http://cornerblitz.com/2013/Features/Potential-Cap-Cuts.aspx2013 Potential Cap Cuts
Who may be getting the axe this offseason?
Every year many players get the axe due either to salary cap restrictions or their performance just not measuring up to the coin they're set to draw. Today, the New York Jets hacked off some major salary chunks, setting free Jason Smith (+12 Million cap gain,) Calvin Pace (+8.5 MM gain,) Bart Scott (+7 MM gain,) and Eric Smith (+3 MM gain.) This bloodletting of underperforming (and on the Jets, who didn't underperform?) players brought their 2013 cap number from a league-high $144 MM to close to league-median $114 million, about $7 MM under the generally-accepted estimated 2013 salary cap. There have been rumors this week, however, that the cap number may be somewhat higher than that.
That brings us to the team with the next-highest 2013 cap committment, America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are currently saddled with a 139.8 MM cap number. Just do what the Jets did, and cut the dead weight, right? It's not as easy as that. Thanks to the absolutely wonderful web site spotrac.com, we can see the savings (or cost) towards the cap of cutting each player in the NFL. The problem the Cowboys face is, who in the heck can they cut?
Let's look at the players in the 75th percentile of the Cowboys' cap number and the cost/benefit of their release:
Code:
Player Pos Cap Cost Dead Money Cut Benefit
Tony Romo QB $16.8MM $13.5MM +$3.3MM
Brandon Carr CB $16.3MM $22.3MM -$6.0MM
Demarcus Ware DE $12.2MM $10.7MM +$1.5MM
Doug Free OT $10.2MM $10.2MM $0.0MM
Miles Austin WR $8.3MM $4.7MM +$3.6MM
Jason Witten TE $8.0MM $7.5MM +$0.5MM
Jay Ratliff DT $7.0MM $10.0MM -$3.0MM
Dan Connor LB $4.3MM $1.3MM +$3.0MM
Gerald Sensabaugh S $3.8MM $2.4MM +$1.4MM
Orlando Scandrick CB $3.8MM $6.5MM -$2.7MM
Morris Claiborne CB $3.7MM $13.3MM -$9.6MM
Tyron Smith OT $3.4MM $7.4MM -$4.0MM
As you can see, the Cowboys don't have very many places they can cut players and actually save money. In fact, if they cut their entire roster today, they would be at a cap number of $136.9 MM. Put another way, they would have no players under contract and be more than $15 MM over the projected salary cap number of $121 MM.
If the Cowboys cut every single player for which they have a net cap gain, they would still have a cap number of roughly $106MM and an 11-man roster consisting fully of Brandon Carr, Doug Free, Jay Ratliff, Orlando Scandrick, Morris Claiborne, Tyron Smith, Dez Bryant, Nate Livings, Kyle Orton, Barry Church, and Sean Lissemore. Put another way, the Cowboys are in a heap of trouble. It will be interesting to see just how much higher the rumored salary cap will be.
One wrinkle in the cap situation this year is that teams will be required to spend at least 88% of the cap, which works out to $106.5 MM if the cap is set to $121 MM. That means typically thrifty teams like the Bengals, Jags, Browns, and Bucs have to pony up some dough before it's all said and done. That can be done through retaining overpaid players, giving contract extensions to their own good young talent, or paying out big bucks in free agency.
Here are the cap numbers for the rest of the teams and players who could be facing the chopping block (or very heavy restructuring), whether because their team is strapped for cash or they are due far too much more than they are worth. All numbers are taken from spotrac.com as CAP FIGURE minus DEAD MONEY.
Dallas Cowboys (Cap Number $139.8 MM):
•WR Miles Austin +$3.6 MM
•QB Tony Romo +$3.3 MM
•LB Dan Connor +$3.0 MM
•5T Jason Hatcher +$2.0 MM
•S Gerald Sensabaugh +$1.4 MM
•FB Lawrence Vickers +$1.2 MM
New Orleans Saints (Cap Number $136.7 MM):
•DE Will Smith +$7.8 MM
•LB Jonathan Vilma +$6.0 MM
•RB Pierre Thomas +$2.5 MM
Pittsburgh Steelers (Cap Number $133.5 MM):
•OLB James Harrison +$5.1 MM
•TE Heath Miller +$3.2 MM
•CB Ike Taylor +$2.5 MM
Carolina Panthers (Cap Number $127.1 MM):
•CB Chris Gamble +$11.0 MM
•LB Jon Beason +$9.5 MM
•RB Deangelo Williams +$8.2 MM
•LB James Anderson +$4.4 MM
•S Charles Godfrey +$3.7 MM
Washington Redskins (Cap Number $124.9 MM):
•CB Deangelo Hall +$8.0 MM
•WR Santana Moss +$4.5 MM
•DE Adam Carriker +$4.0 MM
•CB Josh Wilson +$4.0 MM
•LB London Fletcher +$3.5 MM
San Francisco 49ers (Cap Number $124.1 MM):
•QB Alex Smith +$8.75 MM
•WR Mario Manningham +$4.0 MM
St. Louis Rams (Cap Number $123.9 MM):
•OT Wayne Hunter +$4.0 MM
•OG Harvey Dahl +$4.0 MM
•S Quintin Mikell +$3.0 MM
•RB Steven Jackson has a player option, not sure how that factors in.
Arizona Cardinals (Cap Number $123.5 MM):
•QB Kevin Kolb +$7.5 MM
•S Kerry Rhodes +$6.0 MM
•LB Stewart Bradley +$3.5 MM
Oakland Raiders (Cap Number $122.4 MM):
•S Tyvon Branch +$6.7 MM
•QB Carson Palmer +$6.0 MM
•DT Tommy Kelly +$4.8 MM
Detroit Lions (Cap Number $119.3 MM):
•QB Shaun Hill +$2.75 MM
•TE Tony Scheffler +$2.5 MM
•WR Nate Burleson +$2.5 MM
Atlanta Falcons (Cap Number $116.7 MM):
•RB Michael Turner +$6.9 MM
•DT Jonathan Babineaux +$4.7 MM
New York Giants (Cap Number $116.7 MM):
•CB Corey Webster +$7.25 MM
•OL David Diehl +$4.75 MM (unlikely, though)
San Diego Chargers (Cap Number $115.2 MM):
•DT Antonio Garay +$5.0 MM
•LB Takeo Spikes +$3.0 MM
New York Jets (Cap Number $114.7 MM):
Jets appear to have finished their housecleaning.
Houston Texans (Cap Number $114.7 MM):
No clear targets for the Texans, either.
Chicago Bears (Cap Number $110.8 MM):
•WR Earl Bennett +$2.4 MM
Baltimore Ravens (Cap Number $108.5 MM):
•WR Anquan Boldin +$6.0 MM
•LB Ray Lewis retires +$4.3 MM
•WR Jacoby Jones +$4.0 MM
•FB Vontae Leach +3.0 MM
Minnesota Vikings (Cap Number $108.0 MM):
•WR Michael Jenkins +$3.0 MM
Kansas City Chiefs (Cap Number $106.5 MM):
•5T Tyson Jackson +$15.0 MM
•QB Matt Cassell +$6.0 MM
Seattle Seahawks (Cap Number $106.1 MM):
•WR Sidney Rice +$6.0 MM
Denver Broncos (Cap Number $105.2 MM):
•CB Champ Bailey +$10.5 MM reports that DEN will not cut Bailey
New England Patriots (Cap Number $104.1 MM):
No clear targets for release
Buffalo Bills (Cap Number $102.8 MM):
•DE Chris Kelsay +$4.2 MM
•WR Brad Smith +$2.75 MM
Tennessee Titans (Cap Number $102.5 MM):
•QB Matt Hasselbeck +$6.0 MM
Green Bay Packers (Cap Number $102.4 MM):
•TE Jermichael Finley +$8.0 MM
•5T Ryan Pickett +$6.2 MM
•WR James Jones +$3.25 MM if retain FA Greg Jennings
•LB Desmond Bishop +$3.1 MM
Philadelphia Eagles (Cap Number $101.3 MM):
•CB Nnamdi Asomugha Jackson +$11.0 MM
•OT Jason Peters +$10.5 MM already cut Bell, so not likely, but coming off injury
Jacksonville Jaguars (Cap Number $95.7 MM):
No clear salary-related cut targets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Cap Number $90.4 MM):
•CB Eric Wright +$7.75 MM
Miami Dolphins (Cap Number $77.7 MM):
No salary cuts anticipated
Indianapolis Colts (Cap Number $76.1 MM):
No salary cuts anticipated
Cleveland Browns (Cap Number $74.4 MM):
•QB Colt McCoy +$2.3 MM
Cincinnati Bengals (Cap Number $65.6 MM):
No salary cuts anticipated
How the salary cap situation plays out will be a very interesting topic to watch, especially with the league's two most-popular teams up against arguably the two worst cap situations. Teams have until March 12th to comply with the cap deadline put in place.
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