We've discussed at length that eventually (probably 2019), we're gonna have to start cutting key players on defense in order to stay under the cap. I got to looking on Spot Trac and after doing some figuring, the future may not be as gloomy as I once thought. According to their site, with an adjusted cap we'd be approximately $4-5 million over. With that said, we already invested in replacements for Malik Jackson, Barry Church and Jeremy Parnell in the last draft with the selections of Taven Bryan, Ronnie Harrison and Will Richardson. This season, most of those players are getting some spot playing time, to groom them for possibly starting next year, so they won't come in totally inexperienced. Looking at the savings for those veterans, we'd save $6 million by cutting or trading Parnell, $6.250 million by cutting or trading Church and although he would count $4 million in dead money, we'd save $15 million by cutting or trading Malik Jackson, which would give us a total savings of $11 million on his contract. Add these three contracts together and we have a savings of $19.250 million. Deduct the $5 million that we'd be over the cap and we'd still have over $14 million, with which we could extend the contracts of our young stars. In addition to this, those guys we would lose still have years left on their deals and they are very highly regarded players in the league. They have real trade value. We could trade them to move up in the draft, much like Buffalo did by trading Cordy Glenn to the Bengals last year or just trade them for picks. I also expect us to get a compensatory pick in the 3-4 round range for Dante Fowler as well. The subtractions of Parnell, Church and Jackson would also allow us to keep a key player like Marcell Dareus for another season, until we were able to draft his replacement. I'd expect us to draft a NT very early in 2019 and have him starting by 2020. I also believe we will replace Fowler somewhere in the 1-3 round range, as well as adding a RG. Cann is on the final year of his contract and will demand a higher salary, so selecting an OG is a must. The key is good drafting. If we draft wisely, we can keep fielding an elite team for quite a while. I feel much better and can fully focus on this season. If I am wrong or didn't do the math correctly, break it to me gently. This put me in a very good mood.

---