolphins last season and he played in 65 games for the team over the last five seasons. He spent much of that time playing a core special teams role.
Campbell had 45 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while with Miami. The Giants have also added Greg Newsome and Ar’Darius Washington to their secondary this week.
The Dolphins signed kickers Riley Patterson and Zane Gonzalez and long snapper Tucker Addington. Now, they have their punter.
The team announced on Friday that it has signed Seth Vernon.
Vernon played collegiately at Portland State from 2019-21, averaging 44.6 yards per punt before signing with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
He has also spent time with the Vikings and the Buccaneers, but he has never punted in a regular-season NFL game.
In 2025, Vernon played for the Michigan Panthers in the UFL. He punted 23 times for a 45.4-yard average with eight punts landing inside the 20-yard line.
