Redskins Salary Cap Series: Potential 2014 Cuts

Part 1: Redskins 2014 Salary Cap Commitments 

Part 2: How the “Rule of 51” Creates Additional Cap Flexibility

Salary Cap numbers courtesy of  Overthecap.com

Here is a look at the players the Redskins could cut this offseason to further clear their cap, and get rid of some bad contracts:

DE Adam Carriker:

Current Deal: 2014: $6.510 | $6.760

Dead Money if Cut: $3.521

Cap Savings: 2014: $2.990 | $6.760

-This is a no-brainer move for the Redskins. Carriker hasn’t played a down since week 2 of 2012, and has had to go through multiple surgeries. He wasn’t even worth the $6 million plus even before the injury, and this was a drastic overpay by the Redskins. Carriker should be cut and will save the Redskins a big chunk of change over the next two seasons. Some may want to “renegotiate” with Carriker for a reduced deal, but it’s simply not worth it. Right now you can’t count on Carriker, he isn’t a drastic upgrade, and he shouldn’t be making any more than league minimum.

DE Stephen Bowen:

Current Deal: 2014: $7.020 | 2015: $8.020

Dead Money if Cut: $5.040

Cap Savings: 2014: $1.980 | 2015: $8.020 

-Bowen’s play had deteriorated since his solid first season with the Redskins in 2011. Though he hadn’t really missed time before last year, he was nicked up with injuries and needed offseason surgery in each of the previous two seasons. Things got worse this year as Bowen continued to deal with injuries and decreased play, and finally was lost in late November and needed micro-fracture surgery. Bowen is out till at least the summer and there is no guarantee he can come back. While the $5 million dead cap hit is hefty, it is better than trying to stick by him and paying the full $7 million for him to be on I.R. Getting rid of Bowen now clears a couple million in cap room this year and a huge chunk in 2015.

OG Chris Chester:

Current Deal: 2014: $4.300 | 2015: $4.800

Dead Money if Cut: $1.600

Cap Savings: 2014: $2.700 | 2015: $4.800

-Chester really regressed in 2013 and was a major mess at right guard for the Redskins. He has two more years remaining on his deal and now looks like a good time to get him off the books. The Skins can save a nice $2.7 million this year and nearly $5 million in 2015. The Skins can clearly use that money better than giving it to Chester. The Skins could hope for a bounceback year, but it’s probably better to clean the books and start a new along this line.

OG Kory Lichtensteiger:

Current Deal: 2014: $3.300 | 2015: $4.300 | 2016: $4.050 | 2017: $4.050

Dead Money if Cut: $2.200

Cap Savings: 2014: 1.100 | 2015: $4.300 | 2016: $4.050 | 2017: $4.050 

-This was an awful contract that moment it was signed as Lichtensteiger was grossly overpaid (though luckily the guarantee wasn’t too high) and he never should have gotten 5 years. Lichtensteiger was once again pushed around along the line and just hasn’t shown himself worthy of a starting or back-up role. The savings for 2014 are minimal, but it does clean out a lot of future money which is really nice and it turns the page on one of the bigger mistakes of the Redskins in recent years.

OC Will Montgomery:

Current Deal: 2014: $3.425 | 2015: $3.925 | 2016 $0.500 (payment on voidable year)

Dead Money if Cut: $1.500

Cap Savings: 2014: $1.925 | 2015: $3.925 | $0.500

-Montgomery was another lineman who regressed this past season, and he became quite a liability with penalties. Montgomery had some solid years with the Redskins before hand, but he’s not worth keeping at these prices. Skins can save nearly $2 million this year and another $4 million in 2015. That is plenty enough reason to get rid of him and move on to another center.

OT Tyler Polumbus:

Current Deal: 2014: $2.600

Dead Money if Cut: $0.100

Cap Savings: 2014: $2.500

-Polumbus was only expected to count for $1.6 million this year making him a borderline decision as to whether or not to keep him for next year. Due to playing time though, Polumbus triggered a $1 million bonus which now puts his salary at $2.6 million, which is more than the Redskins can justify for him as a back-up. The Skins can save $2.5 million by cutting him making it a pretty easy decision.

TE Logan Paulsen:

Current Deal: 2014: $2.237 | 2015: $2.117 (Likely would void based on playing time)

Dead Money if Cut: $0.733

Cap Savings: 2014: $1.503 | 2015: $2.117 (or $0.367 if the contract voided)

-The Redskins rewarded Paulsen’s solid 2012 with a decent contract that had some nice bonuses in it. Paulsen triggered some of those bonuses and now is being paid at a rate higher than his production and potential deserve. While Paulsen is a nice effort guy, his marketable skill, blocking, appears to be quite streaky. He really regressed in this role last year and it cost the Redskins. The Redskins can’t justify paying him this much, especially when you can find stopgap TE’s on the cheap each year.

P Sav Rocca:

Current Deal: 2014: $1.363

Dead Money if Cut: $0.163

Cap Savings: 2014: $1.200

-Should be the easiest and quickest decision for the Redskins. Rocca doesn’t do kick-offs, which the Skins need since Kai Forbath struggles in that area, and even worse he can’t punt effectively. Rocca was the worst punter in the league, after being near the bottom of the pack the year before. He doesn’t do a great job with distance and hasn’t shown any ability to consistently pin opponents inside the 5 or 10 yard line. Rocca should be cut if he was making league minimum, and the fact that he’s making over a million makes this an easy decision.

LS Nick Sundberg:

Current Deal: 2014: $0.913 | 2015: $1.113 | 2016: $1.163

Dead Money if Cut: $0.488

Cap Savings: 2014: $0.425 | 2015: $1.113 | 2016: $1.163

-Sundberg has missed most of the past two seasons, and just isn’t the type of long snapper who deserves more than league minimum. The savings would be minimal this year, but cutting him now gets him off the books for the next two years so it makes some sense.

DL Kedric Golston:

Current Deal: 2014: $1.245 | 2015: $1.220

Dead Money if Cut: $0.240

Cap Savings: 2014: $1.005 | 2015: $1.220

-Golston is an okay depth player and has played in both the 3-4 and 4-3 and showed back-up qualities. The Redskins though need to improve their DE talent and Golston isn’t anything special so hanging on to him doesn’t make a lot of sense. If the Redskins sign a bigger name DL or two they could decide that Golston is unlikely to make the final roster and that money over the next two years can help offset any signing.

Total 2014 Cap Savings: $17.328

Dead Money: $15.585

New Salary Cap Space: $42.872

Notes:

-This doesn’t take into account the players replacing these ten cut players among the Rule of 51, that is due to the fact that most should be replaced by higher paid FA’s or re-signings.

-Many will harp on the $15.585 million in dead money, but that is a sunk cost and much of it comes from Bowen and Carriker who are pretty much automatic cuts.

-This cleans the cap this year and next year and gives the Redskins great flexibility (More on that in my next piece)

-Creates big OL and DL holes, but those are all needs anyways and would need to be addressed. Now there is more money to address them.