Cap Sheets Update 8/4/05

Cutting the following players after the July 1 in 2006:

Mark Brunell 5.433
John Hall 1.82
Darnernian McCants 2.167
Renaldo Wynn 3.453
Brandon Noble 2.630

Would shave 15 million of our cap number and bring us to about 92 million, which should be right around the cap. The only big dead cap hit will be Brunell's, but after L. Coles cap hit this year - that will look like peanuts.

Hopefully, some of the top guys will renegotiate so we can resign some of our pending free agents that year.

We better hope we can find a D-lineman in the draft next year though...particularly if we cut Wynn and/or Noble. Hopefully we will have enough picks in the draft - 2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7 - to pick up some young d-line depth.

I have a question if anyone can help. On the release fees page of the cap sheets, I am going to use Cory Raymer for my example. If you look at his release fee, which is $267,000.00 and then look at his cap hit which is $1,108,000.00. Now if the Redskins were to release Raymer tomorrow would we get the difference, $841,000.00, added on to our current salary cap? So, basicly would we be saving ourselves $841,000.00?

Yes exactly, well almost.

- If it was before June 1st, 2005 you would be exactly right. We would save $1,108,000 but incur a 2005 deadcap charge of $267,000, for a net savings of $841,000.

- However since it is past June 1st, the deadcap charge gets spread between 2005 and 2006. The 2005 portion of signing bonus (ie $133,000) would go on our 2005 deadcap. The remaining signing bonus ($133,000) would go on our 2006 deadcap. So for 2005 we would have a net savings of $974,000.

When I first glance at it, the $107 million in 2006 is very troubling. The cap this year is at $85 million, but the new TV deal is supposed to make the cap jump dramatically next year. It's hard to speculate what the cap will be, but if it goes up 10% we're talking a $93.5 million cap in 2006. If it goes up 20%, we're talking a $102 million cap.

Our $107 million still looks high, but never fear. Click on the "Salaries" tab at the bottom of the page. Now look down the 2006 column. These are the base salaries that guys are scheduled to make next year. You see Jansen and Randy Thomas will make 3.5 and 4.0 million. Those salaries can be restructured and given to them as signing bonuses, which would lessen the cap hit in 2006.

Tons of other players are scheduled to make $1.0 - $2.0 million in base salary. Those can also be restructured.

In 2006 some significant roster bonuses are due to Portis, Griffin, Washington, Arrington, Rabach, and Springs. These can all be restructured to become signing bonuses as well.

All told, between the base salaries and the roster bonuses, I can see between $10 - $15 million being shaved off our 2006 cap, just by restructuring contracts. And hopefully cutting Brunell.

I don't see any roster purging coming. But I also don't see us going out and signing any big names next offseason. Fine by me, I like continuity.

PS You da man, CC.

As usual Schneed, couldn't have said it better myself.

Brunell will be gone this time next year (see Campbell). Others will probably include Hall (see Chandler), Harris (see Rogers), Bowen, McCants, Raymer, Tupa, Friedman. These savings along with a few restructurings like Schneed mentioned should help. The increased cap in 2006 will also help.

We just have to stay away from those $9 Million Dollar Babies...

And as always I am grateful we have an owner that looks for ways to spend beyond the maximum, not save beyond the minimum.

O ya I forgot to mention that due to conflicting information concerning Samuels and Arrington's contracts, our current 2006 cap number is probably closer to $115M than $107M.

Will McCants make it to next year?

It's not looking good for him right now.

As usual Schneed, couldn't have said it better myself.

Brunell will be gone this time next year (see Campbell). Others will probably include Hall (see Chandler), Harris (see Rogers), Bowen, McCants, Raymer, Tupa, Friedman. These savings along with a few restructurings like Schneed mentioned should help. The increased cap in 2006 will also help.

We just have to stay away from those $9 Million Dollar Babies...

And as always I am grateful we have an owner that looks for ways to spend beyond the maximum, not save beyond the minimum.

That 9 million dollar baby you're talking about must be the cap hit we took from letting LC go. Seems like it was wise planning though to let him go and take that cap hit now. Our 2006 total hit is set at 107-115 million now. If LC were still in the fold, it would have been even higher. Getting rid of him in '05 cleared him off the books in '06 and after.

That move, plus the pending restructures we've been mentioning, probably allows us to keep our key players fully intact. If we had kept LC this year, that might not be the case. Tough to know for sure, but clearing him off the books definitely helps.

I guess there's good and bad to everything. The bad was he ate up 9 million this year. The good is we will probably be able to keep our core together for a while, and build some continuity and deep sense of identity. Finally, we'll have some players on the team long enough to be able to call them true "career Redskins."

That 9 million dollar baby you're talking about must be the cap hit we took from letting LC go. Seems like it was wise planning though to let him go and take that cap hit now. Our 2006 total hit is set at 107-115 million now. If LC were still in the fold, it would have been even higher. Getting rid of him in '05 cleared him off the books in '06 and after.

That move, plus the pending restructures we've been mentioning, probably allows us to keep our key players fully intact. If we had kept LC this year, that might not be the case. Tough to know for sure, but clearing him off the books definitely helps.

I guess there's good and bad to everything. The bad was he ate up 9 million this year. The good is we will probably be able to keep our core together for a while, and build some continuity and deep sense of identity. Finally, we'll have some players on the team long enough to be able to call them true "career Redskins."


I agree that it's better to get the $9M off our books now so we have more to sign our key players, escpecially in our trouble year (2006). I just thought Coles was one of our key players.

I'm still a little bitter about the $9MDB but I'll get over it. A playoff berth wouldn't hurt either.

Will McCants make it to next year?

It's not looking good for him right now.

Well if we dumped him now we'd save only about $545K against our 2005 cap. Plus another player would have to replace McCants in the top 51 at a minimum cap hit of $230K. So the savings by cutting him now are minimal.

But barring a miracle and/or a major restructuring I think it's safe to say he won't be around in 2006.

So if I'm understanding right are you saying that it actually helps the team to have McCants on the roster this season--not necessarily from a football standpoint but from a financial standpoint?

Cutting the following players after the July 1 in 2006:

Mark Brunell 5.433
John Hall 1.82
Darnernian McCants 2.167
Renaldo Wynn 3.453
Brandon Noble 2.630

Would shave 15 million of our cap number and bring us to about 92 million, which should be right around the cap. The only big dead cap hit will be Brunell's, but after L. Coles cap hit this year - that will look like peanuts.

Hopefully, some of the top guys will renegotiate so we can resign some of our pending free agents that year.

We better hope we can find a D-lineman in the draft next year though...particularly if we cut Wynn and/or Noble. Hopefully we will have enough picks in the draft - 2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7 - to pick up some young d-line depth.

I don't know about Wynn. While not spectacular, he is solid. And he can play both End and Tackle. Fact is, he would have to be replaced. DEs are super expensive, so I don't know how that would work. Basically, everyone wants an upgrade at that positon. Well, wouldn't an upgrade most likely cost more money?