I want to help my fellow Washington Redskins Fans learn how the team is doing all this and what if any of this will do to us next year. Hahahaha, i don't think it will affect us at all.
http://redskins.scout.com/2/507127.html
For those of you who do not feel like linking to the article well here it is in it.
Wide Open Spaces: Skins Can Get $18M Under
By Robert Large
WarpathInsiders.com
Date: Mar 9, 2006
Some 48 hours after being on the brink of being very limited in the free agent market, the Redskins are breathing much easier. Thanks to the CBA extension, with a few simple moves and player releases, the Redskins will be able to create plenty of cap space to fill their needs. Our resident Capologist looks at the potential moves and adds up the savings.
In Joe Gibbs own words “We (the Redskins) are very aggressive in free agency”. With the chances of an extension to the CBA looking in the balance for the last week, the Redskins could have been looking at an offseason of restraint instead of aggressive buying. However, when the owners agreed to the last obstacle in the way of a new labor agreement - a revenue sharing deal – on Wednesday evening, the Redskins were back in an “aggressive mood”.
With the new labor agreement now in place, the restrictions of the 30 percent rule and the prorating of bonus monies for only 4 years are washed away, so the Redskins can look at creating cap space to be an active player if free agency.
The first order of business is getting under the new cap limit for 2006 which has been set at $102.0m and we will start at the figure of $115.5m. Three occurrences have helped the Skins already without having to barely raise a finger:
The mutually agreed release of LaVar Arrington and his killer contract (saving nearly $4.3m off his previous cap figure)
The automatic spreading of option bonuses due in 2006 over the next 5 years instead of 4 (for those players who will have 5+ years left on their contracts after the options are exercised), saving $1.2m. The players involved Santana Moss ([body].350m savings), Chris Samuels ([body].350m), Casey Rabach ([body].1m) and Carlos Rogers ([body].4m), and
The automatic voiding of likely to be earned (LTBE) incentive clauses tied to “no new CBA” in the contracts of Samuels ($3.5m), David Patten ([body].6m), Rabach ($1.6m) and Renaldo Wynn (0.4m), totalling $6.0m in savings.
The team has also tendered offers to three of its restricted free agents at the lower tender of [body].712m – Dockery, Jimoh and Chris Clemons.
Also the new CBA deal has increased base salaries across the board by $40,000 per player and this has a $1m impact on the Skins cap number.
This would leave the team at a cap figure of $105.4m, just $3.4m over the cap.
The Redskins also have 8 key players who have large roster bonuses due in 2006 (totalling $13.650m) that could be guaranteed and spread out over the remaining life of the contract or to 2010 if the tenure is longer. This move would result in a further $10.4m in savings for 2006, bringing the Redskins into cap compliance with $7m in cap space already created.
All this and the team has yet to cut or trade a player in the process.
So what other moves could assist in creating additional cap space and potential free agent dollars? Those likely to happen are the following:
Patrick Ramsey could be traded (saving $1.7m)
Brandon Noble ($1.7m), Cory Raymer ($1.0m), Matt Bowen ($2.0m), Tom Tupa ([body].6m) and Walt Harris ($2.0m) will probably be released within the next 48 hours (saving $7.3m)
Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas could undertake a basic 2006 base salary to bonus conversion restructure in thier contracts that could save a further $5.1m.
If all these moves were made (allowing for replacement of released players under the Rule of 51), another $12.2m would be saved, pushing the projected cap number down to $18.2m below the NFL limit.
The Redskins may also be eligible for LTBE incentive cap credits carried over from 2005 would increase this gap even further.
So Washington has plenty of cap room to pursue its needs in free agency in 2006
2007 impact
At this point in time the Redskins have 51 players under contract in 2007 with Ladell Betts and Ethan Albright being the only notable UFA’s. These players currently count $93.730m – and that’s before any 2006 roster bonuses or other contract maniplutions are taken into account. The NFL salary cap in 2007 is predicted at around $109.0m. However, the new labor deal contains a mechanism to adjust the salary cap based on how much the teams collectively spend on player compensation. If the teams collectively spend more than the salary cap in a season -- which is possible since the cap is a flexible spending limit -- the cap would be automatically adjusted downward in subsequent seasons. If the teams collectively spend less than the salary cap in a season, the cap would be automatically adjusted upward in the future
