Cap Analysis - Chill It, Skillet

[Schneed10]

I've stepped out the cap analysis game for a bit, but never was there a time when it's needed now. The NFL's $36 M adjustment to the Redskins' salary cap figure hurts, but this should not thrust the team into terrible difficulty. Redskins fans would be wise to take a collective breath.

Here's some math, sometimes seeing the numbers and how they can still work allows for some relaxation. For these purposes, I'm going to assume the Redskins will choose to spread their $36 M adjustment evenly over two years, taking $18 M each year.

Cap Space - March 6: $34.7 M
NFL Adjustment: ($18.0 M)
Atogwe Release: $3.6 M
Sellers Release: $1.0 M
Rule of 51 Adj: ($0.8 M)
Estimated Cap Space - March 12: $18.5 M

We currently have in the neighborhood of $18.5 M in cap space. One must allow for the expected resigning of a few key players, I'm using gut feel for their expected cap hits:

Rex Grossman: ($1.0 M)
London Fletcher: ($6.0 M)
Adam Carriker: ($2.5 M)
Rookie Pool: ($7.0 M)
Rule of 51 Adj: $3.9 M
Estimated Cap Space after Retentions: $5.9 M

So after we retain just a handful of additional players and pay our rookies, we're down to only $5.9 M of space. But here's where the news gets better. More releases and restructures can take place to save more space. I'd expect some, not all, of these moves to take place:

Cooley Restructure: $3.0 M
Fred Davis Extension: $2.0 M
DeAngelo Hall Release: $6.0 M
Stephen Bowen Restructure: $2.0 M
Will Montgomery Bonus Restructure: $2.0 M
Josh Wilson Restructure: $2.0 M
Potential Room Created: $17.0 M

Potential Cap Space: $22.9 M

So making all of these moves, and others I'm likely not thinking of, can get us back to $22.9 M in space. So now you simply make economic choices. Would you use $7M in space to sign VJax and kick some cap dollars into the future through restructures? Or would you forego VJax and take the cap medicine now? Do you pass on London and sign several other lower $ players instead?

This big NFL adjustment hurts - the Redskins won't feel as free wheeling as they otherwise might have. But this much is certain: the flexibility still exists to continue making the team over in Shanahan's image. It's not a cap hell situation.