The Redskins have convinced starting C Kory Lichtensteiger to take a pay cut. This is just my personal speculation, but this could mean that Licht was on the bubble as veterans on the bubble are oftentimes asked to take a pay cut to remain on the team.
Kory’s 2016 salary decreased from $3.5M to $2.25M. He can still make that lost $1.25M in incentives. We don’t yet know exactly what those incentives are, but they likely revolve around playing time and/or starts.
What’s interesting is the Redskins already had a good amount of salary cap room. This wasn’t some desperately needed restructure. They didn’t need to create this room for any particular reason this year. This adds to a few other events (perhaps drafting C Ryan Kelly and then trying to trade for C Bryan Stork) to paint a pretty clear picture that the Redskins want to upgrade their C position.
It’ll be interesting to see exactly what the incentives are and find out if Licht can earn this money back. As cuts come from around the league over the next two days, the team could very well continue looking to upgrade the position (and possible prevent Kory from hitting his incentives in the process).
Source: Washington G Kory Lichtensteiger has taken a paycut from $3.5M to $2.25M for 2016. He can earn the $1.25M back in incentives.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 2, 2016