Per enough sources to call it, though by the very nature of the beast, salary cap predictions vary from source to source. Also, I think there was some kind of cap deadline just passed that had to be met. Anyways, it appears that the Redskins are below the cap. First, PFT takes the opportunity to contrast us with the Bucs:
At a time when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are more than $44 million under the per-team spending limit for 2008, the Redskins have narrowly made it under the $116 million salary cap.
I'm sure that amount pleases Buc Em to no end. Florio also notes at PFT that simply being below the cap isn't good enough; in order to sign draft picks and pursue free agents, we'll need to free up more space. Even if we have a quiet free agency, every team necessarily needs to sign a few players to replace outgoing personnel and fill gaps. Rock Cartwright, for instance:
RB Rock Cartwright expects to hit the market; perhaps he'll come back but he wants at least $2 million guaranteed and that's not in the cards here right now.
Not without more moneys created below the salary cap, that is. I'm of the opinion that Rock was one of the best kick returners in the NFC last year and would love to see him back.
So how did we get below the cap? David Elfin says it was Mark Brunell:
Quarterback Mark Brunell's contract was just voided, saving the Redskins $3.4 million against the salary cap and getting them under the $116 million limit more than 30 hours before the 11:59 PM Thursday deadline.
Not sensible defined: 1.5M dollars base salary, though he can't get much cheaper due to his tenure with the league. If he's a Redskin I simultaneously predict and hope he signs a one year contract that qualifies him for the veteran league minimum, though have to think someone else will offer better. Hope springs from his recent purchase of a home in the DC area for a couple million dollars, though that could just be a sign he's ready for retirement.
Jason La Canfora says we're about 3.5M under:
The contracts for Mark Brunell and Rock Cartwright void at the the start of free agency - again, no newsflash - and leaves the Redskins with $3.5 million in cap sapce (not exactly just getting under the cap), according to sources with knowledge of the sitiuation.
On new restructures:
the Skins and Santana Moss have agreed to a restructuring that will save the team several million more. Also, league sources said the Clinton Portis is working on a renegotiated deal today, and once that becomes official and is reflected in the salary cap figures, the Skins could easily have $7 million to play with.
Jason notes that Marcus Washington, Springs, and Griffin "are all open to the idea of moving money around as well under the right agreement[.]" But of course they are, would be, since restructures that don't involve pay cuts are always preferable to the players, because they get cut checks on the spot for money that was not at all guaranteed. The prorated cap hit is a restriction on what the team can spend, not an explanation for how they are spending. Guaranteed money is owed the player on the spot, ex: if I convert X of base salary to guaranteed, prorated salary, I get X in a check from the Washington Redskins. Barring some complex tax law that I can't possibly be expected to know, wouldn't this always benefit the player? Isn't money guaranteed in the form of a check always better than many unearned and perhaps never paid?