Our cap health is actually really, really good. Unused cap as of now, is $17,441,446, 22nd best in the NFL. We also get a higher cap this year so that is helpful.

There are some guys who will be reworked or let go, to make room for AR and other younger players due for a contract this or next year.

My 4 I think are cut worthy are Ivory, Lewis, Malik and Hurns. They all have 2018 options, all worth about 37.485 Mil in cap with 9 mil being "dead cap" for 2018, still saving us ~28.5 million for 2018. Making our `18 cap space around 63 million if all 4 were cut.

RB - Ivory is in fact gone, that is some savings. I want to see us keep Yeldon, Grant and LF. Bo has been a good FB, that should be our 4 RBs.

TE - I expect Lewis to retire, come back for near vet minimum, or be cut if we go TE in the draft. We have a lot of TE's on the roster, lol.

WR - Hurns will need to be reworked (~4 mil/year) or he will be cut with the cheap, talented, and young WRs we have on the roster. We don't use WRs here like
conventional teams, he is not worth 7+ a year, unless we decide to open up the offense and retain AR15.

DEFENSE- I could see Malik Jackson being a cap casualty @ 15.5 mil a year this or next season. Jackson was phenomenal, I just think he has a high potential to be a cap casualty with the linemen we have. Dareus needs to be reworked too, he could be out in 2019 if he is unwilling to restructure to a lower salary. We need to address the D line and if we find an upgrade at Safety, you could look into reworking or dealing someone back there(Looking at Gip mostly). LB depth is a major concern, I would look hard in FA/Draft for guys who can step in if oe of our starting 3 get hurt, Poz is getting old too, he is a concern.

QB -Blake is getting a new contract, he is not playing for 19 mil, but he will be our starter and get close to that in a new deal. He will get a 4 year, 70 million type deal and they will front load him a bit, guarantee ~half of the 1st 2 years at 18 a piece. That is what I would do anyways, that way if he sucks next year, you are only on the hook for 2 seasons and you can draft his replacement this or next off season and phase him out in late 2018/2019. That is another million or so you save for other guys over 2 years. Every penny counts lol.

FA: No, don't need to get involved with top dollar guys. I think we should obviously inquire and see what we can get, but ultimately I think this team should be looking for really good rotational/role players for depth and special teams. Our special teams was suspect this year, I would find a punter to compete with Nortman too. If we can keep putting together good/great drafts, this team won't need FA but for role players/ vets looking to win a ring(yes I think we are going to sustain our winning ways for at least another 5-7 years) with a good team. The only exception I have is for a guy like Cousins, if Dave and Tom think he has "it" to win here, go get him. Otherwise, we are largely well off on defense.

Either way, we have room to "survive" Malik's contract. Darues has an option in 2019, we can make it to 2019 with him too. The fact is, we need one of our 3 10+ mil a year guys cut, reworked, or both by the time(again, 2019) for guys like Yannick, Fowler, and Jalen Ramsey come due. We need to focus on bringin in interior DL in the draft, to try and get something productive when the day comes when Campbell is older, and Malik and Dareus are too pricey. We are in really good shape heading into 2018 through 2019. After that, they will be tight against the cap with the young studs come up for new deal in the near future.


*had to fix my cap numbers, got pre season misinformation.

---