[Schneed10]

The article comes off sounding like the players may be unwilling to "restructure." I wholeheartedly disagree. Sure, no player would want to take a pay cut, but that's not what a "restructure" is.

Take a player who couldn't give a crap what team he's on. He's scheduled to make $5 million in base salary this year, and he's got 3 years left on his contract. The Redskins go to him and say here, we'll give you the $5 million we owe you this year as a guaranteed signing bonus instead of giving it to you in game checks throughout the season. Players like money, and they like lump sum payments best. In the end, they just want their $5 million, they won't care how they get it, and they may even prefer the lump sum up front. That move saves the 'Skins cap space in '07, kicking more of the cap hit down the road to absorb in '08 and '09.

Now consider that most of these veterans do care about the team, and voila, not a soul will give the team trouble. You can take it to the bank.

If the 'Skins decide they want to keep these veterans, they'll be able to do it easily, and still have cap space to pursue more free agents. The only question will be whether the team thinks their skills are declining. If the 'Skins make a cut, it will be 99% based on their skill level, and 1% based on the cap.