An early look at the 2014 salary cap and potential moves to give cap relief

I think we can all agree that we have several positions this year that need to be re-signed to keep this team together. This is not a post about that. Istead, this is the preemptive post about who should be cut/traded this offseason to make room for those signings.

Currently overthecap.com has these numbers.

Arizona has 42 players signed for 2014, resulting in $111 million of cap taken up. Add to that the roughly $10 million or so of dead money to be applied to next year, and you have $121 million of the cap accounted for.

I am going to guess that we are going to have a cap number of about $125-$130 million for next year as this year the number appeared to be $123 million.

What could be done to free up some more space?

The first number I see that hits me like a sucker punch to the face is Carson Palmer. I am hopeful that we can maybe restructure his deal somehow adding a couple years to the number and drop his $10 million number way down to a more manageable $5-6 million. (Possible savings: $4-5 million)

I think that we need to consider releasing Jasper Brinkley this coming year. His cap number is sitting at $2.2 million, but by releasing what amounted to 26 total tackles this year we can save $2 million, as his contract would leave $200,000 in dead money.

This next one pains me to say because I really do believe he has a very good year, but it is time to cut Daryn Colledge or ask if he will restructure before then. His numbers for this year and next year are really bad and we need the money spent on Patrick Peterson. If he is cut, the team saves $2.75 million this year and almost $5 million next year and we already have a replacement in Jonathan Cooper coming back. This is also something that could be done in a trade this off season for a 3rd or 4th round pick.

Last but not least.... and I hate to say this... Larry Fitzgerald.... His cap number is awful over the next five years. I don't want to cut him but it is something Steve Keim needs to think about. Currently as it stands, these are the cap numbers for the next five years: 2014: $18 million, 2015: $21.25 million, 2016-2018: $15.25 million, If cut this year only $15 million (2014: $10 million, 2015: $5 million) would be dead money and we would saving over $70 million over 5 years. I think I would prefer a restructure of 55 million over 5 years which would reduce the number from this contract while keeping Larry paid for 5 years fully guaranteed as he comes to the end of his career.

What are the moves you see as potential salary cap savers?