Cooley Restructures

With Dan Snyder taking care of the cash, we're NEVER in cap trouble. :)

Thanks Cooley, for being a team guy.
why i agree with Cooley being a team guy, this kind of move doesn't really mean that. all it means is that Cooley's money is guaranteed. not a whole lot of guaranteed money in the nfl

To the cap experts: With this latest restructure where do we now stand for cap room? Probably still in the red I'm guessing but getting a lot closer to the green.

I'd guess we are about $12M in the red right now. I haven't had time to update the cap sheets but I will try to soon.

What Cooley has done is typical of what many players have done on this team for several years, and we all appreciate it. It speaks volumes about the type players we have on the team who are willing to restructure, some on more than one ocasion.

Working off the familiar format I've been posting, note the moves that have already been made:

Start: $20.4 million OVER cap

Potential Roster Cuts:
Phillip Daniels - $3.0 million saved
Mark Brunell - $3.4 million saved
Shawn Springs - $2.5 million saved
Pete Kendall - $1.8 million saved
Todd Wade - $700K saved
Total Savings for Cuts: $11.4 million

Keeping These Players, Restructuring 2008 Base Salary, Prorating over Remaining life of Contract:
Randy Thomas - $3.7 million saved - EXECUTED
Clinton Portis - $3.2 million saved
Jon Jansen - $3.2 million saved
Chris Samuels - $2.8 million saved
Cornelius Griffin - $2.6 million saved
Santana Moss - $1.9 million saved
Casey Rabach - $1.4 million saved
Total Salary Restructure Savings: $18.8 million

Keeping These Players, Restructuring 2008 Roster Bonuses, Prorating over Remaining life of Contract:
Ladell Betts - $1.7 million saved
Clinton Portis - $0.4 million saved
Chris Cooley - $9.2 million saved - EXECUTED
Andre Carter - $1.9 million saved - EXECUTED
Antwaan Randle-El - $1.2 million saved
Total Bonus Restructure Savings: $14.4 million

Restructures that I'm aware of consist of Randy Thomas, Andre Carter, and Chris Cooley. There could be others I'm not aware of. Cooley shaved $9.2 million alone.

My numbers above are not official, but they follow the same logic the Skins have used in the past. Carter and Thomas shaved nearly $6 million between them. Cooley shaved $9.2.

So we should be down $15.2 million from the $20.4 million we started at. This means we're still in the red by $5.2 million. PCinOZ's numbers would have us at $4.0 million over the cap after the Cooley restructure. So it's fair to say we're right around $4.0 - $5.2 million over the cap right now.

And you'll note there are plenty of moves listed above that don't have the word "EXECUTED" next to them, which means there are still plenty of ways to bring the cap number down. We're good to go.

What Cooley has done is typical of what many players have done on this team for several years, and we all appreciate it. It speaks volumes about the type players we have on the team who are willing to restructure, some on more than one ocasion.

Like Dmek said, taking the guaranteed money is just good business sense. Everyone likes Cooley, but I'm not sure we should go sing the moral virtues of guys who are willing to take a check for $10 mil ... I think we'd all do that right? Not exactly a hardship, c'mon. The person you should feel sorry for is the drive thru teller who will have to deposit that thing ...

These aren't pay cuts (as they tried to get Springs to take last year) these are restructures and fancy accounting. Not saying its a bad thing, let's just not get too carried away about what the "volumes" it speaks about the players.

Schneed...Tell us about how Sean Taylor's cap numbers affect the total.

Schneed...Tell us about how Sean Taylor's cap numbers affect the total.

His signing bonus accelerates and hits us in 2008. We take a cap hit because of it and carry him as dead money in 2008 (brings an all-too-real meaning to that term, doesn't it). It's nothing major, just a million or two.

FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - 'Skins rework Cooley deal to save cap space (http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7796664/)

FOXSports.com has learned Washington converted an $11 million roster bonus Cooley was scheduled to receive into guaranteed money. The move is believed to have lowered Cooley's 2008 cap number from a team-high $12.2 million to $4.4 million.

We have to have the best cap people in the NFL. I swear every offseason we are egregiously over the cap, and somehow we get enough for free agents and draft picks.

If the cap was anything like the US national deficit, Snyder's people would be heroes (at least on a national scale, we still look to save us from the wake of a DS spending spree..haha).

Like Dmek said, taking the guaranteed money is just good business sense. Everyone likes Cooley, but I'm not sure we should go sing the moral virtues of guys who are willing to take a check for $10 mil ... I think we'd all do that right? Not exactly a hardship, c'mon. The person you should feel sorry for is the drive thru teller who will have to deposit that thing ...

These aren't pay cuts (as they tried to get Springs to take last year) these are restructures and fancy accounting. Not saying its a bad thing, let's just not get too carried away about what the "volumes" it speaks about the players.


Not all players are willing to restructure period. It's mostly done upon request for the sole purpose of helping the teams cap situation. I realize it's not a pay cut, rather a good faith gesture and we appreciate that.

I've just learned that the Randle-El restructure I listed below did indeed take place as well. The $1.2 million in savings from his accounts for all of the difference between my numbers and the ones provided by PCinOZ. Because we're tying out, it's pretty much official, we're $4.0 million over the cap.

Start: $20.4 million OVER cap

Potential Roster Cuts:
Phillip Daniels - $3.0 million saved
Mark Brunell - $3.4 million saved
Shawn Springs - $2.5 million saved
Pete Kendall - $1.8 million saved
Todd Wade - $700K saved
Total Savings for Cuts: $11.4 million

Keeping These Players, Restructuring 2008 Base Salary, Prorating over Remaining life of Contract:
Randy Thomas - $3.7 million saved - EXECUTED
Clinton Portis - $3.2 million saved
Jon Jansen - $3.2 million saved
Chris Samuels - $2.8 million saved
Cornelius Griffin - $2.6 million saved
Santana Moss - $1.9 million saved
Casey Rabach - $1.4 million saved
Total Salary Restructure Savings: $18.8 million

Keeping These Players, Restructuring 2008 Roster Bonuses, Prorating over Remaining life of Contract:
Ladell Betts - $1.7 million saved
Clinton Portis - $0.4 million saved
Chris Cooley - $9.2 million saved - EXECUTED
Andre Carter - $1.9 million saved - EXECUTED
Antwaan Randle-El - $1.2 million saved - EXECUTED
Total Bonus Restructure Savings: $14.4 million

AFTER EXECUTED TRANSACTIONS: $4.0 MILLION OVER