Redskins Insider blog shout out to the Warpath

[Schneed10]

Yeah I read through it, I think it makes a lot of sense. I would even say that the author is erring on the side of saying we'll be more limited than we really will be.

He basically said there's no cap disaster looming, despite the fact that we have $124 million committed in 2008, a year that figures to have a cap of $116 million. But he's right in figuring we'll free ourselves from Brunell (though I'm not sure about his estimate of saving $6.5 million from that, Brunell's contract is going to void but we're still going to have to carry the $3.1 million in accelerated bonuses, so I think we'll only save $3.4 million on Brunell in '08).

He mentions Springs as a possible cut. I think that's definitely possible, but I'd like to point out that it's not necessary. In 2008, we can generate cap room by cutting any of the following guys:

Springs
Marcus Washington
Cornelius Griffin
Casey Rabach
Phillip Daniels
Todd Wade
Ladell Betts (take it easy, won't happen)

We also have the flexibility to restructure or renegotiate contracts for a lot of these players. There are so many directions the team can go, they can afford to evaluate the roster this year and decide who is worth keeping and who is worth jettisoning. The front office's hand should not be forced by the salary cap, they have the ability to shape the team in a number of ways.

Do I think we'll be able to afford signing all the free agents we want? No. But that's a good thing anyway.

Now one thing I'd quibble with the blog's author about is his argument that all teams successfully manage the cap. That's just crazy. Just because you were able to make moves to fit under the cap doesn't mean you've done your team favors. The Ravens dismantled their team in 2001 after their Super Bowl victory for cap reasons, the 49ers are just coming out of several years of being a league bottom feeder because their cap in 1999 - 2001 became too cumbersome, the Titans had to start rebuilding in 2002 and 2003 because of the cap.

One day the Redskins could find themselves in that kind of cap trouble, but so far from what I can tell, they have positioned themselves with enough flexibility to take the team in just about any direction they want in the near future (save for the direction of signing everyone under the sun - which we don't want anyway). The Skins deserve praise for their management of the salary cap.

Now their evaluation of talent? That may need a little work (Archuleta, Lloyd).