Now that the offseason is officially here, although the actual new league year does not begin for another month, it is officially time for teams and fans to begin thinking about moves for next season. The Arizona Cardinals will want to get Calais Campbell under contract, address the offensive line and maybe even go after Peyton Manning.
As it stands, the Cardinals do not have a ton of cap room to be able to work with. According to one report, the 2012 salary cap is estimated to be around $124 million. As things currently stand for Arizona, they would only have about $4 million to work with.
This leads us to the next topic -- what are the Cardinals to do?
Arizona currently has 11 players with a cap number of at least $3 million.
That list is Larry Fitzgerald, Kevin Kolb, Darnell Dockett, Adrian Wilson, Kerry Rhodes, Levi Brown, Stew Bradley, Daryn Colledge, Patrick Peterson, Lyle Sendlein and Todd Heap.
Most of those guys are guys who are not going anywhere.
We know that Levi Brown will come off the cap with his $17 million dollars in cap. Unless Peyton Manning is coming, Kevin Kolb is going nowhere. Fitz, Wilson, Dockett and Rhodes are not being cut. Neither is Patrick Peterson.
That leaves Colledge, Sendlein, Bradley and Heap.
Of that group, I can only see Bradley or Heap being let go.
In Heap's case, he played very little in 2011, but added a nice dimension to the offense late in the season. With Jeff King already under contract as a blocking TE and Rob Housler on a rookie contract, Heap could get the heave-ho.
The same could happen to Bradley. He disappointed last season, but part of that was because Paris Lenon kept him off the field. If the team finds a linebacker they like in the draft, Bradley could go. However, he is able to play both inside and outside, so his flexibility may be good to keep.
So the Cardinals could find themselves in a tough spot. After the expected release of Levi Brown, the team will have some room, but not a ton of room to go after free agents.
Based on the list of "higher cap numbers," who do you think will be a cap casualty after Brown?
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