The Washington Redskins under Daniel M. Snyder began this off-season roughly $20 million over the salary cap and, judging by the recent silence on their waiver wire, they are having a devil of a time figuring out how to trim the remaining fat.

Already, Snyder and Vinny Cerrato have plucked the low hanging fruit of cap management, re-working big base numbers for guys like Chris Cooley and Randy Thomas for 2008.

But since then, not a single notable player has been cut.

All of this, while other teams -- like the Dolphins (Zach Thomas), the Bears (Mushin Muhammed), and the Falcons (Algae Crumpler) - already have started cleaning house.

I have no doubt that some dead wood will be taken out back. They simply can't re-work everybody. But how much dead wood will be cleared? It will be fascinating to watch.

Logically, it's time to get off the train on certain players. Not just easy targets, like Mark Brunell ($3 million in base salary last year) and Brandon Lloyd (the two-catch, $7 million bonus man). But guys like Shawn Springs and Jon Jansen have essentially outlived their usefulness here.

And it hurts me to say that, because Springs is, and has been, absolutely one of my FAVORITE Redskins since Snyder took over the team. He's been a stud on the field, a totally honest, standup guy in the locker room and keenly aware of what is hype, and what is reality.

Beyond 2008, he just won't be viable as a starting corner in this league.

Of course, a guy like Greg Blache isn't even thinking past 2008. He just wants to win this year, which could be his last in coaching depending on how things work out. So naturally, he's lobbying hard to keep Springs, even if it means at a very expensive rate (perhaps as much as $8 million on the cap).

Which brings us back to the need for a sober eyed, general manager; a guy who understands when to dump certain players based on age and salary cap number.

Danny and Vinny obviously have no clue about this.

Jansen also is a stand up guy, has been a fixture here since even before Snyder, and can still play. But, he's awfully expensive. And he's not getting any younger or healthier.

The bottom line: Snyder's spending and cap manipulation through the years has allowed him to always have something to spend every winter on toys. He has avoided a single year of total cap purgatory, where half the showroom had to be sold for pennies on the dollar, and you couldn't afford to bring in anybody over the league minimum.

(Note: It also helped Snyder that in Marty Schottenheimer's ONE year here, he let a LOT of air out of the "Dead Cap" balloon, which gave Snyder more room to maneuver once he was ousted.)

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by spectre11 on Feb. 25, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. (report)

Do we really need any more Packers news? Until Brett makes up his mind to announce that he's comin back next year, I really dont see the point. The Bucks suck. The NFL draft is a long ways off. Baseball is still a bit off. Even March Madness really doesnt fire up for a few weeks. Right now we are in the doldrums of the sports universe. There aint much to talk about boys and girls. So I, for one, do enjoy hearing something new and interesting about Lord Football. Especially something as dysfunctional as Daniel Snyder and the way he runs the Redskins. (Sorry Czabe.) Its been fascinating to see him manage (or mismanage) the salary cap. Plus, it makes you really appreciate what Ted Thompson has been able to do with the Pack. Keep up the solid work Czabe.

Posted by dannyhurtle on Feb. 21, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (report)

Got to agree with cj, give me a Drew Olson article...even nfl wide the Redskins are irrelevant. Oh wait, LaVar Arrington was a great pick, discuss.

Posted by r0blove on Feb. 20, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. (report)

cj, who would you prefer over The Czabe? Please keep it up, Czabe -loyal daily blog reader

Posted by cjvanmeter on Feb. 20, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (report)

Exactly why do we in WI care about the Redskins? Let's have a sports guy who write pertinent articles.

Posted by chris_chicago on Feb. 20, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (report)

The Redskins' cap situation is not as dire as some people are reporting. If they cut Brunell, Lloyd and Todd Wade (essentially the #4 OT), they are just about compliant with the cap. They build their contracts to be able to convert roster bonuses to signing bonuses as they did with Cooley and as they probably will do with Portis. It's also ill-informed to suggest that cutting Jon Jansen is the way to go. While he can no longer justify his cap charge based on a couple of recent injury-plagued seasons, to cut him would accelerate so much guaranteed money into the current cap year that his dead cap charge would be higher than his scheduled cap charge. Their philosophy seems to be to take advantage of the time-value of money, in terms of a dollar on today's cap is a higher percentage of today's cap than the same dollar figure will be in future cap years (as the cap continues to rise). This is why they prefer big bonuses and minimum base salaries. I think the real flaw in the team's approach is in not properly valuing draft picks and trading away too much in return for too little. Building through the draft makes the mistakes like Archuletta less painful because it's generally cheaper to pay the guys at the bottom of your roster when they're home-grown players that you drafted in the mid-to-late rounds. The thing that hurt with Lloyd was that they traded for him (restricted free agent) and gave him a lucrative contract. If he had simply been an unrestricted free agent at the same price, that would've been bad enough, but it was compounded by throwing away picks in acquiring him.